Prologue
It was night. It had been months, the small rag-tag pride had taken to plan the events of this very night. Everything had to go just right. Or else. Scar would have tolerated nothing less, and naturally Zira expected the same.
"Vitani, hurry!" Zira hissed, watching the small cub dart into the den of the Pride Rock pride.
She'd better stick to the plan, Zira thought bitterly.
She blinked in the darkness and waited until she heard dull pawsteps thudding against the stone, nearing her. Perfect. Simba and Nala's smaller, youngest, second, and newest daughter, Maono, rested in Vitani's jaws.
"Let's go," Zira said in a low voice, a dark smirk curling along her lips.
They would never know what hit them.
At Pride Rock, many moons ago...
"Where is she? Simba, where is she?" Nala cried, pacing the den.
The sun was high in the sky and everyone else was about their home, hunting, resting, playing. But something was terribly wrong.
Simba was obviously distraught as well, bright amber eyes wide as he searched, called, left and came back to look for their young cub. "I don't know, Nala. ...I don't know."
(A/N: Maono was the spitting image of her grandmother, Sarabi, who's name meant "mirage." To be fitting, her parents named her "Maono," which meant "vision," and could be taken as a synonym of "mirage.")
It had been many moons. Maono was a young adult, and had lived in Zara's pride since she was born. Or so she thought.
"Come now," Zira grumbled, flicking her tail to Vitani and the others so they would catch up.
They had gone on another hunting try, the third one in the past two days, but again, remained fruitless. Stomachs began to growl, especially Nuka's, although he was frail to begin with.
Silently, the quartet of predators returned to the Badlands. Zira always sneered at that name, at the fact that she was an outcast. But as Maono grew older, her ultimate plan would come into play, and she would no longer have to worry about that.
"Vitani, you and I will try again at sundown. For now, rest."
Maono had never liked the dry and angry tone Zira always had. She frowned, her lip curling slightly as she veered off in search for a patch of shade to rest in, near the den entrance.
"I'm assuming I'll go patrol the borders today whilst you are out hunting?" she mumbled, her ear twitching.
Zira nodded, flopping down a few feet away. "Yes. In fact, look to expand. Away from the Pridelands, on the opposite side, there must be some vacant territory we haven't exploited yet. Perhaps near the ravine."
The lioness watched the sharp curve of Zira's old shoulders as she shifted on the stone ground, but couldn't bring herself to feel sorry for her. "I suppose I can look," she agreed after a moment.
"That's a good girl," Zira sighed.