The Lion King IV:

The Rogue Pride

Chapter 15

Leaving behind Adui's body, Kopa climbed out of the ditch and retraced his steps to where his father still lay prone. He hurried to Simba and nuzzled him fervently.

"Dad, come on," he said fretfully, "You can't be dead. I just got you back. Wake up!"

Simba groaned, his ears and neck still throbbing from the concussion.

Kopa sighed in relief and hugged his father's shoulders from behind.

"You came," Simba said as he slowly sat up, his eyes half closed from the pain.

Kopa faced his father and nodded, ready for Simba's scolding.

The king smiled. "And I can see the light in your eyes again…"

Kopa returned Simba's smile, his eyes filling with tears. The king and prince hugged warmly, Kopa burying his face in Simba's red mane. "I didn't want to kill him," Kopa said sorrowfully. "I just couldn't let him hurt anyone else…"

"I know," Simba whispered comfortingly, rubbing Kopa's shoulders. "You did what you had to and you didn't let the darkness take you. I am so proud of you, my son."

"Kopa!" Babu called as he ran to the king and prince. "You have to come. It's Vitani!"

Kopa and Simba disengaged from their embrace and hurried after the shaggy maned youth, who led them back to the central clearing of the graveyard. A few lionesses, including Timira, had gathered around Vitani as she lay in a smeared puddle of her own blood.

"No!" Kopa gasped, rushing over to where his lover lay. "Tani?"

The lioness looked up at Kopa through weary eyes. "Hi," she said mildly.

Kopa choked back a sob. "Hi," he said through a knot in his throat.

"Look at what the cat dragged in," Vitani joked.

Kopa chuckled tearfully.

Vitani's face turned serious. "My father?"

Kopa felt his tears drip down his cheeks. "He's dead."

Vitani sighed. "Was it you?"

Kopa closed his eyes and nodded.

"You did what you had to," she said, reaching up and stroking Kopa's unkempt mane. "My family has caused you so much pain and suffering. Please forgive us…"

"Tani, I'm sorry for what I said before," Kopa choked out. "I didn't remember everything but now I do. You tried to save me from your mother."

Vitani shook her head. "I failed you…"

"If you hadn't interfered, Zira would have done more than just throw me in a river." Kopa ran his paw over Vitani's shaggy tuft of hair. The untidy fur was softer than it looked. "You saved my life."

"I followed my mother into war against your family," Vitani said, her eyes filling with tears. "I tried to kill your father. I tried to kill your mother. I was ready to annihilate your entire pride…"

"But you didn't," Kopa assured her. "It was a mistake and I forgive you."

Vitani looked at Simba. "Your Majesty, I'm so sorry…"

Simba shook his head. "It's in the past, Vitani," the king replied affectionately. "We are family, now."

Vitani lifted her head slightly. "You heard me, didn't you? The day my mother died, you heard me say Kopa's name?"

Simba nodded, tears in his eyes. "When I heard you say Kopa's name and realized how much you cared for my son, I understood what Kiara was trying to tell me. I don't think you realize how much you influenced the outcome of that day."

"No, not me," Vitani disagreed, looking up at Kopa. "You – you and Kiara…"

"But I wasn't even there that day," Kopa protested.

"Yes you were," Vitani insisted, touching Kopa's chest, "because we are one."

Kopa could no longer hold in his grief and he sobbed, nuzzling Vitani's cheek passionately. "Tani, please. Please don't leave me. I love you."

Vitani smiled warmly. "I love you, too."

"Move out of the way," Rafiki ordered as he rudely pushed his way past the lionesses, followed by the rest of the pride and many of the animals who had turned the tide of the battle in the king's favor. The monkey came up to Vitani, who was lying on her wounds. "We must turn her over," he instructed.

Kopa obeyed and helped Rafiki gently ease Vitani onto her right side, exposing the fang marks on the left side of her neck and shoulder.

Nala took her place beside Simba.

"My queen," Vitani sighed, "I want to apologize to you as well – for almost killing you in the final battle between our prides."

Nala hid her concern with a sardonic smile. "I beg your pardon but I'm fairly certain I was the one who would have won that fight."

Vitani chuckled. "Uh huh, keep telling yourself that."

