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mask-of-prime · 7 months

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VG: Something in the Water - PART 1

One month into Simba’s Reign… In the long-abandoned Lion Guard Lair, Rafiki was refining an old painting of his just before being called over by Simba for a very important ceremony. In the rush to get ready, he had forgotten his Bakora Staff, and therefore without the pigment he needed for the ritual.

The rattling sound of the gourds roused a certain toddler’s attention.

The toddler, along with her brothers, mother, and close pridesisters, had been residing in the space as an exclusive hideout ever since Scar's Reign. It had been and idea of her mother's as a way to feel superior to the lionesses who resided in the main den above.

Vitani squirmed and mewed nonstop in the arms of a younger Zira. Zira, deep in a talk with a fellow close lioness of hers, ignored the infant cub's mews for a good while. Eventually, Zira gave into Vitani's squirms, and let her free. If it meant Vitani would stop disrupting her important conversation...

The toddler waddled over towards the wall. Not knowing her small size, Vitani tried to reach for the pretty gourds with her paw, but missed. Instead, the entire staff slid down the wall.

Suddenly, something on the wall began to glow. Vitani looked to see that the painting on the wall had come to life.

The animation showed four creatures flying away from a roaring creature. The roaring creature seemed to resemble someone she vaguely remembered. A scary lion who was unsettlingly quiet, or frighteningly loud. The lion that Mother said was gone, now.

The toddler watched the pretty moving painting play over and over again in absolute awe, babbling in entertainment.

Vitani’s vocalizations got Zira’s attention. The mother looked up to see her daughter watching Scar lose his Roar, over and over again.

Taking offense to the visual of one of Scar’s humiliating failures that Rafiki dared depict, Zira pulled her cub away. She would not let her children watch these lies. She ripped Vitani away from her focus, grabbing her by the scruff, with just enough room in her mouth to still be able to speak.

"Put me back..." Vitani quietly and feebly protested, a slight speech impediment from few teeth growing in.

"We don't go over there." she deadpans, "We don't look at that monkey's propaganda..." ____

24 lion years later, present day... Zira's words echoed in Vitani's mind was lost in thought, staring into Rafiki's cave paintings. She had looked the frescoes of Scar's loss of the Roar many times before, swearing every time that she had seen them much longer ago, long before volunteering to lead her very own Guard.

She gave this painting in particular another look today due to a dream featuring the image, a dream she'd jolted awake from. Last night, her subconscious had given her more clarity on this mystery: She must've seen it before...

She sighed, still not quite knowing. Hearing Zira's voice for the first time in a year after her passing viscerally stuck with Vitani the past few hours she'd been up. She was awake hours before the rest of the Pride, admittedly rather shaken up from the ordeal.

Thunder roared outside the cave, drawing Vitani's attention away from the wall. She sighed again and promptly made her way out into the pouring rain. ____

Hours later, Tiifu hummed as she made feline stretches, hoping to spot a heavily sleeping Vitani next to her.

No luck. Again...

Tiifu huffed, perplexed. Vitani had been getting up early for weeks, now. Instances of this had been happening since the recent enemy of the Pridelands, Ngurumo, lost his life in a fatal fall. This time Vitani was gone.

Looking all around the Ponya, then the remaining sections of the Lair -- careful not to wake the rest of the Guard -- Tiifu went up Pride Rock and searched the Royal Den, until she spotted Vitani outside on the lintel. She was soaking wet and seemingly in a daze. She also seemed to be talking skyward, as if in full conversation with someone.

"Vitani..." Tiifu called.

The Fiercest heard her, but she took a long time to turn around, struggling to get out of her trance.

"What are you doing...?" the spotted lioness scrunched her face.

"I don't know, really, just... wonder if she's out there..." Vitani trailed off, "Ridiculous, I know. But... I sometimes wonder if she's trying to talk to me..."

"...Who?"

"My mother."

"Oh..." Tiifu looked at her love, "Have you ever done this before? Talking to her? Do you know if she might even be up there?"

Tiifu bit her lip awkwardly, she wasn't trying to say Zira didn't belong in the stars and the clouds, but what she got to know about Vitani's mother, the little time they had coexisting in one place, chances looked pretty slim. She didn't like Zira, from what she saw from her. But she knew Vitani lived with her, and likely knew more about her, being her child.

"Wouldn't hurt to try, I guess..." Vitani stared onward.

"You know, I didn't think you'd be one to really talk to the sky, I never see you do it. Usually a leader can talk to the Lions of the Past if they have the Roar..."

Oh, she had no idea. Vitani thought to herself. She hadn't yet told anyone she did have an advisor in the form of Nuka. She feared revealing sacred knowledge would revoke her privilege to speak to spirits -- let alone one of fire who's in purgatory. But she internally digressed, and suddenly shrugged.

"I don't know," she answered aloud to Tiifu, "It just feels like she's here every time it rains. Like she's fighting for revenge, even in death..."

"Vitani, you lost her in the rain. This time of year, too. Rain is thought to bring back pain from old injuries, y'know... Maybe it's doing that to you, but like, emotional pain."

"It has been a year, hasn't it?"

"Think so. I remember the trees losing their leaves like this, and the air smelling kinda moldy, too."

"But it hasn't rained this much. This is weird." Vitani fretted, "Hasn't stopped since I made that raincloud to put out those fires..."

"I mean, the Pridelands hasn't got a good rain like this for years, not even when Simba was king. What's wrong with quenching the earth a little with your Roar?"

"Well, this might be too much rain. As much as I like the rain, I'm starting to see why Kion never made the clouds do that again out of fear of breaking the Circle of Life. Sinkholes, mudslides, and mosquito overpopulations have been crazier than they need to be."

Tiifu was blown away. In all this time she knew Vitani, she remembered a time when she saw the leader treat non-lion animals as something other than alive, but now she spoke like Kion, with regard over the Circle of Life, something she almost never talked about. Vitani was growing, and Tiifu could see it.

The spotted lioness brushed her cheek on Vitani's shoulder, "All storms eventually have to pass, Vitani. I'm sure it'll stop soon."

