The cool air of the night had finally settled over the dry, lifeless plains that was once a kingdom of life and plenty, now reduced to nothing. Everything was calm and still within the Pridelands, the only sense of life was the small trickle of water that still flowed through a small, almost dried up creek.
While the night provided relief from the dry days, it also provided security and the black sky dotted with twinkling stars provided promise of a better future from the Great Kings of the past. However, tonight's peace and stillness was disturbed by the hushed whispers of a group of lions, the five of them all huddled together, one ear each alert and listening for any sounds.
"We have to leave."
"Where will we go?"
"I'm not sure yet, But if we can head East…follow the river and-"
"No. I will not leave my mother, or Sarabi."
"But Nala... There is no hope. We must leave."
The most objective of the group, Nala, sighed angrily, "Kula… We can't just leave. Us lionesses especially. The elder pride members need us." She stressed, her bright blue eyes pleading with the darker furred lioness in the group, "Please."
Kula bit her lip, glancing around at the rest of the committee, her green eyes wide as she flicked her copper coloured tail nervously. Her eyes landed back on Nala as she took a deep breath, "Nala… Scar is my father… You know how much this pains me to go against him, no matter how evil he is. But what can I do? There is nothing left here and if Sarabi and Sarafina won't leave then that's on them, not us."
"I agree." Another lioness, Tama added, "They have lived their lives mostly in peace and comfort, why should we be denied that right?" She asked, her messy tuft of fur blowing about in the soft breeze. "They are old and no matter how ignorant it is, they won't last much longer with the way things are going, and neither will we." She looked up towards Nala, her orange eyes silently pleading with her friend.
Nala gaped the group, her eyebrows furrowed and blue eyes wide, "Are you hearing yourselves right now?" She demanded, "All of you! You want to just get up and leave? Our birthplace? The place of our mothers birth? Our home-"
"This hasn't been home since Si- HIM and Mufasa died." Tama interrupted, her eyes glaring back at Nala, "I begged my mother to run away with me when I was still a cub but she wouldn't leave. And look where she is; Dead and gone!" She hissed, looking at the three males for support, to which one of them stepped forward.
Clearing his throat, the one who came up with the idea stepped up, his messy, dark brown mane only just finished filling out. "Nala... Please try to understand… Us males have no chance." He began, his brown eyes pleading with the female, "Scar asked me to be his heir to the throne and I-"
"Why didn't you agree?" Nala injected, her blue eyes wide with newfound hope, hope that quickly died when she saw Chumvi's expression. Pinning her ears back, Nala shook her head, "Why didn't you agree?" She asked, her voice cracking slightly.
"Because he was my friend as well." Chumvi said, the entire group knowing exactly who he was talking about without a name being needed to be said, "It doesn't feel right doing the thing that was meant for him." He opened his mouth to say something else only all that came out was a frustrating sigh. Turning away, Chumvi shook his head, running a paw over his mane, something he did when he was upset.
The lion next to him, a golden lion with bright blue eyes nudged Chumvi's shoulder in a comforting manner, "If we are leaving it must be tonight." He voiced, looking back at Nala, "We have all agreed to leave, Nala. It's just you left." He said.
Nala shook her head, "Tojo… Not you too…" She whispered.
Tojo sighed, knowing how hard it must be for the young lioness to leave everything she knew, but to be fair so were the others, Kula in particular. "Chumvi and I discussed this after Malka left. We know this is the only way to ensure our own survival, Tama and Kula just agree with us and think it's best to leave as well." He said.
Chumvi looked back towards Nala, "Please. Put aside your stubbornness and come with us." He begged. Next to him, Kula nodded her head, her green eyes staring at Nala, silently pleading with her.
"We will wait at the border for you if you want?" The youngest of the group asked, a sad smile on her face, "Me and Chumvi spoke to our mother and she agreed that it's the best bet we have right now." She said.
Nala looked around at the group of friends, her blue eyes landing on each of their faces, silently searching for anything to say that this was some form of sick joke. Her heart sank when she realised that what they were saying was true and they really were leaving her all alone. Swallowing thickly, Nala blinked back the tears of anger and hurt as she stood up and turned away from her cub hood friends, "I'm sorry," She choked, shaking her head as she looked back at the group, "But I won't betray my mother or my pride." She said, starting to walk away from the four now rouges.
Kula was the first to object, shaking her head as she moved to chase after Nala, only to be stopped by Tama who stood in front of her, the oldest of the two shook her head, "Like Tojo said, we must leave now. Let her go." She said, her voice soft as she too felt her heart break as she watched her friend walk away.
Kula shook her head, "No, but-"
"Enough Kula." Chumvi said, interrupting his younger sister, "We must go now. While the hyenas are patrolling the Western borders." He said, standing up and moving over next to Tama and Kula, "This is our only chance." He nuzzled the younger lioness in a comforting way, his brown eyes staring at Nala's retreating form before he turned away, nudging Kula towards the direction of the border.
Annnnddd that's it for chapter one! This is my take on what happened during Scar's rule and why these characters only appeared in the books and not the movies.
Also, in this story, Kula is the daughter of Scar and was born not long after Mufasa died. Her and Chumvi share the same mother but have a different father, his being a rogue.