Woe Becomes Happiness [PRIVATE: AC & VM]

[AustralianChaos]

Backstory: Kopa has grown up in the Pridelands, raised to become the next king, enjoying his time with his friends...but Scar's followers have other ideas for the young prince.
But no-one knows that, beyond the borders of the Pridelands, another group of young lions wanders, neither side knowing that the union of a lifetime is about to be formed between two groups of cubs...

Characters:
Asante: VitanisMate
Baref: VitanisMate
Juhudi: AustralianChaos
Kiburi: AustralianChaos
Kopa: AustralianChaos
Kujasuri: VitanisMate
Mzuri: VitanisMate
Tanga: AustralianChaos

Minor Characters:
Zira: AustralianChaos

===================

Kopa bounced along as Zira lead him closer to the gorge near the north-western border of the Pridelands. He was excited about this little adventure. Simba had mentioned several times that this gorge was an important landmark in the Pridelands...the sight of a major event in the history of the Pridelands.

However, his father had never elaborated on the story, and now Zira seemed to be about to not only tell him the story...but show him exactly what happened where, as well. He loved it when the adults told their stories in this manner, it made him feel like he was part of th story, actually living in the middle of it, which was far more fun.

"So what happened here, Zira?" Kopa asked, his voice bubbling his eager curiosity. He was so excited about hearing this story that he did not notice Zira's hint of a sneer as she began telling the tale of a stampede that had torn through the gorge that were now very close to. He just continued to wander alongside the lioness, the tuft that was the first sign of his mane bouncing on his forehead as his tail flicked back and forth from the suppressed energy he was carrying.

Kopa's energetic presence faded when Zira mentioned that Simba, his very own father, and his late grandfather, Mufasa, had been caught in the middle of the stampede. Simba was young at the time, and Mufasa had been desperately trying to save him from harm.

At this point in the story, Zira and Kopa reached the edge of the massive gorge that cut through the land. Kopa, in his eagerness to see where Simba and Mufasa had raced for their very lives from a rampaging wildebeest stampede, trotted straight to the edge of the gorge and looked down into it, quickly picturing a thousand wildebeest charging through, with his father and grandfather caught in the middle of it.

"Whoa..." he breathed in awe, staring down into the gorge with such single-minded fascination that he never noticed Zira coming up behind him slowly, a dark, heartless grin on her face as her shadow descended over his golden-brown body.

----------

Tanga ran all around Pride Rock, looking for his friend, but with no luck. "Kopa?" he called "Kopa, where are you? You promised we'd have fun today!"

It was that last point that left the golden-furred cub confused, as he stopped and ran a paw through the tiny strip of dark gray fur on the top of his head...the first signs of his mane coming up. Whenever Kopa promised something, the little cub always kept it, always. So where was he?

Tanga called out for his friend a few more times, and still got no response, which only added to the cub's confusion. "Alright, Ko! You win, I give up! You can come out now!" He finally cried as he sat outside the entrance to the lion's den in Pride Rock, waiting for Kopa to reveal himself, laughing at how easily Tanga had given up on the game.

But several long moments passed, and Kopa did not come out. Frowning, Tanga got back to his feet and headed down to the base of Pride Rock. Maybe he's fallen asleep under Pride Rock again, he thought curiously.

But he got to the base of Pride Rock, and under the long promontory of rock that stretched out away from the main formation, he found not Kopa, but two more of Kopa's - and his - best friends...Mzuri, a little lioness who Tanga though was a lot of fun, even if she was a girl, and Asante. Asante was a hyena pup Kopa frequently hung out with, and Tanga frowned as he saw her...he did not trust her, having heard the stories about the hyenas from his parents.

But still, he accepted Asante, out of respect for Kopa's decision to have her in the group, and his worry for kopa outweighed his mistrust as he padded over to the two. "Hey, you two! Have either of you seen Kopa today?"

[VitanisMate]

Mzuri was basking in the sun and enjoying the sun's rays. She was with Asante as well and continued to rest knowing that either Kopa or Tanga would disrupt her from resting. It was because of this that she savored her little cat nap while she could. She enjoyed her little rests before her and sucked in some fresh air. I never want this moment to end. It is so peaceful.

Mzuri remembered her life before and how her father and mother ruthlessly hurt her when she was little by pushing her off the cliff that was in their pridelands. She started to cry a little but fought it over. Luckily when she stumbled in here a few months ago Simba's pride gladly accepted her and now she was friends with the son of the King and Queen of these lands.

She also thought of her two friends Kopa and Tanga. She thought they were both cute in their own little ways and enjoyed playing with them with the occassional flirt here and there though they clearly did not know what that was for they did not seem to notice.

Tanga soon ran up to Mzuri and asked where he was. "Oh Tanga I have no idea where Kopa is but I am glad you are here to see me." She came closer to him seeing if he would back up or not and laughed. "Well Tanga we better go find him. Are you coming Asante?"

===

Asante was playing as well. Asante was glad that Kopa had no quarrel with playing with a little hyena considering the discrimination hyenas had out here from lions. It seemed lions thought any hyena would just automatically attack them while laughing hysterically. He sighed and approached the gang of Tanga and Mzuri and heard about Kopa missing. Though he was glad Mzuri accepted him he knew Tanga was suspicious of him which hurt him a little.

He said, "Of course guys! Kopa has treated me the best out of everyone and I would never want anything to happen to my best friend. I would do anything to protect him. Let's go." Helookedtoward Tanga andtried to show he was serious about finding his friend.

===

Kujasiri looked at his group of rogue cubs and said, "Cubs you know what the Pridelanders did to us. They just chunked us out like a piece of rotting meat. Now we live where everything is scarce and nothing flourishes in abundance. They did it to us."

He looked at the female cubs in his group and said to them, "The adult rogues also left us for dead so we are not loved anywhere. We only have eachother girls." He looked at the cheetah cub also in the group and said, "You know that I also had the good graces of letting in a non-lion to be a part of our group. Now Baref we are all equal in our own misery."

