Yeah, another fanfic.... don't judge me.

Kopa is canon, google him. His fate is never specified, as he was in the official books but not in Simba's Pride.

Also, this takes place after Wolves of the Beyond (five years to be exact).... this is possible because in this dimension, the events after Frost Wolf never happened.... there was no massive earthquake, the Ember was never released.... I mean, Banja still had her daughter and Myrr is still at the Watch, however everything is still basically the same. (besides the new Fengo, hehehehe)

Anyway, this is dedicated to PoisionedNightshade for her support!

-

"Hey, Princess, come and get me!"

"Future king, actually, and you better run!"

Two cubs were playing by a river. One was pale and scrawny with blue eyes, while the other was broad-shouldered with golden fur and a brown tuft of hair on the top of his head with orange eyes.

Vitani, the scrawny cub, laughed. "Please, Kopa, there's no way you can catch me before I tackle you!" She whirled around and pounced on Kopa, the golden cub.

They rolled around on the grass, before Vitani pinned Kopa with her paws on his chest. She smirked. "Ha! Take that, Princess!"

Kopa said nothing, just used his back paws to push Vitani off of him. He jumped forward, before pinning her. He grinned. "What's that about being a princess?"

Kopa was the son of Simba and Nala, the king and queen of the Pridelands.

Vitani, however, was an outsider. She was cast out along with her mother shortly after Simba's uncle, Scar, fell to his death.

They weren't supposed to play with each other.

Vitani shoved her friend off. "Lucky hit." She huffed.

Kopa grinned wider. "Whatever helps you sleep at night, Vitani."

"It does."

"Kopa!" A voice called. "Where are you?!"

Kopa and Vitani exchanged a worried glance.

"Well, that's my cue." Vitani said, running back towards the river and using a tree as a stepping stone. "See you, Kopa!"

"Bye!"

Kopa turned around as a massive lion with a ginger mane stepped out of the grass.

"Kopa." Simba sighed. "What are you doing so close to the border again?"

"Looking at the river." Replied Kopa.

"Why? You can't swim." Simba said gently.

Kopa huffed. "Well, no, I can swim, I just choose not to."

Simba purred. "Of course. What was I thinking?" His voice dropped to a serious tone as he led Kopa away. "Seriously, you need to stay away from there. I've told you about the Outsiders. You can ne-"

"Never turn your back on them." Kopa finished. "I know, Dad, I know. I was just looking."

Simba sighed. "Kopa, I'm saying this because I love you. I don't want you to get hurt. We are all part of-"

"The Circle of Life." Kopa finished again. "I know, you've told me the story a thousand times."

By this time, they were at Pride Rock.

A meercat and a warthog rushed over to them. The meercat ran to Kopa and started to pet him.

"Prince Kopa, you need to stop running off!" Timon said, jumping on to his back. "Did you dislocate a plate? Get a sunburn?" He picked up his paw. "Get a hangnail?"

Kopa pulled his paw away, and Timon huffed. "I had one once."

"Very painful." Pumba, the warthog, added.

Kopa rolled his eyes. "I'm fine, Timon, really."

"If you say so." Timon shrugged.

"It's getting dark." Said Simba. "Let's go in. You can go out tomorrow with Timon and Pumba."

"B-But Dad!" Kopa stuttered, before Simba gave him a hard stare.

"Are you hiding something, Kopa?"

Kopa looked down. "No."

"Good." Simba nodded. "Let's go in. Your mother is waiting."

"When's she gonna have my little sibling?" Kopa asked as they walked into the cave.

"Soon." Nala, Kopa's mother, replied. "I can feel it."

"If it's a boy we should name him Kion." Kopa said excitedly. "And if it's a girl, she should be Kiara!"

Nala nuzzled her son. "Ok, Kopa. Now go to sleep."

-
The next morning, Kopa was running though the savanna. He'd lost Timon and Pumba, and was rushing to meet Vitani.

He skidded to a halt beside the river, and frowned.

"Vitani?" He called. "Where are yo-" he was cut off as he heard a scratching sound. Kopa whirled around and saw Vitani hanging off the edge of the bank by her claws, with her teeth dug into a root that was slowly uprooting. Her eyes were wide with terror as she desperately tried to claw her way back up.

"Vitani!!" Kopa yelled, lunging forward right as Vitani's grip faltered. He dug his teeth into her scruff, his eyes widening as he started to slip from the weight.

"Kopa, let me go!" Vitani begged, scraping the wall of the bank with her back claws. "You'll fall!"

"I'm not letting you go!" Kopa growled through her scruff. His fur puffed up as he felt himself slip even further.

Grunting in effort, Kopa put all of his body weight and the momentum of falling to toss Vitani back on to the bank... however he didn't.

"KOPA!!!!!" Vitani screeched as Kopa fell towards the muddy, rushing river, his claws desperately grabbing at air. The last thing he heard was Vitani's screaming.

And then he hit the water.

The river was fast, too fast to swim. It was useless for Kopa, who couldn't swim anyway, however he managed to get his head above the water.

Kopa gasped as he looked around, seeing nothing but brown muddy water and blurred bank before he was thrown under.

Kopa desperately tried to claw to the surface, and he managed to get his nose above the water and take in a breath, before falling back in.

This time, though, his head hit a log, and everything went black right as he went over the falls.

Meanwhile, a female grizzly bear was watching the river, looking for a fish.

She was about to give up, before she saw something golden in the water, draped over a log. She looked closer, and her eyes widened as she realized that golden something was a cub.

The grizzly, who was known as Rossena, barreled into the water, easily navigating through the water until she reached the cub. Rossena grabbed Kopa by his scruff, before dragging him to shore.

Rossena say him down, before pressing on his chest with as much pressure as she dared, not wanting to hurt him. She pulled her paws back and Kopa jerked, coughing up muddy river water.

Kopa groaned, looking up. "W-where am I?" He asked weakly.

"You're in the Beyond." Rossena replied. "What's your name, young cub?"

"Kopa." Kopa replied, as he shakily sat up.

"Where are you from, Kopa?"

Kopa looked up with a confused look. "I- I don't remember."