~A Few Months Earlier~

The sun rose over the savannah birthing a new day for all. The savannah was painted the colour of fire and it reminded the lioness of the fire which only three months prior had ripped through the land she was now walking on. A lioness moved stealthily through the tall grasses, heading back to her den after a night of solo hunting. A downed antelope hung from her jaws, it's windpipe crushed by her powerful jaws. Her cubs and fellow lionesses would eat well today.

She was Zira; widow, mother and former queen of the Pridelands. Once she could have walked through the land and hunted in the daylight hours but now it was not so. The land had new rulers now, rulers who had stolen what was her's and sent her mate to his bloody end. She was an interloper in her own home, no better than some flea-ridden rogue. Anger burned in her blood as brightly as the sun in the sky and all she had to take it out on was the local herds.

A cry went up from the distance where the ancient baobab tree stood. Lifting her head, Zira listened for a moment before she darted off, moving fluidly through the grass until she reached her destination: the giant rock formation known as Priderock. It had been the home of her kind since the formation of the kingdom many generations ago. However, instead of heading up the stony ramp to where the main den was, she bolted down the side and into a much small den hidden in the shadows of the great fortress.

The cave was dark and many of her fellows were soundly sleeping, curled up together lionesses, adolescents and cubs alike. She padded silently past them all, dropping her kill on the cave floor with an echoing thwump.

"Auntie Tama! Mother is back and she brought food with her!" A small voice called, it was her eldest cub; Nuka. He ran from the back of the den, rubbing up against her legs with no concern for the blood on her paws. She didn't look at him, she couldn't stand looking at him lately. There was too much of his father in him and it seemed to become all the more evident after Scar's death. Nuka then ran to the carcass behind her unable to mask his hunger any longer.

From the shadows her sister Tama emerged. Looking at the both it was hard to believe that they were sisters. Tama with her golden-orange pelt, amber eyes and strong build was next to nothing like herself, beige fur, lean and with eyes that shone a blood-like crimson. Tama was the only family besides her cubs that she had left, sometimes that was a blessing and other times it was a curse.

"I was worried about you." Tama said, rubbing her head against her's with an affectionate purr "You never came back last night."

"Someone had to get food." She replied tersely. She moved past her sister towards the back of the den where her younger cub, Vitani, slept curled up with the other cubs including Tama's. She was tired and her face and paws were stained red with the antelope's blood. All she wanted was rest but Tama followed her so she knew she would get none.

"You're avoiding me."

She didn't answer her, instead she lay down and began the long process of cleaning her fur. Hopefully Tama would quickly realise that she was not in the mood for talking and leave to deal with Nuka or her own cubs or something other than bothering her. Knowing her sister, however, it was likely that she wouldn't give up. She had always been stubborn and the years had not curbed that.

"What is the matter with you? You're gone all night and sleep most of the day. Your cubs barely see you, I barely see you." Tama said, frustration clear in her tone. Usually she would answer her but now she had no patience for Tama and her endless need to meddle in her affairs.

"Don't, Tama." She warned. Zira was not a lioness known for her patience and lately her temper flared easier than ever.

Still, Tama persisted, her warning seeming to only spur her sister on "You can't keep doing this! You have cubs to think about. Nuka and Vitani need you and yet you act as if they don't exist!"

"Family never stopped you from picking up and leaving, if I remember correctly." Zira said, trying to keep her voice as even as possible despite her growing ire. Her jab clearly hit its intended mark as Tama stepped back in shock at her harsh words.

In the silence, Zira's eared pricked with sudden noise outside the den. For a moment panic flared in her chest at the thought of the usurper Simba coming to finish what he began. Moving by her dumbstruck sister, she padded to the mouth of the cave and peered out. Suddenly her mind clicked when she saw a small crowd of gathering animals at the foot of Priderock. The earlier call which had chased her back to her den, suddenly it made sense.

Simba and his mate, the traitor Nala, had a cub. They had an heir to their stolen throne, an heir which pushed Nuka even further away from the throne than he ready sat. She couldn't help the fury-filled growl in the back of her throat.

