Chapter VII
Even as the sun began to set and the stars of night made themselves known amongst the darkening skies, the Outlands were still as feverish as ever.
Zira fumed in near outrage as she strode on the edge of her land's borders, watching the lionesses around her. Half of them were standing guard and facing the direction of the Pride Lands, with Pride Rock only barely visible against the last bit of red sky in the distance. The other half were frantic, coming back from the nearby Elephant Graveyard with sticks of fire in their mouths. They would continuously place them into piles along the borders, forming beacons of fire in an attempt to light the place up. Each time they placed their stick into the flames, they would almost immediately turn around and go back to fetch more kindling, to ensure that the fires wouldn't go out before dawn. Zira watched as a few lionesses struggled to keep the fires within their designated piles to prevent them from spreading farther than necessary. She growled.
"Move faster!" She shouted to several pride members as they went off. "You are not to let these fires go out until the morning comes, at all costs!"
Mila sighed. She carefully used her paw to push around a pile of sticks and dry leaves to prepare to set the night's flames. Daima, Mila's closest friend, was just coming in from the west as she too carried the kindling of thick twigs in her mouth to add to the pile. She carefully set it down, spitting out the residue when she did. She nearly gagged.
"I don't even want to know where those have been…" Daima sputtered, coughing twice. "Great, I'm gonna be tasting that for the next few hours. Lovely. "
"Don't you complain!" Zira spat from nearby, walking along the borders as she kept a watchful eye over the lionesses around her. "Petty complaints won't get you anywhere, Daima. Now keep working!"
Zira stormed off ahead of them, preparing to inspect the next set of pride members that were tending to the fires before them. As she did, Mila growled at her, but Daima nudged her side.
"Don't let her hear you, Mila" she said reluctantly. "It'll only make things worse."
Hesitating, Mila obliged. She looked down at the dry mound of sticks, leaves and dead, large tree branches in front of her, watching as the wind blew around loose dirt and dust all around it. The mound was of a decent size, spreading a few feet across the ground and surrounded by a group rocks, which Mila had set up earlier. A few minuscule insects crawled around the old twigs, eating away at what remained of the leaves covering them. Daima frowned.
"What's taking him so long?" She asked anxiously. "Nuka should've been here with the fire by now."
"I don't know." Mila stated. "A lot of the others look like they're running late now too."
Daima groaned. "Well, what do you expect? With Zira working us this hard this late at night, I'm surprised no one's collapsed yet. It's completely mad!"
Seconds later, the two lionesses were startled by the sound of what seemed like hysteric laughing and screaming coming behind them. They spun around, and instantly, Mila started giggling while Daima simply rolled her eyes.
"Not as insane as him, apparently." She muttered as they saw Nuka approaching at last, having returned from the Elephant Graveyard. He had two long, dry sticks clenched in his mouth, both of them burning on the ends of them. Nuka's eyes were wide, he was laughing through clenched teeth, running around a couple of times, and he appeared to be jumping around at the same time. He was twirling his head all around as the fire flew all around him. His whiskers almost seemed to be singed. Not that that was anything new for him, of course.
"Typical Nuka…" Daima sighed as he ran and leapt in their direction. "What is it with him and fire?"
Mila shrugged. "Who knows? But it's kinda funny to me." She said, cracking a wide smile and holding back further laughter as she watched Nuka's hysteric antics before her. Nuka always did have an 'interesting' reaction when it came to fire, but sometimes, Mila felt that Nuka was exaggerating it as an act to entertain her. She would never know for sure, but if that were the case, it was working. Eventually, Nuka came to a halt in between the two lionesses, spitting out the sticks from his mouth and making them land in the mound of kindling in front of them. The twigs, branches and the leaves lit up almost immediately, and they watched as the orange and golden colored flames enveloped the wood, rendering the leaves little more than charred ashes within seconds. Nuka took a moment to catch his breath, the taste of dry wood in his mouth making him cough a few times. He itched himself from the termites plaguing his skin.
"I'm not going back there again tonight", Nuka said, sounding slightly unnerved. "That place got even creepier since the hyenas left!"
"At least we don't have to deal with them anymore." Mila said encouragingly. "I'm glad those dirty things are gone."
While they said this, the immediate area surrounding them was brightly illuminated with fire, and Daima sounded off.
"Another one's lit, Zira!" She shouted to inform her. From some ways away, Zira looked behind them and nodded briefly. "Excellent work. Now one of you, move out and collect more wood! We must keep these fires burning as long as we can through the night."
