''Oh, prince Kopa, you're here...'', mused the lioness, her tone sweet and welcoming. Kopa trotted in her direction, his demeanour unlike the one he had showed in their first encounter. This time he wasn't that far away from the pride, but he was far enough not to be seen by anybody.
''I- I promise I wasn't planning to go back there, miss-''
''You may call me Zira, my little one'', she said, holding her chin up with a smile that Kopa did not identify as devious.
''Zira... What are you doing here, Zira?'', the prince asked, flicking his tail slightly.
''Oh, about that... don't worry about it. You see, living near the outlands isn't the best thing ever... so I come here to hunt sometimes.''
''Woooh! Like mom and the rest of lionesses?''
''Indeed'', she replied, circling around him. ''It's not always that I get to see the prince this up close, though... I feel so... honored''.

The fake flattery got to Kopa, who puffed up his chest in pride. ''Heh. I still think you and Dad would make good friends.''
''Oh, you think? Hmm...'' The thought of facing Simba made her gut boil in hatred, but she kept her façade, still circling the cub. ''That'd be an honour... but I'd rather not show up so unexpectedly, you know.''
Suddenly, Kopa sat down and looked to the side opposite to them, staring at the place where Zira had come from. He had been there once, sure, but the thought of venturing into the Outlands was pretty exciting.
''So cool... Dad always talks bad about the Outlands, but that's where I met my best friend, Asante. Do you know her?''

Zira cocked an eyebrow, but kept her smile.
''I haven't had the pleasure.''
''She's the only hyena I've met that isn't stinky or bad. But but... please don't tell anybody. Only Mom knows about it... but I don't know how Dad would react if I told him...''
''Oh, your secret is safe with me. However, now that you mention it... I suppose you wouldn't be opposed to having me escort you through the Outlands, little prince?'' Kopa's eyes lit up in excitement.
''You would?''
''Of course... and I'll make sure nothing happens to you.''

Lately I've been drawing my life away like crazy, and one of the ideas I wanted to bring back was my portrayal of the story of Kopa. And damn... the way my art has improved in the last months is pretty on the nose. I've also learnt how to do certain things even more efficiently, such as color the lines and shade similarly to the art in TLK, along with anatomy improvement. I still got a long way to go but regardless-
Zira is slowly luring Kopa to his ''demise''... which gives me an excuse to practise backgrounds and such. Also, as I did in the last drawing I did of Kopa, I decided to keep his eyes green-ish, just like Nala's, so that his design difers a bit more from Kiara's and Kion's.

Commission info: https://www.deviantart.com/akaifenneku/journal/Experimental-paypal-commissions-info-760953544

Ko-fi: ko-fi.com/akaifenneku