The Lion King III: Hidden Prophecy Part I

It was the middle of the night in the Pride Lands in Kenya, Africa. The moonlight shone over the savannah and illuminated everything, so that even the animals with bad eyesight could even see in the dark. Everything and everyone was so quiet that the place almost seemed like a gloomy battlefield where all animals had been wiped out due to a mass extinction or a bloody war. There was not a soul of movement within the lands because all animals were asleep. There was not even late night hunting occurring from the lions because they had been hunting all day the previous day and they had to sleep it off to prepare for the next days hunting session.

The king’s pride at Pride Rock was all peacefully sleeping inside the den without any sign of trouble of disturbance. They had all had a fairly rough day the previous day, because a large war between the Pride Landers and the Outsiders had occurred for the battle of control of the Pride Lands. The Outsiders had been getting the upper hand due to fighting advantage and the size in numbers; but Kiara, the daughter of King Simba, and Kovu, the son of Zira, had intervened and demanded for peace to be settled because both the Pride Landers and the Outsiders are the same kind and they should not be fighting between themselves, but should be living together in peace. Both prides saw reason and had joined together, where peace was finally settled within the Pride Lands.

Inside the den, Kiara was sleeping next to her mate Kovu. She seemed to have trouble sleeping because she kept tossing and turning in her sleep. She kept breathing heavily while gritting her teeth and shutting her eyes tighter at the same time as if she was in the middle of a nightmare. Kovu was sleeping almost right next to her, but he didn’t seem to notice her groaning or moving in her sleep. He was very used to sleeping through certain noises because once he got to sleep, he could fall into deep sleep within five minutes, and he could sleep through anything. The only thing that could wake him up was being physically touched. He was also so used to sleeping that he would often get grumpy when he was woken up before he wanted to or he wanted to sleep on. So he continued to sleep on and took no notice of Kiara’s continuous tossing and groaning.

Kiara continued to toss and turn in her sleep. This rarely ever happened to her because she would always fall into deep sleep and rarely ever experience dream sleep; but this was different. She could not take her mind off of the previous day’s events where she attacked and sent Zira, the leader of the then Outsiders, down a cliff and into the river. She attacked her because Zira attempted to strike and kill her father and Kiara was trying to defend him. In the attempt they both fell down the cliff and Kiara managed to hold on and save herself by clinging onto an overhanging ledge. Zira was not so lucky and fell down further to the wall of the gorge, where she struggled to hold on because the walls were so steep and practically impossible to hold onto without slipping off. Down below the river was flowing very fast because the water had broken through the dam wall of logs and so much water had been released that it had turned into a tsunami. Zira struggled to hold onto the gorge walls and prevent herself from falling into the fast flowing rapids. Kiara tried to help her back up, but Zira could not reach her as she was slipping fast. She then looked at Kiara with an evil smirk and said “No, never.” And let go of the wall smiling and fell into the rapids. Kiara just watched as Zira disappeared within the rapids, shocked at what Zira had just said to her.

Kiara suddenly woke with a start, gasping and panting with a worried look on her face after what she had just dreamt about. She looked around herself to see whether she had woken anyone up with how loud she was panting, but luckily she hadn’t because it was still very early in the morning and everyone was still deep in their sleep. The sun had not even appeared over the horizon as yet, but it was getting very close.

Kiara tried to wash these thoughts out of her brain and tried to go back to sleep, but she was so worried about the previous day’s events that she couldn’t even attempt to close her eyes. By attempting to go back to sleep she also didn’t want to wake the others up. But the thoughts were getting too much for her that sleep was not possible. The only option was to sleek out of the cave and into the outside without waking anybody. She could not think of anything else to do.

She slowly, with very sleepy legs, rose from her position on the hard rocky surface as quietly as she could. Once she stood on her four legs she looked around the cave to spot any sign of movement. There was the occasional groaning from dream sleep and movement to attempt to get into a comfortable sleeping position, but no one was awake. Seeing her opportunity, she slowly crept out of the cave quietly; looking at the others to make sure that no one was stirring; and walked out to the edge of Pride Rock.