Just then, Timon and Pumbaa came into the clearing, helping Malka along. Many had wondered where the foreign king had disappeared to during the battle and they all gasped in horror when they saw Malka's face. Never mind the cuts and bruises he bore but one of Malka's eyes had been clawed from its socket, leaving him half blind for the rest of his life.

"Malka!" Simba cried, rushing to his friend.

The black maned king grinned at Simba through his good eye. "Guess I should have listened to you, eh?" he said. "Strange thing happened. When I was getting the crap kicked out of me, I was saved by a bunch of zebras – my favorite dish, actually. Does that sound ironic to anyone else?"

Simba pulled Malka into an embrace, weeping over the pain inflicted on the lion who was the closest thing he ever had to a brother.

"Hey," Malka laughed, "Why are you crying? I'm the one bleeding here." Malka glanced over Simba's shoulder at Kopa and Vitani. "My word, will she be all right?"

Rafiki shrugged. "She still has her sense of humor," the monkey noted. "That's a good sign." He took a hollowed out gourd from his staff, poured some green powder into his palm, and massaged it into Vitani's wounds. "Still, these are serious injuries. Honestly, I'm surprised she still lives."

"You got enough of that green stuff because I think I could do with a little nursing," Malka continued in his exasperatingly lighthearted tone.

Rafiki stepped away from Vitani so Kopa could return to his place beside her. Malka lowered himself to the ground as Rafiki began to administer to him as well.

Madoa broke from the crowd and came to stand over Vitani, glaring down at her. "I'm disappointed in you, Tani," she said solemnly, "letting a few minor flesh wounds bring you down like this…"

"Don't talk to her like that!" Kopa snarled.

"It's fine," Vitani chuckled. "My drill sergeant over here is notorious for her tough love approach."

"You're not going to let a little hickey like this beat you," Madoa continued. "Do you understand me, Soldier?"

"Whatever you say, Dotty," Vitani replied, winking at Madoa.

The speckled lioness wrinkled her nose. "Why do people keep calling me that?"

"Your Majesty," Zazu called as he and Binti landed beside the king, "we've located all of Adui's followers. They're all dead and there were no casualties on our side."

"Thank you," Simba said solemnly.

Vitani closed her eyes. "I'm really tired."

"Then rest," Simba whispered.

Vitani obeyed her king, drifting off to sleep with Kopa snuggled in beside her.

Days passed and gradually the horror of Adui's attack lessened in the hearts of the Pride Landers. The injured healed, some bearing scars, and the herds returned so the malnourished soon recovered as well. Many still mourned the deaths of Sarabi, Mega, and the three other males who fled Rogue Haven.

Babu was conflicted. Although he had seen justice brought to the two lions responsible for Mega's death, it did little to alleviate his pain. He thought about what the king and prince spoke of regarding killing out of hate. It was hate and anger that drove him to find Mega's murderers and he wondered if that meant he'd given in to the darkness the others sometimes spoke of. Timira had killed one of the two villains but Babu had taken the life of the other. Was he a bringer of justice like Timira or a murderer? He brooded over this while sitting on the summit of Pride Rock, recalling how frustrated he once was that his father forbid the Rogue Pride from ever stepping foot on the king's kopje.

"What do you think of the view?" Timira asked as she came up beside him.

"Honestly, it's not as impressive as I thought it would be," he said solemnly.

Timira frowned at Babu.

"Sorry about Kopa and Vitani," Babu continued. "I know you liked him."

"I'm a bit relieved, honestly," Timira replied. "No one actually asked me what I thought about the engagement. I don't think I ever really wanted to marry Kopa but I felt like I had to, or everyone would have been disappointed."

Babu shrugged. "I think they'll get over it."

Timira sighed. "How are you doing?"

Babu lowered his head. "I don't know. Timira, do you think I could be a monster?"

Timira blanched. "Why would you think that?"

"The lion I killed…"

"You had no choice," she said emphatically. "He was going to kill you. There's no crime in defending your life."

"I wanted them to die," Babu noted. "The king says…"

"I saw what happened," Timira insisted, gently pulling on Babu so he faced her. "I saw you. When you killed that lion, it wasn't anger in your eyes – it was fear. You were thinking about survival, not hate."

Babu shrugged. "Aren't you just splitting hairs?"