He looked at Kiburi and looked away red in the face having a little crush on her. He was almost an adolescent now so he had to deal with these strange feelings inside of him. "Now we have to find food and water soon or we will perish. Who is with me?"

He looked at them all noticing their approval an smiled. He knew they all would be faithful subjects. "Remember also girls and you Baref that anybody that is a Pridelander or adult is not our friend and will only want to hurt or kill us. Remember also how I singlehandedly have taken care of us faithfully even though we are all cubs. The adults said it could never be done remember? Well I wonder what they would say now hmm? What would they say Kiburi?"

===

Baref looked at Kujasiri with a huff of approval. He came from a family of cheetahs who cared nothing about him and was forever grateful to Kujasiri for letting him into this group. He might be hungry a little sometimes but he felt like he had...a family.

[AustralianChaos]

Tanga took a couple of steps back as Mzuri jumped well into his personal space. Why does she always do that? he asked himself. It's like she trying to tell me something...

But then she offerred to join him in his search for their friend, with Asante quickly agreeing as well. He gave the hyena a half-hearted smile...he really did try to accept her, but one of the stories about the time before Simba became kept ruining the moments he spent doing it. "Alright, let's go! He can't have gone too far!" he said, leading the way as he bent his head to the ground, trying to smell out Kopa's presence.

It was not easy. This close to Pride Rock, scent trails were everywhere, criss-crossing and mingling and doing a wonderful job of throwing his nose off the trail. But as he extended his search further out from Pride Rock, he picked up on a very recent trial left by Kopa as he had bounded through the grass, off to the north-west. But Tanga also scented another lion with him...a lioness, he quickly corrected, and an adult, too.

"Found him!" he cried triumphantly, grinning at his two friends, before following the trail out to the northwest, picking up the pace as he sensed the trail growing stronger...they were getting closer. But the question still remained, spinning in his head; Why had Kopa run off with this lioness without telling them? And what did this lioness want with him so far from Pride Rock?

With those questions, Tanga felt a shiver run right down his spine. They had already passed several spots that would have been perfect if this lioness had wanted to talk privately with Kopa...something else was going on, here...and Tanga's senses were telling him to hurry up. "I have a bad feeling about this," he said, his normally bubbly voice sounding much more worried. "Why would anyone take him thise far from home?" He turned to the others, fear beginning to creep into his being...and onto his face.

"Come on!" he yelled, before tearing off faster still, not bothering to follow the trail...they were close to the borders of the Pridelands, and Tanga knew that there was only one landmark in this area that the lioness could possibly have taken Kopa towards...

----------

"So what happened to them then?" Kopa asked, turning back to face Zira, giving a startled yelp when he saw how close she had come while he had been distracted. He shook his fright off, though, completely missing the menacing nature of Zira's body language as she replied, causing him to turn back around.

"Mufasa managed to carry young Simba to safety," Zira replied, pointing to a sheltered alcove in the gorge wall directly below Kopa's left forepaw. "But the stampede caught up to him before he could reach safety himself. He somehow managed to escape by climbing up these cliffs here." Her paw then poining to the steep cliffside directly below Kopa's nose, causing his eyes to widen as he pictured an image of his grandfather - just an older version of Simba - clawing his way up what appeared to be an impossibly steep slope.

"Wow!" he managed to say, awed by what his mind was showing him, leaning over the edge a little to get a better look, never noticing Zira's victorious smirk as he did so. "How did he get up this cliff?" he asked, his voice full of wonder.

At this question, Zira gave a low, menacing chuckle, one that Kopa, even in his distracted state, could not miss. But Zira acted before he could do anything about the sudden change in her demeanour. "Why don't you find out, little one?" she said darkly.

With that last declaration, Kopa felt Zira give him a hard nudge in the backside, forcing him to take several steps forward to balance himself...only he did not have room to take even one. With a surprised, terrified scream he toppled over the cliff edge, his paws lashing out blindly, claws unsheated in a desperate attempt to stop his fall.

By an amazing stroke of luck, Kopa's forepaws somehow found the very cliff edge Mufasa had climbed, and he managed to dig all four paws in to bring his fall to a grinding halt, his forepaws only inches below the rim of the cliff, where Zira was sitting, smirking at him as he desperately clung on for dear life, his terrified mind trying to process why she was trying to kill him, and how he could escape her.

In the end, only one idea...and one word...came to mind. "HELP!" he screamed at the top of his lungs, hoping that someone, anyone, would hear him, and stop Zira in time.

----------

Juhudi gave their little group's 'king' an interesting stare. "Girls?" he repeated. "Do I exist, or are you claiming I'm a girl, too?"

Despite Juhudi's annoyed tone and expression, the little cub was somewhat used to being treated as a girl. It was only up-close that anyone could tell he was a guy, anyway. As a cub, his mane had yet to start growing, and his pale gold fur was extremely close in colouration to the standard tan colour most lionesses possesed.

His red-tipped tail twitching in annoyance, Juhudi decided to move on, rather than make an issue over his looks. "But you're right, the adults did abandon us, and you have helped us...but what, exaclty, do you want us to do, again?"

The question was sincere...Kujasiri had mentioned his intentions of returning to the Pridelands a couple of times now, but Juhudi's memory was easily distracted, and he had still yet to retain the full details of the plan. I'll make sure I remember it this time, he vowed to himself as he sat near his sister, Kiburi, waiting for their leader's reply.

----------

Kiburi looked to Kujasiri, and was just about to answer the question he posed her when her older brother - although only by about two minutes - Juhudi cut across, once again complaining about being labelled a girl.

Kiburi released some poorly-stifled giggles at her brother's misfortune. She tried to be nice to him about his appearance...he did take good care of her after all...but some days she just found it so amusing that her brother was so easily mis-idenitified. "Sorry, Hudi," she said apologetically when her brother glared at her for her giggles.

When her brother gave her a forgiving nod, she turned back to Kujasiri, giving him a sweet smile. She had a very strong suspicion that their leader had a crush on her. And while she did not return the sentiments...at least not yet, she had no qualms about using it to her advantage. "I'm sure the adults will be amazed that we have lived on without them, right?!"

