same mind state he had experienced in his talk with  Kiara.

 

“Well, I guess you don’t like the sound of those names either, eh? But why should you, after all, that’s all in the past now, isn’t it? Yes, all behind us now…”

 

Yes, we’re all friends now, aren’t we?

 

“Kovu, I’m warning you…”

 

“Why yes, let’s just never speak of it again, then it’ll probably all go away by itself.”

 

“But there’s nothing that has to go away! There is nothing to speak of,” Simba growled in frustration.

 

“Then why did you want to talk to me, seeing as there’s nothing to talk about?”

 

“In the Kings’ name, Kovu, its you we’ve got to talk about! You’re choosing a difficult path here, son… I’m begging you, don’t! Don’t make the mistake Zira made.”

 

Now Simba surprised himself by speaking his mind when he shouldn’t have, as it would just spark up more animosity. But he did nonetheless, and much to his shock, it just seemed to amuse Kovu, albeit in a seemingly sinister manner.

 

“Ah, so there we have it! By mentioning her mere name, I might just maybe repeat my mother’s mistakes (whatever those may be). And that’s not even so surprising, I’m Taka’s son after all, just the son of the hated usurper... and to you, I’ll never be more than that, now will I? And seeing as how his blood flows through my veins, even the slightest mention of his name can turn me over to 'his' side again… ha, what a joke…”

 

Simba looked a bit ashamed at the remark he had let slip, but he refused to cave I now.

 

“Kovu, please, try to understand… it’s not you , it’s not their names; those haven’t got anything to do with it. It’s the underlying message, the pretexts they embody. How you think about them, about what they did…”

 

“And since when did you become a clairvoyant? My thoughts are my own. I can figure out the truth by myself.”

 

“No, you can’t… you’ll just figure our ‘your’ truth… their truth.”

 

“And why would that be any less erroneous than yours?” Kovu coldly noted, flabbergasting Simba, whose nose began smelling faint traces of betrayal, “After all, everyone else involved with a different viewpoint being dead isn’t really what I’d call a legitimate ground for justification.”

 

And as Simba just stared in disbelief, Kovu couldn’t help but consider ‘What irony that one killer of lions is branded a usurper, whilst another killer of lions is crowned king…’

But he was wise enough to at least keep that one to himself.

 

*

 

“Finally, here you are!”

 

As always, Enyi remained unnervingly inert.

 

“You require my presence, sir?”

 

“Yeah, as a matter of fact I’ve been looking for you all morning. ‘t Was a good thing you weren’t out hunting again.”

 

“You could have had someone summon me…”

 

“Indeed I could have,” Kovu frowned, “But I wanted to talk to you ‘bout our little secret, and the more lions get involved the less of a secret it becomes.”

 

“Sire?”

 

‘Get to the point already,’ Kovu could almost hear her think.

 

“Well, the truth is I have another favor to ask you. Now, I know you’ve already been more than helpful, and I’ve already asked a lot of you: I understand it’s not easy to have to lie to the king…”

 

“You are our king, sire. You’re orders rank above our allegiance to Simba.”

 

“Yeah but… huh? I am? They do?” Kovu responded a bit surprised, imagining briefly not having heard what Enyi said, “I think you’re a bit premature on that, I ain’t no king just yet…”

 

And I doubt he’ll ever give me the opportunity now that I’ve pissed him of so…

 

“My liege, my loyalty, and I dare say that of all Outlanders, lies with you. You should never doubt that. We followed you into Simba’s pride…”

 

And you’ll follow me back out again?

 

“That’s… good to know… So you won’t mind another law-defying assignment, I assume.”

 

“Thy bidding is my command,” Enyi replied stoically.

 

“I guess that counts as some sort of consent… anyhow, I assume you noticed Vitani hasn’t come back yet.”

 

“I’m not the only one who noticed. I hope that little story you told Simba sticks for the time being.”

 

“Well, as I’m the better liar among the two of us, as you pointed out the other day, I’m pretty sure we’ve still got a couple of days before the king becomes suspicious,”

 

Or less, if me and Simba end up in argument again, or if Kiara has a little slip of the tongue.

 

“I’m also pretty sure Vitani is probably fine, but I’m not taking any chances; I’ve got few enough relatives as it is,” Kovu grinned, but Enyi remained as motionless as ever, “So I’m asking you to go find her.