Nuka frowned, turning his attention away from the fire at last. "What about sleep, mother? We can't do this all night!" He spoke up to her. Zira took a few steps closer to him, Mila and Daima. "I went over it already, Nuka" She spoke, sounding hopelessly annoyed. "We take stints for this! When the moon is at its highest point, half of you may head to sleep while the rest of us keep working, and then that half rests during the day!"
"Oh… right…" Nuka said, sounding embarrassed. "I kind of forgot…"
Mila grinned and nuzzled him lightly. "Don't feel bad, Nuka. It happens to the best of us." She said in an attempt to comfort him. Nuka smiled and nuzzled her back. Once they did this, Daima took a few steps past the fire as its size and intensity grew, looking out to the distance. She felt the heat of the flames against her side, which contrasted with the rest of the cold air surrounding her. She watching the clouds move against the stars with the very faint sounds of insects off in the distance. The scent of burning wood beside her was thick as the wind blew the smoke and the ashes in her direction.
"Is it me" she started. "Or has Zira gotten a lot worse since yesterday? She's never kept anyone up all night before."
Nuka gave her a black look suddenly. "You know why, Daima." He replied, sounding almost grim. "It's because of Kovu. Thanks to him we have to keep these borders lit all night ,just so no one's caught escaping like him."
At the mention of Kovu's name, Nuka's voice audibly strained. Daima bowed her head. Neither Nuka nor Mila saw it while she was facing away from them, but she formed an incensed look on her face, glaring in the direction of Pride Rock. "This is all his fault."
"What do you mean?" Mila asked. Daima looked back to her friend. "You know what I mean. You heard what Zira said; He turned against us and sided with the enemy. How could he ever do that?"
Mila groaned slightly to herself, trying to think of what to say. She knew she had to be careful as to not let it slip that she was in favor of Kovu leaving, much less with Nuka around. "Well, maybe he was just confused and he'll realize what he did wrong." She lied, trying to sound sincere and comforting about it. "I'm sure he'll come to his senses sooner or later."
"If the little termite comes back, he's really going to get it from mother." Nuka said. Mila looked over to him. "Why?" She asked. "Wouldn't you stand up for him like you did before?"
Nuka was about to say something, but before he could, he just sighed and looked away from her. The scent of the smoke, which had been bothering him and irritating his nose, was the last thing on his mind now.
"Wouldn't you?"
Mila got no reply.
"Nuka, please" she pleaded. "Kovu's your brother. He might come back, and if he does, you need to stand up for him."
"But… Kovu left us." Nuka finally said at length. "After all I did for him, siding with Simba was the only thanks I got."
"So it's a no, then, Nuka?" Mila questioned further, her tone of voice becoming slightly more stern now. It was here that Nuka finally faced her again. "Well, how would you feel if your brother went and left you after you stood up for him already?"
Mila could sense that Nuka's voice was tensing up now too. From beside them, Daima could practically feel the growing tension beginning to augment within the air around them. They started talking over one another now, as though they both wanted their side and only their side to be heard.
"I would try to understand his reasons, first off." Mila argued. "Like you should with Kovu."
"What reasons do I need, Mila? He wanted Simba to take him, you heard what mother said! If that isn't betraying trust, what is?"
"He made a mistake, Nuka!" Mila went on, still trying to hide her true feelings as best as she could. "If you were really his brother you would understand that!"
"And how would you know?" Nuka bickered, his face coming up to hers now. "You weren't there to see it!"
"And neither were you!" She yelled. "How do you know he intended to betray you?!"
"Because he thought the one who killed my dad was more worth it than his own flesh and blood, Mila!"
"Oh you're so stubborn, Nuka! We don't know that!" She yelled further. "We're only going by Zira's word, how can we trust her?!"
"Why would she lie, Mila?!"
"Oh great, first you say Kovu abandoned his trust in you, but Great Kings forbid that anyone doesn't trust Zira around here, Nuka!"
By now, Nuka's voice was sounding hoarse as he yelled this loudly at Mila, their argument finally reaching a breaking point. And the entire time, Mila was just sitting beside the fire and looking away, rolling her eyes and just praying for it to end.
"I'm not saying I trust mother all the time! But the little termite's not here, now is he?! If we weren't there, she's all we've got to go by! I'll take her word over Simba's any day of the week! Kovu's a traitor and you know it! And I'm starting to think I won't even care if he comes back at all!"
