TheLionKingFanArt

It was another day in the Pridelands. From a quiet vantage point in the den, Kopa, the crown prince, observed the pride's activities. His father, King Simba, had already departed to attend to his duties elsewhere. His mother, Queen Nala, was organizing the day's hunts, while his twin sister, Kiara, entertained their younger brother, Kion. Someone brushing against his side startled him out of his thoughts, but he smiled when he saw who it was. “Hello, Kipenzi.” “Hi, Princey,” Vitani grinned. "Are you leading the hunt today?" "No, your mom is, but she’s dealing with an argument between your siblings first." She returned her gaze to an exasperated Nala, who was attempting to separate her two younger cubs. Kopa sighed. "Of course she is. Kiara and Kion are either best friends or fighting like mad, and you never know which one it will be at any given time." "It's entertaining, though," Vitani chuckled as Nala finally separated Kopa's siblings. The queen led Kion over to one of the

Kopa and Kovu set out for Jamal and Afua's den shortly after sunrise the next morning. When they arrived, Afua was dragging an antelope to the den. He dropped it to greet them when he caught sight of them. “Morning, Kopa. Welcome back, Kovu. Did you have a nice time on your honeymoon?” Kovu nodded. “We did. Thank you, Afua.” “Are you looking for Jamal?” "Yes, I need to talk to him and Kovu about setting up a permanent patrol rotation. Plus something else,” Kopa said. “I’ll see if I can get him up." Afua sighed before disappearing back into the den. It wasn’t long before they heard grumbling as Jamal emerged, followed by Afua. "Good morning to you, too," Kopa said dryly. “Afua said you wanted to talk about a patrol rotation?” Jamal grunted. “That’s right.” Kopa nodded and added, "Plus, a favor my parents requested." “Well, why don’t you two join us for breakfast before you go talk?" Afua offered, gesturing toward his catch. The four lions settled down to eat, catching up with

Kovu grunted as sunlight hit his face. Wait…sunlight? He blinked open his eyes and looked up to see the branches of their tree swaying slightly in the morning breeze. He quickly realized he and Kiara must’ve fallen asleep. He glanced to his side, smiling as he saw his new wife curled up next to him, peacefully asleep. The rising sun touched the land, covering everything in a gentle, golden glow. It was beautiful, and yet to Kovu, it still wasn’t as beautiful as the lioness that slept next to him. Her flower crown was askew, but it still remained on her head. Her necklace, however, had separated and was lying on the ground. He sighed, not wanting to wake her, but he knew they had to head back to Pride Rock sooner rather than later. He gently nudged her. “Kiara, it's time to get up.” Kiara let out a soft grumble before reluctantly opening her eyes. He chuckled. “Morning.” She smiled at him. “Good morning.” She sat up and yawned. She blinked in surprise once she realized where

*~My Good Heart~* Njema slowed his sprint to a trot as he came upon the arena pits. And saw no one. “Odd…” He knew for a fact that drills would’ve been finished, and Zira would be organizing matches by now. So, where was everyone? “Nuka!” Njema withheld a grimace at the name but knew he still had keep up appearances or else blow his cover and suffer his mother’s wrath. Thus, he turned to find Tazama padding towards him. It calmed his heart somewhat to see her and—by extension—the rest of his generation (sans the little termite and his little termite bride, of course) still looking relatively healthy despite the sever lack of food and water. Tazama’s pelt still shone in rich mahogany and her heterochromatic gaze was bright and clear as she greeted him. “You made it.” “Tazama. What’s going on? Where is everybody?” Tazama made a motion to follow her, and the two of them made their way over to the few deserted caves situated near the mounds. “Your mother finally got the message

*WARNING! WARNING! PLEASE READ!* THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS DISTUBING IMAGERY. PLEASE READ AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION. THANK YOU. Chapter 8 ~ Angels of the Outlands “Ah, thank you, mungome.” Njema finished tying the poultice around Old Chacha’s right hind leg. The aged pangolin closed his eyes in blessed respite as the herbal wrapping seeped into the inflamed muscles and the day’s aches and pains slowly but surely ebbed into soothing numbness. “Remember to rest this leg for the next couple of days,” Njema ordered, walking back over to his fire. “I didn’t drain all that blood and pus for nothing.” Old Chacha huffed a dry chuckle. “Methinks you didn’t either. Me knows me not the best patient around and been givin’ ya Hellfire ever since. Yet, ya help anyway. Both ya do.” Njema just nodded as he smothered the fire with dirt and began gathering his remaining supplies back into his springhare carrying pouch. He’d been able to add some bat hide to it to make it bigger, so he could carry more.