She wasn't only referring to the literal weather, but Vitani's mood.

Vitani sighed, "We'll see..."

"...and while the storm is still going, we should head inside. Might catch something out here."

Vitani gave the clouds one last glance as she turned to follow Tiifu. ____

The pride had spent yet another night cooped up in the den.

Vitani stealthily padded her way through the Lion Guard Lair. Sporting a subtly energetic demeanor. She entered the Ponya and happened upon a curled up Tiifu. She lightly tapped her arm and head.

"Tiifu."

Stirring, the straw-colored lioness groggily awakened, only to have a boost of energy shoot right through her as she was jumpscared by Vitani staring directly at her, their faces close together.

"The rain stopped."

...

Tiifu followed Vitani's lead out the den, the latter seemed unable to contain an eager smile. Tiifu gasped at what she saw.

"A rainbow! Oh, how pretty!"

Vitani smiled all the way, happy to please Tiifu with the things she loved. She knew Tiifu was all about beautiful mornings, vivid cloud colors, things like that.

The two found a ledge on the side of Pride Rock to sit and gaze at the rainbow on the other side of the sunrise.

"Didn't know these happened after rain. I've heard about them, but I've never actually seen them."

"Really?" Tiifu looked up at her.

"Didn't rain much in the Outlands. There's like, always an awful drought there."

Tiifu nodded. Vitani never saw much hope in dark times, if she's never seen a rainbow...

She then pressed her head against Vitani's neck, "There's a rainbow at the end of every storm, Vitani..."

Tiifu, again, meant more than what literally happened before them. Vitani admittedly took a bit, but it eventually dawned on her.

Out of nowhere, feeling a sudden urge to express affection, Tiifu began to groom Vitani’s jaw. Vitani still hadn’t gotten used to the sensation of grooming, at least, nothing as gentle and organized like Tiifu’s. Tiifu did not form a wall around Vitani, nor press down on her. There was pressure in her licks, but in a massaging manner, and she seemed to be careful not to let her comb-like hairs in deep enough to scratch Vitani's skin. Vitani never truly groomed for years since no one had ever reminded her to do so, growing up in a conquest-oriented pride, and the only kind she ever knew was a tedious burden to endure. Her fur only started looking cleaner and feeling less dry and itchy once the Pridelander lionesses were all over her. It's like they had some sort of radar when someone had the slightest case of bedhead. But, anywho, it was time to tilt her head a little. Tiifu needed to reach the other side of her neck.

They continued to gaze at the rainbow until it faded along with the moisture in the air. Vitani squeezed her eyes shut, feeling total security with Tiifu.

...

Throughout the remainder of the day, excited buzzing made its way throughout Pride Rock. Talks of Kiara and Kovu's coronation made a return, now that things seemed to be drying up for good. The imminent arrival of some valued guests could not be more perfectly-timed...

Vitani slept better that night. ____

Meanwhile, at Msingi Falls... A ghastly glow illuminated the steadily-flowing river. The flow was suddenly disrupted, spinning into a small whirlpool. The riverwater seemed to defy physics as drops at the epicenter of the whirlpool began to rise. Humming filled the air, turning into a cadence sung in a siren-like matter.

A nearby animal -- a lone buffalo -- had picked up on the enticing noise, breaking its grazing. He found himself staring off absentmindedly as he felt himself being pulled to the source of the singing.

A drink sounded nice. Yes, in this beautiful pool of water...

Before the poor bovine knew it, a strong wave forcefully pulled him in. He could've sworn it looked like a large paw of a lion.

The last sounds he made were prolonged, suffering moos as he tried to pull away. The water soon stopped bubbling. ____

((Author's Note: Celebrating Wet Beast Wednesday with some Wet Beasts in the form of a sulking Vitani and Tiifu lol. Also age reveal for Vitani 👏. I headcanon her to be the equivalent of a 24-year-old in the post-TLK 2 timeline. As for other characters, like Tiifu, Zuri, and Kiara, they're, like, 21 or so.

Fun Facts:

Many poses and compositions were considered for the first and second thumbnails, I'll post the unfinished sketches/unused assets at another time.

I would like to make future art/name reveals of Zira's closest followers. Another thing I'll post some other time.

I learned about the word "lintel" in my Ancient-to-Medieval art history class. A stonehenge, for example, is comprised of a arch system of posts and lintels, the posts being the vertical reinforcement while the lintel is the horizontal stone topping the structure. Come to think of it, Pride Rock is reminiscent of a megalithic structure since it seems to posses posts and lintels.

I headcanon Tiifu to be a master of metaphors, you're gonna see this a lot this season.

Vitani staring right into Tiifu's face after waking her up is very much based on a cat owner experience lol

IMPORTANT: If you see a change in the storytelling style, like full, proper fanfics or simple, short descriptions contextualizing the art between uploads, it's because I've thought long and hard about how I want to present VG. After an epiphany, I've come to terms that I'm not some corporate animation studio who pushes out full episodes of a show I desperately want to see exist, I originally made VG to jot down concepts of what I wanted to see, and I realize now that I work better when I draw concepts sporadically rather than gradually, slowly telling a suspenseful story in order. I realized this when I've been looking back and realizing how much I wanted to add to the story after releasing art. If you see me going out-of-order with my art at any point, it's because I'm adding bonus content. Yes there will still be a continuous main story and there's a subfolder for that, but there'll be extra sketches made randomly, which has its own subfolder. Lastly, I'm actually fiddling with the idea of maybe releasing art and concepts, and then releasing full fanfics on Ao3 or FF.net or something. But... I'm not a big writer so again, just fiddling with that idea for now 😅

EDIT: Extended the literature for the first and third illustrations/scenes))

#The Lion King #The Lion Guard #Vitani's Guard #TLK #TLG #Vitani #Tiifu #Zira #My Art

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a-dauntless-daffodil · 1 year

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i love lion king 2

i love how we see Simba overcorrecting for his own childhood, how Kiara can recite lessons on the circle of life at the same age when Mufasa was just starting to introduce the idea to Simba

i love how Kiara is already so aware of the responsibility she'll have as ruler that, when cub Simba was bragging "I'm gonna be king of pride rock" and singing "Oh I just can't WAIT to be king!", Kiara, his daughter, who he's been raising to not make (or suffer) any of his own mistakes, instead says "But what if I don't want to be queen? It's no fun..." and sings "If there's so much I must be, can I still just be me, the way I am?"