Tama was at her side again, perhaps wanting to say something about her harsh words a moment before until she followed her gaze and saw what Zira herself saw and understood.

"Simba has..." Tama began

"A whelp, apparently so."

"You shouldn't say things like that! You're speaking about the heir to the throne. If Simba hears you he'll-"

"Let him. His cub is an usurper's spawn who's heir to a throne taken by blood. That throne belongs to Nuka and he knows it." Zira spat, hate filling her once more. She didn't think it was possible for her to hate Simba anymore than she did the night he had taken Scar from her but on that front she had been wrong, now he had stolen her son's birthright from him and her hatred seemed all the stronger.

"Simba only wants peace. He let you live, he let Nuka and Vitani live even though he had the right to kill them. You shouldn't antagonise him." Tama spoke quietly, glancing back to where Nuka was to ensure he hadn't heard her.

It was true, under the Old Ways the usurper had the right to kill Nuka and Vitani because of their blood. Zira knew why he hadn't and she knew it wasn't because he was squeamish at the thought of murder, his killing of Scar proved that. No, she knew it was because his mother Sarabi also had a cub fathered by Scar, Rudo. The thought of her beloved fathering a cub with anyone but herself sickened her but who was she to go against her king? If he killed Nuka and Vitani then he would have to kill Rudo too and Simba wouldn't go against Sarabi. It was only thanks to her that her own cubs lived and that thought sickened her even more.

"If he touches my son I'll show him the same 'mercy' he showed Scar." She growled.

Tama balked at her words, her amber eyes widened as she took in Zira's words. Zira knew what she had just said was treason if Simba had been around to hear it or one of her lionesses went to him and reported her but she didn't care. Every lioness with her had lost something because of Simba and every one of them had a reason to hate him just like she did. Every one, that was, save for Tama.

"Zira, please," But Zira didn't turn her head even as her sister pleaded, instead choosing to watch as more animals gathered to celebrate the birth of Simba's spawn "have sense! You can't bring Scar back by-"

Zira turned around in a blur and lashed out, her paw striking Tama across the face before she had finished speaking and sent her sister sprawling to the ground. Her claws had been sheathed but she could see Tama's cheek darkening as a bruise formed under her fur. Some of the lionesses looked horrified, others shrank back in fear of her turning on them next and others looked on with indifference as if justice had been served. Nuka cowered behind the antelope carcass he had been eating from. Zira didn't care, she only saw her arrogant younger sister.

"How dare you." She growled as Tama picked herself off the ground "You don't get to just run off then come back all high and mighty! You know nothing, nothing at all! You didn't see what I saw! You didn't see that usurper throw my mate to those dogs! He has taken everything from me and my cubs! He is the reason we have to hide here like fugitives! You can play the simpering idiot all you like but not here! Not in front of me!"

Even now, Zira could see it all unfold as if it were happening before her very eyes. The night her beloved was murdered so Mufasa's son could be king. She remembered it all. Tama hadn't been there that night, she only knew what happened second-hand yet she used her mate's name so causally and acted like she knew the truth of it.

Tama looked at her with pity in her amber eyes, it made her want to strike her a second time "Please, sister, Scar is dead, there is no changing that...just please, don't make you cubs go without a mother as well as a father. We both know there's only one way that can end."

"Get out." She growled.

Tama gave her one last pitying look before she padded back into the den to retrieve her cubs before leaving. Zira watched her walk up the rocky ramp to the main den. No doubt to go and congratulate Nala, the thought made her stomach turn. Sooner or later her sister would have to pick a side, either her family or Simba and his pride of traitors. She couldn't have it both ways.

Putting her sister to the side, she stared out at the gathering animals. Once, a lifetime ago, they had gathered for Nuka's presentation back when there had still been animals to gather before the drought had fully kicked in and the herds had abandoned the Pridelands. It had been the proudest day of her life and now that too was snatched from her.

With a final look, she padded back into the shadows of her den to sleep. Let Simba and Nala have their day of celebration and show off their whelp to the Pridelands, Zira knew better than anyone how quickly the tides of fate turned. They would know her pain one day, they would know what it was to lose everything and on that day she would finally be sated. Zira would wait for that day no matter how long it took.