"You listen to me," Timira said sternly. "I've known you my whole life. You're not a monster. Don't you ever think that way again or I'll knock your block off!"

Babu smirked. "Okay, you don't have to be so bossy about it."

Timira suppressed a grin. "I'm glad the betrothal fell through," she continued. "It means I can be with who I was supposed to be with all along."

Babu gulped awkwardly. "Really? Who might that be?"

Timira shrugged. "Afua."

"What?" Babu yelled.

"Kidding," she laughed. "It's you, Moron. You're the only one for me."

"That wasn't funny," Babu said, chuckling despite himself.

Timira leaned in and they nuzzled lovingly. Kopa watched them from the base of Pride Rock, the king standing beside him. The prince was happy to see Timira with someone. "I remember the betrothal," he told Simba.

Simba looked up to where Kopa was gazing and chuckled. "Oh, that."

"I can see what you and Mom were getting at," Kopa admitted. "Timira's an amazing lioness but you understand why it just isn't going to happen, right?"

"I know," Simba said. "It's funny, when I was a kid, I promised to do away with the tradition of arranged marriages but it worked out so well with your mother and me. When we were young, we thought the idea of getting married was so weird but now I know there is no one else in the world for me. Nala was my one and only. So, I figured it was something worth trying out with you and Kiara."

Kopa gaped at his father. "Kiara? Who was she arranged to marry?" Simba gestured to a lion walking nearby and Kopa balked. "Afua?"

"Hey Dudes," Afua said nonchalantly to Kiara and Kovu as he passed them.

"Hi Afua," Kiara replied casually.

"Hey Man, what's up?" Kovu mumbled dispassionately.

"You have got to be kidding me," Kopa scoffed.

"It seemed like a good idea at the time," Simba chuckled.

"Hey Boga," Afua said sternly as he approached Babu's sister. "Look, I like you, and you like me. You can deny it all you want but…"

"Oh, so you think you know me, do you?" Boga scoffed. "Typical macho ego…"

"Will you just shut up for once and go on a date with me!" Afua snapped.

Simba and Kopa both winced.

Boga's glare turned murderous. "What did you just say?"

"Uh," Afua stuttered, "'go on a date with me?'"

"Before that," Boga clarified.

"'I like you, and you like me?'" Afua ventured.

"After that."

"Don't do it," Kopa whispered sympathetically.

Afua gulped. "Uh, 'will you just shut up?'"

Boga jumped on Afua and pinned him to the ground. "Tell me to shut up again, and you die," she threatened viciously.

Afua stared blankly at Boga. "So, about that date…"

"There is something very wrong with that boy," Simba sighed.

Boga glared at Afua. "Fine," she said. "Tomorrow at noon."

Simba and Kopa's jaws dropped.

Boga leapt off Afua and walked away casually. The dark furred male propped himself up on his elbows and gave Kopa the thumbs up.

"What the hell is wrong with the women in this pride?" Kopa scoffed.

"Your Majesty," Zazu greeted as he landed in front of Simba and Kopa, "I know this is to be a joyous day and this news may be somewhat depressing for you to hear but I felt it could not wait."

Simba regarded his steward. "Yes, Zazu, what is it?"

"I'm giving my one month notice," the hornbill declared.

"What?" the king gasped.

"In a month, I will retire as majordomo."

Nearby, Bhati's large ears pricked up and she gave a silent "hurray!"

Simba appeared genuinely upset to hear this. "Zazu, why?"

"Love, Sire," Zazu sighed dreamily. "Binti and I are to be married. We wish to start our family right away. As a consequence, I will no longer have time for my duties."

Bhati proceeded to dance, garnering the disturbed glances of Iggy and Tesma.

Simba smiled sadly. "It will be impossible to replace someone like you, Zazu."

"I'm sure you and our future king will be able to do without little old me," Zazu assured them.

"Future king," Kopa mumbled, looking over to Kovu. "Dad, can you come with me for a moment."

Simba gave Kopa a concerned frown. "Of course, Kopa. What's on your mind?"

The king and prince walked over to where Kovu and Kiara sat.

"Hey Butthead," Kopa called amiably to Kovu.

"What's up, Jerk?" Kovu replied just as cordially.

