Chapter 9: After The Fall

"Hasira?!" Shuja asked, refusing to believe that his enemy stood before him. Clearly, he had taken this opportunity to enter the Pridelands once again while Simba and Kovu were away. Most of the pride were away from Pride Rock. Still, Nala, Sarabi, Kiara and Shuja were all present.

"You're making this very difficult, Shuja," Hasira spat as the other lionesses rushed to meet the white lion. "Even now, I have you. Yet, I can do nothing. These lionesses would see to that." In truth, Hasira was very capable of taking on those before him. Still, he likely did not want to risk it. He was still recovering from his battle with Simba, after all. Those wounds would take a long time to heal.

"Why are you here, then?" Nala asked. "If not to kill Shuja, why did you come back?" Hasira grinned, a malicious, toxic grin that spoke volumes about the mischief he was capable of.

"I came back because I'm sick of this song and dance," Hasira told them. "Simba and Kovu are out there now, assuming they will find me. They are walking into a trap." The pained expressions from Nala and Kiara were met with a snarl from Hasira. "It's time to end this, Shuja. You can still save these lions you have come to care for. Come back home with me, and I'll call off the others. The only way Simba and Kovu will come back here alive is if you come with me." The scheming of Hasira's pride was never-ending. This was quite a predicament. If complying with Hasira's commands would save Shuja's new allies, he was very tempted to go through with it. He had caused this pride enough pain already. It was time to do what was right.

"Alright, Hasira. You win."

"No!" Nala protested.

"You can't," Kiara agreed.

"I have to," Shuja told them. "I can't let Simba and Kovu come to harm. How can you be okay with that?"

"I'm not!" Kiara argued. "Of course I'm not…but there must be another way. We can't just submit to this creep!" Hasira raised an eyebrow then, waiting for a decision to be made.

"Shuja…remember what we talked about earlier?" Nala interjected. "Out by the ash fields?" Shuja recalled the conversation quite vividly, in fact. Then that was it. If he could convince Hasira to see the error of his ways, more bloodshed would be avoided. If not, then there was no telling what would happen.

"Alright…," he breathed. "Hasira, listen to me."

"Make this quick, Shuja. Time is running out!"

"Hasira, look at yourself. Look at what you've become. Killing innocents, invading the Pride-"

"Innocents?!" the white lion hissed with fury. "INNOCENTS?!"

"Yes, innocents!" Shuja replied adamantly. "Those lions that took our home from us were just the beginning. There have been so many lives lost since then, so many struck down…by you. How can you live with yourself, knowing what kind of monster you are?"

"Quiet, Shuja!" Hasira hissed. They couldn't tell if they were getting through to him or he refused to listen.

"How would your parents react if they were here now?" The question Shuja put to his old friend was one that even Hasira could not ignore. The expression on his face was pained and full of frustration. He shook the feeling off with a growl.

"Enough, Shuja…" Shuja still had hope. He believed he could get through to his friend.

"Do you remember when we were cubs?" he asked. One last attempt to save his former pridemate from the darkness. "When we would play in the forest, just us and Tamu? You remember how much fun we had, how naïve and ignorant of danger we were? How much you cared for Tamu?"

"We were…inseparable," Hasira breathed shakily, recalling the memory of his childhood well. "Those were…peaceful days. No war…no death…" Truly, it was something to see Hasira recall a happy memory, one that he shared with Shuja. It was rare, in fact. Shuja would remember this moment for a long time.

"You can come back from this, my friend. You can stop all of this. You don't have to be filled with hate, with anger. We can be a family again…as we once were." Hasira clenched his eyes shut as what may have been tears escaped and trickled down his face. The darkness inside him was destroying the kind soul he had once been. If Shuja could not save him, what little spec of light that remained within would be destroyed forever. "Please. We can go home, we can live in peace without a care in the world."

"Home…," Hasira mumbled. He opened his purple eyes then. For a moment it seemed that Hasira may have been changed. That was a foolish thought, unfortunately. The white lion, driven by hate and consumed by anger, struck his former friend to the ground.

"I…how dare you?!" Hasira spat, visible tears in his eyes now. He wiped them away with a flick of his paw, resuming the regal, aggressive expression that he had so often worn. "You are nothing to me anymore, Shuja, only a miserable, treacherous worm that needs to be squashed from existence. You…you know where to find me." With that, he left Pride Rock. That encounter had been emotionally taxing. Shuja openly wept as he watched Hasira leave the Pridelands. He felt sick. For a moment-a naïve, gullible moment-he believed he had saved his friend. To have that thought so blatantly torn from his mind was nothing short of brutal. He would never forget this moment.

"I really…I really thought I had him back…my old friend…" Kiara embraced him warmly. The three lionesses were almost as heartbroken as Shuja. That was quite the exchange to witness.

"Shuja…I'm so sorry," Kiara whispered. Shuja needed to move on from this now or he never would. It took him long enough to cope with what his friend had become, it would take longer to recover from this. He returned Kiara's embrace before turning away and retreating to the back of the cave where he dropped to the ground. He would not sleep. The best he could do was rest until news of Simba and Kovu reached them. He hoped with all his heart that they were okay. The next day, Simba returned to Pride Rock. The news he brought could not have been worse. To lose Kovu was something the entire pride would suffer from. What was worse, Shuja worried that Kiara and Nala would blame him. Had he accepted Hasira's offer, Kovu's death may have been avoided. The rest of the day was dismal. Grey clouds shrouded the sky and rain thudded against the ground. The entire of Simba's pride spent the day in the cave, resting more out of sorrow than fatigue. Kiara had not said a word in hours. She was on her own, in a cold corner alone with her thoughts. Even her own mother did not approach her. It was late that night when Simba arose. The rest of the pride were asleep at long last. He, however, exited the cave and left Pride Rock altogether. Shuja, who had no desire or reason to sleep at the moment, rose also, following the king. Simba wandered for some minutes before entering a small cave, hidden by plants and vines. Shuja quietly followed him inside. There were paintings and murals across the walls.

"I thought you might follow me," Simba said aloud. "It's been a rough day, huh?"

"Yeah," Shuja agreed. Nala had told Simba about what had happened earlier, the offer that Hasira had made. "Simba, I need to say something. I had every intention of accepting Hasira's offer…I just…I…" Simba nodded.

"I know. It's alright. You had every right to do what you did. If there was any chance of saving him from whatever evil consumes him, you had to take it." Shuja could not believe how understanding, how forgiving Simba was. Even in this grief-stricken state, he bore no ill will towards Shuja, who was very much responsible for the current situation.

"I don't know what to say," he admitted. "Thank you. I had no idea you'd feel that way."

"What happened…it wasn't your fault," Simba told him. "But I can't promise everyone will see it that way." Kiara, in particular, would likely take this the worst. Shuja would need to talk with her eventually. For now, though, he would give her a wide berth. She needed time to heal.

"What is this place?" Shuja asked, then, changing the subject.

"Ah, yes. The history of the Pridelands. Rafiki did this. It tells the story of what our home has been through."

"Anything good?" Simba grunted.

"Not as much as you might think. There's been a lot of heartache here, especially during the last few years. We must add today's events to the wall, once this is all over."

"And it will be over," Shuja told the king adamantly. "I promise. I will do anything to fix this, Simba." The red-maned lion smiled hopefully.

"I know you will. We can fix this, Shuja. Together. Hope is not lost yet."