The Lion King: Legend of Kopa

Chapter Three

   Kopa halted in his tracks, fur standing up in a stunned way. Slowly, he turned and began to mop back to Pride Rock. He nervously entered the den. The only ones in there were Simba and Zazu. Both were looking stern. Zazu was perched on a rock beside Simba, watching as Kopa sauntered up to them. Simba looked down at his son, frowning. "Kopa, what were you thinking?" Simba began calmly but firmly.
   "You almost gave me a heart attack from all the screaming going on!" Zazu barked, fluttering down so he was standing right in front of Kopa.
   Simba gave Zazu a look, and the hornbill's angry expression shifted and he quickly backed away.
   "That was very rude and disrespectful, Kopa," Simba continued. "Was anyone else doing the prank with you?"
   Kopa hesitated, suddenly wondering why Timon and Pumba hadn't followed him into the den to be scolded by the king. "No," he lied, hanging his head in shame.
   Simba's whiskers twitched. "Okay," he said. "Just don't do that again, do you understand?"
   "Yessir," Kopa murmured solemnly.
   Simba smiled. "Come, I want to give you a lesson my father taught me when I was your age," he told Kopa.
   Kopa grew curious as he followed his father outside. Zazu gave a cross hmph! and flew outside the den and away.
   Simba and Kopa walked across the sunny, peaceful savanna together, side by side.
   "Kopa, have you ever heard of the expression, 'The Circle of Life?'" Simba asked Kopa as they strolled.
   Kopa shrugged. "It sounds kind of familiar, thought I'm not sure where exactly I heard it," he answered.
   "Well, the term 'The Circle of Life' is a saying that is an essential lesson taught amongst all the animals of the Pridelands, from the tiny meerkat to the enormous water buffalo," Simba explained. "Kopa, you know how we kill and eat antelope and wildebeests?"
   Kopa nodded. "But do we need to kill other animals?" He asked his father. "Why can't we just be vegan like zebras and gazelles?"
   Simba playfully flicked his son's butt with his tail. "You see, Kopa, we are predators, and in our young age we might see killing prey as cruel and unfair. However, this is where the lesson of The Circle of Life it taught. When I was a cub like you, I didn't very much approve of killing other animals. But then my father gave me the lesson I am about to tell you."
   Kopa's attention was now fully turned on his father. He almost stumbled over a twig he didn't notice was right in his path.
   "You see, we eat the antelope, but when we die, our bodies decay into grass, and the antelope eat the grass, and so, we are all connected in the great Circle of Life," Simba said, mimicking some of the words Mufasa had said to him when he was little.
   Kopa nodded in understanding. Now it all made sense to him. "Okay, now I understand," he told Simba.
   Simba's warm grin extended wider. "You're a smart lad," he said to Kopa.
   The two of them continued to stroll across the lively Pridelands, in silence. It wasn't an uncomfortable or awkward kind of silence though. It was more of a peaceful silence only a father and a son could share.
   Eventually they passed by a herd of antelope. The antelope were leaping gracefully, leaping right by Simba and Kopa without displaying any signs of fear. I'm grateful for the Circle of Life, Kopa thought, smiling.

   Later, Kopa was at the watering hole with Nala and the other lionesses. Nala was grooming Kopa, much to his dismay. Kopa had to admit to himself that he actually liked the feel of his mother's soft pink tongue against his fur, but recently he had begun to feel really embarrassed each time he was bathed in front of the other cubs.
   "Mom, I'm clean enough already!" Kopa groaned, trying to escape his mother's hold, but Nala kept him there until she was finally done.
   When Kopa hopped down from the rock his mother was resting on, he saw Vitani sitting by her mother, Zira, underneath a particularly shady tree. Vitani had lovely creamy fur with beautiful violet eyes. Her mother, however, always seemed to be in a dark mood. Zira never liked to talk to the other lionesses, and seemed like she preferred to hide in the shadows all the time.
   While Nala continued to have her usual girly-chats with the other lionesses, Kopa bounded over to the water, where his friends—Cody, Chel, and Nuka— were playing. "Hey guys!" Kopa exclaimed as he trotted into the water with them.
   "Hi, Kopa!" Cody and Chel greeted him back. Nuka huffed and rolled his eyes. Actually, him and Kopa weren't exactly friends, but they still hung out.
   "We were actually waiting for you, Kopa," Cody said, scampering up to him. Cody was a male cub with brown eyes and a pale ginger pelt. His voice lowered to a whisper. "We recently found out about this cool place called The Elephant Graveyard."
   Kopa's heart skipped a beat when Cody mentioned that name. His father had told him never to go there because one time he went there himself as a cub and was nearly killed by hyenas. But Kopa didn't say anything.
   "Yeah!" Chel added, approaching Kopa and Cody. "C'mon, Kopa, it'll be fun!" Nuka nodded in agreement.
   "Fine," Kopa signed reluctantly. He, Cody, Chel and Nuka went to their mothers for permission to leave the area.
   "Mom, can we go to Rafiki's baobab tree?" Kopa asked Nala politely.
   "Yes, you may," Nala said, much to Kopa's relief.
   After the other mothers were informed of the cubs going to "Rafiki's tree," Kopa, Cody, Chel and Nuka set off, secretly headed in the direction of the Elephant Graveyard.