Lion Guard: The Lion's Heir

Chapter 11: Las Navas de Tolosa

"Kopa, why do you fear?"

"I, I don't understand. Who are you?"

"Do you not recognize me, blood of my blood."

As Kopa looked closer, his nearly jumped, for the figure looked just like his father, only slightly different.

"You, it's, it's really you!!!"

"Yes, it is I, your grandfather. King Mufasa Plantagenet, or rather, that was what they once called me on Earth." Tears swelled in Kopa's eyes as he took in the magnitude of the apparition before him. His grandfather, King Mufasa, the Lionhearted, the Lion King.

"Grandfather, I, I don't understand. Am I dead? Is the Lord's judgment upon me?"

"No, Kopa. You are not dead, nor do I think you shall ever be, should you remain as you are, whatever happens to your flesh."

Kopa's heart didn't stop racing, and he struggled to find words.

"Grandfather, you must help me! You were the greatest King ever to grace England or France! You were the greatest Crusader to ever live! I face an impossible battle tomorrow, and if we fail, Spain will fall! Countless will die or be enslaved! The Berbers will continue on to France, and then Italy, all of Christendom will-"

"Kopa!" Mufasa's roar silenced his grandson, yet strangely, he wasn't frightened. Mufasa felt as if he stood beside Kopa, even from the clouds.

"Kopa, why are you afraid? Do you not trust yourself and those around you, and even if you fail, do you not trust your King?"

Kopa went silent, and he struggled for words as Mufasa stared down tenderly at him.

"Kopa, you are a Lion in your own right, but you are only human. If you put your ultimate faith in yourself or other humans, you will always find yourself disappointed."

Kopa clenched his eyes shut.

"That's what happened to you! You trusted your damned brother and-"

"Kopa, I have already forgiven Taka. What's done is done, and I have moved on."

Kopa looked back at him and slowly understood.

"You aren't truly gone, and neither is Odrick."

"No, Kopa. You fear what will happen should you fail, but that fear will not serve you. Have trust, Kopa, have faith." A greater light enveloped Mufasa and Kopa thought he saw something or someone else approaching. Without hesitation, Mufasa fell to his knees, and Kopa sprung up.

"Gaah!!!!" Frantically looking around, Kopa saw he was back in his tent, covered in sweat.

"Dieu ait pitié." The King slowly caught his breath. He'd never had a dream like that before, and it was surreal. Yet, it couldn't have been real, could it?

Kopa blinked, and his hand trembled while slowly reaching for a pendant lying on top of the trunk beside his bed. The pendant contained a small illustration of King Mufasa made during his lifetime and given to Kopa as a birthday present by his father years earlier. Yet, he didn't take it out of the trunk. Kopa clenched it in his hands and then crossed himself.

"Je te fais confiance, mon Seigneur Dieu."

The following day, Dogo dressed Kopa in his mail and surcoat. He noticed his King now seemed much calmer and more sure of himself than before, and he wore a pendant depicting King Mufasa.

"Wine, mon Roi?" He held up a wineskin, but Kopa shook his head.

"Non, I'll need my wits about me. Merci, though."