As the sun arose across the Pridelands, a shadowy figure of a lone lion charged across the savannah, not stopping for anything or anyone. His chest seemed to beat with pain, pulsating throughout his body to his face, stretching and contorting it into an agonised, emotionally shattered husk of its former self.

I can't carry on like this. They don't need me. The Lion Guard, Simba, Nala... all I am is walking weight, just an extra mouth to feed.

As he reached a small plateau, the lion rested on one of the large boulders resting upon the ground, firmly lodged in the dry, yet fertile soil surrounding its base. His mane slowly rattled through the northern breeze, bringing a claw-sharp chill down the lion's spine. But the coldness barely rustled his heart. That was already cold, chilled with the thoughts of what could have been. The only source of heat came from a single, minuscule inkling of them, embroiled within the very heart of his soul. A flickering light in a complete and utter void.

Now in a rather dreamy, semi-conscious state, Kopa began to relive memories of his youth, of his times as part of the Uasi Pride.

The times when, as cubs, he and Karimu would fight and play in the snow-tipped hills during the wet season, the times that they would slide down hills and splash each other in muddy, soaking wet watering holes in the lower lands, with conditions nearly matching with those in the flourishing Pridelands.

These thoughts seemed to burn the slightest ember in his heart. Glancing over at the decayed land beyond the lush boundaries of the Pridelands, he couldn't help but ponder his mission.

With a shake of his mane, his mind focused. Without thinking, his claws sprung into the nourished dirt beneath his paws, steadying his body as his mind sunk deeper, reaching out with his soul.

Closing his eyes, he sensed everything. Every spec of life, every spec of death. The land before him, desolate and cracked, was seeped in darkened hue. A festering wound on the earth, spewing horrors unknown into the land. Through this cesspit of darkness, he searched for those glimmers of light and hope.

To find them, but to no avail.

All these months he had searched for her: his princess, his love. He, Jicho and Kwaheri had searched every inch of the savanna. Battling blizzards and sandstorms, lush swamps and barren deserts, all for nothing.

Karimu was gone. She had to be.

Kopa opened his eyes again, barely holding back his tears as the light of the physical world glistened across his face. Reality had hit him directly upon the muzzle. The Uasi pride was doomed. Without Karimu, there were no heirs to the throne.

He was alone. Cold and tired.

His mind dozed off into a deep, uncontrolled sleep. Soon his body relaxed for the first time in hours. Every corrupted thought in his brain ceased, making way for dreams of a brighter, happier life, away from that of the reality before him...

...

Far away, in the Outlands, Kopa's perfect reality still bloomed. Unbeknownst to him, Karimu lived, and their two cubs, Amani and Ulinzi, had grown slightly larger. Even if their entire world was just a small cave nestled in one of the most dangerous, savage places in the savanna, they remained secure.

At this particular time, the cubs were nuzzling up to their mother, humming with all the affection that a duo of young cubs could give their mother. Karimu was lost in thought, a tinge of worry ebbing through her mind. This was cut short by the sudden shock of two fluffy weights leaping onto her back

"Hey! Careful, you two." The lioness jumped at the feeling of her two cubs playfully pouncing on her back, their claws digging into her with the savage dexterity of a novice hunter. A wave of growly giggles came from the cubs. Their wide, attention-grabbing brown and green eyes looked up through their mother's fur. A small, innocent smile rested across their faces. As they released their predator grasps from their mother, she arose to her paws.

"Okay you two, time for bed." She smiled at the cubs as they glanced up at her/ Annoyed, cubbish sighs escaped their muzzles as they glanced up at her.

"Mum!" Their pleas were quickly hushed as Karimu glanced down at them. She couldn't help but smile even wider, before deciding enough was enough.

"Come on you two." She grabbed them by their scruffs one at a time, placing them back into the bowl-shaped bunches of leaves. Piles of savanna grass and fur made a comfortable, safe place for the cubs to sleep in.