Once she was at the edge of Pride Rock, she saw the sun slowly appear on the horizon. The morning sunlight lit up the entire savannah and made Pride Rock glow in a beautiful golden light. The sunlight even seemed to reflect off of Kiara’s golden skin and blend her colour in with the light. She felt the presence of the sunrise of the early morning and began to feel more comfortable with the light. She always felt the metaphor that the sunlight would put some light and comfort into your life and make you feel better; and it did for a few seconds; but she still could not get these dreams out of her head.

Why do I have such a bad feeling about what happened yesterday? She thought to herself. Is it that what she said made me feel fearful of her again because of another threat that might occur? And could she even have survived that fall?

That was what she was most concerned about. Zira had intentionally let go of the wall; and she was smiling as she fell into the currents. Kiara had a feeling that Zira knew that she could survive the avalanche of water, and that is why she let go. If she did survive, could she return and plan another attack on the pride?

There were so many questions that Kiara was asking herself that she found all of them hard to take into consideration. The only one she was focusing on was Zira surviving and further planning revenge. But before she could think any further, she heard the sound of paw prints hitting the ground and a voice calling from behind her: “Good morning, Kiara.”

It was her mother Nala, who had just woken up to step out into the outside and admire the early morning sunrise when she spotted her daughter sitting on the edge of the rock. Her eyes were still very sleepy and she was yawning, like she wanted to go back to sleep but just woke up in case of something urgent; even though it wasn’t like this. Kiara suspected that her mother heard and saw her walking out of the den and it got her immediate attention. Oh, great...! Kiara thought to herself sarcastically, thinking that she would reluctantly have to tell her mother what was going on. She always knew that her mother was an understanding person, but Kiara wanted to keep secrets sometimes. As Nala came closer to her, she thought about keeping her mouth shut and not saying anything; but she decided against it and thought that it would be best to tell her what was going on.

“Oh!” Kiara jumped in surprise as if she got scared of the sudden unexpected voice behind her. “Good morning, mother.”

“I’m sorry, did I scare you?” Nala asked, half amused by her daughter’s surprise.

“Not really,” Kiara replied. “You just surprised me.”

“What are you doing out here this early in the morning?” Nala curiously wondered. She was never used to seeing her daughter up this early because she knew that Kiara loved to sleep; and she knew that when she did get up this early, she always suspected that something was up.

“Um…” Kiara began. She had another thought about lying, and stupidly let it slip out of her mouth without thinking. “Nothing.” Great answer, you fool!

Her mother looked perplexed at her daughter’s answer, and she knew immediately that Kiara wasn’t telling the truth. “Kiara, don’t lie to me.” She said softly, “I am your mother. I can see in your eyes that something is up with you. I can also tell from the tone of your voice; plus you never usually wake up this early.” At this point Nala had reached the edge of Pride Rock and had sat down next to her daughter. Kiara looked into her eyes and felt guilty at lying to her mother. She decided to then tell her the truth when Nala said it for her. “Is it about yesterday?”

Kiara was amazed that her mother was able to figure out what her situation was, but it occurred to her that her mother already knew because Kiara was acting like this the previous day as well and her mother had noticed. Kiara then knew that her mother was very keen to find out what her problem was, and she might as well tell her.

“Yes, mother,” She replied with a heavy sigh, “It is about yesterday. I, uh…I just can’t let go of Zira’s fall into the river.”

“Why should it bother you so much?” Nala asked.

“Well… the thing is that…” Kiara began, extremely reluctant to say the next words because they were very hard to break out, but she did. “She didn’t slip off of the wall as everybody thought.”

“What!?” Her mother said in a shocking but somewhat quieter voice so as not to wake up the others inside the den.

“S-She l-l-let go of the walls and let herself f-f-fall into the river. Before she d-d-did she looked at me and said ‘No, never’ with an evil smile.” Kiara stuttered as those words really hurt and scared her to say it. She was trying to choke back tears of fear. “I-I-I know that it sounds strange, mother, but I just have this feeling th-th-that she survived the currents.” She finished.

Nala had listened carefully to what her daughter was saying, and she started to think to herself after taking in the information that she had just heard. It seemed that she was thinking about what this might lead to if Zira had indeed survived the fall into the river.