"Nice to see you two moved beyond the swear words," Kiara noted. "Now if only we could get you to stop the insults altogether."

"Hey, the insults are part of our charm," Kovu protested.

"Yeah, stop trying to screw it up," Kopa agreed.

Kiara rolled her eyes.

"Kovu, I got a bone to pick with you," Kopa continued.

Kovu cocked an eyebrow. "What is it?

"Your decision not to be king," Kopa began, pausing to take a deep breath, "you said it was because you think there's a darkness inside of you that you can't control."

Kovu nodded.

"Hey Dad," Asante piped up, running over to Simba and hugging the king's forelimb, "what are you guys talking about?"

Simba gently shushed his youngest. "Just listen," he said warmly.

"Well, Buddy, we all have that darkness in us – me included," Kopa explained. "You got a pretty good taste of it several days ago. Does that mean I shouldn't be king either?"

"It's not the same…" Kovu began.

"It comes from a different source, I'll grant you that, but it is the same. You and me are a couple of short fuses unfit to lead a kingdom on our own. So, I got a proposition."

Kovu glanced at Kiara, who shook her head to indicate she didn't know where this was going either. Simba already guessed what Kopa was going to suggest and smiled.

"What do you propose?" Kovu asked.

"We share the kingship – you and me. That way, if one of us loses it and becomes a danger to the kingdom, the other will have the authority to knock some sense into whoever's being a dumbass." Kopa lifted a paw and offered it to Kovu. "What do you say?"

Kovu regarded the offered paw for a moment.

"Could you hurry up and decide?" Kopa said awkwardly. "I feel like an idiot holding my paw out like this."

"I don't know what to say," Kovu said appreciatively as he grasped Kopa's paw.

"Just say yes, you idiot," Kopa sighed.

"Two kings ruling one kingdom?" Zazu scoffed. "That is completely inappropriate!"

"Excuse me, I thought you were retiring," Kopa said coldly.

"In one month," Zazu clarified. "Until then, I am still the king's steward and Simba would never agree to something so unconventional…"

"I think it's a wonderful idea," Simba said, smiling.

Zazu groaned in exasperation. "Why do I even bother?"

"It won't be without its difficulties but I believe in you both," Simba continued.

Kovu met the king's affectionate gaze and wiped his eyes emotionally.

"Dude, if you start crying, I'm gonna deck you," Kopa warned sardonically.

Kovu laughed and quickly dried his eyes. "I'm good," he assured everyone. He looked at Simba again and smiled warmly. "Thank you, Simba. I won't let you down."

"This means you're going to be queen after all," Kopa explained to Kiara. "You think you and Vitani can share that responsibility?"

Kiara nodded. "I'm sure she and I will get along just fine."

"What about me?" Asante asked.

Kopa shrugged. "Heck, if we can have two kings, why not three? The Pride Lands are a large place."

"Famous last words," Simba chuckled.

"Actually, I was kind of hoping I could have Zazu's job," Asante explained.

"What?" Bhati screeched.

The four larger lions and the hornbill stared at the cub disbelievingly. "You want to be majordomo?" Kopa scoffed.

"Are you feeling okay?" Kiara asked, touching Asante's forehead to check his temperature.

"Kid," Kovu laughed, "you do realize a majordomo is basically just a glorified butler, right?"

"Hey!" Zazu snapped defensively.

"I still think it's a cool job," Asante insisted. "Can I?"

"No!" Bhati moaned in anguish as Tesma and Iggy restrained her.

Simba laughed so hard tears came to his eyes. "We'll consider it when you're older," he assured his youngest child, who leapt into Simba's forelimbs joyfully.

The jingling of gourds drew their attention and Rafiki waved from the entrance of the den. As he did, Vitani came out with her bridesmaids, which included four lionesses who once belonged to the Outlander Pride. The bridesmaids had groomed Vitani for the day and the scruffy tuft of fur on Vitani's head had been smoothed back for once.

"It's time," Simba told Kopa.

The prince gulped as he made his way up to the den's entrance, where the rest of the pride gathered. Malka was also in attendance, an honored guest who sat beside the king and queen. Rafiki had fashioned an eye patch for the visiting king out of string and half a nutshell.

