Kovu smirked back.
"Kopa!" his father yelled coming in between the two, growling at Kovu. Nala nuzzled her son.
"Kopa! You're alright!" she sighed.
"Dad, what are you doing here?" Kopa exclaimed, motioning to his mother that he was fine.
"I saw the smoke and came to investigate." Simba explained, not taking his eyes off Kovu. "Zazu said that HE had assulted you!"
"But Kovu wasn't--"
"Kovu?!" Simba roared. Kovu glared at him. Nala looked very concerned at Simba's hatred towards Kovu.
"Hey!" yelled the voice of Rafiki. "You!" He pointed at Kovu. "How dare you save the king's son!" He was obviously making fun of Simba.
"You saved Kopa?" Simba asked, suspicious of his motives. "Why?"
"He was in trouble, sir," Kovu replied. "But now, I humbly ask to join your pride."
"No! You were banished with the other outsiders! What makes you so sure I can trust you?"
"Because I have left the outsiders." Kovu said in an accomplished tone. "Now I have no where to go, but to a king I myself can trust. Please, judge me for who I am now, instead of judging me by who my father was."
Simba growled in frustration, hating to admit that Kovu was right. He had been judging Kovu because of Scar. Just because Scar was evil does not mean Kovu was the same. But then Simba had to pay attention to who his parents were. His father was Scar, the murderer of Mufasa who attempted to kill Simba. His mother was an insane being, falling in love with Scar and trying to kill Nala and Kopa, becoming just as ruthless a killer as Scar, but then using Kovu to become king of the pridelands. Simba grew very suspicious because the outlanders were also quiet up until this point. They were planning something and Kovu was up to no good as well, or at least he seemed. There was a possbility that Kovu was telling the truth about leaving the outsiders. But either way, it did not promote Simba at all.
"Simba," Nala spoke. "You owe him our son's life." Naturally Nala would say so, she was always the more understanding of the two. Zazu approached Simba.
"Yes, sire, clearly we are in his debt," he explained. "Though in this case, you might not want to pay him..."
Simba looked at Kovu, who stood himself in an honorable stance. "My law will prevail, but for now I reserve judgement." He walked away towards Pride Rock. Kovu smirked at Kopa, satisfied with his answer. Kopa smiled back and they followed Simba.
Darkness spread across the pridelands as evening turned into night. The clouds unfolding over the land made it darker and harder to see. Simba, Nala, Kovu, and Kopa made their way up Pride Rock to settle themselves in their cave for the night. However, when Kovu tried entering the cave, Simba growled at him. Kovu could've entered the cave, but he did not want to be watched like a hawk, so he stayed outside the cave and layed down. He knew that this was going to be very irritating if he didn't take care of Simba soon. Kopa walked up to Kovu.
"Hey," he greeted. Kovu looked at him with a rather annoyed look on his face. "Uh, thanks for saving me today."
"Psh, you're lucky I was around, princess," Kovu scoffed. "If I wasn't you surely would not have lasted."
"And you're so sure," Kopa said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.
"I can bet anything that you last passed a third day on your own."
"Oh, and I suppose YOU can?"
"Heh, yeah," Kovu chuckled as if it was nothing.
Kopa smirked. "Alright then. Prove it to me tomorrow. Impress me, by teaching me some of your 'skills' tomorrow." He walked by Kovu, heading into the den for the night. "We start at dawn. Meet me at the water hole."
"Aha...I look forward to it," Kovu grinned.
Watching the two from afar was Zira and Nuka, sitting silently in a tree so that no one could pick up their scent.
"Did you see that?!" Nuka exclaimed, shocked. "He let him go! If that were me I'd--"
"Hush!" Zira quieted him. "The fire rescue worked perfectly, and Simba fell for it. Now, the closer Kovu gets to the son, the closer he gets to Simba." Nuka tried putting this all together. "And...once he has Simba alone..." She slashed the trunk of the tree, just barely missing Nuka's head. "Now, you and Vitani will spy on them and report to me every night until Kovu has killed Simba. I am expecting him to kill him tomorrow. There is no excuse for him to wait."
"Yes, mother," Nuka replied, still a bit shaken from when his mother nearly hit him.
