To Lead the Pride

by Numb-Life

The Pride had it bad under Scar's rule. But what if Humanity were also present at this time? Two very different humans, one with Scar, one against, attempt to continue in their dangerous personal ambitions while brave individuals from the pride try and adapt to a life now filled with deception and the greed of humanity. A gritty retelling of the movie in a new and dangerous world.

10. Ep 2: Ch 2: Damage Control

I again find myself releasing another delayed chapter. Sorry.

This chapter is very similar to the last one as it was originally meant to be part of it, but thanks to my excessive typing, it obviously wasn't.

I am unsure if any of you find this chapter and the previous one boring but if you do luckily the next will actually have some proper story. These previous chapters have served well as set ups for later on but not for much else. Despite this though, it would be fantastic if you could still type a review and say how the story has been so far. I can't type a good story if there have been some problems already present.

Also, this chapter could have been split into two chapters but for me at least, that would create more problems than it would solve them. Undoubtedly I would type more so to ensure the chapters weren't too short.

Keep an eye out for mistakes, I have proof read it but I am notoriously awful at it.

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Episode 2

Chapter 2

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"If you want to survive you will need to seize every benefit you can. Make them both your friend, and your enemy. New opportunities will arise which would be otherwise unavailable and even if this means the targets in question are for worse, it matters not. You will have survived."- Unknown leader of a newly formed small faction, making plans for a place in the war torn world.

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It had been barley an hour. Barley an hour now since Ryker and Liam had left Sarabi in order to show Ryker Pride Rock.

And Liam could not feel any more uncomfortable.

Ever since Ryker had ended his suspicious talk with the Queen and ever since he had now walked away as one of the most important members of the pride, Lions both young and old, male and female had swarmed to the new human, and there were a lot of them. The Pride was unusually large for a pride of lions with the majority of them Lionesses and the rest cubs both male and female. There were a few male adult Lions but they generally did not stay within the Pride full time and instead opted to only act as sentries and defenders of the pride while sleeping wherever they can, in hope that someday, they may find others to form a pride of their own. To Liam though, this mattered not currently. Excluding the Lionesses Ryker had talked to on his way to the Queen, nearly the entirety of the Pride had either seen and talked to Ryker, or was about to.

Again the conversations generally followed the same simple pattern as earlier. Everyone was eager to know as much as they possibly could about this new Human. Questions ranged from the obvious asking of a name, to Ryker's interests and views on the Pride Lands. In fact, so many questions were asked and so much information was returned, Liam now believed that the following day, everyone would not even batter an eyelid to Ryker's presence as they now knew him as much as anyone else and would no longer be so interested in this new arrival.

But this was not the reason that Liam was feeling uncomfortable. He did not care for the sheer volume of Lions who were rightfully interested in Ryker. Liam felt uncomfortable for the same reason he had been so nervous earlier. Every time Ryker opened his mouth to respond to a question or comment from the Pride members, Liam felt a wave of annoyance and confusion. He felt annoyed as here Ryker was, getting all of the attention and basking in his newly appointed role of Royal Guardian. This feeling was one Liam was not proud of and felt was extremely unjustified. Whether he liked it or not, Ryker was the only passive Human around and the first one he had seen in over a year and Liam felt petty jealousy was pointless. His confusion on the other hand was entirely justified. Just like all of the past conversations the two human's had, and even every time they were both together, Liam had constantly been confused at Ryker. It was the case that Liam had felt this confusion almost purely because he did not know enough about Ryker to know why he acted the way he did and reacted in his various ways, and while that confusion definitely still remained, now Ryker was confusing Liam by simply being here and doing what he was doing. By just talking to the Pride and honestly responding to them unleashed vast amounts of confusion to Liam and was all down to his total contrast from earlier. It was not long ago that Liam was anxiously waiting for Ryker to come to Pride Rock. His previous threatening and unstable attitude to anyone but himself presented himself as very dangerous to Liam. He had even openly said to Liam that did not care less for the Pride members. Coupled with the fact he was naturally careless and short fused made him seem like he was on a mission to destroy the Pride Lands. The reasoning behind all this was still unclear. His claims of the war in his world did seem true enough and could well have moulded him into the person he was today, but as Liam had countlessly thought before, this made him a mystery. And this was why Liam was confused. Because Ryker was so mysterious, he had now completely changed from a potential threat to someone who was now happily talking to the beings he so apparently did not care for. It was almost like Ryker was the one who wanted to be questioned.

All of this confusion really just made Liam wonder one question. Who really was he?