[VitanisMate]

Baref snorted again knowing he was the enforcer of the group. "Cub do you wish to question Kujasiri again or do I need to silence you?" Though he was a cub himself he was older than Juhudi and put on a threatening glance toward him. Kujasiri had led them through thick and thin and he would not let a small cub backtalk him like that while he was there.

He came before Kujasiri and said, "Now boss before we were so rudely interrupted," he looked at Juhudi, "what is your plan?" He smiled knowing he silenced the annoying excuse for fur for now. He knew the looks of Kujasiri on the sister though meant he liked her.

Baref knew he would have to be nice to her so he said, "Indeed Kiburi we should all be so thankful the boss has helped us so much through our need to survive."

===

Kujasiri looked at Juhudi and said, "I call you a girl Juhudi to demean you and make you work harder to find us some food. Trust me the only reason you are in this group is because of your sister. Think about that Juhudi." He knew he was being rough on the cub but he was showing him the ways of survival.

He looked at Kiburi pleased with her answer and smiled, "Yes Kiburi I absolutely love your answers." He looked at her blushing again making it obvious.

He looked at Baref threatening Juhudi and said, "No Baref it is alright. I think the cub has learned his lesson on paying attention haven't you Juhudi? Now tell me Juhudi of my plan." He smiled knowing that Juhudi was not paying attention. The cub needed to learn to so that he could survive.

"Now my friends the outlying lands of the Pridelands has barely any Pridelanders walking around so if we stay there we should be safe and we will have enough food, water, and plentiful entertainment. Now is everyone with me on this." He looked at Kiburi, "What do you think?"

===

Asante looked toward Tanga and sighed, He did not know why Tanga decided that they should not be friends. He would gladly help them find Kopa though.

He followed Tanga knowing that Tanga had the scent on Kopa. He smiled knowing at least Tanga and he had one thing in common: protecting their best friend Kopa. He wondered why Kopa would go out this far. "You know guys this reminds me of a song I heard when I was a cub. My parents sang it when they were told by a lion to be prepared."

He started singing the lyrics not knowing the lions did not like that. "Be prepared for the coup of the century..." He looked at Tanga. "Nice ring to it huh?" He sighed and kept searching for Kopa. He then started laughing for no reason knowing that Tanga would probably be annoyed by that. He could not help it though and kept right on doing it.

He then saw a large lioness fling Kopa off the cliff and he yelled to the lioness, "Get away from my friend! You get away from him you evil lioness!" He did a dog-like growl at her at least the best a young hyena could muster of that. He knew of course that a lioness that size could rip him in two. But maybe with four cubs the lioness would run away.

He hoped Tanga and Mzuri was backing up on this. Not knowing that they were he froze and covered his eyes hoping the lioness would just go away. He was never so scared of one creature before in his life and in a way he thought it was ironic that he would be scared of someone that was the same species as his group. Please stay away from me! Please just leave me alone you monster! He knew he had only Tanga and Mzuri helping them and turned away yelling to them, "I am sorry Tanga and Mzuri. I am sorry Kopa. I am a coward." He ran far.

He knew he could do something for them though and tried to get to the King and Queen of the Pridelands. He knew he had to hurry if he wanted to see his friends ever again.

===

Mzuri saw Tanga sniff Kopa and flirted with him a little again complimenting him. "My Tanga you have such a special nose. I wish I could smell like that. I know Kopa is safe and we will find him with that special nose of yours Tanga." She laughed knowing Tanga was confused.

She still followed the trail and decided to pass the time with some small talk to Tanga, "So Tanga what do you think of me personally?" She decided to leave it at that and let Tanga concentrate on finding Kopa. She had feelings for Kopa too and wanted to make sure he was okay and unharmed. She looked toward his trail and said, "Why would Kopa be out this far? He knows these lands are dangerous." She looked toward Asante and Tanga and was really worried.

She sighed and looked toward the sun. Great Kings of the Past make sure Kopa makes it today. Make sure he makes it and will be happy for the rest of his life. She kept wondering why he would be out this far but then smellled something horrible. She smelled an adult female lion with Kopa. She immediately told Tanga, "Tanga something is wrong!" Before she could finish however he was off in full speed and she followed close behind him as fast as her little legs could carry her knowing Kopa could ahve gotten hurt from this large, imposing female figure. Great Kings of the Past please, please help Kopa. He is to become king. Help your descendent!

She then came upon this large female lioness and immediately froze. She knew she had no chance against this massive figure. She knew that figure could rip her up like her parents did. She saw Asante run off obviously scared and she knew now the female would kill them both with no remorse. She looked toward this large female and saw pure hatred in her eyes like this was what she meant to do all of her life: kill Kopa. She couldn't imagine why considering Kopa was the most fun, friendliest lion she ever met and never hurt anybody. He even took a hyenas a friend when no one wlse would.

She then heard Kopa to the edge and thought about getting around the femaleand trying to save him. "Tanga please we need to help Kopa! We ahev to get around that...that brute!" She was so scared that she could say nothing but she said, "Kopa hold on." She looked on knowing it was hopeless and knowing no one would help them ever. She looked at Tanga, "Tanga if we die I just want you to know that...that...nevermind." She looked ahead and cursed knwoing that Asante could have helped them. She knew he was probably hiding in the trees by now and knew once again they were doomed...

[AustralianChaos]

Kopa stared up at Zira as she leaned down, grabbing his paws with her own, her claws digging into his flesh, causing the cub to cry out in pain and terror, knowing that Zira's grip was drawing blood. "Zira, please...you're hurting me!"

Zira snorted. "The pain you feel is nothing, prince!" she scoffed, staring at him with a look of pure malice and hatred that wiped away any hope in Kopa's mind that Zira might just help him back up. "I lost my mate to your father...and he was the true king of the Pridelands! Your father killed him for the throne...I am just setting things right, back the way they should be!"

