Chapter 8: Peering Past the Veil

"So when you find yourself locked onto an unpleasant train of thought, heading for the places in your past where the screaming is unbearable, remember there's always madness. Madness is the emergency exit."-Anonymous. Or *insert other madness quote here*.

It has taken me awhile to find a way to give Zira a backstory and past that could easily fit into the Lion King universe while also making Zira's character development into who she was seem plausible. And also avoid plagiarizing/stealing someone else's fan-theory. What a challenge. Alright then, I should note that while there really isn't anything that would warrant a mature rating or such, as I am trying to stick to Disney's trademark family-friendly tone here, I will still note that it gets a bit dark here. So... nothing explicit or extreme, just fair warning.

Enjoy the chapter!


"You're late."

The sun had just touched the horizon. It had not even begun to dip down once the younger lioness had zoomed up to their earlier meeting spot, almost careening into the lioness now perched on top of the boulder as Kiara had taken an uncalled for, surprise, final leap at the stone. Luckily, thanks to a combination of quick reflexes and quick timing, neither lioness was hurt, now both opting to sit on the ground. Zira's eyes glowered annoyed at the panting lioness, now looking up and responding with a glare of her own.

"I made it just in time," she stated, before sucking in more air into her oxygen-starved lungs. As she dipped her head back down and breathed heavily, Zira merely gave a small smirk and shook her head.

"To be honest, I was hoping you wouldn't come." This drew the princess's head back up, staring at her with a mixture of mild surprise and cockiness.

"Are you kidding? After all these days of training and trying to get to know you, you think I'd pass up such an opportunity such as this," she replied before moving closer to sit beside her. Zira did not react, instead resuming her sights on the horizon where the golden orb had just begun to sink below the land.

"Are the sunsets in the Outlands much different from ours here?" Kiara tensed as she watched Zira, preparing to move in needed, yet the only physical move she received was the slight twitching of a patch of fur near her shoulder.

"The time of day is much more difficult to determine there and the routine we had followed required us to turn as the sun began to set. Not to mention the change in scenery and environment," Zira stared, her voice sounding apathetic and disinterested. "But no, it wasn't much different from the ones here."

"Mm," Kiara hummed, focusing more closely now on the changing of the colors of the clouds and sky.

"Now the ones where I came from were much different."

Kiara remained silent and still, yet curiosity pulled at her eye as it fell upon Zira's face. Though nothing stood out, her earlier irritation was definitely gone.

"North of the Pridelands, past the mountains and the plains. Right near the head of the river there. My birth pride. Surrounded by mountains, we never saw the sun dip below the horizon. We only watched as it sank below the mountains and later see the sky change. It would be many years until I saw the sunset fully like this."

The light had started to shift from the pale honey color into a much richer gold, barely beginning to change into orange. The clouds surrounding the scene had already begun to darken into the more darker shades of the colors and changing at a much further rate.

"We were a small pride, two males, the king and his loyal guard, my father, and several females and adolescents, including myself, my mother, and my pridesisters. Though not quite as large as yours, we were... content in our current living situation."

Kiara had begun kneading the ground beneath her in an attempt to curb her desire to ask questions. Though her mind burned with curiosity with each passing second, she refrained from speaking, not wanting to disturb or offend Zira and prevent he from speaking any further.

"I was... the youngest of my pride. Though there were several others cubs in my pride, they were all males and they didn't really want a girl getting in on their fun. So I was usually left out of their games and such. However, that didn't stop me from trying. See, I had figured it out early on that if I wanted something done, I just had to work continuously till I got it. If the males thought I wasn't allowed to join in on their childish antics because I was too weak, then I would just prove myself to them that I could just not keep up, but reach above and beyond them.

And so that's what I did. Whenever they would wrestle or challenge each other in physical competitions, I would always enter in, regardless whether or not they wanted me. It took many seasons and many days or tireless training and pushing myself to keep up, as well as their merciless teasing, but eventually there came a day when I finally felt accepted among their group, having proven to them, to everyone, that I could be just as strong and fast and clever as any of them."

A small smile slipped onto Kiara's face, the words of Zira flowing into her imagination and painting a clear picture within her mind's eye. She too had had friends growing up, yet due to her status she had never been rejected or excluded from any of the activities they had. Hearing someone else recall their childhood brought back fond memories with a touch of nostalgia, yet deep in her heart she knew that for a lioness like Zira, it must had not lasted for very much longer.

"I can still recall the day when all that disappeared from my life forever. To have it all stolen from me in an instant." Zira's head dipped down for a moment, the orange sunlight from the setting sun casting sending her shadow stretching across the ground beneath her and upon her face.

"The day they came."

The words were spat out like bile along with the snarl that broke out from her throat alongside them. Kiara remained still as Zira's fury was once again awoken, though this time from the stirring up of uncovered, painful memories past. She stared frozen at her as red eyes snapped open, taking in the same burning hue of the sun's heat.

"Disgusting, heartless rouges stormed into our homeland, challenging my pride and our king for the right to rule." Her eye shut down again, as the light had begun to bed to much to look at anymore." My king and my father had no chance against them. They were both old and unaccustomed to fighting more then one opponent in so long." Zira paused once more, her rough voice taking on a more sorrowful edge. "The other males of the pride had no such luck against them either. My mother and a few of the others tried to fight back, but they were taken down as swiftly and as mercilessly as the others."