I love how we see this PAY OFF at the end, when Kiara's sense of responsibility means she never once thinks of running off into the sunset with Kovu, no, of course she has to go back, of course she has to try reuniting both of their prides-

And maybe that's also some of Nala's spirit shining through her daughter, but really, Kiara is so much like Simba in all other ways (including her terrible pouncing, her thirst for adventure, her rule breaking) it really just feels like this is who Simba might have been if Mufasa hadn't been so confident he'd be around for his son so much longer, if Mufasa had focused more on preparing Simba for what the circle of life really means-

At The Same Time, even though it's good for the pride lands and the outlanders in the end, there's something tragic in comparing Simba and Kiara as cubs

how confident and carefree Simba got to be, how stifled and resigned Kiara ending up being, how she didn't get that kind of childhood at all thanks to her father's fear that it might be suddenly cut short, so much of Simba's talks with cub Kiara are warnings or lectures-

(when we see her play pouncing she's doing it on her own, contrast that with Mufasa and cub Simba playing together, contrast that to Simba's restraining paw scooping up his young daughter and keeping her in place)

-and even as an adult she ends up singing about how "I may not be brave, or strong, or smart" like this is more than just not being self-centered, this is depressing as heck, this girl doesn't think she's good at ANYTHING

(Timon you are not helping)

(I understand you might still be traumatized by your first meet-and-almost-eat with her mom and be worried about disappointing or hurting your adopted lion son if his cub gets hurt under your watch, but please, stop)

dear gods she never ever got to be herself without being held to the same standard as the great kings of the past

(except for when she snuck off on her own and got have a little adventure with Kovu, which she got through as HERSELF, not a princess, just a cub swatting at crocodiles and jumping on their gaping mouths just in time to save her new friend from getting eaten)

(meanwhile, Simba doesn't even acknowledge (or even hear???) her sad little line in their song together, he goes on talking about life lessons and leadership and she's the daughter of a king they are one, good, great, Simba your daughter is Distressed)

and that could have driven such a wedge between her and Simba, that could have pushed her into wanting escape and independence more than anything

except, she knows he's feeling THE SAME THING too

and we know she knows because when she wants to hurt him, to jar him, to criticize him for exiling Kovu while claiming he's doing it to follow in his father's paw prints, she tells him

"You will never be Mufasa!"

This is her fear, that she'll never be enough to be a good queen, this is also her fear, that the only way to be a good ruler is to stop being yourself

And it's what she rejects the moment she pulls a Nala and runs from pride rock alone- not to get help, but to give it- and when she returns to confront Simba with the wisdom she's learned, using the words he taught her

She looks at him, finally confident in who she is (with her back turned to the outlanders, defending them from her pride, "my father says to never turn your back on an outsider!" but she has grown since then)

she says "A wise king once told me" (Simba listen to yourself)

she says "we are one" (listen to the part of me that I learned from you)

"I didn't understand him then. Now I do" (Listen to me, now)

she says something that is true about pride landers and out landers, about Simba and Zira, about Kovu and Simba

"Them? Us. Look at them, they are us. What differences do you see?"

(between the desperation of lions on a starving land, dead loved ones, the thirst for revenge, children following in their parent's pawprints, to be so blinded by your own pain (fear, shame) that the pain of others fades away)

she asks him not to be a great king, but to see himself in them, these 'outsiders', and then to be himself in answer

And Simba listens

He looks at the daughter who had the same fear as him (Simba, who looked for guidance in the stars, saying "My father would never-" who Nala also understood so well, "Oh my Simba, you want so much to walk the path expected of you."), he looks at Kiara, who also feared that she couldn't be enough, as herself

Only... she isn't afraid anymore. She is a queen already, smart enough to find wisdom, brave enough to speak it, strong when she has to be

(he was so afraid of losing her but she had the chance to run and she came back, she came back and she is asking him, just once, to please finally-)

He listens to her. The clouds part.

We can feel Mufasa watching over them.

We look into Simba's eyes as he sees this (recall the same pattern of clouds and gazing when Mufasa told his son "you have forgotten who you are, and so you have forgotten me" and to "remember who you are")

The words Simba says as he accepts Kiara's wisdom "It's time to put the past behind us"

The lesson he learned from Timon and Pumba, this time used not to run from responsibility and pain but to face it, this hard part of his past that IS part of him

And the fact that even with all the reasons in the world to want Scar dead he still didn't want to be like him, he didn't want to kill his own uncle

(Mufasa never wanted to kill his brother, even as openly resentful and threatening though Scar was. There, the shock and horror in Mufasa's eyes as his brother betrays him- Mufasa never would have- Mufasa could have killed him any time before now, but he-)

Simba gave Scar the chance of mercy. Now, he gives it again. His daughter, his refection, his pride, has reminded him.

He looks at Kiara and he find himself in her.

He finds his father in her.

Great Kings of the past and present, great Queen of the future- Three generations and the choice of who they wish to be, and how that guides them into kindess, into mercy, into healing more harms than they cause.

Kiara speaks. Simba listens. Mufasa lives on in them

....

...then the contrast, sudden, stark, painful, of a daughter who speaks and a parent who does not listen

(Vitani says "No, mother" says "Kiara's right" pleads "Enough")

(Nuka is already dead, Kovu is scarred-)

(Their enemy no longer wants to fight, no longer IS their enemy-)

(Zira's smirk as she condemns her own daughter to death)

and the point hammered home, as the outlanders turn in disgust from their leader, that they were never evil

The point that the 'evil' which doomed Scar and Zira and Nuka (drove them on, single minded, into danger, into death) was a simple choice they all had faced. The simple question not everyone asks

Who are you?