“Well, if that is true, then I don’t think that we are out of danger yet.” Nala concluded, with a little concern in her voice.

“But mother,” Kiara began, getting a hold of herself, “If she is still alive, she wouldn’t be able to survive on her own out there.” This thought had only just occurred to her.

“Believe me,” Nala said, “I don’t think that she is alone.”

“What do you mean?” Kiara asked in suspicion.

“This will have to wait until the others are awake.” Nala said. “They will need to hear this as well.”

“But, mother…”

“You will just have to wait, Kiara. It is quite important for them to know about this.” Nala said in a half forceful voice as if giving her daughter an order to let it be. Kiara was not quite sure what her mother was trying to get at. She would have to wait until the other were awake; and that might not be for another couple of hours because the sun was still just rising on the horizon and there was still some time before the wake up call was to arrive.

Nala went to inform her mate, King Simba, to meet behind Pride Rock in a couple of hour’s time when everyone was wide awake. Simba got the message and fell back to sleep so as to give it a little more time before waking up himself. Kiara remained outside and waited patiently before everyone else was to wake up.

About the same time of the day on the banks the Kube River several miles west of Pride Rock, a dark furred black-eyed outsider lioness was lying unconscious. She was fairly skinny in size and had a large cut on her right ear. She had drifted a few miles within the river from the previous day’s battle location to another part of the Pride Lands. She had just managed to get to safety on the banks of the river after the currents died down before passing out from battling the currents and the struggle to get to shore.

The sun had now fully appeared over the horizon and the lights shone over the Pride Lands just as it had done since the beginning of time. One of the rays of light hit the lioness in the eye and caused her to stir. She then started moving her body slowly but with difficulty because of the fatigue she had to endure the previous day. She slowly opened her eyes and looked directly into the sun without even knowing it was right in front of her eyes. It got her immediate attention and she was forced to open them right up and scramble to her feet. As she got to her feet she slightly winced in pain. When she was flowing through the river the currents pushed her hard into a submerged rock and she bruised her back; so she felt a slight cork of pain in her back. It was nothing serious, but it apparently weakened her more and was another cause to fall unconscious. It also hurt a bit to walk, so she had to rest for a few minutes by laying back down.

Zira, which was the name of the lioness, sat thinking about the previous day’s events as she was recovering from the pain and fatigue. She could remember every detail of what happened: She and her pride had set out to ambush Simba’s Pride and take over the Pride Lands for good; but more than anything, she wanted Simba dead so as to avenge the death of her beloved Scar; because Simba had apparently killed him. As her pride was gaining the advantage in the battle, she was about to finish Simba off, when Kovu; her own son who had turned against her; and Kiara; Simba’s daughter; intervened and called for peace. Her pride then understood about being ‘One’ and joined Simba’s Pride; including her own daughter, Vitani; much to Zira’s shocking surprise. Zira then tried to attack Simba when Kiara went for her and knocked her down the cliff and into the fast-flowing Kube River. Before falling into the river, Zira held onto the cliff wall tight with her claws to avoid falling in, but she then looked up and Kiara and smirked. She refused to accept Kiara’s help to get her back up by muttering the words “No, never”, and intentionally let go. She then let herself fall into the river and get swept away by the currents. The river currents eventually slowed down and she was able to make it to the banks.

At this time she started thinking. She knew exactly what she was doing that whole time. She had sensed that there was still another chance at revenge on hand, and she knew that she could survive both the fall into the river and the currents. She knew that it wasn’t yet over, and this time whatever she was planning to do would work perfectly to eliminate Simba and everyone else who got in her way. Plus not just one but now both of her children had betrayed her, so her revenge had now become even greater.

She slowly rose to her feet once again and slowly started walking towards the east away from Pride Rock. “It is not over with yet, Simba,” She was saying to herself as she was walking, with a very evil and vengeful tone in her voice. “Zira is still around and I will not stop until I see your bloody corpse breathe its last. I do not care how old you are. I promise you that I will cut your life short before you die of old age. And believe me; now that you have stolen my daughter from me, my revenge is even greater.” She knew that Simba was ageing and would only have another two or less years before he would pass on, but she wasn’t going to let him through his life all the way. She really wanted him to suffer a horrible death for his crime. At the same time she was still feeling heartbroken for her daughter’s own betrayal to her, because she had cared so much about her and looked up to her as a leader of the family. Now that she had betrayed her, she wanted her dead as well.