For anyone else and indeed himself, Liam knew the answer. Everyone else here was just someone trying to live their lives. Of course there was going to be deeper answers to a question such as that but compared to Ryker, everyone else was ordinary. Ryker could well be someone with plans and ambitions far beyond Liam's comprehension. But like usual this was a mystery and this mystery would now constantly be spawning questions thanks to Ryker's contrasting personalities and personal U-turns. Someone who had literally changed overnight was just begging to be questioned, to Liam at least. To anyone else, it seemed that they perceived Ryker as just another Human, but they had not seen this odd and sudden changed in him and not even the Queen herself noticed the possible exact time when this might have happened in the form of his strange rise in anger when he had met the cubs earlier.

Never the less, Ryker would be remaining under a close eye by Liam. The Pride may not see it but Liam did. A man with that many mysteries and changes has something going on.

"Is that all of them?" asked a visibly exhausted Ryker after finally finishing dealing with the Pride who had mostly dispersed now.

"Had enough already Ryker? I thought you were enjoying all this fame?" replied Liam had until now, had been leaning against a rock away from Ryker and been thinking.

"There is only so much a man can take. But it was fun while it lasted!" said Ryker with a quick laugh.

"Uh huh" said Liam as he went back into deep thought.

"Cheer up Liam! I can't help it if I'm so interesting. Everyone just loves me!" said Ryker jokingly but still misinterpreting Liam's previous comment. To Ryker, Liam would have appeared dismissive and jealous at Ryker attention thanks to his lack of enthusiasm into his reply. The truth was he was just thinking.

"Huh? What n-"but before he could tell the truth of it, he was interrupted.

"And I bet you had your time in this fame. Let me have a go already!" said Ryker as he laughed along to his banter with Liam.

"Actually I didn't. Everyone was suspicious of me when I first arrived here. It was months until I could actually have a normal conversation with everyone" replied Liam remembering the lonely first months of his time here. Unlike Ryker Liam was avoided by nearly all apart from the King and Queen and suddenly having no family and any other Humans for the matter, was a very lonely time.

These thoughts may have translated themselves with facial expressions as Ryker seems actually saddened by it.

For a moment Ryker almost seemed touched by what he had just heard and began to gaze at the ground.

"Well….. I guess some of us are just naturally attractive to others! Can't help it if your qualities are no match for my brilliant and far more superior ones!" laughed Ryker, landing a slap on Liam's arm.

Of course, this is Ryker, nothing is as it seems. Hell, he probably wouldn't even feel any pity for me while he enjoys this fame.

As Ryker walked off Liam found himself having to run after him like a trained dog. "What next then? What else to show me?" asked Ryker who had correctly bet on Liam automatically having to follow him.

There was not much Liam could show Ryker. Apart from the odd caves that Pride rock had, the tour that Ryker was so eager to be shown was appearing to be a very short and uneventful one, there simply was not many noteworthy things to see here, apart from the unique shape of the rock itself of course.

"I could show where everyone sleeps. Or I could show you the summit" asked Liam.

"The Summit? I would like to see the view from up there." Said Ryker as he stared up at the place in question. "Do you know how far you can actually see into the distance? Something so high on land so flat must provide some excellent views, I mean that summit has to be, what? Forty metres high? No, fifty? I don't know. What is it?" said Ryker in a quick burst of enthusiasm.

"Oh, um, I'm not quite sure" replied Liam who realised his reply was quite unenthusiastic for two current reasons. Firstly, the lack of comfort Liam now felt around Ryker was still present and also, just a couple of metres away and partly hidden by a rock, seemed to be a dark tan Lioness. Ryker, seemingly unimpressed of a lack of a proper reply finally turned to Liam and it was then when he saw Liam was looking at the rock.

"What the hell are you looking at?" asked Ryker before seeing movement behind the rock. "Ahh, I see now" he said, grinning. Suddenly, Ryker decided it would be best to pay this possibly shy Lioness a visit. Running up a side of the rock and looking down his grin extended.

Feeling quite responsible for anything that could possibly happen here, Liam also ran towards the rock but opted to go around it and not atop it.

"Well hello there!" said Ryker who rested an arm on his thigh as he bended down over the rock to look at the Lioness. "I think I've been told about you" he continued.

Liam did not doubt him for once for the Lioness in question would have had her name dropped so that Ryker could avoid her.

The Lioness had a dark tan fur and stood nearly as tall of one of the other Lionesses. But Liam knew this one in particular was not yet a full grown adult and was considerably younger than someone such as Sarabi. The Lioness was still far from being a cub though; she was born long before Simba. The Lioness also was built more athletically than others which could easily be misinterpreted as malnutrition. Her facial features were sharp and angular and matched her rows of knife like teeth. And now, her piercing orange eyes were fixed on Liam.

"Liam!" she spat with such an amount of bitterness, Liam though she could have just sworn at him and it wouldn't be as hurtful.

"Zira" Liam acknowledged.