And as Zira's grip tightened on Kopa's paws, his terror and panic reached fever-pitch. He knew what was coming...it was impossible not to. Zira was going to throw him off the side of the gorge! Stealing a nervous glance over his shoulder, Kopa immediately wished he hadn't. The view had been beautiful before, but now Kopa's head spun from the thought of just how far he had to fall. How long will it take? he found himself thinking. Will it hurt? He did not want to die...but it looked like he had no choice in the matter.

As he waited for the end, he thought he heard the voices of his friends calling him, but it was distant and Kopa assumed he was imagining things as he closed his eyes, and waited for Zira to throw him off.

----------

Tanga looked up at Mzuri as she commented on his tracking abilities, finding himself blushing at her sweet comments despite himself. "Th-Thanks...but it's not that special," he managed to stammer, infinitely thankful that his fur was concealing his blush.

He looked up when he heard Asante's desperate cry, accompanied by his pup growl. Staring at Asante, wondering what had caused the young hyena to do such things, Tanga quickly followed his gaze, where he saw, a short distance away, Zira was leaning over the edge of the Stampede Gorge, and appeared to be clutching onto something...Kopa!

It took Tanga another moment to register that Zira was not helping Kopa...even from this distance, he could see the evil gleam in her eyes, and knew she was simply gloating at him, preparing to throw him off. "Kopa!" he screamed, fear and worry for his friend filling him.

He was so focused on Kopa's plight, that he barely heard Asante's apologetic cry, before the hyena turned tail and fled the scene. He was obviously scared of Zira, but Tanga paid him no mind, simply praying that the hyena found help...and fast.

But even as he looked at the unfolding scene in horror, he realised that no matter how fast Asante ran, he would be too late. By the time he got back with help, Zira would already have killed Kopa. If his friend was going to be saved, something had to be done...now.

"We have to do something!" he cried in a panic to Mzuri, figeting restlessly as he tried to figure out what they could possibly do. In the end, only one option kept presenting itself in his mind...and he decided to act. Not bothering to wait to Mzuri's input, he sprang off from his current position, charging straight at Zira. He had no idea what he was going to do to stop the lioness, especially since he was just a cub...but the point remained that he had to do something, anything, to stop Zira from killing Kopa.

In the end, he kept his plan simple as he charged straight at Zira and, before she could react in any sort of way, ferociously charged straight into her, his body, whilst small, having a huge amount of momentum behind it as he tackled her.

----------

Kiburi frowned at the way Baref and Kujasiri treated her brother, but did not speak up. They did have some fair points...and she did not want to turn them against her. She got the feeling that both herself and Juhudi would struggle to survive without those two.

But she did manage to sneak Juhudi an understanding, caring look, letting him know that she was there, and even though she wasn't saying anything, she thought he was better than what those suggest he was. In some ways, he was, too. He might not be a natural hunter, but he had hunted his fair share of food. Of all four of them, Kiburi knew that she was the most incompetent hunter by far.

Kiburi looked back up at her brother, sighing at the gleam in his eyes. Here we go again, she thought sadly, knowing that Juhudi was almost certainly going to do something incredibly stupid to prove to the others that he was not useless, and probably get himself hurt along the way.

----------

Juhudi smiled at his sister's look, knowing that she was just trying to keep both side's of their rather strained group in her good graces, before turning back to Kujasiri. "I'm with you," he said, looking around for something...anything he could use to prove to the two before him that he was just a capable of helping them survive as they were.

But as his eyes scanned the lands around them, he spotted something that very effectively distracted him. "Hey, look at that!" he said, pointing a paw off to the distance, where he could see a whole bunch of lions gathered around the edge of a gorge. There appeared to be one adult with multiple cubs, and one of the cubs...

"Oh, Kings!" he breathed, as he noticed one of the cubs was hanging off the edge of the gorge, and the adult appeared to be trying to throw him off!

He wanted to help the cub in trouble, but he resisted the urge, turning instead to their leader. "Kujasiri, what do we do?" he asked, praying that he would decide to help the cub in trouble...particularly since it looked like the other cubs were trying to help him, and stop the lioness.

[VitanisMate]

Baref looked at Kujasiri hoping that they would have to do nothing. He knew they stood no chance against a lioness that size and who looked like she could kill them at any moment. He looked toward Kujasiri for his answer but knew he would no say no so not to worry.

"Cub if you want to go over there and kill the lioness yourself go ahead. If you win the first meal I kill will be yours." He laughed knowing that cub stood no chance. "Don't worry I will be kind enough to build you a grave for your scratched up body when she is done with you." He laughed at his own jokes. He looked toward Kiburi too trying to motion to her to control her idiot brother.

He noticed Kujasiri did not speak and wondered what took him so long. He hoped that did not mean he was actually considering on helping the cub over there. He saw...pain in Kujasiri's eyes. What in the world was going on with the boss at that moment?

===

Kujasiri looked at the cub and yelled at him. "We will do nothing Juhudi you idiotic fool!" He knew he was being hard on him but he was trying to help him. Such thinking like that out here could get them killed. He calmed himself and saw what looked like a dead antelope out here. He rubbed his eyes and hoped it was not a mirage. He could smell it though.

He licked his lips and looked toward Juhudi. "Now look Juhudi there is nothing we can do. You have to accept that out here. What could we do anyway? We are only a bunch of cubby runts. Now look Juhudi since Baref and I were so mean to you we will let you eat first."

He looked at Kiburi letting her know he was being nice to her brother to please her. He kept looking toward that scene and let out a sigh.

He was about to dig in but looked back at the scene yet again. It reminded him of how the adult rogues just left them all there to die and he fought back tears. He looked toward Kiburi, wanting to please her and asked, "Kiburi what should we do?"

===

Asante tried to run toward Priderock but he knew the lions there would just hate him for who he was. He kept going anyway to help his friends. He stopped knowing that he was a coward and then ran back over to the scene before him. "You leave my friend alone!" He saw Tanga charge toward Zira and he tried to do the same thing but missed charging into the tree.

For some reason he let out another laugh. It was highly inappropriate at the time considering their fates but he could not help it. I am a useless help. At least lions can actually help their friends. Hyenas are useless! He looked at Tanga seeing he knocked Zira over.