With the cubs finally sleeping, she wandered outside into the low facing sun. Its constant gaze burned into her fur, illuminating the large, claw-sized scar jiggered across her side. As the wind blew through the canyon, the scar stung slightly, causing Karimu to clench her teeth. Even though it had been over a year since she had received it, a recent encounter with a group of lionesses had left her injured once more, in the exact same spot. The wound was healing nicely though, despite everything she had been through.

Suddenly, the sound of a large, heavy object being pulled across the ground echoed throughout the canyon, bouncing off its many walls and crevices into the barren wastes of the Outlands. As the lioness turned to the direction of its origin, she saw two hyenas dragging the remains of a young antelope. Most of its meat had been ripped out and eaten, but still had more than enough to feed her for a few days.

"Jasiri?" The lioness approached the two hyenas, slightly nervous as to who the second one was. "Who's your friend here?"

"Oh, hey Karimu. This is my sister, Madoa." Jasiri replied. Madoa let go of the carcass, slowly approaching her sister and her lion friend.

"Nice to meet you." She turned to her sister. "Heh, heh, seriously, what is it with you and lions, Jasiri?" Madoa chuckled. Jasiri giggled at her sister's rather sarcastic question.

"What can I say? Sisi Ni Sawa!" Another round of the hyenas' giggles erupted as both of them gave their rather adorable, infectious laughs. Karimu, however, seemed confused by what the two hyenas were laughing about.

"Si, si, ni what now?" Karimu blurted. This reaction forced the hyenas to giggle at Karimu, only after a few seconds did their natural laughter subside.

"It's nothing." The pair returned to the carcass, slowly bringing it towards the lioness. "We brought you some more food."

"Jasiri told me you have a few cubs, and that you were having trouble hunting in the Outlands, so I thought I'd lend her a paw in finding this for you." Madoa approached Karimu, her grey, spotty fur slightly glistened in the sun's gaze. "See, I have two cubs of my own. I know how hard it can be at times."

"Do you?" Karimu was shocked by this revelation. The hyena seemed a bit younger than Karimu, and even thought she was quite young herself as a mother. A thought brushed through her mind as she looked at the antelope's carcass.

"Anyway, we'd better get moving. We've got to check on the rest of our territory in case Janja tries to wander through here again."

"Okay." The lioness grabbed the remains of the young antelope, dragging the carcass back to her lair on the other side of the canyon's walls. The two hyenas helped her get it there, nudging the corpse's rear towards the lair's entrance. As they arrived, the two hyenas turned to leave, continuing their patrol of their territory.

"Wait!" Karimu shouted as she dropped the carcass from her mouth. Jasiri and Madoa turned to look at the young lioness. "If you have time later, come on back. I might have something to show you." Her face gleamed with the light of the sun above them, as positive as anything could be. Even the hyenas couldn't refuse to bring her down.

"Sure, we'll be back." They both smiled back at the lioness, before turning back to one another. "We'd better get moving." And with that, they galloped off down the canyon's length.

Karimu watched as their rear paws scattered a dust trail , eventually disappearing altogether under the curvature of the earth. A feeling of inclusion brushed over her fur. For once in many months, she seemed welcome to be somewhere without the need for violence.

It reminded her of home. Those fertile lands, where the only violence was that of hunting animals for nourishment, where arguments ended with discussion rather than tooth and claw. A land that brought her the little joys nestling inside the cave behind her, hopefully, snuggled up to each other, as silent as the sun's glistening gaze upon the world.

As she dragged the carcass into her lair, she thought of her own cubhood, of all the joy that flooded those times. and of the terror and pain that bruised the last few months too.

She thought of the last time she saw Kopa. The memory of a stabbing, heart-breaking grasp in her gut trickled in, when she watched him sleeping the night she ran away. The lioness remembered the slow, wiggly kicks in her belly as she ran, scared of the impending destruction of her pride.

Now though, he was gone.

Only his cubs remained... in her care. She knew she had to provide for them, but her youth proved her unsuccessful in doing so. The fact that Jasiri, a hyena of all else, was helping her just brought back a shard of light to her bleak, unforgiving world.

No matter what, they were the future. Perhaps she could find another male, another king. Perhaps she could reform Usai Pride.

Maybe, there was hope... after all.