The pain that she was feeling a moment ago was staring to leave her; and knowing exactly what she was doing, she gathered all the strength that she had and started walking faster towards the east, hoping to find something familiar and plan the first stage of her revenge.

Out in the open grasslands in the savannah, many animals had awakened to the morning light from the sun, which was now fully open to the Pride Lands. It was a beautiful sunny morning with very few clouds in the sky; and even then some animals noticed the strange shapes of the clouds that were changing every now and then. They could make out all of these shapes within their imagination and visualize what they looked like. But it was mainly the joy of the morning daylight that seemed to comfort all the animals.

Out near a small waterhole not very far north of Pride Rock, Timon and Pumbaa were already up drinking and looking for breakfast. They had already managed to scoop up grubs from the soil and under logs, both crawly critters and winged bugs. They were both enjoying their catches, but at the same time they could not get certain thoughts out of their heads. They had really enjoyed their time in the Pride Lands ever since Simba became king, and they knew the this savannah was a beautiful home; but at the same time they couldn’t help remembering the beauty and wonder of their previous home; which they called “The Tropical Paradise”. They had both lived there even before they met Simba, and there were so many great adventures and joys within the area’s landscape that they found hard to let go of, and they really wanted so much to re-live those good old days just one more time.

“Hey, Timon,” Pumbaa began, “Can I ask you a question?”

He looked at Timon, who wasn’t paying attention. He had his back turned and was holding his stomach while groaning in pain. It seemed that Timon had already had more than his share of food and was feeling the side effects of either eating too much or eating too quickly.

“Hey,” Pumbaa began, half concerned about the well-being of his best buddy, “Are you okay?”

“Yes, I feel like I am top of the world…!” Timon replied sarcastically, still groaning in pain. He gritted his teeth to show his agony. “Do I look okay to you?”

Pumbaa did not retaliate to the cheeky comment from Timon because he knew that Timon was always like that. He then took it that Timon was feeling a little under the weather due to stomach pains and decided to ask him a much more sensible question: “What’s the matter? Do you have a stomach ache?”

“Yeah,” Timon replied, “I think that I ate too quickly.”

Pumbaa then took something into consideration. He was trying to think about how he could help his lifelong companion get better. He then got an idea into his head.

“Here, let me give you a hand.” Pumbaa said as he started lifting Timon up and onto his shoulder.

“Wha-What are you doing, Pumbaa?” Timon asked, still feeling the pain in his stomach.

“Just hold still for a minute.” Pumbaa replied; and he started to pat Timon’s back repeatedly while he was still on his shoulder. Timon then let out a belch that seemed quite loud for an animal his size; like it could be heard by a quarter of the entire savannah. Pumbaa even jumped in surprise at the noise. Timon then let out what appeared to be a sigh of relief. He seemed to be feeling better now.

“Ahhh. I feel better, now. It was just a bit of gas.” Timon said.

“Oh, sorry.” Pumbaa replied with embarrassment, misunderstanding Timon’s remark as if it was directed towards him. Pumbaa always had problems with wind himself, and he was used to being picked on whenever he would break wind.

“Not you; me.” Timon said, half-amused by Pumbaa’s misunderstanding. That was not the first time Pumbaa had done that. He remembered Pumbaa saying that once back when they lived in the Tropical Paradise:

“I tell you, Pumbaa,” Timon began, “This stinks”

“Oh, sorry.” Pumbaa replied, thinking that Timon was relating to him.

“Not you! Them!” Timon remarked with slight annoyance as he pointed towards Simba and Nala walking away from them.

Timon now started to see the funny side of it and he was quietly snickering to himself. Pumbaa noticed Timon laughing to himself and he looked at him suspiciously. “What are you laughing about, Timon?”

