Protecting the Pridelands

Kion could feel his heart pounding deep within his chest. The Pridelands look the same as the night he met Rani. He felt conflicting feelings over the outcome of the skirmish with "Nirvana". On the one hand, he felt guilty that he might've driven away a lone cub simply looking for help. But on the other, his gut just kept telling him that she wasn't all what she seemed. That she was an Outlander. But there was good from that night as well. He met Rani. That was the best part of it all. While he had other friends, she was different. There was something about her that was different. But he knew he couldn't dwell on that now.

Gazing across the once beautiful Savannah, the golden cub look like the image of his father. He was mimicking the set jaw and hard eyes, a very princely look if the cub did say so himself. Someone unyielding and wise and all the things that the boy knew he should be, but wasn't quite sure if he was yet. This trip felt different, though. Something about the way Simba had asked, or more rather told, said that this wasn't an ordinary trip out there. Something important was going to happen.

Kion could feel the warm gaze of his father. His own amber eyes met them. "I-I think so," he said before glancing over at Kopa and Kiara. He felt, for some reason, that this timid, uneasy answer wasn't good enough. Kion narrowed his eyes and looked out before giving a second reply. "Yes, I am," he said firmly.

It was going to be a tough trip out to Priderock, but Kion knew the four of them could make it. Kiara was always ready for anything and while Kopa was still young, Kion had yet to see a challenge his brother couldn't rise to. He appreciated his siblings and cared for them deeply. While Kiara could be well, Kiara and Kopa could get on his nerves sometimes, Kion knew he couldn't go through life without those two by his side. He set his gaze firmly on Pride Rock, ready to forge ahead.

This was their home?

Blue-green eyes were wide in disbelief, and ears were craned back against Kopa's skull as he looked outward. The land that Simba described as once beautiful, once lush and habitable like the Great Forest, was nothing but a land of thorns as far as the eye could see. Well... that, and Pride Rock off in the distance. And they were going all the way out there? For something important? Hope sparked anew in his little heart. Even after the discussion he and Simba had had what felt like ages ago, he still was wondering just where he fit in to the Circle of Life. Maybe this would give him the answer he was hoping for! The thought spurred Kopa onward. His ears slowly rose back up to their proper position, and he stepped a little closer to investigate the path forward. Unfortunately, he didn't see an immediate way through the thorns. He couldn't just ignore his father's question, though. Not after both Kion and Kiara had spoken up.

"Yeah... I think I'm ready," Kopa answered. His answer felt so small compared to his brother and sister's, but Kopa was doing his best. He was standing just a little bit taller, and now and again his head twisted this way and that as he looked at the brambles. Maybe Simba knew a way to get to Pride Rock from there. His expression shifted a little and his tongue stuck out of his mouth as he thought. Were they meant to crawl forward? But what about his, Kion, and Simba's manes? They'd get caught in the brambles!

"I don't get it. How're we gonna get all the way to Pride Rock with all these thorns in the way?" Kopa craned his head back a bit to look at Simba once more. He didn't want, necessarily, to rely on being carried. Still, Kopa did know he was a bit smaller than Kiara and Kion. More tender, even. It was something Kopa did want to try and work on, but wasn't sure of how to approach it. Someday, he decided. Someday he'd figure it out.

"Must be great to be a bird right now," he mused. "If we had wings, we could just fly over." A fanciful thought, sure, but it was one that crossed his mind.

Kion forged ahead, glancing over at his two siblings. Kopa seemed upset, but that made sense. He was the youngest and probably the least exposed to any of this stuff out of the three of them. Kiara seemed less upset, but Kion wouldn't put it past her sneaking out to see how they looked at one point or another. Kiara could steal the sun and somehow get away with it.

The golden lion nearly rolled his eyes at Kopa's wish that they could be birds and fly over the savanna. Kion loved his brother dearly, and tried to be as patient as he could, but sometimes Kopa's daydreaming just was too much. Now wasn't the time to focus on things that could be, but to actually see the problem before them. Getting through the thorns.

However, Kion watched as Kopa also got hoisted safely onto their dad's back. Kion stifled another eye roll. He knew he was being childish, and unprincely, and petulant, but sometimes it just got to him that there both his siblings got special treatment and babied while he got chewed out for furthering relations with a different Pride. He brought home a Princess and the only thing his dad focused on was the fact that he went out to the Pridelands alone despite the fact that he also had Ono and Fuli there to back him up.

If Kiara, when Kiara ventured out to the Pridelands, she probably went alone.

But these thoughts weren't helpful. What was helpful now, was finding a way through the brambles. Simba had told them to work together which meant that Simba was telling Kiara to tell Kion what to do. And the red-tuffed lion didn't want that to happen. "I'm going to go ahead," Kion said, turning to Kiara. "Follow my lead." The golden lion jumped in front of his sister, shimmying under a string of brambles, careful not to get any on his fur. He looked up to see where his dad was going before waiting for Kiara to go under the second. "Are you doing alright back there?" he asked, glancing back towards his sister.

