Love Unites Us All

Kopa's Wrath

Kion's heartbeat pounded heavily against his chest as he, Fuli and Mwamba made their way from Hakuna Matata Falls back to Pride Rock with Asha, the young Lioness leading the way. He couldn't help but wonder why Simba would want to bring three hostile enemies right into their very home. Well, one of those 'enemies' was his own biological son, but Kopa already made it clear the night before that he denounced his own blood family and even declared that he considered them as his enemies. And now, Kion couldn't help but wonder what was to happen to Kopa.

The brow-maned Lion and his two companions were successfully captured by the Lioness hunters, thanks to the well-deviced trap that was cleverly curated by the young leader of the Lion Guard, but now Kion himself feared that Simba would now hand down a heavy punishment to Kopa for attacking him during their confrontation the previous night, and not to mention illegally infiltrating and committing espionage in the Pridelands' territory. But could Simba really be capable of sentencing such harsh punishments to his own first-born son?

That was something he wasn't so sure. His father had always been fair and impartial when passing out his judgements and official decrees throughout his reign as ruler of the Pridelands, but there has been instances in the past where he let his emotions get ahead of him and negatively impacted his decisions as a result.

Kion heaved a heavy sigh as he tried to clear his mind from any negative thoughts. He stole a quick glance to his left to see little Mwamba timidly walking between himself and Fuli. Eventhough the young cub was kept pretty much in the dark about this entire conflict with Kopa, it was quite obvious that he sensed something significantly important is about to take place as he had not spoken a word nor made a single complaint since he was rudely woken from his deep slumber and was forced to follow his parents back to Pride Rock.

After walking for twenty long minutes, they finally arrived at the iconic kopje and began ascending the stepping stones on its side to reach the den. Just before they arrived at the entrance, Kion sped ahead and halted just before the opening. Carefully, he peeked around the corner to observe the happenings that took place in the interior of his former home. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Kopa, Kito and Lema sitting right in the middle of the common area with their backs facing the entrance while several stern-looking Lioness hunters formed a parameter around them, making sure they remained in their place until Simba and Nala arrived. Next to the Lionesses were Bunga, Beshte and Ono, along with Vitani and Kovu, both of them still in their 'disguises' from the sting operation they successfully pulled to capture the three Backlanders a half hour ago.

Kion chuckled briefly at the sight of Vitani's fur that was painted bright yellow and dotted with black rosettes. He had to admit, Rafiki certainly did a superb job in altering her appearence to make her resemble Fuli. He was glad that the stoic Lioness had agreed (albeit after much persuasion and pleading) to take part of the sting operation that he set up, though he had no doubt that Vitani won't be any more favors for him after this.

Kion continued to let his gaze linger around the den for a few more seconds when he realized that something was amiss. A frown slowly appeared on his muzzle when he noticed the absence of a particular animal who was very much responsible for complicating the conflict between Kopa and his family. Kion turned around just as Asha arrived at the top of the stepping stones with Fuli and Mwamba close behind her.

"Asha, why is it that the Lionesses only managed to capture just the three of them?" Kion whispered to her with a raised brow.

The younger Lioness appeared to be noticably confused by his question. "What do you mean? Those three were the only only ones who showed up at Scar's hideout." She replied, though slightly worried now as she was given the impression that there was another hostile enemy on the loose within the Pridelands.