Nala kept running- she couldn't bear to think about what had most likely happened after she left. She had just abandoned her entire family, her friends, and her home- she had to make sure that it wasn't for nothing. She refused to let that her stop her, she refused to let the heat stop her, and she was determined to go for as long as she could.

But everyone has a breaking point, and for Nala, that came after two hours of running. She was tired, thirsty and hungry. The heat had worn her down, and she had no idea where she was. She found a tree and rested against it, panting as she lay down. As she caught her breath, the thoughts that she had been pushing away for the past two hours caught up to her. Her mother had most likely just been attacked as punishment for letting her go, or worse; her brother was also likely to be punished in some fashion; she had just rejected one of her close friends, who might not want to see her again when she returned; she didn't even know if she ever would return.

She started to cry. "Mother… I'm so sorry…" She was there for maybe five minutes, before she looked up and saw a stray gazelle. It was not a large one by any means, but it would provide enough sustenance for the rest of the day. The gazelle had yet to spot her, so she slowly crept around the tree. She waited for it to get closer. "Come on," she whispered, "just a little bit closer…"

When the gazelle was close enough, she leapt at the gazelle. However, she was not at full strength, so the gazelle was able to dodge. Nala chased after it, her hunger giving her enough motivation to chase, but she could not gain any ground. She was soon running out of energy, and she had to hope that something would slow down the gazelle.

And something did, but not what she had hoped.

"Bring him to me!" Scar ordered. Soon, the hyenas brought Mheetu to their ruler. "Mheetu, Mheetu, Mheetu… I had hoped that this would never be the case. I was quite fond of your mother, but after what has happened, I must fulfil my duties as king."

"Where is she, Scar?" he shouted. "Where is my mother?!"

Scar tutted, wiggling a finger in his face. "Ah, ah, ah! First, you have to answer me some questions." He began to circle the younger lion. "Your sister has fled the Pride Lands, and I have reason to believe that you know where she is. We can do this the easy way, or the hard way, so why not just tell me where she is headed? That way, we can return her home."

"I have no reason to tell you anything!"

"Well, let's give you one." He nodded at one of the hyenas, who then bit down on Mheetu's paw. He let out a roar of pain, but still stood tall. "Now, the way I see it, you have three paws left, before I have to do something more… drastic." Mheetu spat on Scar's paw. The tyrannous king rolled his eyes, before nodding at another hyena, who bit down on another of Mheetu's paws that made him roar even louder. "Do something like that again, and I might just have them go for both of your remaining paws."

Mheetu chuckled, panting from the pain, before saying "fuck you."

Scar laughed. "Your mother raised you as a fighter, like her." He nodded, and his last two paws were bitten down on. The pain was now at the point where he couldn't stand, so he fell into his knees. "Oh, dear! Not so tough now, I see. Now, tell me where your sister has gone."

"She- she just- she just left," he said, panting out of pain.

"Hmm…" Scar tapped his chin. "I don't believe you. So, here's what I'm going to do." He waved his paw, and a group of lions who were his most trusted 'soldiers' appeared. "I will count to five, and when I get there, my men will take your life in as slow and painful a manner as they can imagine, unless you tell me where she went." Mheetu growled at him. "One… two… three… fo-"

"She never said where!" Mheetu shouted. Scar lifted an eyebrow. "I don't think that she knew where she was going. All she told me was that she had to leave."

"And why is that? What reason could she possibly have to leave?" Mheetu didn't answer immediately. "Four…"

"She went to get help!" Mheetu finally conceded. "Scar, you have ruined the Pride Lands by allowing these disgraceful hyenas in!" The hyenas began to growl, but Scar held up a paw and they stopped. "They have caused what was left of the herds to leave, so food is very sparse. The watering hole is close to drying up. Because of them, everyone will die unless we leave."

"We will NEVER leave!" Scar yelled. "THIS is our home, and we shall not disgrace our ancestors by leaving here."

"You mean like you did when you destroyed your Lion Guard?"

This struck a nerve, as he slashed across Mheetu's back- the cuts weren't deep, but they hurt.

"Get him into the cave! We will deal with him further in the morning!"

"Where is my mother!" Mheetu shouted as he was dragged onto his paws.

"Of course. Bring her in!"

Mheetu's heart sank as they brought in Sarafina's lifeless body. His tears streamed down his face as his blood boiled.

"NOOOOOOO!" he screamed. He fought to reach her body, but he was carried away. "MOOOOOOM!"

Nala stared at the lioness that had just hunted the gazelle she was chasing. They had a light golden skin, a fairly average build, brown eyes. Their fur a bit rougher than the lionesses of the Pride Lands. As they started to drag the gazelle's carcass, they looked up at Nala.

"What are you looking at?" she snapped, taking Nala aback.

"I-I'm sorry," Nala stuttered, "b-but is there any way I can have… that?" She gestured at the carcass, and the lioness laughed. "Please."

"And why should I? I don't even know you."

"My name is Nala. I came from the Pride Lands-"

"A Pride Lander, huh? You're a long way from home, then!"

"Yes. I've been running for… about two hours. I haven't eaten or had anything to drink in five."

The lioness dropped the gazelle, then looked Nala up and down. She walked around, inspecting her. "Well… you don't look like you've had much to eat." She pondered for a moment. "I'll tell you what- there is a watering hole about twenty minutes from here- I'll take you there and we can split this, but you will need to explain why you're so far away from the Pride Lands, all alone."

"That's a fair deal," Nala smiled out of gratitude, "thank you."

"No problem, Nala. My name is Msaada."

Nala and Msaada then picked up the gazelle and began to head towards the watering hole that Msaada had mentioned.