Where he'd hoped there'd be laughter, there was... nothing. Kopa's ears perked a bit at that notion, and before he could ask if anything was wrong he found himself being picked up by Simba. Apparently he'd gotten his answer to how he was going to get across the thorns. He was going to be carried. That... wasn't quite what Kopa had hoped for. He didn't mind, necessarily, but Kopa did feel bad. Not only had he failed to make anyone in his family laugh with his little dreamy comment, but he was being babied. Again! Kopa couldn't even really complain. He did try, at least for a moment, but it was too late. Simba already had told him that he could keep an eye out for trouble from atop his back.

"...Okay. I'll do my best," Kopa said. He sat up a little straighter, used his claws to maintain a little bit of a hold on his father's fur, and looked back to Kiara and Kion. Kion was taking the lead, which wasn't too surprising as far as Kopa was concerned. He was the bravest lion that Kopa knew other than their grandfather and their father. And... Kiara was pretty brave, too, he had to admit. He watched her and did laugh a bit at her comments to Kion. The teasing in her tone wasn't missed.

This was what he'd missed, honestly. Just the three of them teasing each other, having a good time... it felt like they got to do that so rarely these days. The thought made Kopa relax a little, but his gaze shifted around a bit to make sure no trouble was coming their way. So far, all seemed quiet.

"Doesn't look like there's anyone out here but us," he observed. He wanted to comment that maybe it was because the four of them were together, and that no one would dare mess with four of the best lions the world had to offer, but he held his tongue. Since his remarks hadn't been well received before, it felt better to keep quiet for a little bit. Since he was just acting as a lookout, though, Kopa felt a little... useless? He didn't know what he should have been keeping an eye out for. Surely no enemies would come for them, right?

His brow creased slightly as he lifted his head. No birds in the sky that he could see. There also really didn't seem to be any animals trying to pick out a living in the thorns. He still couldn't believe that this used to be their home. Simba had told them so much about it. He'd always described it as lush, green, and perfect for lions to live in. But how had lions managed to live in harmony with animals that might have been their prey? The same way as in the Great Forest, perhaps? But how did they regulate that much anyway? There hadn't always been a war, had there?

Maybe that was a thought worth sharing, Kopa thought.

"Dad?" Kopa looked back at him. "Things were peaceful before, right? When the Pride Lands were ours, there... wasn't a reason to think that we would need anyone to keep a lookout for trouble. Right?" Being a lookout wasn't a bad position. He wondered briefly if maybe that was a destiny he could aspire to follow. But at the end of the day, Kopa knew his vision wasn't quite as keen as say... a bird's. He could climb things all right, so maybe he could work past that if he did start trying to act like a lookout from there on, but it wasn't something he could imagine being a full destiny.

Again with the destiny thoughts. He gave his small head a shake. Maybe he shouldn't have been worrying so much, but he couldn't help it.

Especially not when Kiara was joking about 'Lion Guard' stuff earlier in that same conversation.

A long elegant lioness’ snout bumped the rump of Kion from behind, urging him gently forward. Nala crouched, her large body huddled with the grace of a huntress among the thorns. When her son looked back, he’d see cool blue eyes watching him with that constant look of vaguely amused affection.

“You’ll see, soon enough.” She added to the end of her mate’s speech. The future Queen tipped her chin up, leading the rest of her body to a more natural sitting position as she looked over their heads to watch Simba. He was taking the lead, and she, ever his aid, would bring up the rear.

Nala had waited to join her family on this expedition because she’d been checking with Zazu. Simba didn’t need anything more to worry about, but for once, Nala was the one checking every corner. Her home had been transformed into Shadowlands. It was dangerous. Let her husband laugh in the face of danger; she liked him better that way. But she asked for an age-old Morning Report, learning from the hornbill that everything was all clear before setting out to catch up with her cubs.

“Use your size to your advantage, Kiara,” murmured the veteran huntress, sliding like a graceful stream between two brambles to be nearer the Princess. “The boys can’t move as gracefully as we can. Especially with hulking manes!” She raised her voice to tease Simba.

Kiara tilted her head to the side, smiling up at her mother as she slid next to her. Sometimes all of the manes in the group were too much for her so it was nice to have Nala back her up. She turned a smug, peach colored nose on Kion before stepping next to her mother, head held high. Kopa had Simba currently but she had her mother on her side. Fussing with her brother took a back seat however when her eyes still scanned her supposed homeland.

I like that it's hot," she said, blankly. She looked up at Nala, suddenly realizing her mother looked at home here. Her creamy hues, her sea foam eyes, they all looked at home here. Even with the black spiny thorns surrounding them. This was their home. She locked eyes with Kion, hoping briefly he forgave her for being a jerk, offering him a smile. She tried to catch Kopa's eye too and if he saw her she'd smile at him too. This was an outing to end all outings.

"Mom is this where you were supposed to hunt?" She asked, "Was it exciting?" She looked over the plains, trying to imagine the lionesses running on the plains. Her at the lead with Tiifu and Zuri behind her. Chasing a zebra. This was their HOME, wasn't it? This was where they were supposed to be.

"Is it much further though?" She asked. She looked at her toes and mumbled the rest. "Not gonna lie, my paws kinda hurt..."