rhinos, the cheetahs, and every other animal from near and far. You could see the shapes and shadows moving in a line across the plains. Even the sky was filled with birds that had heard the news and were swooping towards Pride Rock. They all gathered by the base of the rock, and stared up at Rafiki, who was performing the magical spell that made them come to him. When they all appeared, he then went inside to quiet corner of the cave, where Nala lay, a small ball of golden fur tenderly wrapped in her paws. Simba came and stood by Nala, smiling with excitement and pride at his newborn son. The little mass of fluff blinked his big eyes at Rafiki, wondering who the strange creature was. Rafiki rubbed his fingers in his mixture of tree resin, and made the sign of the King on the cub’s tiny forehead. Rafiki’s large, knobbly hands were surprisingly delicate as he lifted the cub up into his arms. The cub tried to play with the coconuts and seeds that hung on Rafiki’s staff, waving his tiny paws in the air, and everyone laughed fondly. Then Rafiki took him outside, for the ceremony was about to begin.

The suspense in the air was crushing. All the animals held their breath, and no-one spoke. Then they saw Rafiki appear and stand on the edge of the rock, facing the sky. Then with one swift movement, he hoisted the cub into the air, for all to see! The animals erupted into noise. The zebra clicked their hooves and whinnied, the rhinos stamped their feet and bellowed, the elephants trumpeted and flapped their ears, the warthogs snorted. Their new Prince was born! Then the Sun rose and bathed the Prince in golden light, and it seemed that all the great Kings of the past were smiling down on him. The golden rays shone down on the Pridelands and like a wave the animals bowed in respect for their kings and for the new prince. It was a terrific sight.

 After the ceremony, Simba and Nala stood gazing proudly at their tiny cub. Simba’s heart was filled with pride as he nuzzled his Queen and his son. Then Timone came bounding up. 

 “Hey, the little guy’s got his dad’s eyes!” Everyone laughed with amusement and affection. 

 “Oh boy! I can’t wait to babysit!” Pumba yelled, his fat face grinning with happinessnd now had to stay in Pride rock for her health.

 Zira was a different story. A couple of days after she had been cut off from Pride Rock, she had given birth in a small cave. She had lifted up Scar’s second child, her heart filled with hope, and yes, yes! It was a boy! She could have shrieked with triumph, her plan could work; her son could overthrow Simba and take back what was rightfully Scars! Scar lived on in his son. She smiled at the thought. Then she started to whisper words into the air, and any other lion but her would have assumed she was talking to herself.

 “Don’t worry; I will avenge you, my love. Please be proud of your son, he will one day rise to power and take back what was ours. The Pridelands were meant to be yours and mine! And we will have it if we are patient. It just takes time, that’s all, my love. Then all of our enemies will pay! THEY WILL ALL PAY! EVERY LAST ONE OF THEM!” Her cub started to whimper at the sudden harshness of her voice. She paid no attention to it, for she was thinking of what she would call him. After some thought, she whispered the name “Nuka” in his ear. She would take Nuka back to her pride (of sorts, since she was still counted as a sort of Pridelander) as soon as he was strong enough to walk. The sooner the better, in her opinion.

 The months past and summer came. The grasshoppers hummed in the grass, and the herds (with lots of young) migrated from all around, so the Pridelands were chock-a-block with life, new and fresh. There was plenty to eat and everyone was well fed. Then one morning, as the sun rose, lighting up the sky with red and gold, all the animals heard a special call that summoned them to Pride Rock. They all came, the gazelle, the elephants, the giraffes, the buffalos, the rhinos, the cheetahs, and every other animal from near and far. You could see the shapes and shadows moving in a line across the plains. Even the sky was filled with birds that had heard the news and were swooping towards Pride Rock. They all gathered by the base of the rock, and stared up at Rafiki, who was performing the magical spell that made them come to him. When they all appeared, he then went inside to quiet corner of the cave, where Nala lay, a small ball of golden fur tenderly wrapped in her paws. Simba came and stood by Nala, smiling with excitement and pride at his newborn son. The little mass of fluff blinked his big eyes at Rafiki, wondering who the strange creature was. Rafiki rubbed his fingers in his mixture of tree resin, and made the sign of the King on the cub’s tiny forehead. Rafiki’s large, knobbly hands were surprisingly delicate as he lifted the cub up into his arms. The cub tried to play with the coconuts and seeds that hung on Rafiki’s staff, waving his tiny paws in the air, and everyone laughed fondly. Then Rafiki took him outside, for the ceremony was about to begin.