Mila gasped. It wasn't until now that she noticed that the majority of the lionesses in the pride were crowding around them now, the others having overheard their argument. But the sheer bitterness at Nuka's remarks about the situation weren't something she expected at all from him, especially concerning his own brother. Losing her patience at last, Mila tensed up and almost seemed to tower over him as she got close and screamed "Some brother you are you stubborn termite-infested weasel!"
Her voice boomed, echoing across the landscape around her. The lioness didn't even wait to see or hear Nuka's reaction before she swung around in the other direction, her breathing becoming heavy. Even Daima watched with a raised eyebrow now. Mila stormed off away from him and the fires, not caring if the moon wasn't at its highest point yet. As far as she was concerned at that moment, she was finished for the night. She strutted off in the direction of the termite mound for several minutes, every step seeming like a falling star striking the ground. She was sure that Nuka would try to stop her at some point, but her guess never came to be. She was by herself in the middle of the wasteland she called home now. The fire was still vibrant and alive in her eyes as she walked into the mound. She forcefully pushed a loose rock aside, making it strike the dirty walls with a loud thump that echoed slightly. The lioness growled.
"How could you say that, Nuka?" She ranted to herself, now making an effort to keep her fuming voice low. "At least be thankful Zira doesn't have to hit him every day! 'Won't care if he came back', I can't believe you!"
Mila's low tirade reverberated in the chambers around her when she stormed deeper inside the mound, making her way up stone ledges and wherever else her seething legs would carry her within the place. The profuse smell of dust and dead insects was still rich as always, as was the sound of the occasional creaking in the walls, which often made Mila think the place could collapse any day now. Her self-diatribe would've continued further, but Mila suddenly ceased walking and moving around when she heard something below her. She heard faint sounds of whispering coming from the bottom of the dirt ledge she was currently standing upon, and when Mila gazed down to find the source of the sound, she winced. She saw Vitani again, laying down and curled up inside of Kovu's old sleeping stump, which consisted of a dead tree trunk in a basin-like shape that was just smooth enough to sleep on. Vitani's face was buried beneath her paws, and she was shifting around ceaselessly trying to relax herself. Mila's expression lightened as she took a few leaps downward from the dirt ledge, trying to stay quiet around the cub. Once she landed on the ground, Mila walked up to the old stump, watching as Vitani gradually gave up her futile attempts to find a comfortable resting position. It was here that she finally took notice of the lioness before her.
"Mila?" She asked softly. "What are you doing here?"
"Uh… Not a whole lot" She replied, trying to sound pleasant for the cub. "I just, uh, needed some time to think about some things."
"What things?"
"Things about Nuka, you could say." Mila said, coming across as uneasy but trying to keep Vitani calm. "He's really not too happy about what happened yesterday."
"I know." Vitani replied, finally looking the lioness in the eye as she lay there. Even though it was the dead of night, Vitani's body still felt hot and sore, like a rock that's been left out in the sun for too long and becomes torrid to the touch. Mila could tell that she looked almost ill.
"Are you feeling all right, Vitani?" She asked concernedly. "Usually you sound so tough and always wanting to fight, but you look… depressed. You haven't said a word since last night."
The cub hardly moved as she answered. "It's Kovu, Mila. I don't want mother to hurt him. I want him back, I really do. But if he does… he's going to get it from her."
Mila decided to take a different approach to Vitani's sadness this time. In spite of her stressed mood from the argument, she smiled crookedly and made her tone more playful, in an effort to try and lighten her spirits. "Hey, come on now, Kovu's a strong cub. I'll bet by the time he comes back, he'll be big enough to beat Zira."
Slowly, Vitani lifted her head up. "You think so?"
"Think so? I know so!" Mila went on. "You guys play-fought all the time, I've seen him beat you a lot of times."
Finally, Vitani uttered a titter to herself. "Well… not always. I pinned him a lot too, you know."
"I guess it runs in the family, then?"
"Maybe." Vitani replied, smiling. "I was able to beat him in a lot of the fight we played in, and we always had a bet to see which of us would say we're the 'mouse' of the two."
"And who won?" Mila asked, already knowing the answer. "I did. Although, sometimes I let him win just to make him feel better." She bragged. Mila rolled her eyes, laughing softly. "I'm sure you did. It sounds like you guys have some good times on your paws, don't you?"
