Unknown Past by Eva Janus

Characters:

Vitani, Taka, Kovu, Tomie, Zira, Mufasa, Simba, Kiara, Nala, and Sarabi

(note: the characters are screwed up, like: Simba and Kiara are bro and
sis, etc....)

 

 

It was early in the morning when Zira took a walk toward the cliff to
give birth to her cub. She didn^Òt want everyone all around her cub, so
she left Pride Rock for a while to let her new daughter have some space.
Zira gave birth to her cub, and was very proud! She was lying down near
the cliff, when all of a sudden, out of the fog, hyenas surrounded her! A
male lion with a dark mane walked up and took her cub! Then the male lion
and the hyenas ran off back into the fog which led to the Outlands.

Zira was so broken up! She carefully walked back to Pride Rock,
anguished. She never told anybody about her cub being stolen. She just
told the pride that it died when it was birthed.

As the years went by, Simba, Nala, Kiara, Kovu and Tomie grew to adults.
They were all friends and got along extremely well! Mufasa and Sarabi
were proud parents of Simba and Kiara (I told ya it was screwed up!).
Kovu, an only cub (like I said), was like a brother with Tomie, an only
cub also. Nala was an only cub too, but she and Kiara got along very
well! All of them were showing off to each other, ^Ñcause it getting
close to mating time.

Across the HUGE cliff, in the Outlands, Taka was training "his" cub,
Vitani, to be a strong and mighty warrior. He was readying her for the
war that was gonna happen. He was watching her train.

"She certainly has grown strong." said Taka to one lioness there.

The lioness, Jakta, agreed, "Yes, she certainly has."

Vitani swiped away the last hyena, and walked up proudly next to her
"father."

"How^Òd I do today Daddy?"

"You^Òre learning."

"Is that all you can say?!" said Vitani, disappointed.

"For now."

Vitani rolled her eyes and went into the den. Taka followed.

"You^Òre getting stronger every day. Soon you^Òll be ready to fight the
war with the rest of us! Soon we will have our revenge!" said Taka,
glorious.

Vitani, confused why they HAD to kill Mufasa and his family, spoke.

"Why is Mufasa so bad?"

"Why?" said Taka. "I^Òll tell you why plain and simple. Here^Òs why:
Mufasa exiled us to the Outlands! Your mother tried to stay, but Mufasa
killed her, and now I^Òm left to raise you on my own! I want my revenge!
That^Òs why!" said Taka, angry.

Vitani^Òs question had been answered for her, and left her father alone.

Soon it was time for everyone to go home for the night. The sun was going
down, past the horizon.

That evening, Kovu walked out of Pride Rock and walked to the top and sat
down in silence. In the Outlands, Vitani walked to the top of her cave
and sat in silence also. Vitani started to stare at the moon in wonder of
what the future held. Kovu was looking to the stars, seeking help from
the great kings of the past.

"Something doesn^Òt feel right about my life, strange as it is." said
Kovu, talking to himself.

"Why must I train to kill? Why can^Òt I be who I want to be?" said
Vitani, talking to herself also.

Kovu closed his eyes while still facing the stars.

"Show me what is wrong. Show me what is missing in my life. Show
me,......" he faded.

Vitani closed her eyes and started to shed little tears.

"Why can^Òt I be who I want to be? Why? Why must I be a killer? Why? Show
me oh wise ones in the stars!" she started to cry more. "I wish not to
dishonor my father.... but there^Òs something inside me, telling me to
trust my feelings."

At the same time, Kovu and Vitani spoke the same words: "Show me...." It
felt as if two flesh were bonded together into one as they spoke
together.

Suddenly, Taka came out to see where Vitani went. He saw her on the cave
and went out to bring her in.

"Vitani," he said. "What are you doing up here?"

Vitani turned to her father and wept on him. Taka, confused but
sympathetical toward his daughter, hugged her and walked her into the
cave. Kovu decided that an answer would come soon, and until then, he
went into the den and went to sleep.

In the morning, Vitani woke up to the sun shining down on her face. Then
a shadow fell over her. She opened her eyes to see her father looking
down at her.

"Time to wake up Vitani!" said Taka. "Today^Òs the day!"