What she was doing behind the rock Liam did not know, but the razor teeth and tense positioning Liam found himself opposite was nothing out of the ordinary, especially when a human was around. It was a well-known fact that Zira despised Humans. She had always associated with Scar and over time, seemed to build up the same qualities as him while exchanging raw cunning for a sense of cruelty and anger. The only comfort that Liam ever felt around her was that her hatred for him was not unique. She did not discriminate between her she hated. Usually in a group she would have disliked the majority of the Lionesses which, while making Liam felt it wasn't his race that was the issue, still made everyone feel tense and awkward.

But never the less, she did still hate humans. And now there were two of them.

"Yes, that was the name. Zira…." Said Ryker as his smiling face began to stare at Zira, an act she did not seem all too pleased about.

"You'd best stay away from me human! The Queen may have given you permission to stay here but make no mistake; I will hunt you down like one of those pathetic antelopes if I feel you have out stayed your welcome." She said with the evil smile she always gave when she tried to intimidate someone. Now, Zira's claws were digging into the dirt from pure resentment of the two beings she was with and she honestly looked like she would pounce on Ryker within the next few moments despite him having the height advantage.

Managing a quick laugh Ryker jumped down from the top of the rock and landed next to Zira who, while quickly backtracking, still managed to look intimating.

Liam saw the look each Ryker and Zira were giving each other. Whether or not his worrying was justified earlier, if there was any real reason to genuinely worry about something, this was it. Unlike Ryker's previous encounters with those Lionesses who did not see eye to eye with him, Zira was not an adult yet and as such, did not have the same degree of self-control or sensibility as them. To Liam, Zira was more like a rebellious teenager who did care or even think of the consequences of her actions, which in this case, would mean the higher chance of a possible fight. To her credit though, Zira was successfully holding her nerve against someone she knew nothing about but unfortunately it was for precisely this reason that trouble could arise. Annoyingly as well, Ryker seem to get a kick out of not backing down which made Zira ever increasingly more tense.

Bending down a little and leaning in towards Zira, Ryker turned his head a little and began to talk. "I'm also the king's justice" he said as his smile remerged. "And while I'll put my hands up and admit I'm not an expert on royal laws, I think I can confidently say that threatening to harm and even murder a fellow pride member who has been given a special role by the King and Queen would be a crime. Would that be correct?" he said smiling.

Zira snarled loudly and slammed her paw against the ground. She knew there was truth in his words put still would not be backing down anytime soon. Ryker meanwhile only gave a little laugh and looked at Liam. "Is that right Liam?" he said trying to confirm what he had just said. Though all it seemed to be doing was making Zira more annoyed and delaying the chance of this confrontation ending.

"Stop this Ryker. You're just making things worse. Can you for once just walk away from a challenge?" Liam both warned and pleaded. Now Liam found himself preparing for a fight.

Ryker seem to hear the warning but paid no attention to Liam's pleads. "I'm making this worse am I? I'm not sure about that." He said seriously before turning back towards Zira. "I'm not making this worse am I?" he said stupidly.

Not taking a liking to being mocked, Zira produced a full blown roar which could have frightened even the toughest of humans, it frightened Liam at least. But not Ryker. Ryker just laughed.

"Now now, there's no reason to get angry. What could I have possibly have done wrong?" he said while looking around in order to act like nothing was happening.

"What?!" Zira shouted madly. "You threatened to kill my mother you hairless filthy ape!"

Cringing at Zira's last remark, Ryker focused his eyes on Zira. "I've threatened a lot of people before so be so kind and tell me who your mother is" he said curiously.

Oddly, Liam noticed Zira quickly averting her stare with Ryker and looking at Liam for a moment. Looking back and pausing for a few moments she quickly mentioned her mother's name through her bared teeth.

"Sorry what was that?" asked Ryker, now extremely eager for an answer.

"Gasira. Her name is Gasira." Zira replied in a much calmer albeit annoyed voice. But it was the name that interested Ryker. His face now was one of realisation. Zira had always been like her mother, confident, blunt and confrontational though with a little added cruelty. Gasira was a fairly older lioness, certainly much older than Sarabi but she had in the past been the longest standing lead huntress which seemed to have benefited her in later life. She had given birth to Zira by the time Mufasa and Sarabi were older cubs.

Now realising this, Ryker approached Zira, who was now less angry than before for some apparent reason, and kneeled down to her level. Zira growled and maintained her position but did not strike out but instead now showed signs of nervousness.

In the calmest and most serious voice Liam had ever heard Ryker spoke, he blankly stared at Zira. "Now then Zira, you hate me and I understand that, but I have honestly just about had it with your family so…" he said as he rested his left arm on his knee. Quickly looking at Zira and then back at his wrist, Ryker simply twitched a finger and that ominously looking blade extended out. It extended until it was about a foot long and Zira's eyes were wide open. She seemed to have the same thoughts running through her head as Liam who also widened his eyes in what could be the actual fight he had been so nervous about.