The suspense in the air was crushing. All the animals held their breath, and no-one spoke. Then they saw Rafiki appear and stand on the edge of the rock, facing the sky. Then with one swift movement, he hoisted the cub into the air, for all to see! The animals erupted into noise. The zebra clicked their hooves and whinnied, the rhinos stamped their feet and bellowed, the elephants trumpeted and flapped their ears, the warthogs snorted. Their new Prince was born! Then the Sun rose and bathed the Prince in golden light, and it seemed that all the great Kings of the past were smiling down on him. The golden rays shone down on the Pridelands and like a wave the animals bowed in respect for their kings and for the new prince. It was a terrific sight.

 “Yeah,” Timone piped up, “we can teach him manly stuff…..like, err….”-

“Like what?” Simba teased.

 “…Like how to belch!” Timone said triumphantly. Right on cue, the cub gave a little jolt and did a tiny burp. Everyone chuckled at that even Rafiki, but suddenly stopped as he remembered and asked,

 “So what’s his name, Simba?” Timone, Pumba, Rafiki and the other lionesses leaned in with curiosity to hear what he was going to say. Simba smiled at Nala, and said clearly,

“His name is Kopa.” There was a great cheer from the whole pride as everyone fixed their eyes on Kopa, their new prince.

 Zira had heard the massive celebrations from where her and her pride was sitting, far away on a rocky ledge. Her blood boiled in her veins. She should have killed Nala when she had the chance! That would have finished off the queen AND the unborn prince. But there was no chance now, he was born and now they were both well protected. She could never catch either of them alone again. Zira growled as she thought back to the perfectly planned ambush. She knew Simba had been overprotecting Nala (and so he should with me around, she thought evilly to herself) and that it was only a matter of time before she made a break for it. She just had to keep one of her lionesses watching the area around Pride Rock to see when Nala would crack, and then it was easy to set up an ambush. Oh! But it had gone terribly wrong, at the last second! Now all that remained was a black, mysterious mark of doubt in Simba’s mind. He wouldn’t trust her for ages, and that was a major blow to the plan. She sighed at the unluckiness of it. It was her against the world, it seemed.

That night Simba lay next to Nala, who was holding the Kopa in her paws. He wrapped his paws around hers and felt the warmth coming from the tiny life inside. He smiled to himslef, there wasn't a father who was prouder than he was that night.

" Can't catch me!" Kopa yelled as he bounded in between the bushes. He laughed to himself. He loved to run away from his babysitters, knowing that they wouldn't even get close to the end of his tail.

"Oh...yes...we.....will..." Pumbaa panted as he trotted clumsily after the cub. He'd never thought loking after one royal cub would be such hard work! Simba had said not to let him stray beyond the grounds aound Pride Rock, and although Kopa was small and young, he was getting more brave and inquisitive by the day. He often bombarded Timone, Pumbaa, Rafiki (when he visited) and Zazu with all sorts of questions that they couldn't even think about answering, like: why is the sky blue? Why do butterflies have colourful wings? Why is the sun warm? Why is Timone so grumpy in the morning?, e.t.c., e.t.c. To be honest, they were both tired out already. He saw Kopa ahead of him, a few metres away, looking smug. "Come 'ere, you!" Pumbaa shouted and ran towards the cub, gasping for breath. As soon as Pumbaa was right next to him, he lept away again, shrieking with delight. It was all a game to him! He ignored his two babysitter's frantic calls for him to come back, not reailising how panicky they were about him. He ran as fast as his little legs would carry him! They'd never catch him now, not with the long grass that came right past his head.

Ooof! Kopa rolled over in the dust, and then looked up at the stranger he had bumped in to.Staring down at him was another cub, scruffy looking and skinny. His fur was an odd tint of greyish brown, not like the golds, tans and creams of Prideland lions.

"Hey! Who are you?" the cub asked, staring down at Kopa with curious yellow eyes. Kopa didn't answer, he was frozen to the spot. "I said who are you?" the cub asked again. The cub was a lot older than Kopa, a few months older at the very least, since Kopa was only a month old and had just learned to walk.-

 "I..I'm Kopa."Kopa stuttered.

 "Cool. I'm Nuka." the cub said, grinning. Kopa might be very young, but we can still have some fun together, he thought to himself. "Ok then, Kopa, do you want to go down to the waterhole?"

"What's a