Vitani wasn^Òt fully awake yet, "What?"

"You know, THE DAY."

"Oh, OK."

Vitani walked outside and saw everyone standing around her.

"Daddy, why are they all up so early?"

"To see you when you leave and wish you good luck."

Vitani smiled. Taka had her eat something and had her practice and do a
little training before she set off. When Vitani was ready, she gave her
father a hug and walked over the HUGE cliff into the Pride Lands. She was
a bit nervous, but she knew what her mission was. Once she set paw on the
Pride Lands, she walked to the left a little ways. Then, she climbed up
the rocky slope to witness the most beautiful thing she had ever seen!

She walked past green trees and saw tons of animals prancing everywhere!
There were so many trees. It was like a roof of leaves over everything.
She walked up to one of the animals and asked where other lions were. The
animal said keep going forward. So Vitani walked forward for awhile and
soon came out of the trees, and right before her was Pride Rock. It was
HUMONGOUS! She stared in awe of it. Never in her life, had she seen such
a beautiful sight. She walked up towards Pride Rock and saw little cubs
running around and playing in the grass right before her. Then she saw a
male lion walk up to the cubs. He noticed her just standing there and
went to greet her.

"Hello." said Tomie.

"Oh! Hi." said Vitani.

"Are you a newcomer?"

"Yes. I was wondering if I could stay here for a few days."

"Oh, you^Òre more than welcome to stay with us!"

Vitani smiled, "Thank you!"

Tomie smiled back, "I^Òll show you our leader, Mufasa."

Vitani followed Tomie up the side of Pride Rock and she came face to face
with the king of the Pride Lands.

"Mufasa," said Tomie. "This is a newcomer,....uh..."

"Vitani." she said.

"Yeah. Uh,...she wanted to stay here for a couple of days."

"That^Òd be great!" said Mufasa. "It^Òs been a while since we^Òve had a
newcomer!"

Vitani smiled. Now that she had been accepted, she just needed time to
get them to trust her. She met everyone and learned which ones were royal
and which ones weren^Òt. She met one by the name of Kovu. The minute she
met him, she felt something strange about him. But she kept her thoughts
and feelings to herself.

As nightfall came, she sat outside to think to herself. She had to think
of a way to get everyone^Òs trust. She decided to wait and come up with
an idea in the morning when she was awake and prepared.

In the morning, she volunteered to go and hunt for the others as her
treat. She brought back two zebras. Everyone was amazed. Tomie was
especially impressed.

"How are you so good?" asked Tomie in amazement.

"Well, my father trained me." she said with pride.

"Your father must be really good then!" he said happily.

"You have no idea..." she snickered.

From that day on, Tomie had been showing signs that he liked Vitani. She
kinda liked him too, but tried not to let her emotions get in the way.
She had also been making friends with Kovu. She liked to be around him;
he made her feel good. Pretty soon, two weeks had passed and Vitani had
gotten everyone^Òs trust, but she was slowly slipping away from the plan
that her father had for her. She had finally come to realize that these
Pride Landers were good. They wouldn^Òt be careless and kill someone
^Ñcause they were mad. She felt her feelings say to help these lions
instead of work against them.... That day, she was outside, talking and
playing with her new friends.

No one saw Taka who was hiding in the Pride Lands to see if his daughter
had completed her part of the mission. He saw her playing and interacting
with those beasts! He got furious and ran back to the Outlands and
started going mad. Jakta, Taka^Òs (I guess) "girlfriend" was trying to
calm him down.

"Taka!" she said. "Taka! Why are you so mad?"

"Because, she agreed to do this part whether needed or not! Now look at
her: she^Òs making friends out there!!! She knows that it^Òs off
limits!!!"

Jakta tried to calm him down again, but then thought of a plan.

"Taka," she said quietly and sneakily. "Why not surprise them?"

Taka stopped walking, "What?"

"It^Òs clear that Vitani isn^Òt gonna do the job, so why not just attack
when they^Òre all asleep? We can take them by surprise."

Taka smiled, "I like it."

He walked over to Jakta and kissed her, then went outside to rally the
hyenas and other lions. Taka decided he didn^Òt need Vitani for his plan
anymore. He was just gonna kill everybody for her disobedience.