"Yeah." Said the cub. "It's always fun being able to play like that."
"Well…" Mila said, pondering. "Who says you have to stop?"
Vitani was about to ask what she meant, but before she could, Mila leaned into her and started stroking her wildly with her paws, ruffling around her fur a great deal and rubbing her stomach in a way that tickled her immensely. Vitani started audibly laughing. "Aw come on, Mila, quit it!" She said. Mila smiled. "Who's the mouse now, huh? You gonna 'let me win' too, huh?"
Vitani finally stood on all fours within the basin of the small stump and started biting on Mila's fur, accepting her challenge and playfully growling and trying to play-fight her now. Mila played along. "Oh no, not my fur!" She pleaded. "Nuka likes it better when it's groomed!"
"Like he can even groom his own?" Vitani teased, still biting and clawing at her as Mila's paws continued to tickle her greatly. Vitani crawled up onto Mila's paw and dug her developing claws into her; Not in a malicious way, but in more of a childish fun way. Being the cub she was, they didn't hurt. Mila laughed, "I think you're gonna win, Vitani! I can't keep up!" Which only made the cub fight more against the lioness's other paw while she tickled her further. Their playful quarrel went on for several minutes, and it was perhaps the most amount of enjoyment Vitani had felt for herself in days. Most signs of her previous depressed state were gone, and the lioness couldn't help but crack a huge grin as she watched the cub "fight" her. She had to admit, this sort of thing was fun for her as well.
"Vitani!"
Abruptly, the sonorous voice echoed across the termite mound, making both the cub and the lioness freeze. Vitani's blood felt like it had run cold. Mila's eyes widened. The two of them immediately looked at each other.
"Mother's coming!" Vitani gasped, crawling off of Mila now. She went back into the sleeping stump and said "Mila, hide! You're supposed to still be out there!"
Mila needed no reminder. With a quick nod and a last flash of a smile to the small cub, she turned around and leapt in the other direction, taking shelter behind a thick pile of rocks covered in dirt and termites that crawled all along its coarse surface. But she took little notice of them at first, burying herself as tightly and as low to the ground as possible so Zira wouldn't spot her. Mila knew that if the queen of the Outlands were to catch her in there while she was meant to be on fire duty, she would be nothing short of livid. Her heartbeat hastened when she heard Zira's footsteps enter the space before her. Through only a minuscule crack lay between the rocks she took cover behind, Mila's left eye peered through it so she could see what Zira wanted. She watched as she approached Vitani on the stump, and the closer she got, the more anxious Mila got. She was absolutely certain that nothing good would come of this. For a moment, she became alarmed that perhaps her absence after her fight with Nuka was being noticed, and that Zira was already furious.
But compared to what she was expecting, what Zira did next utterly stunned her. Zira slowly came up to Vitani, her expression rather light, and she licked the cub. The lioness didn't seem upset about anything like normally. "How are you, Vitani?" She asked her daughter.
Mila was dumbfounded.
"I'm okay, mother." Vitani lied, seeming just as confused as Mila was right then. Zira nodded. At length, the cub finally asked, "Why are you here?"
"I see you're feeling sad about Kovu and his… departure." Zira replied, sounding almost sad about it.
Skeptically, she replied, "Yeah… I am."
Zira came up closer to the cub now, her tone almost sounding calm for a change. While she did, Mila began to twitch from behind the rocks as she felt numerous termites beginning to crawl into her fur. She wouldn't risk giving herself away, so she couldn't even scratch them off with her leg from behind.
"I'd like you to listen, Vitani. I want to warn you that things will be harder from now on, but there's good reason for it. It's only for this pride's own good, and for the pride's future. For your future. We need Kovu back, now. Do you understand?"
Vitani nodded. "I know. But why are you setting our borders on fire?"
"So no one is caught escaping, Vitani." The queen answered. "We're putting the lionesses on guard for the night. That way if anyone's caught trying to escape like Kovu did, we'll be able to catch them. No getting away in secret in the dark, just in case."
The cub wanted to say something to this, but she could hardly form any words at all. Partly because she was so caught off-guard by Zira's new tone. It'd been months since she'd seen or heard her like this. The same went for Mila, but her thoughts were now mostly preoccupied with the burning and itching sensations she was getting all over her body now. Staying still was getting increasingly difficult as the termites invaded her fur. She could've sworn she even felt one crawl up her nose.
