the mass in her body. She was very strong, could withstand attacks to herself, and she had an incredible ability to counter attacks. I personally believe that mother could have survived.”

Simba quietly agreed to Vitani’s words on Zira. He knew that Zira was one of the deadliest fighters he had ever seen. He always thought that Nala was always great because she was faster than him and would always pin him to the ground, but what he saw in Zira was a unique fighting style that could only be matched by those who constantly train to hunt and kill night and day. Because of that she was strong in strength, endurance and counter-attacking.

Simba took this in, but another thought quickly occurred to him. “But if she did survive, what can she do? Where can she go? She has no pride anymore and she is out there all by herself. I don’t think that she will even last a week out there on her own.”

“The question about where she can go is the point that I am trying to get to.” Nala said. “I believe that there might be someone out there.”

The others stared at Nala in suspicion and surprise. Vitani looked at Nala in realization, as if Nala had just reminded her of a memory. “Do you mean to say that there might be someone who is closely related to her who might still be alive?” She asked.

“There might be.” Nala replied, “I remember that back in the time when Scar ruled the Pride Lands, he mated with Zira and they had a litter. That litter consisted of Nuka; who was the eldest; you, Vitani, and another male by the name of Kufuzu. Then some time later she mated with someone else and then had you, Kovu.”

“Kufuzu?” Kovu pondered, looking at Vitani, who started to feel the memories coming back to her. “We had two brothers?” His voice was in a state of both shock and concern. Simba and Kiara stood still, completely shell-shocked at the mention of another sibling of their greatest enemy.

“Wait a minute, yes.” Vitani said in a slightly louder voice as a state of realization, “I remember him. He was the second eldest out of our litter that mother had with Scar. He had bright fur, a darker mane, blue eyes, and looked very strong and healthy. I swear that he looked a lot like Kovu; his fur colour aside. I never saw him that much at all, because he was too busy hanging out with the hyenas in the Pride Lands. I think that he might have had a stronger connection with the hyenas because he despised the actions of his father, Scar. He never liked his father very much and he didn’t think that he could fit in very well. The only ones who he could turn to were the hyenas.”

“That’s right, Vitani.” Nala remarked, “Kufuzu had a good heart and was the only one who saw how truly evil Scar really was. Because of this he decided to leave the Pride Lands and head away to the east in a hope of starting a life of his own. We never saw him again or heard anything else about him after that.”

“He ran away?” Vitani wondered in shock, “Scar told me that he was killed by a stampede of buffalo.”

“That was a lie.” Nala replied, “Scar probably said that just because he hated his son and he wanted to the worst for him. But that is not all: If Kufuzu survived the journey to the east, he would have grown into a young lion with a full pride at his helm.”

“So what you are trying to say,” Simba began, “is that if Zira is still alive and Kufuzu survived the long journey to the east…”

“…she will try to get to Kufuzu and fill his heart with evil, like she did with me.” Kovu finished. “She and Kufuzu, with his pride, will then attempt to ambush us all and take over the Pride Lands once again.”

“That is exactly right.” Nala said. “But there is more.” She then turned to her mate. “Simba, do you remember where the hyenas fled to after Scar was killed?”

Simba’s mind suddenly flashed back to the last moments of the battle over Scar’s reign.

Simba looked over the ledge at the back of Pride Rock just after he had thrown Scar off of the top of Pride Rock and down to the bottom. Scar had managed to regain consciousness, only to look up through the flames to see three hyenas looking at him with furious and envious expressions on their faces. Scar looked relieved to see them because he had them on his side for some years now and he thought that he was saved. “Ahh, my friends.” Scar therefore remarked.

“’Frie…heh…ends’?” The female hyena said with a slight surprised and evil chuckle. “I thought he said we were the enemy.”

“Yeah,” Said the main male hyena with evil intentions, “That’s what I heard. Ed?” He and the female hyena turned to the third hyena, Ed, who was slightly insane and mental, and he just laughed evilly and licked his lips.

The three remembered how Scar would promise to give them food and a healthy lifestyle on the condition that they would help him rid the Pride Lands of the main heir’s to the throne from the royal family. But after Scar became king, he became very selfish and stubborn, and he would not run things the way that an appropriate king should. Because of Scar’s madness, the hyenas did not get what they had been promised. Scar also mentioned a little earlier in the night of the battle that the hyenas were the real enemy because it was their idea. After he said that, the hyenas knew immediately that Scar had just been using them all along and that they had been betrayed. They then knew that they had to get revenge, and they were ready to strike. 

The three of them and the other hyenas crept through the fire and flames and up to Scar, where they started to attack his body. The flames rose high around the hyenas as they attacked, but it was not enough to distract them from what they were doing. They would not stop their murderous rampage on their once friend until he breathed his last breath. It then started to rain very heavily, and the flames slowly started to disappear. Simba was still on top of Pride Rock, watching the hyenas attack and kill Scar. After the job was finished, the hyenas quickly fled, heading east of Pride Rock. Simba saw them run, and they eventually disappeared through the rain; which had now fully put out the flames that had blazed around Pride Rock for almost an hour. Relieved that it was all over now, he climbed down Pride Rock, where his family and his pride were waiting to honour him.

Simba finally snapped out of his flashback and focused on answering Nala’s question. “I just remember seeing them flee to the east of Pride Rock. I only saw them for a moment before they disappeared through the poor visibility of the rain. They might have fled to the east so that they could hope for a new life away from here.”

“Then if the hyenas happened to find a place east from here, it is possible that they might even come across Kufuzu.” Nala therefore remarked.

“So if our theory is correct,” Kiara said, “it is possible that Kufuzu might find the hyenas and make them join his forces.”

“Exactly.” Nala replied.

“And,” Kovu added, “if they do join forces, they will have an advantage in strength and numbers. I know that although hyenas may not be as strong as us lions, they have very powerful jaws. Their jaws can grind though even the strongest bones in a lions body, which makes their jaws the most powerful of any animal in the world. That is probably the advantage of the hyenas that Kufuzu might be looking for; just like why Scar wanted the hyenas in the first place.”

Everyone else seemed to take this into consideration. What Kovu said was true. Hyenas have the most powerful jaws of any living animal on planet earth; and even though hyenas might usually be no match for a pride of lions, the advantage of tough jaws might give them that slight chance of winning a fight.

After a while, Simba then considered something. “Well, if this theory turns out to be true, then we must all be well prepared for it. It is a very unlikely chance that this might happen, but if you are all having visions, they can sometimes turn into reality. This is what we must do: We will train our pride to fight. The former Outsiders are already trained, and they will start to train the original members of our pride. This will happen during morning sessions on a daily basis. We will keep training until we are sure that we are ready to fight.” Simba then added something else, remembering about the fiasco of yesterday’s battle and how members of both his pride and the former Outsiders were still injured. “However, we will give everyone at least another couple of days to rest. They still need more time to nurse their wounds.”

“Good idea, Simba.” Nala said. “I shall go