“Koji, stop that!” Kopa scolded his firstborn, who was trying to bite his brother’s ear. It was the day of Kovu and Kiara’s wedding, and he’d been left in charge of the twins while Vitani went to help her brother get ready. He sighed as the cub pouted, whining at his fun being cut short. Simba chuckled from where he was watching Kion. “Not so easy, is it, son?” The five of them were waiting outside the main den for Nala and Kiara. “I take back everything I ever teased Kiara about because I have no idea how she does it,” Kopa muttered as he tried to keep his sons from running off. Simba laughed. “Don’t worry, you’ll learn.” He felt Kion shift against his leg and, without looking, placed a paw on his youngest son’s tail. “Don’t even think about it, Kiongozi.” Kion let out a hiss of annoyance, pouting. He hated being called by his full name. ~~~ Inside the main den, Nala and Kiara chuckled as they heard the conversation outside. “Cubs are a blessing, but definitely not a

1) Lions of the North Mountain. Habitat and culture: The home territory of this lion breed is a high and broad extinct volcano historically called Mlima wa Moto or "Fire Mountain". The volcano is considered extinct, but the local legend says it was once full of fire and lava and its eruption was so big that it created the whole world, but once the volcano stopped erupting, it fell asleep and froze. Local legends also say that the fire spirit of life sleeps inside the Fire Mountain, but once the world become too dark and evil, the spirit will awaken and destroy the whole world to create the new better one. Thus lions of the Fire Mountain believing in fire spirit are trying to never cause harm and are very peaceful so not to bring evil to the world and not to anger the spirit sleeping inside the mountain. North Mountain lions are mostly living in the woodsy area near the foot of the mountain or a little higher, but there are some ascetic and more solitary individuals who prefer living

Kovu and Kiara's relationship grew stronger as the months passed. But it wasn’t the only one. Kopa had finally proposed to Vitani, and the two were soon to be married. Preparations for their wedding were underway, but not long before the big day, Jamal and Afua surprised the pride by officially becoming a couple. Kiara hadn’t been surprised, though. Afua had not been subtle about his interest, and she delighted in tormenting her friend over it, much to his chagrin and Jamal’s amusement. Meanwhile, Kovu and Jamal had formed an interesting friendship. The two lions would talk and spar, and they discovered that, despite their different upbringings, they had a lot in common. Kiara was glad for him. While she enjoyed spending time with Kovu, she had responsibilities to attend to, and while Kovu had friends among the former outsiders, they were more his sister's friends than his own. ~~~ The wedding day arrived, and Kiara and Kovu were put in charge of Kion while Simba and Nala

The next morning, Kovu was doing another patrol, but this time, he was making his way to Jamal's den. Now that things had settled down a bit, he wanted to check in with their guest and see how he was doing. He stopped outside the den, not wanting to intrude. “Jamal?” He heard some grumbling before the large lion emerged, glaring fiercely at Kovu. He was obviously not a morning lion. Kovu wasn't intimidated, though. After Simba and Zira, Jamal's glare seemed tame. “Sorry for disturbing you. I just wanted to see how you were settling in.” "Well enough," Jamal replied, grumbling slightly. Kovu paused for a moment before reintroducing himself. "Well, as you may recall, my name is Kovu. I'm the Pride Lands' border guard.” Jamal nodded, and he continued, saying, "Also, I wanted to thank you again for helping with Kion.” Jamal shook his head. “No thanks are necessary. I only did what any decent lion would've done.” “Well…I know the king and queen were grateful.” Kovu smiled. "I’m sure

It wasn’t much longer before the hunting party returned, dragging several impalas with them. Kovu smiled to see Kiara was one of the lionesses dragging a kill with her. As the lionesses dragged the kills to the pride’s feeding area, Kovu called out to his sister. “Seems like you had a good hunt!” Vitani smirked in satisfaction. She’d had some trouble assuming the lead huntress role, but she’d flourished in it once she’d found her footing. The other lionesses respected her now and easily took orders from her. “That we did! Want some?” Kovu felt his stomach rumble at the thought. “Yeah, I could use some food after this morning,” he said gratefully as he walked over to join them, settling next to Kiara, who smiled at him. Simba had emerged to drag one of the kills into the main den for Nala, Kion, and himself. Other members of the pride soon came along, and soon most lions were tucking into the kills. A thought struck Kovu as he ate. “What about our guest?” “The king saw us on our