Will you close yourself off to everyone and everything that does not feed your own conviction? Ignore anything that doesn't further your own goals?

(Nuka was loved for what he was, even if his mother never showed it. But his brother spoke up for him, his sister looked out for him, his pride all mourned him- he never needed to be the "chosen one")

(Scar was not the great king he thought he was, all around him is proof of his failure, the pridelands barren and empty, and his chance to do better, lead the lions from pride rock, make a new life- but it was never about being a good king to others. "I am the king, I can do whatever I want"- Simba's cubhood song, echoed in a lion who never learned better. Simba's offer of mercy, to let Scar escape with his life, thrown back in Simba's face (Nala's trick of always throwing off the lions who leap on her, here mirrored, saving Simba's life) and Scar, always thinking of himself, killed by his own self serving words and the hyenas he was so quick to betray)

(Zira wanting revenge for her pain, for Scar, wanting Nuka's death to be the last time Simba hurts her- Losing her daughter, because she will not stop the fight, losing her follows, because she would killed her daughter for refusing to fight... losing her life, swatting at the helping paw held out to her, only wanting to cause pain, only causing her own pain instead)

Will you cling desperately to what you have, or what you think you are owed, even when another way is offered?

Or will you listen.

(Vitani, so loyal to her mother, so vicious in her battles- Kovu's confused look as she changes her choice, choosing peace, Kiara's answering smile)

Will you see yourself in others and use that wisdom to decide who you want to be...

(Kiara, Simba, Mufasa- remember, remember)

...or who you do not want to be?

(the rest of the outlanders turning away from Zira. Their disgust at a mother who would kill her own child. The choice to leave her behind)

(the ending of the war)

I love lion king 2

it's the kind of sequel that makes me love the original more than i did before, it's so good it makes the first one even BETTER than it was on it's own

it makes the first movie sadder to re-watch

seeing how unprepared Simba really was. How Vitani proves that Scar had another way out

seeing Mufasa with his son, giving him a wonderful childhood, unaware of how has Simba will have to grow up- how long it will take him- the nightmares still haunting him- the gap between Simba and his own child thanks to his fears, his shames- (Mufasa's spirit, making leaves dancing as little tiny Kiara playfully swats at them) -Mufasa raising his son with no idea how much pain it will cause his granddaughter when Simba tries to make up for it...

...seeing all that, and knowing it still turns out okay

i wouldn't enjoy lion king 1 half as much without Simba's Pride. They fit together

i love them i love them i love them both

(also i am Gay and kiara is WOW)

(also also vitani too)

( also also also the fact that i just wanted to wrap kovu in blankets and never let anyone hurt him meanwhile he was everyone else's crush-> hmmm i wonder why that was....)

#Lion King (1994)#Lion King 2: Simba's Pride (1998)#Kiara #Simba #Mufasa #Vitani #Zira #Nuka #Scar #i am thinking and i am Feeling

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artist-issues · 1 year

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Can we talk about how neat it was that The Lion Guard, a Disney Junior series, didn’t just skip over or write out the characters from The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride, which in many ways was darker and more mature than the first Lion King film? I mean. They just said “‘Oh, you want us to make a series about Simba’s never-before-seen son, even though there’s already a canon sequel where it seems like Kiara is an only child? And that sequel also includes elements of betrayal and prejudice, and assassinations? And that sequel ends with one young son’s death and a mother who attacks her own children and would rather die than forgive and forget? Challenge accepted.”

They COULD HAVE just sent the main characters away to the Tree of Life and never brought them back. They could have left it with the one episode we got during Kiara and Kion’s cubhood where the Guard encounters Zira. Just throw the fandom a bone and carry on with their children’s show targeting 8 year-olds. But no. They really went for it and tried to wrap everything up neatly. I respect the effort at problem-solving.

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toyboxshark · 3 months

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sibling antics

#the lion king #the lion king 2 #vitani #nuka #tlk #tlk 2 #disney fan art #fan art #disney #2024

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australet789 · 2 years

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"I defeated your kind when I was a cub, and I will defeat you again!"

Kiara wanted to train with someone that could push her to her limits. She has been training with her mom and The Guard, but there was certain...reverence that made her feel that the other lions didnt want to hurt her. So Kiara remembered how Kion told her about Makuu teaching the Pridelanders to fight against Scar and she realized that's what she needed.

But when she asked the reptile about it, Makuu just laughed at her face. He was busy and wasn't going to train a "bratty princess" how to fight. Kiara got angry at that, but then, calmly, suggested a Mashindano, just between the two of them: if she wins, he will teach her everything. If he wins, Kiara would personally caught a big zebra for him and his float.

Makuu accepted the deal, thinking he was going to win easily...until the fight started and he was surprised by being quickly pinned down by the now-not-so-scrawny princess.

After that, Kiara's classes started.

And she managed to get buff like in here

#the lion king #tlk #tlk2 #the lion guard #kiara #makuu #kovu #vitani #simba #nala #my art #pictures arts

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bluedawnart · 4 months

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vitani <3

#furry #the lion king #tlk #tlk2 #vitani #fanart #fan art #lion king fanart #lion king #lion king 2

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disneyfemslash · 8 months

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My bounty is as boundless as the sea, My love as deep; the more I give to thee, The more I have, for both are infinite.

#Disney femslash #Kiara #Vitani #KiaraxVitani #The Lion King #image

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koviry · 8 months

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for Maxojir 2020

#the lion king #the lion guard #badili #vitani

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sleuth-draws · 3 months

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LOVESICK (part 4) - Close to You < prev | next >

Vitani has been acting strange.

Well, she always acts strange; that's kind of her thing sometimes. But stranger than usual.

Kiara has noticed that her friend can't quite keep eye contact anymore, often darting away quickly. When Kiara comes close to nuzzle her, groom her, even just to chat, she's been insistent on keeping more distance than usual, scooching away with an awkward and very unsubtle clearing her throat. On top of that, she's being leaving the den at night more and more to pace and grumble. Vitani might think she's being discrete but Kiara knows her enough to be able to tell when something's wrong. She's started to worry that her dear friend has started to lose sleep.

