A/N: Thanks to everyone who's been reading this so far. Thanks in advance to anyone who takes the time to leave a review. I don't really have anything to say this time, so I'll just cut to the chase.


Chance Encounter

As the sun set on the horizon, painting the sky in shades of orange, Siri finally ventured out from her cave. Glancing around carefully, she sighed in relief and descended the hilly slope leading back to the jungle. She had remained in the cave for most of the day, turning over what she had seen in her mind. These lions hadn't seemed dangerous, but as Tamaa had told her, you can never be too sure. She was sure they'd be somewhere else by now, though, and looked forward to finally finding a meal.

She carefully stalked through the undergrowth just at the border, her eyes searching the area for any other sign of life in the fading light. The wind softly blew, and Siri instantly became alert as a new smell was brought to her on the current. She turned around carefully, and saw a solitary antelope grazing. The animal was old and frail-looking, and paid no attention to the lioness several meters away. After waiting several seconds, just to be sure, Siri dashed forward, her heart pounding in her chest.

The antelope turned at the last possible second, but Siri had already pinned it to the ground. She quickly pressed her teeth to the familiar area on its neck, ending its life. Unconsciously, she ripped off a piece of flesh, setting it aside. She tore into the carcass, barely bothering to chew it before swallowing. It was almost completely dark now, and she hated not being in her cave at night.

When she had finished, a pang of sadness hit her as she saw the meat she had set aside. There was no one she could give it to. Her eyes burned as she turned away, even though she knew that had Tamaa been with her, she would have laughed. Siri could almost hear her now: "Normally I'd tell you to grow up. But if a piece of meat causes you to break down, you're beyond hope."

She shook her head. Forget the past, that was what she needed to do. Turning away from the carcass, she headed deeper into the jungle. Getting some water might help clear her thoughts.


Simba's eyes opened suddenly, and he quickly stood up, alert. What had caused him to wake up? He looked from side to side, but saw nothing. You're just being paranoid, he thought. He and Nala had gone to sleep in an unfamiliar part of the jungle; the trip to get there had tired them out more than they'd noticed at the time. Now, though, he felt nervous and on edge. Trying to calm himself, he looked at his mate sleeping by his side.

Nala was smiling slightly, her forelegs still stretched out in the place he had occupied only moments before. The dappled moonlight gave her fur a strange appearance: dark in some places, shining silver in others. As he looked on her lovingly, his ears pricked up at another sound. It was unmistakable this time: something was moving through the undergrowth. Again he admonished himself. He was behaving like he had when Kiara was a cub; he needed to relax.

Simba carefully walked away from Nala and headed deeper into the jungle, stopping at the nearest pool of water he could find. As he drank, his thoughts wandered back to the Pridelands. How were Kiara and Kovu doing? What if a problem came up? He looked up at the stars, where he knew Mufasa was watching over his pride. He smiled slightly. They'd be fine. This thought calmed him down, and as he headed back to Nala, even the rustle of leaves close by wasn't enough to disturb him. That is, until he saw something in the corner of his eye.

He turned back, and saw what Nala had seen on the log those few hours ago. A lioness was making her way to the pool of water, casting nervous glances with every step she took. The water was in a fairly open clearing, and with the light from the moon he could make her out clearly. She seemed to be in early adulthood, with long limbs and slightly scruffy fur. Her fur was, like Nala had said, a pale shade of orange. He stepped forward, wondering why she seemed so jumpy.

At that moment she turned around, her dull blue eyes growing large at the sight of him. Slowly she backed away, as though he were hunting and she was the prey. "Wait, don't go," he said suddenly. This seemed to alarm the lioness even more, and she bolted away. He watched her leave until the trees obscured his view. Why had she fled? He yawned, deciding he could speak to Nala about it in the morning. Taking one more glance at where she had run, he turned, pushing this question out of his mind for the time being.


Tamaa crouched low to the ground, following the lead of the rest of the pride. A lone zebra was drinking from the waterhole, unaware of the lions slowly surrounding it. Hifadhi suddenly pounced by its side, startling it. This was only a diversion, intending to lure the zebra in the direction of the hunt's leader. The zebra bounded past her, however, as she was staring in the opposite direction. "Look," she gasped, "hyenas at the caves!"

Tamaa whipped around, her eyes widening. As if by an unspoken agreement, the pride raced across the valley, knowing that something was definitely wrong. The clan of hyenas was guarding the caves as they reached them, leering at the pride with joy in their eyes. She felt her father's paw on her shoulder as he pushed her behind him, shielding her from the clan. "No matter what, don't say or do anything," he whispered. From the central cave a hyena emerged, walking with more dignity than normally expected from a member of that species.