 

“Sounds easy enough…”

 

“Well, would you look at that, Enyi discovered irony! There might just be hope for you still.”

 

But Enyi didn’t even let loose a faint smile, so Kovu had to reconsider.

 

“Hmmm, to you, humor is just something that hapstify;">

 

“That’s… good to know… So you won’t mind another law-defying assignment, I assume.”

 

“Thy bidding is my command,” Enyi replied stoically.

 

“I guess that counts as some sort of consent… anyhow, I assume you noticed Vitani hasn’t come back yet.”

 

“I’m not the only one who noticed. I hope that little story you told Simba sticks for the time being.”

 

“Well, as I’m the better liar among the two of us, as you pointed out the other day, I’m pretty sure we’ve still got a couple of days before the king becomes suspicious,”

 

Or less, if me and Simba end up in argument again, or if Kiara has a little slip of the tongue.

 

“I’m also pretty sure Vitani is probably fine, but I’m not taking any chances; I’ve got few enough relatives as it is,” Kovu grinned, but Enyi remained as motionless as ever, “So I’m asking you to go find her.

 

pens to other lions, isn’t it?” Kovu sighed, “Anyhow, as  doubt it’ll be ‘easy enough’, I think it’d be best if you considered a somehow what… subtle approach to locating Vitani.”

 

“I sneak in?”

 

“Pretty much, yeah. To that end, it might be a good idea to pick a different route than Vitani did, just ‘till you’re on hyena prime. Try following the White Pass-river, then sneak in through the hills to the northeast, past the Elephant Graveyard.”

 

“Isn’t that very rough terrain?”

 

“Once you leave the river and head into the hills, yeah. But that’s the point; no-one would be stupid enough to attack through that kind of terrain, so there’ll be less surveillance,” Kovu explained.

 

“And a bit of rough terrain doesn’t scare a true Outlander,” Enyi added with in a certain self-righteous manner.

 

“That’s one way to put it… But do make sure you keep it clean, all right? I sent Vitani there to solve problems, not to aggravate them. If need be, fight your way out, but don’t fight your way in unless you have to do so to get to Vitani, her well-being is of course of primary concern. So remember: first, look after yourself, then look after Vitani, then try keeping the peace. Got that?”

 

“Nothing to it, sire. Consider it done.”

 

And now hope she’s as able as she is self-confident…

 

After a formal greeting, in which Enyi almost hailed Kovu as the king (which he wasn’t just yet, so she didn’t), she took of without further comment, feeling confident Kovu would be more than able to make something up to explain her departure to the pride; it woud after all be just another lie in an ever growing succession. But as Enyi left, Kovu considered that making up some make-believe reason for Enyi leaving wasn’t even half-bad, considering the much more difficult task which awaited him now.

 

“And now for the hard part…” Kovu mumbled as he set out to look for Kiara, so he could try to straighten things out between them again. But considering Simba probably already informed her of Kovu’s deviant opinions, that would prove to be a pointless endeavor at best. Or maybe not; Kiara was after all more understanding, even sensible than her father. And his love for her, and her love for him, had already conquered infinitely more difficult challenges, and would hopefully continiue to do so.

 

 

... and embrace the past

 

Days of great change are, without exception, never acknowledged for what they are when they take place, and they always leave those who are to take part in them oblivious until after the events that were to shape history have already come to pass. Days of great change, much like the personalities to shape them, never formally present themselves. It has indeed been said you always see such days coming, but only in retrospect. This day would prove to be no different.
‘t Was just any other day, just one more day of the ever ongoing drought. One more day of famine, of tensions, of scorching heath. Much like it had for the past weeks, it once again seemed as if the sun didn’t even bother to come up, obscured by thick packs of clouds. Clouds that didn’t let loose one drop of rain, but just remained inert in the sky, blocking all off light like an enormous shroud that covered the Pridelands and Outlands in thirst, hunger and death. I, of course, didn’t see it that way; to me, it was all just a cunning lion trick to annoy me, to mess up my biorhythm. What else could you expect of a youngling like me, who never questioned where food or water came from, and who just believed whatever tale the grown-ups made up to get away from the never-ceasing curiosity of the young. After all, if your parents

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