He tried to get himself out of the tree but failed and cursed himself again. He looked toward the sky and whispered, "Great Hyenas of the Past please help me get over my clumsiness." He looked hoping anyone would save Kopa for it would not be him. He then saw a bunch of other lion cubs off in the distance. Why don't they try and help us? Can't they see my friends are in trouble? He looked on hoping they would see what was going on. He looked toward Tanga and said, "Run Tanga!"

He saw Mzuri think of a plan herself and looked toward her hoping she would try and save Kopa. He admired his friends. At least they had courage. He looked down. He had no courage at all and knew it greatly. He looked out toward the sun.

===

Mzuri laughed seeing Tanga blush toward her and said, "Tanga you know that nose can be used for other things right." She looked at him more than a friend would and smiled knowing he would be at a lost for words at that moment.

She looked at the scene before her and knew Tanga would get hurt. She panicked and looked at Tanga hoping he would not get hurt. "No Tanga please...you will get hurt." She liked Kopa and Tanga both and did not want anything to happen to either of them. She soon lost all feelings in her toes and looked toward the site toward her. She looked away knowing how much of a coward she was and looked away ashamed. She looked toward her friends.

She screamed trying to alert anyone to their presence and hoped someone would hear them. She knew however there was no one and saw Asante try to help but fail. She knew the hyena must feel really bad not being able to help his friends.

She however could help them and knew that only she could. She gulped and looked toward Tanga knowing that he would be killed. She looked at Kopa and saw he was about to be killed as well. She looked at herself knowing that she could stop that by challenging the lioness. She knew however that she would be killed most ruthlessly and gulped again.

Mzuri saw how Zira was going to throw Kopa off the cliff and yelled, "No you leave him alone! You leave him alone!" She saw Tanga tackle Zira and she ran up and pushed him out of the way. "Tanga get Kopa I will..." She was so scared she couldn't even say it. She would have to fight a lioness many times her size. She gulped and looked up at the lioness.

"You will never hurt my friends again." She looked at Tanga wondering if he would get Kopa or not. Please guys be safe. Please never let anything happen to you. Great Kings of the Past please help me here. I am no match for her. She would kill me most cruelly. You...have to help the friend of your descendent. Uh...maybe help at least. She gulped again and looked at the image of creulty. She looked at the monstrosity and saw her eyes, stone cold and knew the lioness had no feelings.

[AustralianChaos]

Tanga rolled away from Zira the moment he felt her feet come out from under her from his vicious tackle. He pushed himself back to his feet quickly, spinning to face the lioness who had tried to kill his friend, but before he could do anything, Mzuri shoved past him, yelling at him to get Kopa.

For a brief moment, Tanga froze, torn between two friends in danger. Who do I help? he silently asked. Who do I save? Did he chase down Kopa, and pull him up before he fell, or did he help Mzuri take on Zira? The worst part for Tanga, was knowing that whoever he left behind would most likely die on their own. Brilliant plan, Tanga! the cub mentally scolded himself, cursing his stupidity. Absolutely wonderful thinking!

But Tanga made his choice when he heard Kopa's terrified yell coming from below the cliff edge...a yell Tanga had no problem translating. Kopa was slipping...it was now or never. Throwing Mzuri an apologetic look, trying to apologise for leaving her without speaking, he bolted off for the cliff edge, seeing Kopa losing his grip, mere moments from falling.

In a blind panic, and a last, desperate attempt to save his friend, Tanga launched himself at the cliff edge, forepaws outstretched, praying to the Kings Above that he would make it...

----------

Just as Kopa thought it was all over, that he was going to die, he felt Zira's claws come free of his paws...yet she did not throw him out over the abyss. What?

Opening his eyes once more, Kopa could just see, within his limited field of view, that a small bundle of fur had tackled Zira, throwing her off him...a bundle of fur he recognised. "Tanga!" he cried, joy at his friend's heroic actions mingling with his fear. Zira would now focus her attention on him instead...and Kopa knew that a cub, especially one as lean as Tanga, would not stand a chance against Zira.

But then Kopa saw Mzuri facing off against Zira, telling Tanga to leave her to get him! What are they doing? he mentally demanded. Zira'll kill them all!

But Kopa was quickly distracted when his own claws, the only things now holding him up without Zira's grip to assist him, slipped slightly, causing him to yell in fright and dig them into the rock as deeply as he could, pressing hs body against the cliffside in a desperate attempt to hold on. "No, no no no no no!" he whimpered, panic taking over his senses as he felt his claws slowly coming unstuck from the rock wall. He was going to fall, and there was nothing he could do.

But just as Kopa's claws lost their grip, a set of small paws grabbed tightly onto his forepaws, causing him to cry out in pain as the little claws pierced his skin like Zira's had done. Looking home, he saw Tanga's face staring back, a panicky desperation all over his muzzle. "Hang on buddy!" Tanga cried.

In shock from how close he was to death, all Kopa could do was silently comply, as Tanga tried desperately to pull him back up the cliff. But his lean frame was making little progress, having no strength and leverage to heave Kopa's weight up the cliff.

Kopa tried to help as much as his precarious position would, silently praying for a miracle.

----------

Juhudi looked from the antelope carcass, to the unfolding drama at the gorge, and back again. He wanted to obey Kujasiri...but it just seemed wrong to sit back and watch that lioness kill that group of cubs without at least trying to help. And as Juhudi thought on it, Kujasiri's comments struck him deeply. There is something I can do...

Deciding to abandon the offer of eating first...something Kujasiri rarely offered him, if at all...Juhudi bounded towards the impending scuffle, stopping only briefly to pick up a small, but weighty, rock off the ground. Kiburi was the only other cub that knew of his little hobby. It was an excellent way for the cub to vent his anger when Baref was particularly mean to him...and it also helped in his hunting. Not only that, but months spent practicing in private had actually lent him an astounding level of accuracy.

