It Was All a Lie...

"NUKA!"

The older cub winced slightly at the harshness of his mother's voice. 

"Yes, Mother?"

"Watch over Vitani and Kovu while I go hunting with the lionesses. And DON'T misplace Kovu this time, you imbecile. He could have died had we not found him in time!"

That was the idea. Nuka thought. Aloud, however, he simply said, "Yes, Mother. I'll be more careful this time, I promise."

"You'd better." Zira growled. "Kovu actually has a worthwhile future, unlike you." With those harsh words, the lioness then took off with the rest of the hunting party, off to hunt in the Pride Lands in the dead of the night.

Nuka was all smiles in front of his mother, but as soon as she was out of sight, a sneer made it's way onto his face. He laid down, muttering curses under his breath.

"Why do you hate Kovu so much? He's just a baby." came Vitani's voice beside him. His little sister came up with Kovu tottering beside her and plopped down beside Nuka. 

"Why? Why?" Nuka spat. "Because he took everything from me, just by being born!"

"Like what?" Vitani asked, rolling her eyes. " S'not like we actually have anything out here. We don't even have any food. Mother and the others have to get that from either the Pride Lands or the Wild Lands."

"He took Mother's love and my throne." Nuka growled, sneering down at the cub who had now curled up next to his arm and fallen asleep, oblivious to his adopted brother's jealousy.

"Ha!" Vitani laughed. "What throne? Mother said you were never in the running for the throne. It was always meant for Kovu."

"That's a lie!" Nuka snarled, glaring viciously at his sister. Even though she was only four years old, she could be absolutely irritating. "I was in the running from the moment I was born as a biological son of King Scar. By all rights, I should be the Chosen One, not this," Nuka nudged the brown infant. "little termite."

"Oh really? That's not what Mother said." Vitani said with a smirk on her face. "Mother said that Scar had always planned for Kovu to be his heir, even before he was born. Balondemu was supposed to give Scar a son that he could claim as his own, since his own son was such a disappointment."

"THAT'S NOT TRUE!!!" Nuka yelled, tears pricking at the edges of his eyes. "Father loved me! He loved me! And he said he'd always be watching over me, even after he died!"

"Watching from where? The dirt?"

"No, stupid. From the stars. Father said that all the Great Kings and Queens of the Past watch over us from the stars in the night sky. And I bet Father is one of the biggest stars up there!" 

Vitani looked at her older brother for a moment with a critical eye, taking in what he'd just said, then answered, "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Great Kings and Queens? Yeah right. The stars are just lights up in the sky. They aren't kings or queens of any kind. I bet our dad just told you that just to make you feel better or something. Scar's dead; he's not watching us from anywhere."

Nuka stared at his sister, dumbfounded. He wanted to yell at her more, to tell her how wrong she was and that Father would always be there for them, but suddenly he wasn't so sure anymore. Ever since he'd been exiled to the Out Lands with Zira, Vitani, Balondemu, and the rest of his mother's lionesses, everything had gone from bad to worse.

Hidaya, Usiku and Mawingu's mother, who was injured when his older half-sister Nala decided to escape from the Pride Lands, never fully healed from her wounds, and once they had gotten to the Out Lands, she finally succumbed to them. Zira, in her grief and rage, became more abusive towards Nuka; instead of just assulting him verbally, she now beat him physically as well. She also often made him watch over his younger sister ("It's all you're good for, anyways." she had told him) while she went off and hunted or plotted her revenge against his cousin Simba. Cubs began to die off, and those born to replace the dead ones often didn't make it due to the constant lack of food. His aunt, his mother's sister Chuki, died of starvation within the first year of their exile, giving all of her food to her daughter Kaweria and to Nuka as well, since Zira did a poor job of keeping him fed. With Chuki's death, Nuka was forced to teach himself how to hunt, becoming quite capable of hunting small prey such as field mice, though his Uncle Balondemu's mate, Ngina, often allowed him to share in her kills when his mother wasn't looking. Then four years into their exile, Balondemu's son Kovu was born -killing Ngina in the process- and was suddenly declaired "the Chosen One" by his mother, apparenly because his father had said so. And now his Uncle Balondemu, the only light left in this horrid place that wasn't his sister, was found dead by the northern boarder, killed by a rogue. And Kovu was now a perminant part of their family because of it.

But even then, he still doubted that his sister could be right, until he remembered how horribly his father had treated him before his brother Mheetu died...

"Maybe you're right, Vitani..." Nuka whispered, pain in his voice. Glancing up at the stars with newfound hatred in his eyes, he said in a louder voice, "No, you are right. I was stupid to believe that Father -no, Scar- ever really cared about me, and that he'd be watching over me in death. I was stupid to believe that he would have actually given me a chance to be his heir, to be King after him. I was just temporary; a replacement for when Mheetu suddenly died and the Pride Lands throne was suddenly without an heir, until Scar's precious little Kovu was born! I never should have believed him, or Auntie Sarabi, or any of them. There are no Great Kings and Queens of the Past. The stars are just stupid, cold lights in the night sky that give lions false hope. I'll never believe in such stupid lies ever again. Because, after all, no one really did ever love me, not even Scar.

It was all a lie..."

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NOTE: And thus Nuka's pure heart begins to become corrupted. I guess he forgot what Rafiki told him on his presentation day, huh? So now we know why Nuka calls Scar by his name instead of Father or Dad. Also, Vitani isn't meaning to be mean to Nuka here. She's just being a sister. And sometimes sisters (and siblings in general) are butts. In the end she really does love Nuka, even if she's mean to him. And anyways, all she's doing is emulating her mother...

Ages here, if you're wondering are Nuka: 10, Vitani: 4 1/2, and Kovu: about 6 months. Nuka was about 6 when Scar died, while Vitani had just been born. Kovu wasn't even alive yet. Use my age chart animenerd26.deviantart.com/art… if you need some help figuring out how lions age in my TLK-verse (*cough*shamelessadvertising*cough*)

Also FYI:
Usiku - Dotty
Mawingu - Spotty
Kaweria - Digger
Balondmu - Cub C from rarsa.deviantart.com/art/Possi… (and not actually Nuka and Vitani's uncle)

Bases: kopaisfluffy.deviantart.com/ar…, kyuubi83256.deviantart.com/art…, anarsadoptionagency.deviantart…
Base (c) , , , and Disney
TLK (c) Disney