Timon knew that he had been sprung and quickly stopped to clear his throat and look for an excuse. “Oh! Uh…I…I was just…thinking about something that amused me some time ago that involved my uncle.” Timon tried, knowing how much his Uncle Max was a little crazy and a little grumpy at times back when he lived with all the other meerkats.

“What was so amusing about it?” Pumbaa asked.

Timon knew that Pumbaa was going to ask this and he knew that he would have to say more just to escape from the situation. He always knew that when you are trying to lie to get out of something, it would usually take a few words until the questioner is satisfied and does not want to talk about it any more. He would also have to make it sound convincing enough so that no weird or silly answers would cause suspicion.

“He just made it back into the underground that time when hyenas invaded our territory. They almost mauled him and he said ‘I flinched when I should have scurried’ before collapsing. It was pretty serious at the time, but I find it funny now; because I think that his brain has been knocked about by rocks; and even during serious situations he made amusing comments.”

Pumbaa took this in and even started to snicker himself when Timon mentioned Uncle Max’s comment. He decided to take it as it was and not talk about it any more. His mind focused back to the subject that he brought up before helping rid Timon of his stomach pains.

“I see.” Pumbaa began, then immediately said, “Hey, could I ask you a question?”

“Sure, pal. Fire away.” Timon replied.

“I was just thinking about the times we had back at the Tropical Paradise, and…”

“You know what?” Timon interrupted, immediately catching what Pumbaa was bringing up. “Before my stomach went crazy, I was thinking exactly the same thing!”

Pumbaa was surprised that Timon managed to pick up the same thoughts as him, but he knew that they were both alike, and they always thought alike, so he took it well. “Really? You were? Well, I just wanted to say that there were some great times that we shared: Swimming, roller-coaster riding on the rapids, eating, bungee jumping…”

“…Bowling for buzzards, sunbaking, stargazing, swinging.” Timon added, “We had it all, didn’t we buddy? It is hard to believe that it has been some years since we saw it last, eh? Some good times that I would love to relive.”

“I was thinking the same, Timon.” Pumbaa replied, acknowledging the think-alike trio that they were. “Which was what I was just about to ask: Did you want to go back there for a while and relive those days again?”

Timon started to get excited at the idea, but at the same time thought about the Pride Lands, knowing that if they were going to go back to their original home, they would have to leave their friends and good memories in the Pride Lands behind for a while. He started to feel a little uncertain about some tough decisions, but in the end he made up his mind. “Yeah, Pumbaa,” He said with a reluctant and somewhat sad speech in his voice, “Let’s go back and see what those days did for our lives.”

Pumbaa smiled but at the same time could not help thinking about leaving Simba and his pride. Just the thought of his old home made him think about the days parenting Simba when he was just a cub. To him and Timon, Simba was like the son they might never have had. Not only that, but Simba’s daughter Kiara was like niece to them, and they had some really fun times with her as well that they considered her and Simba the family they never had. All these thoughts made him feel really sad about leaving family behind, but he decided to go along with Timon considering that it was his idea in the first place.

“Okay,” Pumbaa reluctantly said, “Let’s go.”

“Wait! Hold on a minute.” Timon said, just thinking about something that he and Pumbaa might have to do in this particular situation, “Before we go, we have to tell Simba about what we are going to do.”

“Why?” Pumbaa asked.

“Because we don’t want him to worry and wonder were we have gone. He might even send out search parties to look for us.”

“I didn’t know that you can party while looking for someone.” Pumbaa replied, misunderstanding again. Sometimes Pumbaa would not understand metaphors or unclear English that Timon would often speak.

“That’s not what I meant, genius!” Timon said in a cheeky and forceful expression. “I didn’t mean ‘parties’ parties. I meant groups that form together to look for people and certain things.”

“Oh! I understand; sorry about that.” Pumbaa replied, again slightly embarrassed at his mistake.

“It’s okay, don’t worry about it.” Timon replied in an understanding voice. “Now come on, let’s go and find Simba.”

And with that they both left for Pride Rock to go and find Simba.