The fading light, now a scarlet hue, fell upon Zira's form, bathing her in a blood red tint. Her head still remained down, yet her anger had cooled, now replaced with an stinging sorrow that was reflected throughout her entire demeanor and voice.

"The rest of us, me and my remaining pridesisters, we immediately fell under the rogues ruthless control. Forced to hunt extra for them, given little rest or care, facing near constant verbal and oftentimes physical abuse, we soon grew sick of this new life and we decided that it was too dangerous to live there anymore. Being the strongest and smartest one there, I was elected to lead them out of there. So one day, we escaped, but not without some casualties." Kiara noticed that Zira's ear, the one with the circular notch cut into it, flicked as she made that statement.

"They tried to take back control of us, but we fought our way past them and made our way into the mountains. We endured many days on end without rest, food, or shelter, but eventually we made our way past the great mountain range and into this place, the Pridelands, where then, at that moment in time, the new king had stepped up to rule. Being a rogue, homeless pride with nowhere else to turn to, as well as journey-weary and starving, we graciously accepted the king's offer into the pride."

"Scar."

The word had slipped out involuntarily. The stories her father, mother and pridesisters had shared of her of a time before her father's return had suddenly come to mind. Tales of famine, forced over-hunting, tireless days of little rest and no food, all under the biting jaws and sharp claws of the hyenas. And above it all, pulling the strings of all this pain and suffering was Scar, the mad, cruel tyrant of the Shadowlands. A name synonymous with nightmares, painful memories, and lasting scars, both upon the land and those who suffered under his rule.

The stories of Scar's reign and the tales spoken by Zira now intersected, aligning perfectly in a cruel twist of the Pridelands' past. A lioness and her pride, hurt by ruthless lions and exiled into a cruel and unforgiving world, taking refuge under Scar's rule, manipulated then by her great uncle's deceptiveness to believe that he was their savior and thus their undying loyalty then belonged to him and only him. A darker chapter of the Prideland's history now becoming more clear and revealing itself to her.

It took only a moment to slip back into the real world, and she glanced back over at Zira. Her eyes were wide open with her pupils dilated, even as the scarlet light of the sun shone right over them. At that moment, Zira looked like she was bathed in the color of fury itself, accented by the way her teeth were bared, her claws were fully spread out, and her form was crouched into a pouncing position. If there ever was one, Kiara thought to herself, Zira looked like the personification of insane ferocity and viciousness itself.

A single second later, the sun dipped below the horizon completely, and the red turned to a more crimson color, slowly turning into shades of fuchsia and magenta. And with the change, Zira seemed to shift into a more calmer position. Her pupils returned to their regular size and her form straightened up. Blinked softly, she then sighed deeply, as if she had just woken up from a deep sleep and into the real world once more.

"That is enough for today." Kiara broke out of her startled trance as Zira began to turn and head back to Pride Rock. She forced her tensed muscles to move again to catch up alongside her.

"Wait, hold on! What do you mean that's all you're going to talk about now? Now you've gotten me all curious," she whined, seemingly shifting back into her more childish, immature side. Zira's face just remained stoic, though her eyes rolled up.

"I figure that if you really wish to learn more about me, you'll be willing to put up with more days of training. If you do well, I might consider discussing more about my history with me. If not," she paused briefly as she stepped forward, head held high as she stared emotionless down at her. "Then not only will you not hear anymore from me, but you will have both wasted both yours and my time. Is that understood?"

Kiara gave a solemn nod, moving herself out of way to allow her to pass. As she sat down on the grass, she exhale deeply, already beginning to reflect and try to dissect all the information that had been given to her.

"Well?" Her ears and head perked up. Turning, she saw Zira stopped a few feet away from her, staring ahead, but still addressing her. "Aren't you coming?"

Kiara immediately got up and fell into a casual trot beside her as they approached the great monument of the Pridelands. As the last of the reds faded into soft pink and those into the lilac and soft blues of night, the two walked silently beside one another as they reached the base.

"Goodnight," Zira said softly, before turning towards the the area beneath Pride rock's platform where she had made her resting area since she had first gotten there.

"Goodnight," Kiara replied. Before her paw could make contact with the stone steps, she hesitated and look back. "And Zira." The lioness halted and looked out over her shoulder.

"Thank you for opening up a bit to me today."

And with that, Kiara continued her trek up the rocky slope, just as the calls of her father warning her to head off to sleep rang out, causing her to protest in return. However, beneath the irritated, yet playful and familial conversation that was happening, the lone lioness remained still as then unexpected and sincere act of graciousness replayed in her mind.

Eventually, her head shook to clear the thoughts from her mind with a snort as she drew herself near the boulders near the base, pressed against them and laid down, curling up in order to shield herself from the chilly night. Still, even though her mind protested against what the occurrence that had just happened, deeming it as weak and soft on both her part and Kiara's, even the cold-blooded, strict, ex-queen of the Outlands could not withhold the small smile that touched upon her face as she brought her head down onto her paws to sleep.


CHARACTER BACKSTORY! Sort of. Personally, I had planned on putting everything out all at once, but then I after reexamining the ideas I had planned for this story I decided to break it up into smaller implements. And to prevent my story from being too short and too cluttered.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please review and and leave in any ideas you would like to see in this. I'm always open to knew ideas. See you next time- Sincerely, v.t.7