This is a Kopa theory fanfic
It begins before SP, but will change to after SP in a few chapters.
I have the prolouge and chapter 1 finished, so enjoy! Chapter 2 is comig.
Prolouge
Dark figures slink through the cave, casting their menacing shadows across the walls. Other figures stir, heads lifting up off the floor. The air reeked of blood, and wet paw prints scattered the ground. Suddenly, there is a wail of anger and grief. Immediately all heads turn to a tawny lioness with dark amber eyes, staring in shock at the waking male laying on a rock slab. The figures behind her snorted in disgiust, and the cave began to come alive with movement. The male, whose pelt was like gold and mane like blood, stared at her with piercing brown eyes. He raised himself off the ground and cleared his throat, but waited for the female to speak. The female then began to speak, her voice faltering and her body quivering.
“Where is Scar?”
The golden male then spoke, his voice low and firm. “He died last night.”
The tawny female’s fur stood on end. Her followers murmured among themselves, casting glares at the golden male. Two cream-furred lionesses and a dark tan one rose to their feet, making their way over to the golden male and standing next to him defensively. The dark one spoke first, her old voice saturated with wisdom.
“You know he was a terrible king, Zira. Now, finally, the one true king has taken his place. My son, Simba”
Zira’s eyes widened, and her amber gaze locked on Simba, a malicious flare in her eyes. A young gray cub lay by her feet, trembling. The tiny creature looked from Zira to Simba, his gaze pitiful and heartbreaking.
“Mommy..” he whimpered, “What happened to daddy? The big lion said he died!” Zira looked down at her son, her expression a mixture of coldness and pain.
“There, there, Nuka. We’ll avenge his death.” She assured him, then looked back to the tan female. “Sarabi! How dare you allow this.. this traitor to take Scar’s throne?”
Sarabi’s eyes narrowed, but one of the cream lionesses shoulded her way in front of her. She was small and young, but had a proud gleam in her eye as she spoke to the elder lioness.
“Simba was next-in-line when your mate brutally murdered his own brother, then tried to kill Simba! Scar got what he deserved!” she spat, her claws unsheathing. The third lioness hissed, leaping beside the young one.
“Nala speaks the truth! Scar admitted it right before the hyenas killed him!” murmurs of agreement arose from their side of the cave, while growls and hisses arose from Zira’s.
“How dare you allow your daughter to lie and insult our king, Sarafina?” Zira snarled, “I thought you were better than that! You just how a grudge against him, seeing as he exiled your precious son.” At those words, Sarafina tensed, baring her teeth inches from Zira’s face.
“How dare you mock Mheetu? Scar was a coward to have exiled those cubs! He was scared.” Sarafina spat. Immediately, Zira lept for Sarafina’s throat. The lioness yowled in terror as she was brutally pinned to the ground. Nala lept onto Zira’s back, digging both claws and teeth into the soft flesh. Seconds later she was knocked off by a pale, scraggly lioness with green eyes. Soon the cave erupted in the sounds of battle. Sarabi took on two identical teenage lionesses with dots under each eye, and Simba tried to throw off five undersized females. Nala successfully freed her mother, and both mother and daughter slashed at Zira’s underbelly. Claws clashed and blood flew as the fight went on for almost half an hour. Bodies lay on the floor; none dead, but slowly dying from wounds. The fitter lionesses had but a few scratches on them, but older ones, like Sarabi, were nearly drenched in blood. All seemed hopeless until a cry of shock came from somewhere in the frenzy.
“Zira! Look! Simba has Nuka!”
Sure enough, the grey cub dangled helplessly from Simba’s jaws. All fighting ceased, and Zira let out a cry of dismay. Nala limped up next to Simba, then spoke slowly, her voice faltering.
“Zira, I speak for Simba at this moment. We will give you back your cub if you leave here at once.” Zira gaped at them, her mouth open. Finally, after a moment of thought, she spoke, her voice cold and dark.
“Kill him if you wish, Simba. It will just show the other lionesses what a brutal killer you are. As for leaving, he will never reside in the Outlands- no matter what you do.!” Zira’s followers began to roar in agreement, but Nala snarled sharply, everyone falling silent.
“No, Zira. We aren’t fully exiling you. Not yet. You may live in the old cave by the river for now. But if we have another problem with you and your followers, yu will be exiled before you can say, ”˜Zebra’”
Zira stared at Nala for a second, then glanced at Simba.
“Fine. Have it your way.”
Chapter 1
“Mom! Mommy! Wake up!” Nala stirred, mumbling quietly in her sleep. Again the little cry came.
“Mooooom! C’mon- why won’t you wake up?” A tiny, pale golden paw swatted her nose. She blinked her eyes open, her gaze locking with that of her son’s. Kopa was growing fast. He could walk and run steadily now, and was currently the biggest nuisance in the pride. She loved him, though, regardless. She lifted her head and took a good look at him. Though she saw him every day, she was always amazed every time she saw him; she was a mother! The joy was overwhelming, and she took every possible spare moment to study his existence.
He had glossy golden fur, not as vibrant as his father’s, though. It was lighter and paler, and was almost always filthy. He had a little brown tuft of fur on top of his head, as well as a matching one at the end of his tail. His eyes were the same dark forest green as his mother’s. He raised a paw and batted her nose, speaking loudly.
“Come on, mommy! I wanna go play!” Nala groaned and shook her head, nudging him away.
“This is your father’s job. Go bug him awake or something.” She muttered, before falling back to sleep. Kopa pouted, but bounced over to his father cheerfully. Today was supposed to be the day he would be shown the kingdom! He could hardly contain his excitement as he rapidly pushed and nudged as his father, piping, “Wake up, daddy! C’mon, dad! Daaaaad!”