It was now mid morning, and every lion inside the den at Pride Rock was now fully awake. Most of them had gone out into the Pride Lands to begin the morning hunt for breakfast, and some of the others decided to stay inside the den. Most of whom were some of the injured victims from the previous days’ battle, and so they were resting their bodies and nursing their wounds. No one was seriously injured. They all just had scratches and bruises. The ones who were most affected were the original members of Simba’s pride, because the new addition to the pride; the former Outsiders; were trained to fight, and therefore had the advantage in the fight to inflict the most damage on their opponents. But the Originals were recovering well, and they all just needed some more time to rest.

At the very back behind Pride Rock, Simba, Nala, Kovu, and Kiara had all gathered in a circle to begin the meeting that Nala had organized.

“Alright, Nala,” Simba began gently as soon as he arrived, “What is this all about?”

“We are just waiting for Vitani.” Nala replied. “This involves her, too.”

Vitani, Kovu’s sister, had not arrived yet. She had slept in this morning and took her time to wake up. She was very much like her brother in that they both loved to sleep and hated having to be forced to wake up when they didn’t want to.

She suddenly appeared from out of the den and started walking towards the back of Pride Rock. She was still yawning because she was very tired due to a lack of sleep the previous night. She also couldn’t help feeling that her mother was still alive, and it disturbed her. But what she was really worried about was the fact that she had betrayed her in battle. She knew what she was doing at the time of the battle when switching sides, but there was something that her mother said that made her fearful of her.

“Vitani, now!” Zira yelled at Vitani, seeing the opportunity to attack was open when Simba got distracted by his daughter’s words of wisdom.

“No, mother.” Vitani remarked, looking at Kiara after she had said that the two prides were ‘one’. She realized that Kiara had a point about the two prides being connected together, and she decided to settle the battle once and for all as she walked over to the other side with Simba’s Pride. “Kiara is right. Enough.” She said towards the Outsiders. The outsiders all looked at each other in realization and considered the decision for peace to be settled.

“If you will not fight,” Zira remarked in fury at her daughter’s betrayal, “then you will die as well.”

The other Outsiders scowled at Zira’s words and turned to the side of Simba’s Pride.

Vitani remembered those words very clearly as she only heard them the previous day. She knew that if Zira survived, she would immediately go after Vitani first, because she had always looked up to Vitani as her own daughter. Vitani felt the same for her mother as she helped her and followed her every move in every way possible. There was nothing she wouldn’t do to remain loyal to her mother over the time that she was growing up. Vitani had never let her mother down before; and in this particular situation she had made things bad by betraying her. She knew now that being loyal to her mother was wrong, but she couldn’t shake off this bad feeling about Zira’s words to her.

“Vitani?” Kiara said, noticing Vitani’s presence getting closer to her and the others. Vitani did not notice that she had gotten closer and closer to the group behind Pride Rock as she was thinking about those things; while at the same time putting on a ‘thinking’ face that seemed to attract Kiara’s attention.

“Hm? Oh, hi everyone.” Vitani replied, quickly snapping out of her thoughts as she reached the group and sat down. “Sorry about that, I slept in.”

“Were you thinking about something?” Kiara asked.

Vitani knew she was going to ask this and replied, “I just can’t help thinking about the previous days events. They got a bit too much for me. Plus I am still feeling a bit stiff after all that fighting.” Vitani didn’t want the others to know what she was thinking about. Not yet, anyway. However, she did tell the truth about her soreness. She was slightly wounded in her back from the previous day’s battle, and she couldn’t yet relieve herself of the pain.

“Okay,” Nala began, “now that everyone is here we can begin.”

“Just before you start, Nala,” Simba butted in, “I just want to remind Kovu that I will be taking you around the Pride Lands today to show you how to become a good king since I chose you and Kiara to take mine and Nala’s places on the throne when our time comes.” Simba had chosen Kovu to become king the previous day since he became his daughter’s mate. He had already told Kovu the previous day but he just needed to remind him again so that he knew for sure.

“Yes Sim...I mean: Sire.” Kovu said, remembering that apart from those who were more closely related, everyone must call the King ‘Sire’ or ‘Your Majesty’.

Simba smiled in slight amusement at his supposed future son-in-law. “It’s okay, Kovu. You can call me ‘Simba’. Remember; we are family now.”

