A/N: I am still working on Saying Goodbye, don't worry. i just wrote this because I had time to spare. :D

Tired. So tired. But I've got to keep moving- climbing further and further up the impossibly steep incline. My legs are trembling with the effort but all that really registers in my numb mind is the last cry of my son that I heard before being dragged into that dreaded stampede yet again.

"Dad!" he had yelled, the sound piercing my ears more than the repetitive sound of frantic hooves. He had seemed so desperately terrified, and I worry if I had left him at a safe enough place.

I imagine one wildebeest, just one, slipping and crashing into the platform like rock, taking Simba down with it... the terrible thought nearly causes me to slip. My claws scratch viciously into the rock for I'm greatly aware that I am simply not allowed to fall. I can't.

And now... nearly there... and I see him. My brother is here and my spirits rise briefly, before I lose my gripping and slip a few inches down.

"Scar!" I shout, gasping with the effort of hanging on. He does not respond- all he does is simply stare down at me with a look of... disdain? No. That's not true.

"Brother, help me!" I try, still clawing at the cliff.

There is a sinister pause and something tells me that a part of Scar has changed inside. I try figure this out but the unthinkable then happens.

Scar lunges forward and digs his claws brutally into my paws. I roar in agony, the tears of pain not showing because my face is frozen in shock. My brother's green eyes gaze into mine with such ferocity that it's unnerving.

Suddenly, I know. I can see it in his face, etched into it so boldly, now. My brother doesn't love me... he hates me.

He pulls me close and I feel his dark mane brushing against mine. "Long live the King!" he whispers chillingly and my eyes widen. He cannot mean what I think he does...

And he releases his grip abruptly and I'm falling- and I can't do anything!

I scream as I see the cliff hurtling into the distance and I hear a cub scream above my own: "NO!!!" It's Simba, I know it is! He's alive is the last thing I think before an unbearable pain cuts into my whole body. My head feels close to bursting with it and for a moment I think it will and then-

Nothing. Emptiness. I can't see or hear or feel in the threatening darkness...

***

I'm awake but I don't know what to do. Too pathetic to open my eyes for I'm scared of what I'll see if I do. Yet, I cannot hide from this, I realize.

My eyelids flutter open and my jaw drops. I'm outof the stampede, in a large hole at the base of the cliff. I can hear the wildebeest outside but they're out of my line of vision.

And I sense something watching me. My skin prickles uncomfortably. I turn and see... what the hell do I see?!

Dark eyes, almost black, stare at me. There's one problem: they don't belong to a lion. The creature doesn't have any fur at all, the skin pale like the moon. And it only has two legs... it stands upright on them. No mane covers it's head. Instead, chestnut brown hair flows down its back, tumbling like a wave. Some unknown white material covers its body.

"Don't be afraid," it speaks with ruby red lips. It sounds like the voice of a female, I've never seen anything like her in the Pridelands.

She looks at me expectantly and I realize I haven't replied. My throat is dry in uncertainty. I mean to say "Who are you?" but it comes out as: "What are you?"

The creature looks down at herself with some irony, then glances at me. "I'm a girl," she points at herself. "And you are a lion."

A hint of frustration enters me. Who does this girl think she is? "And why have you taken me here?"

Her mouth forms a comical "Oh" shape. "Don't you..." she says slowly. She breathes deeply, as if preparing herself for some difficult act. "You're dead."

I tense but after a moment relax, I don't trust her. "No, I'm not," I say firmly, blocking out the possibility with defiance.

The girl shrugs. "Think what you will but I know the truth."

There's an awkward silence as I consider this and take in her unusual appearance. She notices and I look down, slightly embarrassed. "I've never seen anything like you before," I explain. "You're a bit... different."

She smiles knowingly. "We're more alike than you believe. We feel emotions like you do, too." Moving closer, she says, "And we look alike in some ways."

I can't help myself from snorting but she lifts my paw up carefully and places something like Rafiki's hand onto the palm, expect it is smoother and whiter. It feels pleasantly cool to the touch.

"See?" she tells me. "Your paw- my hand."

I lower my paw, sort of understanding. I think, anyway.

"I'm not doing my job, here. It's difficult... I've never been sent to a lion before." Her voice trails off and I dig my claws into the rock because I'm suddenly scared again. What if what she says is true?! But I can't be dead. My family...

The girl seems to be thinking hard, frown lines appearing on her face. Finally, she says briskly, "Ok, understand that this is just as hard for me as it is for you. Please accept that you're dead."

I shake my head, backing away, panic rising in my chest. "No, no. I'm not," I say quickly, hoping that if I keep on saying it, it'll be true.

She sighs sadly. "I didn't want to do this." She touches my shoulder, there's a whirl of colour and-

The gorge; I'm in the gorge. A snapped tree lies before me, I know it's the one that Simba clung onto such a short time ago. And underneath it-

"No." I utter, looking away. The word was meant to come across as intimidating but it comes out like the feeble whimper of a new born cub.

That's me lying there, me! My legs are sprawled out at an odd angle, my mane sticking up, fly away. But it kind of comforts me that I look like I'm merely sleeping, nothing more.

The girl is watching me but before I can shout or cry, I hear something cough in the dust. I squint my eyes and see him in the distance. I almost sob in relief that he's safe but I also want to run and take him away from this horrible place. Someone let me take him home.

My son, my little son.

IMPORTANT:- The girl is just a spiritual person, nothing more. And she's in her mid teens. ;)

So, what do you think? This is something completely different to what I usually do. I wrote in the present tense just for a change, I guess. :)

I'll be back on here in 2010. A Merry Christmas to everyone!