"Alright then. What's this?"

Vitani examined the leaves the elderly baboon was holding.

"Well, I forget its name, but it's used to numb pain, right?" she eventually answered.

Rafiki pinched the bridge of his nose. "All the herbs do that," he said.

"Then I don't see why the names are important," his student retorted.

Rafiki sighed and stood up, leaning on his stick as he did so. He turned to look at the setting sun. "I think that's enough for today then."

"Alright. I'll try to improve for next time."

Rafiki smiled gently. "I should hope so. The kingdom will need someone with medical knowledge when I'm gone. I greatly appreciate your enthusiasm to learn."

"You'd better appreciate my enthusiasm, I use up half of it climbing up this damn tree," thought Vitani to herself as she glanced down at the ground below.

As she was about to climb down, she glanced down again. Two figures were making their way toward the baobab tree, and when one caught sight of Vitani it gave a friendly roar.

Rafiki turned and moved slowly next to Vitani, to get a view of his visitors. When he distinguished Simba and Nala, he chuckled and moved down the tree, moving slower than he once did but still far faster than any lion. Vitani watched him with a degree of jealously, flexing her claws and eyeing the distance nervously.

Rafiki slid down the final root and bowed creakily to the king and queen. "It's good to see you," he said. "To what do I owe the honour?"

"We just came around to see how things were progressing," replied Simba.

"Yes, how are things going, Vitani?" Nala called up cheerfully.

"J-just fine! H-hold on, I'm on the way down!" came the answer.

"You think it would be a good idea to relocate this lessons?" Simba asked Rafiki, a note of concern entering his voice.

"Pfft. She hasn't fallen yet, has she? Besides," added Rafiki, "this old baboon's comfort is of top priority."

"As king, I order you to consider Vitani's evident fear of heights over your own laziness!"

All assembled shared a laugh, except Vitani, who despite having a higher vantage point failed to spot any humour in the situation.

From nearby bushes, two unnatural purple eyes viewed the saccharine scene, and a creature snarled. In its time, it had met all four of them - but no-one knew its name. It needed the baboon - the others were of no consequence as of yet.

One moment, things were light-hearted (if, for Vitani, a little strained) - the next, a blur came from nowhere and slammed into Rafiki, knocking the old shaman off his feet. The royal couple were taken by surprise. Nala reacted first, leaping after the intruder - Simba followed, only to be struck suddenly from above. Vitani, having been as shocked as anyone else, had inadvertently released her grip of the tree, and fell onto her king as a result.

Simba dragged himself upright, only to see his wife sail through the air past him. Growling, he turned to face his opponent. It was hard to distinguish in the twilight, but from what Simba could see it was mostly gray, unnaturally thin and seemingly asymmetrical - some parts of it were far smaller than others. Although it was hard to believe, there also seemed to be a purple outline to its figure - hard to confirm, it was only visible out of the corner of one's eye.

Simba drew himself up to his full regal height, baring his teeth. Nala and Vitani both stood beside him, having both recovered quickly.

"I don't know who - or what - you are, but you are going to regret attacking my friends," growled Simba.

There was a glint of white from the figure as its mouth twisted into a smile. It did nothing else, and remained silent.

"Simba," hissed Nala, as she shook her head slightly to clear her head, "what do we do? He's not doing anything…"

"Rafiki's still behind him! He's hurt!" added Vitani in a panicked whisper.

"I know, I know," responded Simba, "but you saw how fast it moves! I don't think we can just attack it…"

"Then why did you threaten it?" muttered Nala, fixing her husband a withering look.

"It seemed like a good idea at the time…"

"I had not expected to be killed this way…" thought Vitani.

The figure remained immobile, but squinting, Vitani could see it was twitching very slightly. Rafiki was slowly rolling to his feet behind him, reaching for his stick.

"Damn it, this is too bizarre," said Simba. "I think we should attack him anyway."
"I'd disagree, but it does seem odd… he must be trying something," said Nala.

Vitani tensed and bared her teeth.

"No," Nala said, startling the younger lioness. "We don't know what this thing is. It would make more sense for you to run back to Pride Rock and get help."

"What? No! I… I could help you fight this thing!"

"Nala's right," said Simba. "It's safer for everyone, including yourself, if get we reinforcements. This thing is too dangerous."

Vitani was about to respond, when there came a loud noise from the creature. If one were to be exceedingly liberal with the definition of the word, it could be said to resemble a laugh.

Before the lions' eyes, a purple disc was expanding in thin air, from nothing and supported by nothing. The creature was swaying slightly, as its laugh grew more clear.

Rafiki, finally standing, stared at the disc in amazement. The gray figure, in sudden motion, grabbed his arm in its teeth. Then, it jumped forward towards the disc, dragging Rafiki with it. They collided with the disc, and were suddenly gone.

"Wh… what just happened…?" Vitani's voice was shaking, and all three were in shock.

"I have no idea," responded Simba, sagging.

The disc crackled with an odd energy. Nala ran toward it.

"What? What are you doing?" cried Simba.

"Wherever that thing went, it took Rafiki with it. I'm not letting it just wander off!"

Nala approached the disc and gingerly sniffed it. Simba and Vitani ran up next her.

"I have no idea what this is…" murmured the queen.

The disc shook, and began to shrink. As it did so, it began to pull the trio toward it.

"Gah! What's happening?"

"It's really strong!"
Struggle as they may, none of the three could resist the suction of the disc, and simultaneously they all slammed into it.

Everything went purple.

They fell for what seemed like an eternity. Vitani was vaguely aware that the royal couple were beside her, but couldn't tell for certain. All she could she was purple, but that was the least of her worries - purple was all she could hear, smell and taste as well.

Eventually, however, the three landed on solid ground. The fall was painful, but Vitani welcomed the pain, partly as it was an indication things had become somewhat more normal, but mostly because it wasn't purple.

She, Simba and Nala all rose slowly to their feet. Each one was shaken by what had just happened. It had been an exceedingly strange ten minutes. Sadly, it was about to become stranger.

Simba heard a noise from behind him, and turned. There, sitting on a rock, was a very scared, golden lion cub.

Simba couldn't shake the feeling the cub was very familiar, somehow. In fact, the location they were in seemed woefully familiar as well - and what was more, it filled Simba with a terrible dread, but he could not place why. But then, his wife gave a choked gasp, and turning again, he saw something which answered some questions, only to raise more - as well as a pressing urge to curl into a quivering ball of wailing fear.

A stampede of wildebeest was trampling toward them.