Kovu was flattered by Simba’s gesture; beginning to feel like Simba was his own father. Kovu never knew his biological father; and there was not much more that he wanted than to open up that opportunity with Simba.

“That also reminds me;” Nala added, “Vitani, after this meeting is over, could you please take Kiara out into the savannah to fight? We know that she is not quite trained yet.” As she finished, she noticed Kiara trying to hide her face behind Kovu in embarrassment. Kiara already knew that she had failed once at hunting, and she didn’t want to show it again. “Don’t worry about it Kiara; you will do great soon. I promise.” Nala assured to her daughter.

“I will be more than happy to show her how to hunt, Nala.” Vitani said. She also wanted to add something else, just to be on the safe side. “I…I can call you Nala, right?”

“Of course you may, Vitani.” Nala replied, smiling at the same response from her brother. “Like Simba said: We are family now.” Vitani smiled back at her.

“Anyway, let us begin.” Nala resumed the start of the meeting. “Now Kiara, I know that it hurts too much to talk about it, so I will say it for you.” Kiara was still afraid of the situation that she supposed was facing them; and she did not want to mention what she saw on the ledge yesterday herself. “You all remember how Kiara attempted to save Zira on the ledge yesterday? Well Kiara says that Zira didn’t slip as everybody else thought.”

“WHAT?!” Simba, Kovu, and Vitani all yelled at once.

“She tried to save Zira as she was slipping, but Zira suddenly said, ‘No, never’ and intentionally let go of the ledge; and as she was falling she laughed all the way down and then disappeared under the currents.”

Simba, Kovu, and Vitani all just stood there, completely stunned at what they had just heard. None of them could believe what Zira would have done if what they heard was true. Kiara was looking at the soil on the ground in fear at the mention of the subject again. She was trying to choke back tears as Kovu came over and tried to comfort her. “Don’t worry about it too much.” He said to her in a calm voice. “It is all over now.” He then turned to Nala. “This is all very informative, but what is the point that you are trying to make?”

“Well, Kiara suspects that Zira survived that fall.” Nala replied.

“Now come on, how could one lion survive such a long fall down into a very deadly flowing river that flows about five times its normal speed?” Simba asked; feeling very assured of what he said.

“I agree,” Kovu remarked. “I saw her back hit the water when she fell in, and I know that when you land in the water back first it stings you so badly. Plus if she did survive when she fell in, how do we know whether she was even able to hold her breath for long enough before drowning or not? The speed of the current might have even pushed her hard into one of those rocks and killed her.”

Everyone else seemed to take this into consideration. They knew very well that the river was flowing like an avalanche; and so if someone was caught in it, it would be very hard to hold your breath long enough underwater before drowning through all the struggle if you did not have enough time through the speed of the flows to resurface and catch a breath. The river also contained a series of rocks, and so hard contact with the rocks from the speed of the currents would be enough to kill someone in no time.

“I see your point, Kovu,” Kiara said over the talking from the others, “and you are probably right; but I just have this feeling deep in my bones that she is still alive.”

“She might be.” Vitani began, remembering how fit and strong her mother was. “And just think about it: She wouldn’t have let go if she knew that she couldn’t survive those currents. I know my mother very well. She was probably the fittest out of all the Outsiders. She was very well trained, she was fast, she was a vicious fighter, and over the years she wouldn’t stop working out to build up 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 to the den right now and inform everyone of your plans.”

“Thank you, Nala.” Simba replied. “And now let us get on with our schedules for the day. Vitani, you go with Kiara and teach her how to hunt and fight; and you come with me Kovu. Your lesson begins now.”

Everyone nodded, and Vitani took Kiara south of Pride Rock and into the open savannah. Nala walked back towards the front of Pride Rock and into the den, where she was to inform the pride of Simba’s plans. Simba and Kovu began walking together towards the top of Pride Rock, where Kovu’s education into kingdomship was to begin.

…To be continued in Part II.

Author’s Note: This is my very first attempt at story-writing, so I try my best. This story might even take some time until I finish it. There is a lot to think about when story writing. It doesn’t just come right out of the box, you know. Again, anything that you think might need improvement, by all means let me know.