"Your king and queen are dead," she said, walking closer until she was a few feet from the pride. "Mapango Valley is ours once more. I am Makali, the matriarch of this clan. Some of you may have foolish notions of fighting us." She looked into their faces, as though searching for agreement. "They all shall fail. As you can clearly see," she continued, gesturing to the clan with a paw, "you are greatly outnum--"

At that moment, the leader of the hunting party struck Makali across the jaw. The hyena matriarch slammed into the ground from the force of the blow. Several of the clan members formed a circle around her, growling with teeth bared. After a few seconds she stood back up, motioning to the other hyenas to move away. The hyenas then moved to line up in front of the pride, separating the lions from the matriarch. Hifadhi and several other pride members instinctively backed up, expecting an attack. But Makali faced them as calmly as if nothing had happened. "It seems as though my words are not enough for you. I am sorry it has to come to this." She turned to the central cave. "Bring her out."

At these words, a group of hyenas emerged from the cave, walking until they were a few feet from Makali. In the center of them stood Laini, looking downward at her paws. As soon as the hyenas surrounding her came to a stop, she slashed at the faces of the nearest ones, trying to make an opening in the circle. The matriarch looked at them steadily for a few seconds before speaking again. "Restrain her."

Two of the hyenas that had come to Makali's defense now moved toward the princess, expertly pinning her to the ground. For several seconds, no one made a move. Tamaa watched in fear, feeling sick to her stomach. "Hifadhi, do something," she whispered frantically. "You can't let them kill her!"

"We can't do anything," he said. He looked at her, his face twisted in sadness and anger. "If any one of us tries to be a hero right now, they'll kill us all." He pulled her to him. "I care about you too much for that to happen." Tamaa looked at the rest of the pride, at their faces set in what seemed like both outrage and resignation. She felt like Laini: trapped.

Laini was pleading with the hyenas holding her down, her breathing ragged. "Please," she said, "please, don't do this, please. I did-- I didn't do anything to--"

Makali watched the scene coldly. "Silence her." At that moment, one of the hyenas that had led her out of the cave walked up to the princess. Tamaa looked away, retching as the hyena's jaws clamped around Laini's throat, crushing her windpipe. Hifadhi breathed heavily, wanting to attack the hyenas but knowing that Makali was right: they had no chance. The matriarch turned back to the pride, an air of triumph in her voice. "Such will be your lot, and that of your cubs, if you attempt to defy us. My clan has been awaiting this day for years, and we have no desire to engage in another conflict with you."

"What are we supposed to do?" asked the leader of the hunting party, her voice choked. "Where are we going to go?" She bent her head, tears running down her face and landing in the dirt below.

Tamaa didn't know what to think; the strongest lioness she'd ever known looked utterly defeated. She instinctively unsheathed her claws, her sadness and shock replaced by rage. She would have liked nothing better than to run up to the matriarch and tear her throat out. But Hifadhi was still holding her to him, and all she could do was look on in fury.

"I thought it might come to this," Makali said, her face betraying no emotion, but her eyes glowing with pleasure. "If there is one thing I pride myself on, it is my foresight. You have three possible options. The first is to accept our control of Mapango Valley and live under our command." Several hyenas grinned, their eyes filled with anticipation. "The second is to leave this place and allow us to rule unchallenged." The hyena looked toward Laini's body, then back to the pride. "The third is to rebel against us, in a battle you will surely lose. Which path you take is your own decision; I am merely stating facts." She glanced up at the sun. "Time is passing; we shall leave you now to decide for yourselves." With that the matriarch reentered the cave, her clan following behind.

Tamaa watched the lions around her, each of them lost in their own thoughts. Her head felt as though it were spinning. "Hifadhi, what are we gonna do?" He looked down at her, shaking his head dolefully.

"I wish I knew."


"Why do you think she ran away?" Nala asked as they walked by the pool of water where Simba had seen the lioness from the night before. She gave him a mock-serious face. "You didn't start some 'King of Pride Rock' spiel on her, did you?"

He rolled his eyes. "I didn't say anything to her. She just ran as soon as she saw me." He paused for a second, reflecting over the incident. "Now that I think about it, she looked nervous before she even knew I was there."

"How do you mean, nervous?" she asked. She bent down to take a drink.

"It was like she looked around for every step she took," Simba said. "She probably doesn't know this jungle too well; maybe she thought she'd get attacked." Nala looked up, licking droplets of water from her lips.

"I think we should try and find her," she said. "It can't be good for her to stress herself out like that." She started walking again, falling into step next to Simba. "We each saw her in less than twenty-four hours; I'm sure we'll run into her again."