The ceremony followed the same pattern as Kovu and Kiara's wedding, with Kopa and Vitani saying their vows and culminating with Rafiki shaking his ceremonial gourds over their heads. The kingdom gathered below the promontory as Simba and Nala led their son and his new bride to the throne. The animals cheered upon seeing the new husband and wife and the pride released joyful roars.

As Kopa's roar trailed off, he nuzzled Vitani lovingly, kissing the healed scars on her neck.

Simba smiled at his son and daughter-in-law but then looked up towards the sun. "Mother, Father," he sighed, "I wish you could be here with us."

We are, two ethereal voices lovingly assured the king.

Near the den's entrance, Mheetu, Pumbaa, Timon, and Asante sat together, Timon standing with folded arms. "I tell you guys," the meerkat sighed, "it looks like it's just the four of us now."

"What do you mean?" Asante asked.

Timon gestured to the loving couples surrounding them. "Come on, look around," he explained. "We're the only bachelors left in this pride."

Chumvi and Kula stood off to the right. Chumvi was licking Kula's completely healed cheeks. Tojo and Tama, whose pregnancy was beginning to show, sat with their six bluebirds to the left. And Leo and Sarafina cuddled affectionately beside Kiara and Kovu at the base of the promontory.

"Us, though, we don't need no chicks to make us happy," Timon continued smugly.

Madoa, who was speaking with her sister Alama, caught Mheetu's eye. Alama noticed Mheetu staring and giggled, pointing him out to Madoa. Winking at her sister, Alama took off with some other lionesses while Madoa waited expectantly for Mheetu.

"If you fine gentleman would excuse me," Mheetu said grandly, "I have some important business to attend to."

"Hey, wait a minute!" Timon protested as Mheetu walked over to Madoa and nuzzled her freckled cheek. "Oh come on!" the meerkat scoffed angrily.

"Don't be like that, Timon," Pumbaa said cheerfully. "You can't stand in the way of love."

Timon sighed and wrapped his arm around Asante. "Well, it looks like it's just the three of us."

"Simba, Nala," Malka greeted as the king and queen returned from the promontory. "I thought you two would like to know, I have a daughter who's about Asante's age…"

Timon yanked his arm from Asante and fumed. "Here we go again," he muttered.

The Lion King IV:

The Rogue Pride

Proposed OC and Semi-Canon Voice Cast

Introduced in the previous book:

Boga - Kat Dennings

Kidonda - Johnny Depp

Kopa/Chaka - Topher Grace

Kula - Lucy Lawless

Mheetu - Keith David

Sabini - Julia Roberts

Tama - Jennifer Garner

Timira - Anne Hathaway

Introduced in this book:

Adui - Liam Neeson

Afua - Jonah Hill

Babu - Jesse Eisenberg

Beba - Michael Cera

Chumvi - Michael Dorn

Joe - Jim Carrey

Leo - John Rhys-Davies

Malka - Hugo Weaving

Mega - Ron Glass

Tojo - Laurence Fishburne

Note: I want to wait till Asante grows up in the next book before choosing a voice actor that would best fit his personality. Sense he's my Fursona, we could assume he sounds like me and identify me as his voice actor, though that doesn't really help my readers sense none of you know what I sound like.

Note 2: I didn't feel like looking for potential voice actors to play Binti, Bhati, Iggy, Tesma, Shingo, or the six bluebirds because I'm lazy.

Note 3: A couple of years after I finished this book, I discovered on The Lion King Wiki that Jane Leeves (who played Daphne Moon on Frazier) was supposedly intended to play Binti before the character was dropped during pre-production of TLK2SP. Unlike my sporty version of Binti, the original concept from Disney described her as extremely flirtatious. Who knew?

A Note From the Writer

That concludes the second book of my Lion King fan fiction. I hope you all enjoyed this one at least as much as you did my first – hopefully more. I apologize for any grammatical errors I didn't catch before uploading the chapters. My third and final book for my Lion King fan fiction will be The Lion King V: Man Comes to the Pride Lands – you can probably guess from the title what the plot will involve. I don't know when I'll start this fan fiction so I suggest you add me to your Author Notifications. I may also do some short stories or one shots dealing with other less explored characters. Here are some ideas I'd like to put to paper someday:

-A short story introducing the First King (Kopa I), his sons (including Asante I) and daughters, and Asante I's son Amri.

