A/N: And... I'm back with the final chapter to this story! Then we can finally move onto the next.
Chapter Seven: Inconsolable
"Yeah..." Vitani said in response to Simba's question. "We have no clue who she is. We've never seen her in the jungle until yesterday."
Simba was desperate to know who this lioness was. It was quite obvious she was behind what happened to Haiba, but it's possible she may have done more. As much as he wanted to go look for her, he couldn't. If this lioness could make a sweet-natured cub like Haiba go to the lengths of murder, he knew it would be way too dangerous.
"Well, we have to do something," Simba said. "If she can brainwash Haiba, there's no telling what she can do, and the only cub we know that knows anything about magic is nearly dead."
"Well, we can do some looking around the jungle," Kulaani suggested. "We never do much anyway, so we might as well do a little investigating."
"You sure about that?" Simba asked. "It might be a bit dangerous. What if you end up being brainwashed into being a psychopathic killers?"
"That won't happen," Kulaani assured him. "If we get in trouble, I'm sure we can get away from her easily. We know that jungle like the back of my paw. We'll begin looking around tonight when we get back."
"Really?" Vitani asked. "Because I was really hoping that we could just get some sleep..."
Kulaani just gave her a look of disapproval.
"Ugh... Fine," she gave in. "If we're gonna do it, we better leave now."
"Whatever you say, princess," Kulaani said mockingly. As the pair began to walk away, he turned back to Simba. "And make sure Haiba is okay... I hate seeing him like that."
"Yeah," Simba said, "I will. Good luck."
With that, the two cubs left for the jungle, with Simba headed in the opposite direction back to Pride Rock.
Simba walked into the den, where he saw Nala, and the other cubs... Except Haiba.
"Hey, did Haiba come in here?" Simba asked.
"Yeah," Nala replied. "He was really upset about something. I tried to talk to him, but he wouldn't let me."
"Let me try. Where is he?" He asked.
Nala pointed to the back of the den, towards a section that was secluded from the main part of it.
As Simba entered the area, he saw Haiba there. The cub was laying on his stomach with his head buried in his paws. Simba could hear the sobs coming from the cub.
"Haiba?" Simba said, walking to him slowly.
"Go away, Simba," Haiba cried. "I j-just want to be a-alone."
"Haiba, it's not your fault," Simba assured him. "You were hypnotized, you had no control."
Haiba looked up at Simba, his cheeks soaked with tears and his eyes bloodshot. "Simba... I took a life... It was still me."
"Haiba, it wasn't you... You would never do something like that," Simba said. "We're pretty sure we know who did it... Besides, Chumvi isn't dead. He could live."
"Regardless," Haiba replied, "he'll hate me for what I did to him."
"No he won't," Simba told him. "He knows that it wasn't really you..."
"Simba, you just don't get it," Haiba said, tears still making their way down his face. "I caused him pain... I hate myself for that. Now, please... Just let me be alone..."
Simba sighed. He hated seeing Haiba like this, but it was obvious that Haiba no interest in talking about it. Hopefully he would be a little better in the morning... and that's if Chumvi made it that long.
"So, we've been looking for like an hour, and we haven't seen a trace of that lioness..." Vitani said as she and Kulaani made their way through the jungle.
"She's gotta be around here somewhere," Kulaani said. "If she's hiding out, she'll stay in a place like this."
That's when they heard a voice behind them speak.
"Oh, do you really think I'm hiding from a few pathetic little cubs?"
Kulaani and Vitani whipped around and saw the lioness standing before them.
"I'm simply waiting," she continued. "Then I can launch my plan."
"You!" Kulaani exclaimed. "Why did you do that to our friend!?"
"Well, I was hoping the little furball would be useful in order to make things flow easier for me... Unfortunately I was mistaken."
"And what's this plan that you mentioned?" Vitani asked.
"Oh... You'll find out in due time," the lioness said. "Then again... Maybe you won't."
"Who are you?" Kulaani asked.
"Me?" She said, putting a paw to her chest. She put her face down near his. "I'm a force to be reckoned with."
The lioness suddenly reached out with a paw and pulled the two cubs up against her.
"Hey!" Vitani yelled. "Let us go!"
"I don't think so," she said, "you two just may be an asset to me." With that, she vanished with the cubs, leaving no trace that any of them had been there.
The next morning, the first thing Haiba did when he woke up was head to Rafiki's tree. He was praying that Chumvi had made it.
"Hello dere!" Rafiki said from up above as Haiba approached.
"Is he alive!?" Haiba shouted up, not bothering to greet him back.
"Well... Yes, he is..." Rafiki replied. "But his condition is still very bad. It's encouraging that he made it through the night, but we'll have to wait another day or so to be sure that he will survive."
While Haiba was a bit relieved, he still didn't feel all that better, but at least there was a higher chance of Chumvi living.
"You've been through a lot... Take another day to rest and come back tomorrow. I will continue to care for him."
"Alright..." Haiba said, sadness still evident in his voice. He turned and headed for the den. As he walked back, he had another feeling on top of his sadness... One of dread. Like something horrible was about to happen. He brushed it off and went back to thinking about Chumvi... Still, he couldn't help but wonder what that feeling was. Oh well, he was sure it was just from depression... Yeah that was it.
Little did he know that little feeling he had may have meant much, much more.
A/N: So, we come to the conclusion of this story... I struggled with this one for some reason. Oh well, time to move on to the next... It'll be the last story before things get real serious. See you then!
