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Chapter II: Faces Old and New

Kopa's POV:

I landed on top of one of the hyenas at the edge of the circle; instead of killing it, I spring-boarded off of its back and a few others to land right next to the lioness. Needless to say, things weren't going so well for her; she was already weak from fighting off a few of them, and I was exhausted from lack of food, sleep, and water. Every time I pushed one back, another leapt in to take its fallen comrade's place. We were hemmed in with no way out.

Then the lioness did something completely unexpected; she leapt over the first two rows of hyenas, did a 360 turn upon landing, and knocked over hyenas in a wide circle around her... creating our escape route. Motioning to me, she ran through the gap. I followed her as fast as I could, wincing in pain from the multiple gashes and damaged muscles all over my body. Only a few of the hyenas went after us, and we got away from them soon enough. We ran for so long, I don't even remember; I eventually stopped panting, to check for more hyenas. When I saw none, I felt my legs give out under me, and I blacked out.

I woke up to a night sky and foggy vision. For some reason my wounds were no longer hurting... although my head felt like someone was was hitting it with a rock. I groaned, and looked around; I was alone, but my wounds were bound. I tried to sit up, but this triggered a wave of nauseating pain to streak up my body. Wincing, I just laid there, waiting for something to happen. A few minutes later I heard a sound of rustling in the grass; alarmed, I got prepared to defend myself as best I could. I relaxed when the lioness walked into the clearing. Now that I had the chance to actually look at her ( not that I could do much else), I noticed that she had light brown fur and green eyes. "Good, you're awake!" she said, dropping the antelope she was carrying. "How are you feeling? Those herbs I gave you should be working by now."

"I'm fine, thank you for healing me." I rasped out.

"That's good to hear, besides it's the least I could do for the lion that saved my life." she said, bowing her head. "Are ya hungry?" she asked motioning to the antelope; I nodded my head, slightly embarrassed that I had to eat something that wasn't my own kill. We both just started eating hungrily.

The lioness finished first; so she just patiently sat there and watched me eat. I don't know why but I suddenly felt like a cub again. When I finished eating, she spoke suddenly, "Are you a rogue?"

"Yes, I am; does that change anything?" I asked, starting to get defensive; I knew how rogues were treated outside and inside the Pridelands.

"No; I'm just confused... why did you save me back there then?" she asked curiously.

"I may be a rogue but that doesn't mean I don't have any honor or code that I follow." I said, letting my defenses drop. For some reason I started staring at her again.

"Oh." She said, looking a little shamefaced. "Well, if you don't mind me asking... what's your name?" she asked, eyes sparkling.

"Give me your name, and I'll give you mine." I said, remembering an old rogue's saying.

"Alright; my name is Fuwele. It means, 'Crystal.' I'm the princess of the pride that lives over across that ridge over there. I have a brother named Brasta and a good friend of the entire pride named Strike. He's like you, a rogue; but he settled down with us a few months ago." she said, giving me a gesture that said, 'Okay; now what do you have to say?'

"My name is Tojo." I said, quickly remembering one of my dad's old friends. Sure, she saved me; but if her pride had any knowledge of the Pridelands, her situation and my own could get worse, so I gave her a false name.

"Tojo... that's a nice name." She cocked her head slightly, "Definitely not one I would expect of a rogue." she said questioningly.

"It's my name; and besides, I wasn't always a rogue." I said, getting tired again. She must've noticed, because she said, "Go ahead and sleep; I'll keep watch tonight, Tojo." she sat down next to me. I dozed off, feeling safe and secure for the first time since I started my life in the Outlands.

Vitani's POV:

Kovu, despite his young age, was turning out to be a little brat. He was always crying; then again, knowing my mother's parenting methods, I gotta give the little guy credit for not crying every minute of the day. Some days I really regretted my decision to go with mother and not stay with the pridelanders; but I would have lost both my best friend, boyfriend, and mother all in one day. I couldn't handle that then, but now... I was wishing I was back in the Pridelands. I kept having the urge to just go out and search for Kopa, but I knew I wouldn't likely find hm; the Outlands were too huge for that. As I sighed, resigning myself to my fate yet again, my thoughts were broken by Mother shouting, "I'm hunting with the other lionesses today, so watch him!"

A slighly whiny, bitter voice I recognized as Nuka complained, "Oh, can't you just take the little termi-"

"Little WHAT?" shouted Mother, a hint of fury in her voice.

"I-I mean, precious little chosen one with you for, um..."

"NO, NUKA! He is the chosen one, and it's YOUR job to watch him! Just shut up and do what I tell you!" I saw Nuka come around the corner, trying not to look like he was running away from Mother. Ever since Kovu was born, she was abusing Nuka even more than before; it was like he was a scapegoat for everything that had gone wrong. At least I had Lati to keep me cheerful; the only person who talked to Nuka was me. I laid down on the floor, trying to get some rest while Nuka walked past me, muttering darkly.