Vitani was walking outside in the Pride Lands that night while everybody
was asleep. She walked to the bottom of Pride Rock and sat down in the
soft grass. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She was speaking
through her heart to the great kings in the stars.

"Why had I been trained for war? These lions wouldn^Òt kill anybody for
the world! Why?"

It just so happens that Kovu was walking down from Pride Rock and noticed
Vitani just sitting there. He walked up to her and tapped her on the
shoulder.

"You OK?"

Vitani, startled, jumped forward and turned around to see it was only
Kovu.

"Oh! It^Òs only you, Kovu! I didn^Òt hear you come."

"I^Òm sorry if I scared you, but I saw you just sitting there, and
didn^Òt know if you were hurt or something."

"Oh, that^Òs OK. I was just talking to the kings."

Kovu looked confused, "How do you know about the great kings? Only Pride
Landers believe in that. I can just look at you and tell you^Òre not a
Pride Lander.... no offense."

Vitani was honest, but afraid, "I know ^Ñcause,....."

"^ÑCause what?"

"My father told me of them...."

"Really? Well your father must have once lived in the Pride Lands.....
Who is your father anyway?"

Vitani was uneasy, "You^Òd probably kick me out of the Pride Lands if I
told you."

"Taka....."

Vitani^Òs eyes widened, "... how? How did you know?"

"Taka is Mufasa^Òs brother. He wanted to be king, but Mufasa wouldn^Òt
have it, so he kicked Taka out. The hyenas followed him and some of the
lionesses too."

"My father told me that Mufasa killed my mother ^Ñcause she tried to
stay...."

"It^Òs true. She tried to stay and kill Mufasa for throwing Taka out, but
he killed her for she was about to kill him then and there.... I^Òm
sorry...."

"It^Òs OK.... I love my father very much, but he... he uh... Oh well!
It^Òll come out soon enough!"

"What will?"

"Taka sent me here to scout and get everyone^Òs trust before he came in
to attack.... I don^Òt want to go along anymore!"

"Why?"

"^ÑCause I love you all.... I see no crime in you..."

"What?" said Kovu in a voice that sounded as if he^Òd seen a ghost.

"I said: I see no crime in you..."

Kovu stared for a moment, then he gasped.

"What?" asked Vitani.

"Where did you hear that saying?"

"I^Òve always said that."

"Strange...." said Kovu in disbelief. "Only my mother and I say that."

Vitani and Kovu stared at each other for a moment.

"Are you who I think you are?" said Kovu in an almost whisper.

"Who do you think I am?" asked Vitani as she leaned forward.

"My mother had a cub after me, but it was stolen by hyenas.... and.... oh
my gosh..."

Vitani stared at him, "Am I your..."

".... sister..." he said with wide eyes.

The two of them stared at each other. Vitani had tears in her eyes. They
felt as if two souls were suddenly one; like a mystery case had two parts
and they suddenly made sense and could fit together. Kovu smile and began
to cry as did Vitani. Brother and sister embraced as they rejoiced in
their souls.

They didn^Òt know that Taka had seen and heard them talking. He was
angry, but almost happy for Vitani at the same time. He walked over to
where the hyenas had been positioned.

"Take everyone hostage except, Vitani. I^Òll deal with her."

Jakta waited for Taka to give the signal to attack. Taka looked over at
Vitani and Kovu, then paused.

"On second thought," he said to Jakta and the hyenas. "Don^Òt take
hostage that one lion down there."

"Yes sir." said Jakta.

Taka walked up to Vitani and Kovu, "Hello my dear."

Vitani recognized the voice and quickly jumped aside. Kovu just turned to
see who it was. Taka turned to Vitani.

"You didn^Òt follow the plan; why?"

Vitani looked up at him with fear, "Because they didn^Òt do anything
wrong."

Taka walked up to her, "I told you about what Mufasa did to your mother,
did I not?"

Vitani looked at Kovu, "It^Òs all a lie!" She turned to Taka, "Isn^Òt
it?"

"What are you talking about?" said Taka. "I^Òd never lie to you!"

Vitani walked over to Kovu, but was talking to Taka, "You lied about
everything! You lied about my life! You lied about my purpose!"