Forced to slow to a hobbling walk, now that one of his four paws his preoccupied holding the rock, Juhudi moved as fast as his strange gait was able to, ignoring the remarks of the others, determined to help these cubs in any way he possibly could. As he got closer, he noticed a hyena pup among the group. He was about to switch targets, but saw that the pup's behaviour was of someone trying to help the cubs, not kill them. The lioness was the only target.

once he finally felt he was close enough, Juhudi raised the paw the rock was sitting in, balancing his body to assist his aim. As he checked the distances involved in his throw, he saw that the lioness was very close to attacking a young lioness. He did not have enough time. So he did the only thing he could to buy himself more time. "HEY!" he yelled, hoping to catch the lioness' attention for long enough as he quickly adjusted his aim...and hurled the rock with all his might.

----------

Kiburi looked between Juhudi and Kujasiri, trying to decide which side she should take. Did she risk her position with their leader to save those cubs, or did she leave them to die, and please Kujasiri and Baref?

But before she could make a decision, Juhudi bounded off, causing her to start to bound off after her brother, "Hudi, what are you doing?" she cried. She did not want Juhudi to run head-first into a fight and get himself killed. How could you be so stupid? she silently asked her brother.

But Kiburi's persuit of her brother slowed to a halt when she saw him stop and pick up something off the ground. "What are you...?" Kiburi's eyes widened as she realised what he was doing. "Ohh..." Kiburi was amazed. Juhudi had wanted to keep his hobby a closely guarded secret, believing, and Kiburi agreed with him, that Baref and Kujasiri would just tease and scorn him over it. What kind of lion throws rocks for fun?.

All Kiburi could do as Juhudi made his way closer to the scene before them was sit back, and hope Juhudi's aim was as true as it usually was.

----------

Zira was confused when a charging weight slammed into her side, knocking her over and stealing her moment of revenge from her. "What? Who...?" she stopped as he jumped nimbly to her feet, noticing the little runt of a cub...Tanga, was it? Standing before her, obviously intending to stop her all by himself.

She was about to laugh, until a second cub, who she recognised as one of Kopa's closest friends, Mzuri, push Tanga out of the way, telling the male to go get Kopa. As Tanga obeyed the cub's command, Zira started to laugh as she flexed her claws experimentally. Her plan had not quite turned out as she had foreseen it...but what were a few more lives for her revenge?

"You've got guts, cub!" she sneered. "You're a fool, but a gutsy fool, I'll give you that! What makes you think that you can take me on, anyway?" She raised her forepaw, preparing to strike Mzuri down. "No matter, cub...you can't stop my revenge...Scar's revenge!"

But just as she was about to swipe her paw downwards in a vicious slash that would almost certainly kill the cub instantly, a loud, youthful voice cried out somewhere behind her. Distracted, Zira spun around, wondering what this latest problem could possibly be. She was startled to see a cub...a lioness by the pelt colour...standing a short distance away, a paw raised defiantly despite his distance.

Zira laughed at the absolutely ridiculous display the cub was putting on, and was just about to turn back to Mzuri when she noticed the cub's paw whip downwards, and a small blur zipping hard and fast through the air, straight towards...

But before Zira could fully process the fact that a rock was flying towards her at high speed, the object struck, zipping straight into the left side of her skull with a loud thud. A flash of searing pain was the last thing Zira felt before the world snapped out of existance as she lost consciousness, slumping to the grass.

[VitanisMate]

Baref sighed and saw the cub run off. Good riddance to him little twerp always trying to get into trouble. Enjoy your funeral. He laughed a little at that.

He saw the cub fling rocks and thought, Congratulations little cub on getting her angry. He then looked at the sister run off and cursed. He knew the boss would go after Juhudi now considering Kiburi went after him. He just knew it.

He looked toward the boss and exactly saw that look in his eyes and cursed. He knew also he would die from this encounter. If I ever get out of this I will kill that stupid cub! He looked at Juhudi with a menacing grin and thought maybe if he could push him toward that lioness that she would actually do his job for him. He knew he would have to do it discreetly though.

He came toward the scene and was surprised seeing the lioness was knocked out cold by Juhudi. He looked at the cub and said, "So I guess I owe you that free meal huh?"

===

Kujasiri saw Juhudi bound off and saw Kiburi go too. He knew as the leader he looked like a coward. He composed himself and ran over there, pushing Juhudi out of the way and looking toward all of them. The other cubs were about 1/10 the size of Zira but he being the oldest was only 1/2 the size of her.

He looked at everyone especially Kiburi and said , "Everyone get out of here. I will hold her off!" He looked at Kiburi and gave her a longing sigh. He knew that as the leader he was to be the bravest of all of them to prove himself even if it meant giving away his life to save them. He saw them just standing around and yelled, "You fools RUN!"

He looked at the lioness and gulped when she got up. He tried to make himself bigger than he actually was and let out the best imitation of a lion roar. "You are pretty pathetic trying to kill small cubs. Why don't you pick on someone...almost your size." He looked at her and said, "You will never hurt my family ever again! Do you hear me?!"

He looked at her and tried to put on a mean face yourself. "I have no love for Pridelanders but I also have no love for adults either!"

===

Asante saw the lion take over and marveled at his size though he was young. He knew the lion at the very least could help them buy time to escape.

He looked at Mzuri and told her, "Mzuri get out of there please!" He then saw her get from there and he gave a sigh of relief. He then went over and helped Tanga by pulling him up hard. He pulled up as hard as he could and all three of them flew on the ground. Asante started laughing again for no reason at all except that the moment was funny.

He then gave them a head movement telling them all to run. He then looked at Kiburi and Juhudi. "Man your leader is very brave taking on a lioness like that!"

He saw the look in their eyes and was confused as if they knew the leader did not want to help in the first place. He shrugged and looked at Tanga, Kopa, and Mzuri. "Guys I am just glad we made it through all of that." He then saw a cheetah and said, "Oh my friend did your leader let you in as well?" He was confused when the cheetah said nothing.

