Chapter Twenty-Nine: Frosted encounters

The midday sun filtered gently through the mist-shrouded canopy, sending golden shafts of light across the forest clearing. Everything was still, wrapped in a quiet, tranquil hush broken only by the rustle of leaves and the occasional birdsong. Jitu rested beneath his familiar twisted tree, the frost-touched mane around his shoulders rippling in the breeze. His massive frame was relaxed, but alert—his icy blue eyes half-lidded as they watched the swirling mist beyond the clearing. Kovu sat beside him, leaning back against a warm patch of grass. His emerald green gaze flickered with the weight of memory as he spoke. “...And then there was Nuka. My brother,” Kovu said softly. “He always felt like he had something to prove. Like he wasn’t enough—like he had to earn our mother’s approval with every breath.” Jitu didn’t move, but his ears twitched slightly. “He wasn’t bad,” Kovu went on. “Just… reckless. Loud. Desperate. But deep down? He was just lost. And he was my brother.” The clearing fell into silence. 

The wind stirred gently, lifting the edges of Kovu’s mane. The mist seemed to lean in closer, listening.Then, in a voice so calm it barely stirred the air, Jitu spoke. “I met Nuka.”                    Kovu’s head snapped up, stunned. “You… what? When?” Jitu’s eyes stayed on the horizon. “Long ago... strange...”  “You talked to him?” Kovu asked, his voice hushed, almost reverent. “Talked at,” Jitu replied, a dry glimmer of amusement coloring his otherwise even tone. “Spoke... a lot.” A surprised laugh escaped Kovu, mingled with something soft and bittersweet. “That sounds like him.” The ache in his chest lightened by something he hadn’t expected—relief. “Thank you,” he whispered.  Jitu didn’t answer, but his quiet, steady presence offered something more powerful than words.Kovu leaned back, smiling to himself. “I wonder what he would’ve thought of you. A giant, silent frost lion who actually listens.” Jitu’s ear flicked, his gaze drifting to the swirling mist again. And in that silence, Nuka felt just a little closer. 

Later, at Pride Rock – Sunset.                  The golden light of the setting sun bathed the savanna in deep orange and crimson. Long shadows stretched across the rocky slope as Kovu bounded up from the plains, barely able to contain his excitement. He spotted Vitani near the edge of the promontory, her back to him as she surveyed the horizon.“Vitani!” he called. “You’re won't believe this!” She turned, arching a brow. “If this is about the pouncing thing again, I swear—”  “No, no,” Kovu gasped between laughs. “Better. Way better.” She folded her paws and waited, unimpressed. “Better not be another frost joke.”                         “I was with Jitu earlier,” he said, still breathless, “he told me that… he met Nuka.” Vitani blinked. “Wait—what?” Kovu nodded, eyes bright. “He met our brother. Before Zira’s whole campaign. Just… randomly. You’ll never guess what he said.” 

“What?” Vitani leaned in, unsure whether to brace herself or laugh.“He called him weird… but nice.”There was a pause—and then Vitani snorted. “Okay... that does sound like Nuka.”                    “Right?” Kovu dropped onto the warm stone, chuckling. “He said it so calmly, too. ‘He talked. A lot.’ Like it wasn’t the weirdest meeting ever.” Vitani sat beside him, a slow grin spreading across her face. “Jitu and Nuka. A combination I never imagined.”                      “Apparently, it happened.” 

“I bet Nuka wouldn’t just learn to shut that trap of his,” she said with a laugh. “He didn’t,” Kovu confirmed. “Jitu only listened. Kind of his thing at this point.” Vitani shook her head. “Full of secrets, that brute.” Kovu leaned back, paws behind his head. “Maybe he’s met everyone. Like some kind of… quiet, roaming shadow.”                               “More like frost-covered mystery,” Vitani muttered, but there was a note of wonder in her voice.Kovu chuckled. “To think, he used his rare sentences to tease you.”Vitani gave him a shove. “Don’t push it.”                                         “I’m just saying,” Kovu laughed, dodging her swat. “Maybe next time, try asking him about his past. Who knows what else he’s hiding?” Vitani considered that, her violet eyes glowing in the fading light. “Yeah. Maybe I will.”

The sun sank below the horizon, the two siblings sat in warm silence, the legacy of the past and the promise of unanswered questions settling between them like the dusk—quiet, steady, and full of stories yet untold.