-A short story featuring Ahadi, Uru, and their young cubs Mufasa and Scar.

-A short story introducing Timira's parents, whom I'm thinking of naming Timir (her father) and Shadow (her mother).

-A short story about Sarafina, featuring the pride of her birth, her mother Nadra, the asshole polygamous king Sarafina was originally betrothed to, and adolescents Leo, Mufasa, Scar, Sarabi, and Mega. Also featured in this story would be Ahadi and Uru in addition to Zira and Sabini as cubs.

-A short story about Mheetu's banishment from the Pride Lands, his life in the jungle, and his finding Kopa in the river.

December 2012 Update: I've written a number of short stories as I planned and you can find them on my Fan Fiction account. I've decided to leave the story of the First King for others to write if they feel inclined.

Like with my first book, I'll leave you folks with some info about my inspirations for this fan fiction and some behind-the-scenes info. As before, I got some of this information off the Internet and it's likely that not all this info is 100% accurate.

I've incorporated more characters originally introduced in The Lion King comics and The Lion King: Six New Adventures. I won't go through every semi-canon character I incorporated, because that would take forever but I will direct readers to check out the comics and the Six New Adventures book series. I'd love to hear what you all think about my interpretation of these supporting book characters.

Kopa and Vitani: So most other fan fiction writers and artists pair Kopa up with Vitani and I just loved this match. I also heard about the Chaka/Timira pairing and I was tempted to explore that one but, eventually, the Kopa/Vitani pairing won out.

Madoa and Alama: Madoa was one of the more unique unnamed Outsiders to appear in The Lion King II: Simba's Pride, distinguished by her lazy right eye and a series of dots under that same eye. In the scene where Zira tells her daughter Vitani, "If you will not fight, then you will die as well," Madoa can be seen with two other Outlanders giving Zira the stink eye – or maybe that's just how her eye looks all the time. Many fans know her by the nickname of Dotty but I decided to name her Madoa ("Spots"). Also briefly appearing in The Lion King II: Simba's Pride alongside Madoa is another Outsider with a series of dots under her left eye, who many fans refer to as Spotty. In my fan fiction, this is Madoa's sister, who I've named Alama ("Marks").

Nadra: In early production of The Lion King, back when it was titled King of the Jungle, Nala was originally going to be named Nadra, which means "Special." It was a pretty name so I recycled it as the name of Sarafina's mother and Nala's grandmother when I fleshed out Sarafina's backstory.

Bhati, Iggy, and Tesma: These three characters were originally meant to appear in The Lion King but were cut in early production, probably around the same time that the movie's title was changed from King of the Jungle. Several examples of concept art for these characters were produced. Bhati (possibly a misspelling of Bahati ("Fortune")) was originally meant to act as Mufasa's majordomo but Zazu then replaced her character – hence her desire to usurp Zazu's position and become majordomo in my fan fiction. Iggy was a male lizard and a childhood friend of Simba and Nala. Tesma the meerkat was also planned as a childhood friend of Simba and Nala, though it is unknown what gender Tesma was supposed to be or what his/her relationship was with Timon, though many fans theorize that Tesma and Timon are cousins.

March 2014 Update: I was recently checking out the Lion King Wiki and discovered some new information about Tesma. Allegedly there was a 1990 version of the script released in which Tesma is female and, get this, TIMON'S MATE! The hell? I originally made Tesma a male in my fan fiction but decided to go back and change Tesma's gender. This might explain why Tesma has a problem with Timon in my fan fiction. Could it be that Timon has a disgruntled ex-wife? Dun dun dun!

Binti: Supposedly, Binti was a character slated to appear in The Lion King II: Simba's Pride but was cut in early production. Her name either means "Daughter" or "Young Lady." She was meant to be Zazu's girlfriend and later his mate.

