The Lion Queen and Hyena Prince

**The Lion Queen and Hyena Prince** is the original Lion King 2, where the the Outlander lions have been turned into hyenas.

The story continues with their first movie-attempt to take over the Pride Lands, and expands on the reason why; though it is similar to that of the original characters.

Simba's hostility -and that of all lions- towards the hyenas is especially strong, considering the two groups have always been lethal enemies of each other. Scar is treated as another example why the hyenas shouldn't trust lions, while his devouring and Shenzi's leadership are seen as ideals to strive for. Having that said, the hyenas plan to lift themselves higher up the food chain by eating their enemies and creating a new animal monarchy.

Artwork was first published at Deviantart on April 15, 2016.

## Characters

### Kiara

Kiara is the daughter of Simba, and princess of the Pride Lands.

She's born in peaceful times and clueless about the history lions share with the long gone hyenas. She showed curiosity for the pup, Kuliwa, opposed to caution, which allowed for a friendship to develop. Though they're from different worlds and didn't fully understand each other, they started meeting up in secret frequently, until their parents found them and forced them to break up.

Many months later, Kuliwa's siblings were ordered to disturb her first day of hunting and kill her in a wildfire, but he decided to rescue her at the last minute, earning himself a hesitant approval of her parents. During his stay in the Pride Lands, Kiara's fondness for him grew into love.

A relationship of any kind between lions and hyenas is unheard of; and even Scar's alliance with them was kept secret until he became the official ruler. While Kiara was informed of this eventually, she still had no shame in openly showing affection for her childhood friend.

When she becomes queen, she is allowed to marry Kuliwa.

### Kuliwa

Kuliwa is Kovu as a hyena.

With his mother as the leader of the biggest cackle in the land, he was seen and treated as the prince of their kind and expected to become king of the Pride Lands. After she discovered his friendship with the enemy princess, Kiara, his childhood was cut short for harsh mental and physical training. As the future king and rival of all lions, he had to become strong, quick, and smart enough to take one on by himself. It's insinuated he fought and killed many vagabonds as an adult.

It left him with the personality of a combat soldier, widening the gap he and Kiara already had as a different species raised in different circumstances. Nevertheless, he chose to save her from his siblings when they sabotaged her first solo hunt and his betrayal earned him a trial period in Simba's pride.

His mother believed it was done on purpose and asked him to target Simba, which he was initially willing to do, but discarded after spending more time with Kiara.

He had no romantic feelings for her or planned to answer to hers, this only developed after her continuous affection and kindness.

Kuliwa is a grey, spotted hyena with bangs and sharp facial features similar to that of the original Kovu. His muzzle is black, his eyes green.

### Zira

Zira is the mother of Kovu (Kuliwa), Nuka, and Vitani, and a hyena in this version.

She was a glorifier of Scar's demise and had assembled a large cackle of hyenas that also wanted to retry their failed takeover. Still, many of the hyenas that actually witnessed the fight on Pride Rock took the defeat and moved away. Ironically, the designated hero of the story, Shenzi, is one of them.

Zira had an intimidating following that grew larger as time moved on, and wished to give her son Kuliwa the honor of initiating the attack before sending her watchful troops to Pride Rock. She subjected him to strenuous training that involved taking on actual lions and convinced every hyena he's some sort of "chosen one", worthy of worship.
While she gave her son this title, she called the shots.

She was angry at Kiara for being the key reason her plans fell apart, and targeted her after her cackle switched sides and left her standing. As Kiara is a lion, the attack had little impact, though was strong enough to throw them both off a cliff. When Zira refused help from her, she fell into the river below.

Zira is a pale hyena with a stripe on her head and sharp facial features like that of the original Zira. Her eyes are red.

### Nuka

Nuka is the brother of Kovu (Kuliwa) and Vitani, and a hyena in this version.

Like the original, Nuka felt pushed aside by everyone for his younger brother. His mother wished to make one of her own the future king of the Pride Lands, and the fact he wasn't considered for the position as the eldest bothered him. He always tried to prove himself, but in smaller ways, as he knew he couldn't compete with Kuliwa after the training he'd gone through.

As a last attempt to win his mother's respect, he tried to do what Kuliwa refused and kill Simba during a dangerous climb, but had to pay for it with his life.

Nuka is a grey, spotted hyena with messy hair and facial features similar to that of the original Nuka. His muzzle is black, his eyes red.

### Vitani

Vitani is the sister of Kovu (Kuliwa) and Nuka, and a hyena in this version.

She was a loyal daughter of Zira's and showed Kuliwa the same level of support. While being much younger than Nuka, she was dominant over him and often had to silence his angry rants.

When Simba and Kiara offered the hyenas peace, she accepted it. The rest of the group joined in after Zira started to threaten her own daughter with death for her decision.

Vitani is a pale hyena with bangs, a pink nose, and blue eyes.

### Simba

Simba is the father of Kiara, and the current king of the Pride Lands.

He has maintained balance ever since his return and had little reason to worry for his child's safety after the hyenas moved away, but was restless over the fact she's much like him and feels attracted to ominous places.

After she started escaping her chaperones more often, he took matters into his own hands and followed her to her secret meeting with the hyena pup, Kuliwa.

His realization there were still hyenas nearby made him on edge, and his own childhood experiences worry for Kiara, who's freedom was limited ever since.

He didn't trust Kuliwa's intentions when he saved his daughter, but didn't think it was appropriate to send him away. He accepted Kiara's choice to invite him to their home, but stayed cautious.

### Nala

Nala is the mother of Kiara, and the current queen of the Pride Lands.

Like Simba, she remembers her near-death experience with the hyenas, as for Scar's take-over she was raised in. Moreso than him, she knows what it's like to live with hyenas and have them as "allies", making her not want the animals anywhere near her home.

When an adult Kuliwa saves her daughter, she still can't trust him, but accepts Simba's decision to give him a chance.

### Timon and Pumbaa

Timon and Pumbaa are the friends and past caretakers of Simba.

Like in the original sequel, Simba entrusted them to look after Kiara whenever she went off by herself. She finds the duo less entertaining than Simba did as a cub and made a game out of shaking them off.

Since they too have no positive experiences with hyenas, they share the lions' fear. Kuliwa awakens some interest in them, though, as he appears joyless and unfamiliar with the "Hakuna Matata"-lifestyle.

## Trivia

* The name "Kuliwa", like "Kovu", refers to Scar and is Swahili for "(being) eaten".