"Vitani, I never lied to you before in my life. It was hard enough for me
to raise you on my own, but now training you,...... why are you turning
on me?"

Vitani was torn. Kovu, knowing that she is his sister, stood up for her.

"Because she knows the truth!" he said bravely.

"I see you^Òve met your brother, eh Vitani?" said Taka. "Too bad he
won^Òt be able to do anything to help his friends..."

He suddenly gave the signal, and Jakta and the hyenas ran out and took a
fence they made out of sticks and pushed it against the cave entrance so
no one could get out. They used some fast-drying sticky honey that they
stole from Rafiki to keep the fence over the entrance. Mufasa saw the
fence slam against the cave opening and ran up to see what^Òs going on.

"Well, well, well. What have we here?" said Taka.

"Taka!" shouted Mufasa. "What are you doing?!"

"Let^Òs just say, I^Òm the new king; well soon enough."

Mufasa roared loudly. Taka laughed at him. Jakta and two hyenas were
watching Kovu. It just so happened that Tomie was walking outside in the
pride Lands. When he saw that hyenas were everywhere, he hid and waited
to see what^Òs going on. Taka sent the hyenas out to take over the Pride
Lands. Tomie still hid.

Later, everyone quieted down. Taka was at the throne of Pride Rock,
looking at the stars. Tomie snuck past the talking, chatting hyenas. Kovu
was being watched by hyenas. Tomie saw Vitani and walked up to her.

"Are you OK, Vitani?" he asked.

She turned and was happy to see it was Tomie. She smiled and ran and
nuzzled him.

"I was so worried about you!" she said.

Tomie hugged back, "Yeah. Well, I was worried about you too. I hope
you^Òre not hurt."

"I^Òm fine, thanks."

"That^Òs good."

Tomie nuzzled her quick and snuck past the hyenas to try and get to Kovu.
Vitani tried to talk her father out of killing everyone.

"Daddy!" she said. "Why must you kill them ALL?"

"Dearest, I must! I^Òve told you twice already why."

"Is it only because of your mate that they ALL must die when you claim
Mufasa killed her and everyone else had nothing to do with it? Is that
it?"

"No."

"Well then why don^Òt you tell me?"

"It^Òs too personal to say."

"Come on! I^Òm your daughter! You can tell me."

Taka turned his face away and went to go kill Mufasa before everyone
else. Vitani stood firmly in his way.

"Dad," she said. "I will not let you do this!"

Taka replied in a deep voice, "Then you will pay." He suddenly swung his
paw across her chest and she fell backwards, with a deep cut on her. He
closed his eyes then proceeded to execute Mufasa when he noticed the
stars disappearing ^Ñcause of dark rain clouds. He ran up to the top of
Pride Rock to check it out. Kovu and Tomie had managed to sneak away from
the hyenas and made it up to Pride Rock. Kovu and Tomie helped Vitani up
and she ran and removed the fence from the cave entrance. Then, she
immediately ran after Taka. Kovu told Tomie to stay down there and he ran
after Vitani. She reached Taka and he heard Mufasa roar. He turned to
Vitani.

"What have you done?!" he shouted at Vitani.

"The right thing!" she replied sharply.

Taka was getting ticked real fast. He roared and the hyenas began to
fight the Pride Landers. Kovu made his way to the top of Pride Rock where
Vitani and Taka were. He could only stand and watch. This was not his
battle. It was his sister^Òs. He was only backup. Vitani stood firm to
her father.

"Daddy," she said. "Stop right now."

"Try and stop me."

"Just watch." she said sternly.

Taka turned in surprise to see Vitani^Òs paw cross his face, creating a
cut on his cheek.

"Why^Òd you do that Vitani?!" he yelled in pain.

"Because you disobeyed a direct order. Remember what you taught me?"

Taka was bleeding all across his face.

"Yes, but why^Òd you hurt your own father?!" he yelled back.

"You^Òre not my father!"

Taka turned angrily, "What did you say?"

"You^Òre not deaf, I said ^ÑYou^Òre not my father!^Ò"

Taka stood firm also, "Fine then. If I^Òm not your father, then you^Òre
not my daughter. Which means that I have an even greater right to kill
you if I see fit!"