The First King and His Children (Updated May 2014): The First King never appears in person in any of The Lion King films or books but he is mentioned in the Swedish comic The Lion King: A False Ancestor, titled The Lion King: A Gift from the Heavens in German. In this comic, a young Simba sees a meteor fall from the sky. It nearly kills a homeless lion named Joe who Simba mistakes for the meteor and believes is one of the Great Kings of the Past fallen to earth. Joe pretends to be the First King of Pride Rock to impress Simba. Throughout the comic, certain things are revealed about the First King, although some of this information changes between the Swedish and German versions of the comic. The following are facts revealed by Joe:

1. In the Swedish version, Joe claims that the First King was the great-great-great-grandfather of "the present king" (at the time, Mufasa was the present king, though later in the comic, Simba refers to the First King as his great-great-great-grandfather). In the German version, Joe claims that the First King was Simba's great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather (four more "greats" than the Swedish version).

2. Joe claims the First King defeated a thousand hyenas.

3. Joe claims the First King once roared so load that he knocked over three trees.

It is questionable whether this information is accurate, as Joe could have been making it up to impress Simba. Later, two parrots claiming to be historians reveal more facts about the First King:

1. The parrots claim the First King ruled in a time when the hyenas tried to take over (In the German version, the parrots specify that he "battled hyenas with tusks").

2. The parrots claim it was the First King who discovered the Elephant Graveyard.

3. The parrots claim the First King lived close to the time of a great earthquake.

4. In the Swedish version, one parrot claims the First King had two sons, but the other parrot says he's wrong and claims the First King actually had three sons. This is contradicted in the German version of the comic, in which the parrots claim the First King had three daughters.

This information is also questionable as the birds initially disagree on how many children the First King had, indicating they may not have all their facts straight. In my fan fiction, it is clarified that the First King is Mufasa's great-great-great-grandfather and Simba's great-great-great-great-grandfather, his real name is Kopa (making him the namesake of Simba's son), and that he had three sons (the oldest being a lion named Asante, who my Fursona is named after) and three daughters. As for the rest of the stories told by Joe and the two parrots, I'll leave that up to your imaginations.

Tojo's Bluebirds: Mvua ("Rain"), Upepo ("Wind"), Jua ("Sun"), Mbingu ("Heavens"), Wingu ("Cloud"), and Umeme ("Lightning") are Tojo's six adopted bluebirds, originally featured (and unnamed) in one of the many Lion King comics. When they were born, they imprinted on the lion cub Simba, identifying him as their mother because their real mother disappears before they've hatched. They also imprint on Simba's friend Tojo, identifying him as their father. It is interesting to note that real bluebirds are only indigenous to North America, where they come in three species: the Eastern Bluebird, the Western Bluebird, and the Mountain Bluebird. It could be assumed that the writer of this comic didn't realize there were no bluebirds in Africa – or the term is used merely as a description in the comic, meaning that these characters are just birds that happen to be blue and are not necessarily one of the bluebird species. As an unknown species, my fan fiction goes with the assumption that this is an undiscovered breed of bird that is much longer lived than other bird species, as they would be roughly nine-years-old in this fan fiction while North American Bluebirds only live 2 – 5 years.

Vitani's Name: Originally, Vitani was going to be named Shetani but the filmmakers of The Lion King II: Simba's Pride later changed her name because they thought Shetani would be an inappropriate name for the character. This was due to the fact that, in Swahili, Shetani translates as "Demon" or "Devil." In place of Shetani, the filmmakers created what they thought was a portmanteau of Shetani and the Swahili word Vita, which means "War," though I don't really see how "Demon of War" is any better than "Demon." The filmmakers believed that Vitani was meaningless in Swahili but, in actuality, Vitani is the plural form of the Swahili word Kitani, which means "Duck," "Flax," and/or "Linen." Sorry Vitani, didn't mean to ruin your street cred.

Adui's Name: Those of you who've followed this story since I first started writing it are familiar with the fact that I changed Adui's name from Hasimu halfway through the writing process. Sorry if this caused any confusion. The reason for this change was because, when I originally used the name Hasimu, I thought it was a Swahili word meaning "enemy," which I thought was a really fantastic name for an antagonist. But only one online Swahili dictionary made this translation while all others said hasimu meant "no phone," which wasn't a particularly meaningful or descriptive name for the character. According to all other online Swahili translators I checked out, the Swahili term for "enemy" is adui. So, the character Hasimu became Adui.

Swahili Translations of my Original Character's Names:

Adui – "Enemy"

Asante – "Thank You"

Shingo – "Neck"

Hope you found this info interesting. Please leave feedback and feel free to ask questions in your reviews if you'd like. Asante sana!