She's more than familiar with the old Vitani -- the quiet broody lioness who most times couldn't stand to stick around the pride, more out of habit than preference. She's reminded now of that Vitani.

There's no one she's enjoyed seeing come out of her shell more than Vitani. Except Kovu, of course. But she loves getting Vitani to crack that crooked smile of hers, getting her to loosen up and see that there's no immediate threat to look out for anymore. Kiara never bore witness to the atrocities Scar inflicted upon the Pridelands but she thinks witnessing how her new friends have been affected by Zira's tyrannical reign is the closest thing to it. The lack of food, the lack of support, the lack of love. She can't imagine what that's like.

Kiara does realize her privileged position; she's the Princess of the Pridelands for gods' sake. She knows she could never come close to knowing what it's like to suffer this greatly or to feel the after-effects of cruelty. But it's all she can do to check in on those who have.

So when her training lets out at the first sign of sunset, she spares Kovu a halfhearted nuzzle before going off in search of Vitani as she always does.

She's not at the watering hole, nor the fields, nor in the shady spot where they play-fought just a few days ago.

Hm. The Guard must have finished late today.

Kiara heads back to the Rock to visit the lair and approaches just in time to see Vitani exit with Imara at her side. The two are speaking with hushed tones and standing rather close. Vitani ducks her head in laughter and Imara nuzzles her side.

A pit forms in Kiara's gut. Huh. She must be hungrier than she thought. Yeah. That must be it.

Before she knows it, she's trotting towards them, calling, "Hey, Vitani!"

Her friend perks up instantly, those big ears of hers at attention. She looks hesitant but smiles at her nonetheless. Kiara grins as she makes her way over.

Imara nudges Vitani with her shoulder almost smugly, before bidding her goodbye and offering a respectful nod in Kiara's direction just as she comes face-to-face.

"Hi," Kiara breathes, only a little winded from her hurried journey over.

"Hi," Vitani breathes back, though she doesn't look tired at all.

Kiara tilts her head at her tall friend. "How was patrolling today?"

"Eh, it was fine. Imara just left to report to your old man. Had to chase off some mangy rogue who thought he could flirt with me and the Guard. Unfortunately, he was stubborn enough to let things get violent."

"Ugh, he sounds awful."

"Oh, he was," Vitani barks out an amused laugh, "But I knocked him flat and he ran away scared."

"Ha! You sure showed him," Kiara chuckles, finding herself circling around Vitani. She does things like this sometimes, stalking around Vitani as if hunting -- and at one point, Kovu as well -- and she doesn't quite know why. At this point, she's reasoned it's simply a natural habit. "How lucky we are to have you to protect us." She leans in to brush their sides together, nuzzling her cheek to Vitani's. "I missed you, y'know."

Vitani tenses but that's never been atypical. Touch has always been something her friend found hard to get used. "Oh, I, uh --" She clears her throat, thrown off her game. "I-I missed you too." She shakes her head. "But you just saw me yesterday, Princess!"

"I can still miss you!"

A snort. "Yeah, right."

Kiara is about to shoot a retort back when her nose starts to itch and a loud sneeze interrupts her, startling them both.

"Yeegh," Kiara exclaims, shaking her head and licking her nose, "Vitani!"

"What?"

"There's so much dust in your fur! No doubt from that fight. You seriously need a bath."

Vitani bristles. "Ugh, no way." She shakes herself out, ears flapping almost aggressively. "Look, I'm totally fi--" When she takes a step forward, her foreleg buckles and she stumbles, catching herself with the other foreleg.

"Vitani!" Immediately, Kiara is moving in to assist her.

"I'm fine, Kiara." Vitani grits. "It's just a sprain, nothin' I can't handle."

Kiara looks back towards the fields. Her mother won't be back with food a little while. "Come follow me."

"But --"

"Don't argue with me. Come on." Kiara headbutts Vitani's shoulder and though Vitani grumbles the whole way, they walk up Pride Rock together. There, several lionesses are resting out at the entrance of the den, grooming themselves and each other and sunbathing while they still have a sun to bathe in.

There's a round of greetings when the pair ascend, including Tiifu, Zuri and, surprisingly, Kasi, who are dozing in a pile together. Vitani stares as they pass; Kasi looks away in slight embarrassment.

They find a spot somewhere nearby, still warm from the sun, and Kiara gives a look that makes Vitani sigh loudly and plop down. Kiara settles in beside her.

"Hmph, good. Now..." Kiara leans in and starts grooming the fur on Vitani's neck; immediately Vitani jerks away. "Oh, come on, Vitani."

"I-I-I really think I can do this myself!" Vitani stutters.

"Don't be ridiculous," Kiara huffs. "You couldn't reach that neck of yours if you tried!" She leans in again and when Vitani dodges once more, she reaches with both paws to ensnare her head and hold it securely to her. Vitani struggles but doesn't go so far as to kick at her with her hind legs -- a great sign. "Ha. Good girl."

Vitani goes ramrod straight. Kiara pays her no mind and starts to groom the tuft on her head. Slowly, her friend starts to relax, though she maintains the tension in her shoulders, claws digging into the dirt. Eventually, that too leaves her, pressure rolling off her shoulders till even her claws, trained to be out at all times in attack position, start to sheathe themselves. She breathes a sigh and closes her eyes.

Delight fills Kiara's chest. There's something precious about this. Being able to just lie here in peace with someone once considered her enemy and relax together. To see her realize there's nothing to fear, at long last. Vitani has been scared for so long. She might not like to admit, but Kiara knows. Kovu has told her the hardships they all had to face at Zira's paws, Vitani in particular. He'd been blind to it, at first, giving in to Zira's hate-filled rhetoric and training. But the months after the war had allowed the siblings to open up to one another, where they'd previously been emotionally standoffish.