He smiled at them all. "Well maybe we can become good friends hmm?" He saw the female cub from the other pride look sad for a second and came up to her, "Oh were you and the leader good friends? I am sure he will be alright." He smiled trying to show he was sincere.

He sighed and came toward Kopa. "Kopa you were the best friend I ever had. I am glad we did not lose you. Now are we going back to Pride Rock?"

He looked at Kopa waiting patiently for his response.

===

Mzuri saw the new lion before her and when she saw he was bigger than her she ran off knowing he could handle that lioness better than she could. She saw Kopa, Tanga and Asante together and smiled. She was glad nothing happened to them.

She ran away as fast as she could until they were safe. She went up to Kopa with a seductive smile and said, "Kopa! I was so worried!" She nuzzled him but stopped. "Uh...oh I was worried about Tanga and Asante too of course." She looked away and saw the hyena begin talking to the strangers. She would wait before she got to know them better. She looked toward her two friends and said, "It was like luck, that cub fighting Zira and giving us enough time to escape."

She looked at Kopa and said to him, "Kopa you are hurt! Will you be okay with those wounds?" Her concern for him was showing and she teased. "We can't play as hard with you banged up like that." She then saw Asante come over and said, "Yes we better go back to your parents okay Kopa?" She saw him look down and wondered what was going on. "Kopa are you okay?" She looked away herself knowing that Zira might return and finish them.

She looked at Tanga and smiled showing she was glad he was okay as well.

===

(Surprise character time! )

Fred was a lion poacher searching for any lions he could get his hands on. He hardly cared even if they were cubs. He smiled knowing the authorities would never get him since he would be out of Africa by the time they even would try to arrest him for poaching. He looked around for anything, any sign of life. He smiled knowing some foolish animal would come around soon. He made sure his hunting rifle was loaded and checked the bullets. Everything was fine and he still was looking. He waited several hours and then finally thought he heard something. The sight was just wierd. He saw lion cubs, a cheetah cub, and a young hyena all making noises, obviously communicating with eachother. The wierd site would make scientists even freeze at it and would make it a huge scientific discovery. He just knew it.

This site made him forget about his weapon and he jumped down from the tree getting closer. He saw the animals and looked toward them wondering what they were saying to eachother. He saw the lion cub, a fmelae, by the looks, nuzzle a male cub and figured that the cub was going through a pre-heat moment where cubs started to have attractions for eachother before they had their heat period. He then saw off in the distance a lion cub attacking an adult female. My isn't this a strange sight. I have yet to see any adults around besides the female. She obviously must be playing with that cub and she must be his mother. She is obviously their mother teaching the cubs survival skills. He stayed hidden continuing the observation of these strange cubs, their mother, and the other two animals.

He still forgot his weapon and hoped the lion cubs would not smell them so he could continue watching them further enjoying this kind of biological study though a poacher would be the last person you would expect to do a biological study of the animals he only wanted to hunt and kill. He looked at the cubs. My did that female over there have all of these cubs. She must have had a male lion try to attack her or something. He was still studying their behavior confident he could and would study it knowing he could actually relay it to some biologist. He took out his camera even filming this group's behavior. He looked at the three cubs up front and thought, My this cub there with the regal looking mane must be the new leader of this group or at least someday would be. He looked at the female and thought it odd that the adult and cub looked nothing alike. He scratched that out of his mind and continued watching the funny scene amused still at the sight. He wondered why these cubs and mother were out here this far and what other animals were doing with them.

He then noticed his weapon and turned off his camera and forgot about watching these creatures. He saw the one that looked like the future leader of the pridee and thought he would do nicely as a trophy. He cut off his camera and put it back in his bag wanting to savor the moment of shotting this little cub. He saw the sight before him and raised the weapon. He wanted to be especially quiet about this considering that such movement may make them run away. He looked at the cub again and saw the little tuft on his head. He thought about laughing but stopped.

He aimed the rifle and prepared to fire.

[AustralianChaos]

Juhudi breathed a sigh of relief when he saw his rock knock the lioness out cold, and ran to catch up with the rest of the group, and this new group. He heard Baref give him a mild compliment, but did not respond...simply sitting at the edge of the group and staring at his paws, nervous and a little afraid.

He had just revealed his secret. It may have saved the lives of those other cubs, but he had still revealed to Baref and Kujasiri his habit for throwing rocks, and he was scared of how they were going to react. He could only take small solace from the fact that no-one had been hurt, and waited for the taunts and insults to come...as they always did.

----------

Kiburi looked between Kujasiri and Juhudi, not knowing who to go to first. Kujasiri had been really brave to stand up to the lioness like that...but Juhudi had actually stopped it, without even getting close!

In the end, she decided she would go to their leader. "That was really brave, Kuja...thank you...thank you for helping my brother." She gave him a quick, appreciative nuzzle, before bounding shyly away, pouncing her brother, who was staring at his paws, pinning him on his back on the ground "Juhudi, don't ever do that again! You scared me!"

But her scolding expression vanished as she grinned, nuzzling his cheek. "But you did the right thing, brother...and you stopped a full-grown lioness without ever going near her...that's something that could be very useful!"

With her thanks given out, she clambered off her brother, looking at the the group around them...the three new cubs, and the hyena pup. "Well, hello there! And who might you all be?" she asked.

----------

Tanga could feel himself slipping as he desperately tried to pull Kopa up the cliff face. He wasn't strong enough...he could not pull Kopa up! But just as Tanga thought he was going to fall off with Kopa, another presence pulled him up, hard, sending both him and Kopa sprawling into the grass, safeway on solid ground once more.

Tanga quickly looked at Kopa, who appeared to be in shock. "Kopa, you okay?" Getting no immediate response, Tanga turned away to face their saviour, only for the laughing to identify it as Asante. "What are you laughing about?" he asked incredulously. "We almost died there!"

The question suddenly reminded Tanga of Zira, and with a gasp, he spun around, expecting to find her standing over Mzuri's body...instead, he found Zira lying unconscious on the ground, with five cubs, including Mzuri, standing around her.