Vitani smiled sarcastically, "So be it."

Taka got really mad and unsheathed his giant claws. Then he smiled.

"You wouldn^Òt kill me.... Pride Lander."

Vitani smiled, "A Pride Lander wouldn^Òt kill anyone for the world.....
I^Òm not a Pride Lander, remember?"

Kovu couldn^Òt help but smile. Taka got extremely angry and lunged at
Vitani. Vitani, having been trained, was well prepared and fought back
viciously! The battle lasted only about a minute. Taka had thrown Vitani
against the edge on her back. He made an attempt to pounce on her (like
in the first TLK movie when Scar lunged at Simba). Vitani, being quick,
waited until he was on her when she pushed her feet over her head,
throwing Scar over the edge into that HUGE, bottomless pit next to Pride
Rock.

Vitani watched as her abductor father went down for eternity. She didn^Òt
cry though. He had been found with crime, so she showed no sympathy. Kovu
walked up to her and nuzzled her. They looked out at the hyenas. They
suddenly felt lost and ran in all directions, leaving the Pride Lands.

Kovu turned around to see lightning flash. It started raining a little.
Everyone climbed Pride Rock to the throne. Vitani noticed a flash hit the
ground.

"Oh my gosh!" she shouted.

She noticed that a fire started in the grass also! She gasped and started
yelling to everyone to get up to the top.

Suddenly, a tornado of fire appeared and was coming quickly! It was also
right in the path of Pride Rock! Everyone, shocked, climbed to the top of
Pride Rock, though it was hard ^Ñcause of the strong wind that was
blowing. All the cubs were on the ground with their mothers on top of
them, and the males stood over the females so they wouldn^Òt be blown
off. Everyone was down except for Zira. Vitani saw Zira still climbing up
and ran to go help her.

"No!" yelled Kovu. "It isn^Òt safe!"

Vitani didn^Òt hear. Kovu ran after Vitani who went after Zira.

"Mother!" yelled Vitani.

"Vitani?" replied Zira.

Right as Vitani got there, Zira was knocked over the edge of Pride Rock,
but held onto the side with her claws. Vitani attempted to jump after
her, but Kovu jumped on Vitani so she wouldn^Òt blow off.

The fire tornado was going right over Pride Rock!

"Mother!" screamed Vitani as she saw Zira slip off into the fire.

Kovu could feel his sister trying to get free. The fire passed right over
and then suddenly just dried up, leaving smoke and dust. When everything
cooled down a little, most of the adults went down to see how much damage
had been done. Vitani ran down into all the smoke and ash looking for her
mother. Vitani spotted a pile of rocks next to Pride Rock. She ran up to
it and started moving rocks to find Zira lying there, lifeless. Vitani
started crying. Tomie started to walk up to Vitani when Kovu stood in the
way.

"This is something she must do on her own." he said quietly.

Tomie stood and waited for her to come.

"I never got a chance to actually know you." said Vitani, crying. "I
can^Òt believe just one lie could be fatal, ^ÑI am your father.^Ò I just
can^Òt believe it."

Vitani started bawling hard. Zira slowly lifted her head to look at
Vitani.

"Vitani," she said quietly. "Is it you?"

Vitani bent over to her mother, "Yes, it^Òs me."

"I can^Òt believe how much you^Òve grown. The only time I ever saw you,
was when you were JUST born.... all these years I never knew you.... now
I do...."

"I love you mother!" Vitani cried out.

"You and Kovu be good friends, understand?" said Zira as she took her
final breath.

"Yes mom." whispered Vitani as she cried.

She was so broken up, she could hardly breathe. Kovu came up and held her
in his arms. He started to cry also ^Ñcause that was his mother also.
Vitani just let it all out at that one moment and nearly died. She and
Kovu were very broken up, but they would survive.

As time passed by, Vitani and Tomie had started their own family of three
cubs. Kovu and everyone else had started a little family also. Vitani and
Kovu would tell their children about their grandmother and how wonderful
she was. She will always be remembered, not as a villain, but as a true,
loving, caring, mother and member of the most prosperous pride.

~ ~ ~ ~ The End ~ ~ ~ ~

 

*~*Eva*~*