Vitani was the one keeping their family together. Her closeness to their older brother as both of Zira's neglected children and her admittedly enforced love for Kovu was bridged by her need to do right by her mother. She amplified the admiration for her younger brother among the Outsiders, she kept her older brother in line, and, greatest of all, she was the perfect soldier. Savage and wild and bloodthirsty, eager to fight and, lucky for Zira, eager to please. Because, however small, that was the closest she would get to actual love from Zira.

A transactional, militaristic relationship.

And when at last she defied her mother, she was quickly cast aside.

Where Vitani had loved Kovu superficially, as taught by Zira, there was also the real love of being the only sibling who truly cared for him. They're twins, after all, as easy it is to forget, uniquely linked. That love was smaller, unfostered, buried away, but it was there. Her betraying Zira was what made Kovu realize there was more that needed to be talked about. How could they leave things the way they were? After they'd lost their only mother and Nuka, after not even knowing their supposedly shared father, how could they go on not truly knowing one another?

The months of healing did them well. While Vitani had been reclusive at first, there were times where she was seen with Kovu and she looked truly happy. Now, they're closer than they'd ever been, and Kovu happily recounts their visits together to Kiara.

It makes Kiara wonder: does Vitani fear being cast out again? Is that why she's been so aloof? Is she afraid that the peace is delicate, that it'll all fall apart one day and her value will be reduced to nothing once again?

Kiara will do anything to keep her from feeling that way.

An easy rumble in Vitani's throat draws her from her thoughts. She's nearly clean now, her usually unruly tuft smoothed into a funny-looking cowlick, but Kiara is reluctant to let her go.

"Something's been bugging you lately, hasn't it?"

Vitani's eyes open and, regrettably, a small amount of tension comes back to her. She's quiet for a long time, as if calculating her response.

"It's nothing you gotta worry about, Princess. I'll be fine."

Perfectly calculated, in fact. Something that says she shouldn't press or pry, even jokingly. Something Vitani wants to sort out herself. And as much as Kiara wants to help with this, to get her sleep and ease again, she has to respect it.

"Okay," Kiara settles on, "But if you want to talk, or need help in any way, you know I'm here for you, right? I always will be."

Vitani tilts her head and looks earnestly at her. Her violet eyes are soft, softer than she's ever seen them. A thumping erupts in Kiara's chest.

"Yeah. I know, Ki."

"I-I really care about you," Kiara finds herself blurting, "You're my best friend."

"What? But I thought Tiifu and Zuri were your best friends," Vitani says, surprised, "Or, Kovu? I can never keep track."

"No -- I mean, well, yes, they are -- but I can have multiple!" Kiara sputters, suddenly nervous and not knowing why. "The point is, I...I feel so close to you. I couldn't stand it if you were hurting a-and there was something I could do to help you."

The whole exchange gives Vitani pause and she's quiet for a long moment.

Then, miraculously, terrifically, magnificently, Vitani allows herself to nuzzle the side of her face into Kiara's chest.

"You're my best friend too, Kiara." Vitani smiles that lovely, crooked smile. "I...really care about you too."

It feels as though a storm cracks through her.

She's shaken, almost vibrating in her pelt. Her fur is warm, her mouth is dry -- what is this? She prays -- oh gods, she prays -- that Vitani can't hear her thunderous heartbeat. It would be awful of her to ruin this moment.

But what is it that's afflicted her?

And where did the air in her lungs go?

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degenerate-otaku · 3 months

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just rewatched The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride with my cousin and im trying to hard to be normal about the fictional lion Disney film that's realistically no higher than a 7/10 but oh my goodness oh my goodness the songs???? the death of Nuka??? Just VITANI herself?? Kovu being emo af?? ZIRA'S DEATH AND THE OG VER??

#absolutely tweakin #and its crazy how different watching it now feels compared to when i was a kid #kovu and kiara fall in love so quick omg #tlk #the lion king 2 #the lion king #the lion king 2 simba's pride #kovu #lion king kovu #lion king kiara #nuka #lion king nuka #zira #vitani

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hyzenthlayroseart · 27 days

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So I came across these Tumblr posts about TLK 2 yesterday (https://waeirfaahl.tumblr.com/tagged/the%20lion%20king%202%20simba%27s%20pride) and they got me thinking about how even though I doubt I'll ever be able to hate the sequel due to being so deep into the Lion King fandom since childhood, the plot makes no sense the more you think about it. There's no way Zira and her cubs could fit anywhere in the original film's timeline, all the Prideland lionesses shown in the first film were against Scar, there's no reason any of them would be on Scar's side, Scar's a loner and his only allies were the hyenas until they realized he never cared about their hunger and was just using them to gain power…yeah I could go on.

Well just for shits and giggles I decided to try and think of my own plot for a sequel, one that doesn't involve Scar as motivation for the conflict. The drawings here are based on early concept art I found on that blog and on the Lion King Wiki.

So, before the events of this hypothetical movie, Zira was the queen of a different kingdom that was once prosperous but was slowly going through a famine. Zira's husband was a good and benevolent king who tried his best to keep his kingdom flourishing through the hardship, but eventually the once strong king became skin and bones and passed away from hunger. This left only Zira as the ruler, and while her husband was a gentle soul, Zira was cold and strong-willed. She loved her husband but her grief at his death eventually turned into resentment towards him being "soft" and "naive" for thinking he could continue living prosperously in a dying land. This lead to her deciding not to make the same mistakes he did by hoping the famine would pass and instead lead the pride to search for better land.

Before the king died he and Zira had one young cub named Nuka, but it was clear he would be unfit to become the heir to the throne due to being born malnourished from the famine, but Zira still held hope about having an heir due to her being pregnant (obviously meaning she and her husband mated again before he died lol).

Zira and her pride eventually come across the Pridelands and are thrilled to find a land with no famine (at this point it's now right after the events of the first movie and the famine during Scar's reign has passed, Simba is the king and Kiara is a newborn). Over at Pride Rock, Simba is informed via Zazu that a pride of strange lionesses are on their lands, so Simba runs over to investigate wether these strangers are a threat. Once confronted by Simba, Zira tells him that she's the former queen of a dead kingdom, her husband the king is dead and now it's just her, her son and unborn cubs and her subjects. Simba takes pity on the starving pride and concludes that they're not a threat so he invites them to join his pride.