Simba woke up the next morning, a bit shaken from a disturbing dream he had the night before. His father's death had replayed in his head throughout his slumber. He hoped it wasn't an omen. Simba stretched himself out and made to way to the water hole for a drink. No animals were around, or so he thought.
Kovu watched him from behind a rock, sure to keep himself downwind. He unsheathed his claws and crouched down low, ready to kill him at any given moment. Out of no where, Kopa pounced on him from behind and landed on top of him. Kovu roared, startled and ready to bite whatever attacked him. Once he realized it was Kopa, he stopped himself from acting for some reason, which was strange because his mission was to kill him as well as Simba.
"Mornin'!" Kopa laughed. "Caught ya off guard, didn't I?"
Simba heard the ruckus and approached the two young lions.
"What are you two doing?" he asked.
Kovu pushed Kopa off him and just slinked away without saying a word. He was very embarrassed that Kopa had caught him off guard. That hadn't happened since he was a cub. It would not happen again.
Simba leaned in to Kopa. "Don't trust him too much, Kopa. He's up to something."
"Dad, you need to have a little faith." Kopa bounded away, trying to catch up with Kovu. He spotted him lying on the ground outside of some tall grass. Kopa snuck into the grass, thinking that Kovu was unaware of his presence. But once Kopa leapt at Kovu a second time, Kovu ducked, sending the younger lion flying over his head. Kopa landed on his back with an "Uf!" Kovu stared down at Kopa.
"Did you hear me?" Kopa asked, a bit embarrassed at his situation.
"Only...alot!" Kovu scoffed. Kopa got back to his feet. "You breathe too hard. You need to relax. And then once you do, you just charge right in." Birds chirped in the distance and caught Kovu's attention. The birds were landing on the hill nearby. 'Watch the master and learn." Kovu told Kopa, silently running up the hill. He roared as he leapt to attack a bird, but instead of a bird, he came down on a meerkat, which screamed. The only reason Kovu didn't eat him was because it looked to pitiful.
"Don't eat me, please!" The meerkat pleaded. "I never met Scar, but I hear he's a heck of a guy! A little moody, but--"
"Hey, Uncle Timon!" Kopa smiled. "What's going on?"
"Uncle?" Kovu thought. How could this little animal be Kopa's uncle of all things? It should be prey.
"What's going on?! Kopa, my boy, there are bugs all over this hill!" Timon exclaimed. "Care to join us?" he asked, happily eating a worm.
"Sure!" Kopa replied, eating a worm as well. Kovu looked disgusted. The birds were starting to flock about even more, and it was getting rather crowded. Pumba was trying to get rid of them by chasing them, but wherever he wasn't standing at the moment, the birds were there.
"Timon! These birds are eating all of our food!" Pumba whined.
"Oh, Pumba, you just need to scare them away! You're not gonna get rid of them by running around screaming like that!" Timon approached a bird and tried shooing it away, but he ended up being chased himself. He ran to Pumba for safety like he often did.
"Hey! What if he helps!" Pumba asked, referring to Kovu.
"I've got an idea!" Timon jumped off Pumba and pointed to Kovu. "What if he helps? Wanna lend a voice?" Kovu looked at him, confused as to what he meant. He looked to Kopa for guidance.
"Like this!" Kopa roared as loud as he could and the birds scattered. Timon and Pumba shouted and ran in excitement.
"Do it again!" said Pumba. This time Kovu roared, trying to roar louder than Kopa. The two chased after the meerkat and warthog. Kopa began to laugh.
"Why are we doing this?" Kovu asked Kopa as they ran. "What's the point of this training?"
"Training?" Kopa laughed. "This is just for fun!"
"Fun?" This was confusing. Why was it that he had never experienced fun before? And why was it that he never even thought about it before?
"Geez, kid, ya've gotta get out more often!" Timon gaffawed.
Kovu tried whooping in laughter like everyone else, and at first he found it rather embarrassing, but once he realized that everyone else was comfortable about it, his shouts became more enthusiastic. Pretty soon, they were all caught up in a game of tag, but didn't realize the herd of rhinos in front of them. The group stopped running and stood still, but the rhinos had spotted them. They found them as a threat and began to chase them, but it was definately not a game of tag. The two lions, meerkat, and warthog screamed in fear as they ran away from the stampede. The four of them managed to duck into a small hole and the rhinos ran right past them. They all
13872 visits
Report this fanfic 
