The Lion King 3: The Lost King

Chapter Three

Kopa stared out at the stars above. He stood on a tall hill, trying to imagine it was Pride Rock. There's no use. This is nothing like Pride Rock.

"Kopa."

Kopa turned to see beautiful Nailah, her fur shining silver in the moonlight. "Glad to see you're still alive."

Kopa sighed guiltily. "I'm sorry, Nailah. I've been shutting you out. I just...I didn't know what you'd think of my...past."

"Kopa, why are you not with the Pride Lands? I heard male lions can stay there for as long as they wish."

Kopa closed his eyes as he turned his head to look at the stars. "You heard right."

"Then why are you here?" Nailah asked, walking up the hill to stand next to Kopa. "You could've stayed instead of travelled."

"I used to be a bit of an outcast in the Pride Lands. None of the other lions really liked me. They thought of me as bossy and annoying, so they stopped playing with me. One day, I stumbled along a cub around my age named Vitani. She was amazing. She didn't mind my bossiness, just matched it with her bravery. She didn't mind my rule-following, just matched it with her rule-breaking. She was...wonderful.

"But, of course, that soon ended. We were best friends, maybe a bit more, for a short bit. Then my sister confronted me about sneaking away and I had to take her with me to meet Vitani or she would tell. When we got there, she pushed me towards Vitani. Our...our muzzles touched.

"And, as always, it had to be ruined. Vitani's mother, my father's enemy and the mate of my father's father's brother who killed my father's father and blamed my father for it-"

"Couldn't you just have said your father's enemy and the mate of your uncle who killed your grandfather and blamed your father for it?" Nailah broke in. Kopa rolled his eyes.

"Anyway, she found us. She hated me for who my father was, and said I had to leave the Pride Lands and never return. So I left, and I met you."

Nailah looked at Kopa. "I'm sorry you had to go through that."

"It's in the past."

"Well, I once said that you had to tell me your past before I told you mine, and you've spoken. So, I guess it's only fair that I keep my promise." Nailah sighed.

"I was born to Kutisha, the king of Kutishapride. He did not have any sons in his lifetime, so I was chosen to marry his brother's son, my cousin, Mabaya. Mabaya thought of lionesses as simple toys, just there to hunt and have cubs. Mabaya was fully grown and I was just two years old. I was two years old, yet I had many cubs. And Mabaya killed all of the cubs that were female. I only had one male cub, and Mabaya soon killed him off because the cub couldn't fight off a lioness at a month old.

"Soon, Mabaya told Kutisha that I could not have cubs. My father, despite his name, was kind-hearted. He did not know Mabaya had forced me to have so many cubs, and that Mabaya had killed them all because of gender and not being the strongest cub in the world. Kutisha told Mabaya that it didn't matter.

"The next day, I told Kutisha the truth. I showed him the bodies, the countless bodies, and he soon exiled Mabaya. Mabaya didn't leave, though, just challenged Kutisha for leadership of Kutishapride. My father fought fairly, following the rules of our ancestors. But Mabaya had no care for simple things like that. He ordered two of his henchmen, Mfuasi and Dhaifu, to help him. They held Kutisha down and, without following another rule of asking for surrender, Mabaya killed him.

"I was frozen. Mabaya was evil, and had killed my father. My father was dead.

"I knew that every lioness who stayed would be a slave, just there for cubs. So, while Mabaya was still celebrating, I decided to take action. I quickly told everyone that Mabaya had made me birth cubs and had killed all of them and they decided to follow me. Most of them. But Mabaya caught us, because of the other lionesses that hadn't come, and he killed every single lioness. He..." Nailah broke off, her eyes closed in pain. "He and his henchmen had fun with me. For hours, I was their little toy. They did all kinds of things to me." Nailah collapsed, her nose buried in her paws.

"I almost died. Of exhaustion. A strange lion came and attacked them. They killed him without a thought, and I couldn't let his death be unnecessary. I ran, with everything that was left in me, and then you found me." Nailah looked at Kopa.

"And you saved me."