While Zira had successfully played the part of a poor defenseless damsel simply in need of sanctuary, she was secretly hoping this king would take her as his mate so she could become queen once again. To her dismay, she discovered that this kingdom not only already had a queen but an heir. She did her best not to show her anger, as even though becoming queen clearly wouldn't be as easy as she thought, she and her pride were still starving, not to mention she herself was pregnant, and she knew she would be a fool to leave a place teaming with enough food to fill her entire pride.

Eventually Zira gave birth to two cubs, Kovu and Vitani. While her daughter still looked a bit malnourished, it was clear that her son was born strong thanks to her new life in the Pridelands. It was then that she decided this one was to be her heir once she came into power. Unbeknownst to her, her firstborn Nuka had thought this whole time that he was his mother's heir, and when he heard her cooing to his newborn brother about one day being a king, his heart shattered and he was immediately filled with hatred for his new brother.

While Zira, her children and her subjects were all at this point members of Simba's pride, they all mainly kept to themselves, only interacting with Simba's lionesses while hunting. Still, life was peaceful, with the only conflict happening on Zira's pride's first day as Pridelanders when they mistook Timon and Pumbaa for prey and tried hunting them, only to have Simba explain that the meerkat and warthog were members of the pride (much to Zira and her pride's confusion).

Despite the seemingly peaceful co-existence, Zira was secretly plotting how to overthrow Simba and Nala to become queen. One night when the Pridelanders were asleep, Zira and her lionesses took the oppurtunity to attack, including trying to kill baby Kiara. Thankfully the Pridelanders were able to overpower their attackers because even though Zira and her pride had grown slightly stronger due to having a healthy amount of prey, they were still the weaker lions. This was the moment that lead to Simba banishing Zira and her pride to the Outlands, where they were once again living in famine.

So now skip forward to when the "movie" plot begins, and it starts out pretty similar to the actual movie where older cub Kiara wanders off, bumps into Kovu, they get into a situation, they try to play but are separated by their parents and taken back to their respective homes, blah blah blah. Some differences are that now when Zira and Simba come face-to-face once again, Scar is never mentioned since he has nothing to do with her, and also when Kiara returns to Pride Rock we see that she has two newborn sisters, Chani and Aisha (when I was thinking this whole thing up I couldn't decide if I wanted to keep Kiara's name or go with one of her original names, and eventually I thought "What if she had sisters with those names?")

Also like in the movie, the scene of Simba scolding Kiara for being disobedient and putting herself into danger is presented in a loving way with Simba of course being mad at her but also telling her how worried he was for her and turns into a loving lesson, while Zira scolding Kovu is done in such an angry, verbally abusive way that he ends up scared of his mother. And like in the movie she ends up getting her epiphany about how Kovu could be her key to taking over the Pridelands by having him gain Simba's trust by befriending Kiara.

So skip forward again to Kiara and Kovu now as young adults (and as a side-note, Chani and Aisha are now the age Kiara was in the previous paragraphs when Kiara and Kovu met). Kiara goes on her first hunt while Nuka and Vitani create a forest fire, Kovu saves her, is allowed into Pride Rock, you know how it goes.

Now in this version Rafiki still gets told by Mufasa's spirit that Kovu and Kiara should get together, but here it's specifically clarified that Zira is too clouded by hatred and a need for power to be trusted. However, her children and her subjects truly just want a normal life where they can escape famine once and for all. Zira may have successfully trained her children to be deadly assassins, but on the inside they're still children who never knew what it was like to have a loving family.

In order to help the two fall in love, Rafiki recruits Timon and Pumbaa (why'd he do this instead of just telling Simba and Nala what Mufasa told him? Idk. Insert reason here. Mainly I just wanted Timon and Pumbaa to actually have something to do in this version). So Kovu ends up barely having enough time by himself to secretly plot how to kill Simba and Nala because Timon and Pumbaa keep hilariously creating reasons for Kovu and Kiara to be in the same area together, while not so subtly dropping romantic innuendos. Of course this irritates the hell outta Kovu and leads to Kiara getting flustered, but eventually when they spend time together Kovu softens and he's reminded of how it felt when they briefly played together as children, the one time he felt like a normal child, even if for a brief moment. Once he starts purposely spending more bonding time with Kiara, he's also swarmed by her two little sisters who constantly want to play with him. Pretty soon Kovu's plan to overthrow Simba and Nala is basically forgotten as he learns what it's like to be in a loving family, as he not only bonds with Kiara and her little sisters but Nala also treats him with kindness and the type of maternal love he's never felt before.

Meanwhile, Simba still can't let go of the fact that the son of the lioness who wants to overthrow him is living with his pride. Due to this he's mainly been isolating himself in the cave plagued with worry, and when Timon and Pumbaa notice how stressed their adopted son is they encourage him to come out of his isolation and see how much Kovu has changed. When Simba walks out of the cave he's met with the site of Kovu and Kiara playing with Chani and Aisha while Nala watches and laughs, and he comes to realize that Kovu shouldn't be blamed for the sins of his mother and ends up forming a fatherly bond with Kovu.

Unbeknownst to all of them, Zira, Nuka and Vitani have secretly been spying on Kovu. They're outraged that Kovu has become soft and forgotten the plan, so decide to take matters into their own hands. One day Kovu and Simba decide to go on a walk together where Simba tells Kovu that he's noticed that he and Kiara seem to have developed feelings for each other, and while Kovu reacts with shock and embarrassment, Simba assures him that he can now see that Kovu is not his mother and is just a lonely child who longed for a family. The mention of his mother causes Kovu to suddenly become full of guilt over his real reason for coming into the pride, but he's too afraid to confess. Simba starts to continue his speech, intending to reveal to Kovu that he gives him and Kiara his blessing, but is unable to finish as the two of them end up surrounded by Outsiders. Of course like in the movie, Simba assumes Kovu betrayed him and led him into an ambush, a fight breaks out, Simba escapes which leads to Nuka getting killed (I don't know if I want Kovu to still get scarred by Zira in this version, because here the symbolism would make no sense), and in the next scene Kovu is banished.