Knowing that the danger was past, for now at least, he turned back to Asante. "You...you saved my life, and Kopa's, back there...thank you." The words were exceptionally hard for him to say, but he felt he owed the hyena that much...she had saved their lives when she could have left them for dead...she had come back, and that, to Tanga, counted for a lot.

Having thanked Asante, and knowing the hyena had Kopa taken care, he darted to Mzuri. "Mzuri, are you okay?" he asked rapidly, stopping in front of her and looking her over, trying to determine if she had been hurt in any way. When she seemed fine, Tanga took the time to focus on the four other cubs, noticing that one, their apparant 'leader' was older than all of them, and much larger, too...and another one was actually a cheetah cub.

He was about to say a quick hello, when one of them, a brown-furred lioness, greeted them. Tanga managed to say a vague "Hello," back, but otherwise turned back to Kopa for full introductions...he was a prince, and therefore their unofficial leader.

----------

By the time Kopa came to his senses, and recovered from the shock of his ordeal, Asante was the only one hovering over him...but he still remembered everything that had happened. "I'm glad I'm still here, too," Kopa replied seriously to Asante's words. "But...Zira must have others who help her...who at Pride Rock can we trust?"

Kopa was quickly distracted by a member of the group that had helped save them as well saying hello. "Oh, hi! I'm Kopa, and this is my friend, Asante." He gestured a paw to the hyena, before moving on to his two other friends. "And those two are Tanga and Mzuri. We are..."

Kopa stopped, sniffing the air...amongst all the scents the various friends were giving off, there was something foreign in te air...something that put Kopa's senses on high alert. His head whipped around, searching for the source of the new smell. In the end, it was a flash of reflected light that gave it away, as Kopa saw a very strange creature...like a monkey...observing them, pointing something at them...

"RUN!" Kopa yelled, jumping into action as he leapt to the side, the first bullet missing him by the smallest of margins as he looked around for an escape. They were out in the open...the creature was standing by the enarest tree, and the only other landmark of significance was the gorge itself...

"Quick!" Kopa yelled, knowing there was a way into the gorge nearby. "This way! Hurry!"

[VitanisMate]

Baref looked at Juhudi and saw him look down. He looked at Juhudi wondering, "Hey Juhudi are you okay there buddy? Are you going to thank the boss for saving us all?" He was slightly confused by Juhudi just looking down at the ground and sighed.

Sometimes I will just never understand lion cubs. He looked and saw a hyena cub say hello to him and said nothing getting a little annoyed by all of this attention. He liked it only being Kujasiri and he knowing the boss was very quiet which meant he had no headaches around him. He then noticed how many there was and marveled at the four newcomers.

===

Kujasiri looked at Kiburi and blushed at her comment. He stopped and whispered thank you but at that moment there he knew she could not look more perfect.

"Everyone, everyone I did nothing to save us my friends. I am a coward. Juhudi was the one brave enough to try and stop that killer and save us all. We should all be cheering for Juhudi the real hero." He smiled knowing that would lift the cub's spirits up. He looked at the cub and tried to smile. He then went up to the cub alone confident now.

"Juhudi I know of your ability to throw rocks however you do not understand that I have known many months now and have not said anything." He looked toward him and asked, "Do you think I am just a bully to you Juhudi? Do you think I make fun of you because I want to? NO!

"I do it Juhudi so that one day you might survive on your own. That is why I am so hard on you. Do you understand the difference Juhudi?"

===

Asante was surprised when the leader of the new group said he was a coward. He looked at Kiburi and whispered, "He is so humble too huh?" He looked around knowing that his friends were all safe. He had to smile at that. He looked toward Kopa and he noticed that Kopa seemed really scared at the moment. He then saw a silver light and yelled to everyone, "Human! He will kill us all! Run!" He ran faster than anyone knowing what the dangerous animal could do.

He looked at them all and for the first time in his life was angry they were not running fast enough. "Run fools do you wish to be struck dead by his stare? He only has to stare at you and he can kill you!" Asante heard of the stories from his parents about these creatures and how they killed any kind of animal for sport. He knew that the human could also bring along more of them like a pack so they could kill a large amount at a time and could kill them with a simple wave of his hand.

When he felt he lost the human he finally stopped knowing they were safe...for now. He looked at all of them and said, "No animal is more dangerous than the human. They can kill many of us while we can only kill a few of them." He shuddered and said to Kopa, "Maybe we should go back to your parents. With this hunter around...it is extremely dangerous out here. At least a lion we could stand a chance against. This human however we have no chance."

===

Mzuri started to lick herself sighing seeing as how Kopa took no notice of her care. She saw Tanga approach and said to him, "Oh Tanga I am fine now that you are here." She gave him a seductive wink and said, "Now that everything is at peace uh...what does Kopa plan on doing? Are we to go back to the Pridelands or are we to go off on our own. She liked the Preidelands and had no desire to leave. She was forced to leave her whole life.

She then came up to the other group and said, "Hello my name is Mzuri I am very happy to meet you all. She noticed Kiburi and said, "Hi! Well finally another girl to talk to! You don't know how wierd it feels being around guys and they talk about their 'issues'." She laughed and turned to Kiburi and noticed the little cub. "Oh is he your brother?" She then saw the larger cub come toward them and she whispered to Kiburi, "Do you like him?"

She noticed Asante run off and she ran as well hearing the terrifying stories of the human which only made her run faster and made her wish she was back at the Pridelands having no worries at all she hoped Kopa would bring them back now. Maybe she would have just enough time to rest before the sun went down. She finally stopped when Asante stopped hearing more stories of the terrifying creature making her wish she never saw the silver light.

That was the stare it seemed and she wanted nothing to do with it. She was ready to go home now so she went up to Kopa and said, "Kopa if you don't mine I would like to go back to the Pridelands now!" She was scared out here and the Pridelands gave her the only bit of comfort she had. She waited patiently for his answer though she joked to herself how she wished he make up his mind before it was nightfall and the sun went down over the Pridelands.

===

The hunter cursed seeing them run away and fired off a few shots for a sort of warning. "You are mine now cubbies. You will not live past tomorrow."