"Probably sooner than you think," he said, looking through the trees. Nala followed his gaze in time to see a pale orange streak weaving through the jungle; possibly hunting. She put a paw in front of her mate to stop him from moving any closer.

"Stay here," she said. "I want to go see if I can talk to her." Before he could say anything in response, she was already off. He dropped to his side by the water, looking at his reflection. If the lioness acted the same way around her as she had to him, this probably wouldn't take long at all.


The moon had risen over Mapango Valley and the stars were just beginning to come out, but none of the pride noticed. They were sitting far away from the caves and the hyenas, trying to figure out a course of action. While some of the other cubs were talking amongst themselves, Tamaa paid rapt attention to every word the adults were saying. She had hoped that her pride would try to rebel against the hyenas, but she had come to accept that it would be simply impossible. Her rage against Makali had still not abated, however, and occasionally she would stare back at the caves with hatred in her eyes.

"The best option we have is to leave," Hifadhi said resolutely. "In fact, it's really our only option. Do you really want these hyenas in charge? We'll all starve." Tamaa agreed with her father, but it seemed like no one else in the pride did. He looked from face to face, but found no approval. "And do you really think we'd be able to drive them out? Even if we managed to get Makali alone to kill her, which is highly unlikely, there are still too many of them."

"But don't you remember when we first came here?" asked the leader of the hunting party. "There wasn't anything but dried-up land and hostile prides for miles around. You think things've changed by now? " Her voice was hoarse and desperate. The other members of the pride seemed to agree with her, nodding emphatically.

"Those were only the lands to the north," Hifadhi stated. "We've never tried going south, and if we find a pride that'll give us sanctuary--"

"I'd rather stay here under the hyenas than starve in the wilderness," said the hunting party leader. "If you leave, you'll regret it. You'll put Tamaa in danger." She looked at the cub pityingly.

Tamaa growled inwardly. Did they really think she was helpless just because she was younger? "I don't care," she said to her, standing up. "He's my father, and I'll go wherever he does. I'm ready to leave right now."

"You don't know what you're saying," the lioness began. "If you just sit down and think for a moment--"

"I'll want to leave even more," she said desperately. She looked at the pride. "How can you do this to yourselves? You'll be like slaves! I think Hifadhi's right, maybe we can find someplace better to live if we just--"

At that moment Hifadhi stood up, surveying the pride. "Is there anyone here who agrees to leave the valley and start a new life someplace else?" He was met only with stares and dead silence. He turned to his daughter. "Then Tamaa and I are leaving now. If there's one thing I'm not going to do, it's put my cub through hell out of fear for my own life." He walked some distance away, and Tamaa ran to catch up with him.

As they walked down the valley toward the south, Hifadhi paused. "Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked. He looked at her solemnly, his eyes locked on hers. "I can't promise we'll find somewhere safe. If you think you'd be safer here--"

"No," she said. "I'd rather be anywhere than here." She'd never been so sure about anything in her entire life. And as they left the borders of the valley into unknown territory, neither looked back.


Siri watched the zebra herd through the swaying grasses. This was only practice; she wasn't actually intending to kill them. Her goal was simply to see how close she could get to them without them noticing. She only hoped that the wind wouldn't carry her scent over to them. One tilted its head in her direction, and she ducked down as quickly as she could, hoping she hadn't been seen.

After waiting a minute or so, she began striding forward again. Her eyes kept tilting from the ground to the herd, knowing that even stepping on a small twig might alert them to her presence. Soon she was close, much closer than she had gotten before. She watched them cautiously, wondering if she should spring forward to begin the next step in her practice. Her question was answered as the wind shifted and the zebras noticed the lioness behind them.

The next second they were off and running, with Siri lunging behind. This was the hardest part in her practice; running quickly exhausted her. This time, though, she seemed to be doing fairly well. As she turned sharply to the left, however, one of her back legs caught on a root. She fell forward, banging her head on the ground. By the time she got up, the zebras were long gone. "Are you all right?" came a voice from behind her.

Siri turned around, completely shocked. It was the lioness she had seen the day before, Nala. Her first impulse was to run, for the lioness looked like a natural huntress: sleek and powerful. Nala seemed to have noticed her fear, however, for she held up a paw.

"Don't run away," she said softly. "I'm not going to hurt you." She smiled. "I'm Nala. What's your name?"

"I'm Siri," she said warily. She still wasn't sure what to think; except for her family, she had never come across other lions before.

"Maybe we should go back to the jungle," Nala said. "I don't think you'll have much luck hunting right now." She walked forward, then stopped and looked back. "Don't worry, Siri," she said. "You can trust me completely."


A/N: I hope this chapter didn't come off as too awkward. Any reviews or crits would be great. I guess I'll see you next time!