Kiara ends up sneaking out and reuniting with Kovu who tearfully explains that the wildfire during Kiara's hunt was no accident and was just his mother's plan to get him into Simba's pride so he could overthrow Simba and Nala and take over the kingdom and tells her she needs to stay away from him if she wants to be safe. She assures him that she knows he's changed and he isn't the killer his mother trained him to be, and tells him that she loves him, to which he confesses he loves her too.

Meanwhile, Zira finally comes to her breaking point after the betrayal of one son and the death of another, and decides the time for plotting is over and she and her pride need to go to Pride Rock themselves to kill every last Pridelander. Back at Pride Rock, Simba and Nala panic over Kiara's disappearance and decide to start a search party. Simba initially wants to lead it but Nala, Timon and Pumbaa remind him that he's in no condition to search as he still needs to recover from the ambush attack. It's then decided that Nala will lead the search party with Zazu and several other lionesses while Simba, Timon and Pumbaa remain at Pride Rock to watch over Chani and Aisha. Unfortunately, Zira and her Pride are on their way to Pride Rock.

When the search party finds Kiara and discovers that she's with Kovu, Nala angrily tells him to stay away from her family and threatens to kill him if he doesn't leave. Kiara begs and pleads with her mother and tries to explain that the ambush wasn't his fault, but this conflict is interrupted by none other than Vitani running towards them in clear distress. Nala recognizes her as the daughter of Zira and threatens to kill her too, but Vitani tearfully reveals that not only is Pride Rock under attack, but Chani has been murdered. Nala and Kiara fall to the ground and let out primal screams of agony, while Vitani tearfully tells her shellshocked brother that this conflict has gotten out of hand and she wants to put an end to her mother's tyranny. Kovu suddenly felt that murderous rage that had been trained into him by his mother come back, but this time it wasn't for Simba, it was for his mother. Kovu didn't hesitate to run in the direction of Pride Rock, causing the still-shocked search party as well as Vitani to follow.

Once they arrive, they find Simba, now even more severly injured due to this second ambush, standing over a terrified Aisha while Timon and Pumbaa are behind him guarding Chani's body. Opposite of Simba is Zira, taunting Simba that he might as well surrender now that he's too injured and heartbroken to fight back, as well as telling him that now they're even since Simba lead to one of her children being killed and now she's killed one of his. Simba responds to this by asking "You mean the son you didn't even love?"

This enrages Zira and she lunges to strike a killing blow but is pinned down by none other than Kovu. Simba's shocked to see Kovu attack his own mother and instantly puts the pieces together that Kovu wasn't responsible for the ambush. Zira throws her son off of her and into the cave wall where he's briefly knocked out but before Zira can lunge at Simba again she ends up being overpowered by Nala, Kiara and the other lionesses. Her attention changes form trying to kill Simba to trying to fight off all the lionesses attacking her. While trying to fight them all off she commands her subjects to help, but to her bewilderment they end up not fighting against the Pridelanders but WITH them. Zira's horrified by this betrayal and for the first time in her life, she's scared.

She continues getting attacked left and right, until Simba commands everyone to stop. Everyone turns around to see Simba standing tall despite his injuries while letting the still-dazed Kovu lean against him, while in the back of the cave Timon and Pumbaa are comforting Aisha. Simba declares that while Zira's penalty for her crimes should be the death sentence, he will instead banish her because enough blood has been shed already and, to paraphrase what he once said to his uncle, he's not like her. Zira laughs at him for being too weak to kill her even when she deserves it, calling him soft and weak like her husband was. This leads to Kovu trying to lunge at her despite still being weak, but Simba holds him back. Zira gets up, albeit weakly due to her severe injuries, and pretends to limp away, but at the last minute tries lunging at Kiara to push her over Pride Rock to fall to her death, but ends up getting struck by lightning mid-air which leads to her dying instantly as her limp body falls off the edge. Kovu and Vitani's immediate reaction is grief over their mother's death, which is quickly overpowered by relief at being free.

The next day, Chani is buried and given a funeral, and once the funeral is over, Kovu declares that his family has caused unspeakable grief to Pride Rock and he and his subjects will leave them, but Simba declines, telling Kovu that he and his pride were just being used by his mother and he knows that that isn't who they really are, and he finally tells Kovu and Kiara that he gives them their blessing, followed by Nala declaring the same.

So after the grieving period has passed, Kovu and Kiara are married, Aisha gains a fun new brother-in-law as well as a cousin or two in the future (wink wink), Vitani falls in love with a Pridelander lioness, no one ever goes hungry again and they all live happily ever after. Roll credits.

And yes I know Zira absolutely deserved the death penalty but this is a Disney movie, I wanted to keep up the trope of the hero not killing the villain because they're not like them and all that crap. And I couldn't have her commit suicide either because once again, Disney movie, but also her doing that in the context of the deleted scene from the actual film makes sense because she'd rather remain loyal to Scar even in death than accept help from the daughter of her sworn enemy, but here…who would her loyalty be to? Again, she and Scar being together isn't a thing here. So I thought of lighting being a cool idea since having it storm during the final showdown would be a nice callback to the first film.

Also a small detail I wanna point out because it might be hard to notice is that I gave Zira heterochromia where she has one green eye and one blue eye, because even though Zira has red eyes in the official sequel I wanted to give her eyes to match Vitani but then I gave the red eyes to their father which made me wonder where Kovu's green eyes came from, so I decided to give both blue and green eyes to Zira. And I know that in the official sequel Kovu's green eyes were obviously just to help make him resemble Scar more despite not being his son but even though there's no Scar link in my version I still gave him green eyes cuz I just like him with green eyes.

Damn this ended up long, I'm sorry lol.

#fan art #disney #the lion king #the lion king 2 #the lion king 2: simba's pride #kiara #kovu #nuka #vitani #zira #kovu's father

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