"I owe you an explanation for some things." Zira went on. "The morning before he left, when I was yelling at him for not getting up… I was only doing it to help him."
Vitani raised an eyebrow now.
"Living in such conditions as these calls for a rough life to keep up with it. I had him do the things he did… killing mice and training to fight… to strengthen him. It builds character. I need all the assistance I can get with finding food, even getting small mice can help us. If we're able to get Kovu back soon, we'll make him stronger than ever so he can help avenge Scar. Because he is Scar's heir."
"But Scar wasn't his father."
"No. But Kovu was hand-chosen by him, and we must respect that. He can't possibly do what Scar wanted him to if he's living with… them. I want what's best for Kovu."
Yeah, sure you do… Mila thought to herself sarcastically, gritting her teeth in trying her damnedest to resist the urge to scratch herself all over. The termites biting and crawling all over her made her want to jump at any minute. Now I know how Nuka feels.
"You don't have to be so angry about it though, mother." Vitani finally said, wanting to see how Zira would react. The queen replied, with just a hint of sternness in her voice, "As I said, Vitani, harsh conditions call for a harsh life to endure it. He must build as much power as he can. When I strike him, it's because I want him to learn as soon as possible what not to do or say to defy me. Because he is our only hope for someday escaping these Outlands."
"I guess…" The cub muttered, pretending to agree with this with her head bowing. "So… how are we going to get him back?"
"I still must think of a plan. Simba's more wary of us than ever after what your brother did." She answered, spitting Simba's name as though it were poison. "But Kovu is young. There's still time to redeem him. Once he returns, I will do just that. Do you understand, Vitani?"
The cub just sat there, a million thoughts going through her mind at once. On one hand, Zira's words actually did make some sense to her, and it hit Vitani right then that her mother actually did have a defensible point of view on things. But still, Vitani suspected that something had to be going on for Zira to suddenly be acting so calm. She wasn't one to be like this so suddenly. But something about the look in Zira's eyes made her wonder otherwise. She looked sincere and sounded serious with her words about Kovu, as though she did care for him. Did she truly? Was she lying? Was she just losing her mind all together? Vitani couldn't tell. Mila couldn't either, but that was mostly because of the indescribable itching sensations she was feeling on every inch of her body now, her breathing beginning to become heavy. Her resistance against leaping over and scratching herself into submission was wearing dangerously thin.
At length, Vitani just blinked a few times and nodded. "I understand." She said with some sincerity.
"Good." Zira said finally, beginning to turn around and head back outside to further inspect the border fires. "Get rest now, Vitani. You must be up as early as possible tomorrow."
With only that, the queen of the Outlands treaded back outside, the faint glows of fire still visible in the distance away from the termite mound. Despite Mila's dense discomfort, she still had a few moments to think as well, since Zira would've still heard her if she came out too early. Mila picked up on every word from the queen, and her immediate impression was to deny all of it and write her off as her usual delusions. But once Zira's words really began to sink in for her, she couldn't deny that, to an extent, they did make sense just as Vitani thought. She could understand the prospect of wanting to strengthen Kovu's will, since she did begrudgingly agree that the Outlands' harsh environment did require some roughness to endure. At least to some extent. Of course, Mila could never see this as justification for hitting Kovu or yelling at him as harshly as Zira always did. But regardless, although Mila rejected it to herself at first, she had no choice but to confess it: Zira had a fairly solid point in some respects. She had the right ideas in a way, but she then thought about the ways that she went much too far above and beyond in executing them. Zira didn't seem to understand that she wasn't helping the harsh conditions by being so cruel. It occurred to the lioness that perhaps Zira just wasn't aware of how harsh she was, and that her intentions really could have been good. There were so many possible explanations now that she had heard Zira's side of the story. Mila could've pondered this for hours more, but the various pangs upon her ripped away her train of thought like a termite on the skin of a helpless animal being torn off by its claws.
The precise moment that they were sure Zira was out of hearing range, Mila sprang out from behind the dirty pile of rocks, screaming almost hysterically as she furiously scratched at her fur on every spot that her four paws could reach. She twitched and rolled all over the ground, dirt now covering parts of her pelt. Vitani couldn't help but giggle at the sight. She bit and clawed at her sides, trying desperately to reach every inch of her skin irritation and tend to it. (As best as she could, that is.) She did this for several minutes, her breath running short after a while. When she finally managed to calm herself, Vitani chortled.
"Looks like you and Nuka have more in common than I thought."