By this time, exhausted heads were raised, eyeing Kopa irritably. He payed no mind; they weren’t any fun, anyways. His father was still snoring… obviously his current techniques wouldn’t be enough. With a mischievous grin, he backed up, got a running start, and barreled into his father’s face. Simba awoke with a start, his eyes wide with terror. Upon reilising it was only Kopa, his gaze softened, and he spoke calmly.
“Hello, Kopa. You ready for your big day?” he asked, as much enthusiasm in his voice as he could manage. Kopa nodded, unable to speak due to overexcitement.
“Wow! I can see everything from up here!” Kopa gaped in awe. The view from the peak of Pride Rock was breathtaking, indeed. Simba smiled down at his son.
“I stood up here once, but I was a bit bigger than you. I had the same reaction.” Simba took a deep breath, cubhood memories flooding back to him. “Everything the light touches is our kingdom, son.” Kopa looked up at him inquisitively, about to ask a question, when Simba added, “No, Not the shadowy place. You must never go there.” Kopa was surprised. How did his father know what he was going to ask? No doubt, he probably asked the same thing. Thinking for a moment, another question came to him. He glanced up at his father, and asked,
“Hey, dad… what’s it like, growing up knowing you’ll be the next king?” Kopa barely noticed the look of hard concentration on Simba’s face, or the slightly gloomy look. The large male sighed.
“I didn’t really do much growing or learning here. I grew up mostly in the Jungle.” The Jungle? Kopa had heard stories about a jungle beyond the desert, but he never knew his father lived there! His mind was flooded with questions.
“Why didn’t you grow up here?” he blurted out, his eyes wide with curiousity.
“When I was young, barely older than you, my uncle murdered my father, and blamed me for it. He exiled me, and told the pride I was killed in a stampede. Your mother, whom I had grown up with, finally found me one day, and brought me back. I battled Scar, and intended to exile him, then, but he was killed by hyenas.” Simba said, then took a deep breath of air. Kopa gaped in shock. So that’s why grandma always looked so sad! She lost her mate. Kopa tilted his head to one side, ready to ask another question, when Simba nudged him on.
“Come on, now. We mustn’t be too long.”
“We are all part of the Great Circle of Life, Kopa. When we die, our bodies become the grass, and the antelope eat the grass. And yes, we eat the antelope, but that’s how the cirle is completed.”
Kopa flicked his ears. He was getting used to his father answering his questions unexpectedly. Yawning, he rolled over in the soft grass and stretched out. He closed his eyes and had a moment of rest before he heard his father’s voice.
“Ah, Zazu! Here with the Morning Report, I presume?”
“Yes, sire,” Kopa heard the hornbill respond. Kopa poked his head up out of the grass, and saw the blue bird perched on Simba’s shoulder, “Not much to report, I’m afraid. There was a problem with that rogue again, but the leopards ganged up on him, luckily. The crocodiles are getting somewhat restless due to the blockage of the river, and the outlanders seem quiet for once.”
Outlanders? Kopa’s ears perked up. He had heard of the rogue before, and always knew the crocodiles were moody, but what were these outlanders? Immediately he lept to his feet and inquired.
“What are Outlanders?”
Simba and Zazu exchanged glances, then the brightly plumed bird spoke up.
“They were followers of Scar. The night your father returned, there was another battle, and they were cast out of our cave. They aren’t completely banished from our lands, but they aren’t to be trusted. I’m sure Zira would kill you if she had the chance.”
Kopa’s ears flickered back. Why would anyone want to kill him? He remained silent for the rest of the trip, deep in thought, his insides secretly churning with fear.
“And then, he took me to the top of Pride Rock, and then, he showed me the water hole, and then, he let me hunt a butterfly, and THEN he showed me the borders!”
The other cubs stared in awe at the prince as he sat proudly on top of a rock by the base of pride rock. A pretty little brown cub spoke up, battering her blue-green eyes.
“What was it like, the rest of the Pridelands? Momma says I can’t leave pride rock until I can help her hunt gazelles…”
Kopa tilted his head at her. Her name was Katari, and he had heard their mothers talking about betrothing them. He didn’t really like her, not even as a friend, so he didn’t see how she could be his mate. Shuddering at the thought, he quickly answered her question.
“It’s big, and kinda scary. One day, when I’m big, I’ll rule it all, and then I wont have to be scared!” he puffed his chest out, and the other cubs laughed. A dark tan male with yellow eyes cleared his throat, and gave Kopa another question.
“Did you see any Outlanders?” Kopa flinched. This was his best friend, Aufa. The prince’s only reaction was a shake of the head, and Aufa’s ears went back. Before he could even think about what to say next, another voice, deep and almost shrill, sounded from the back of the crowd. An older cub was shoving others aside rudely, then planted his bottom on the ground firmly, staring at Kopa smugly. Kopa groaned inwardly. Not Damari! The light tawny cub looked like the average prideland cub in every way, exept for his jet-black tuft, which hung in his face loosely. He was an orphan, the son of Scar and a lioness who he forced into becoming one of his mates. He was a bully, who never listened to any of the lioness and pushed the younger cubs around, even the prince. Kopa knew that when he was king, he’d be the first to go!
“Were you too scared to go near the Outlander den, little prince?” he mocked, raising his head high. Kopa growled under his breath. “I bet you couldn’t go near there, even if you were the size of your father! You’re just a big, fat wuss.”
Kopa showed his teeth, then spat,
“I wasn’t afraid! My dad just didn’t let me go there!” Damari laughed at Kopa’s words.
“Alright then, brave one. I dare you to pick a fight with an outlander!”
“Sure- It’ll be easier than saying ”˜grass’!”
I really hope you find time to continue this marvelous story when you have the time, as I look forward to reading more of your work my friend. ^^
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