"Ryker…" Liam slowly and calmly said while raising his hand. From experience, Liam knew he would have to be careful in a situation like this. Without looking though, Ryker raised a hand also, stopping Liam. But it was his next action that sent the situation from extremely tense to causing Liam to almost soil himself. In Ryker's right hand now, resting on his other knee, and opposite the other weapon, was his pistol.

No, not guns….

The sight of the firearm made Liam want to give in to his instincts and try and disarm Ryker immediately. He knew what this creation of modern humanity could possibly do and even to Zira, Liam hated the sight.

And yet Liam did not move. His instincts were strong, but he was not an idiot. Rushing forward for an attempt at disarming would either end up in Ryker shooting Zira at the first sight of Liam moving or him killing Zira and then dealing with Liam. Ryker's instincts and reactions may be faster than Liam's for all he knew.

"….So, I want you to walk away. There needs to be no trouble between us to for along as we are separate but if I ever have to experience you or your Mother again, or any other member of your family for that matter, I will open your throat". His voice was calm and almost kind. His face yielded no smile Liam saw regularly but nor was it serious, it was just plain. It was the softness of his voice, the contrast between his surprising threat and the tone of his speech and made Ryker seem scary to Liam.

This was the proof that Ryker may be friendly most of the time, but he was far from being a friend. He was a danger, nothing more.

A deep stare then existed between Ryker and the now visibly shocked Zira. It however, only lasted for a short amount of time as Zira eventually buckled under the deep watch of the now serious Ryker. She slowly began to back away from both humans until she eventually just turned around and ran away.

Victorious, Ryker stood back up with a smug smile on his face and turned to Liam, possibly hoping he would share the same feelings on this victory. He did not.

Liam now understood while worrying for an actual bloody fight was unrealistic now, his caution that had constantly remained with him was the wisest thing he had ever done. Ryker would not do the obvious and immediately resort to violence but instead opt for a more sinister route. Liam remembered that each time a confrontation had existed between Ryker and a challenger such as Gasira, Mufasa and now Zira, he had played the same game, annoy the opposition into anger but not resort to violence himself. Though Liam did not understand the reason behind this tactic, he knew this would be the primary source of trouble from him and not violence. Liam also noted that this peaceful yet sinister way of danger also had partially occurred in non-confrontational situations, that being his talk with Sarabi. He had successfully managed to gain some very inflectional titles with just a few words and though it was possible that he did this for the legitimate reason of stopping a possible plot from Scar, Liam was confident in the fact that Ryker was not doing this out of the goodness of his heart.

But right now existed the problem of Ryker was intimidating the Pride and causing human and lion racial tensions. Where he to threaten any more pride members, eventually half the pride would be seeking human blood, an act Liam would not allow.

So doing something he had yet do really do, he decided to stand up to Ryker.

Just as Ryker began to walk off, Liam pulled out his M9, pinned Ryker against a large rock, and pressed the end of the pistol barrel into the bottom of his jaw, aiming at his head.

"ENOUGH!" Liam shouted, holding Ryker in position by pressing his forearm into Ryker throat." You have threatened enough of this Pride!" Liam continued, completely letting his anger take over.

"Now calm down Liam, we can-"said Ryker calmly, trying not to make the situation worse for him.

"CALM DOWN? Are you an idiot?!" replied Liam angrily and he put more pressure onto Ryker's throat with his arm.

"Are you?" smiled Ryker in return. Liam understood what he meant. He was betting on Liam not being able to beat Ryker when it came to force. But Liam did not care for his skill in battle. His armour did not protect his head and all the years he spent fighting in the war of his would not help in when it came to a pistol being shoved into you.

"Don't test me Ryker! I will shoot you if you fail to comply with me!" warned Liam hoping that his threats would succeed. He may have the upper hand here but he didn't really won't to test his luck against his.

"You won't do it" dismissed Ryker.

"You think I won't huh? And why is that then? I don't need you and neither am I worried about being the lone human again, for as we both saw, there are plenty around" said Liam. It was a bluff though, Liam had no knowledge if there indeed were any more humans and killing possibly the last one he may ever see would be unforgivable.

Ryker smiled. "Well this is a Liam I haven't seen before. I like it when you get all ruthless!" But Liam knew all he was trying to do was to look more passive and not further the debate by discussing the problem at hand.

"I don't care if you like me like this or not, what I'm saying is you will not be threatening any again! Is this understood?!" shouted Liam again staring into Ryker's dark eyes.

"Threatening? I made no threats. I fully understand our species is not fully trusted and threatening them as you say could bring up the possibility of a fight, something I would loathe."

Bullshit

Ryker had been careful to not sound like he was in the right but it had not worked. For once, Liam's lack of control of his emotions actually benefited him here. "NO! NO MORE! You will stop any of that passive aggressive intimidation you keep using on the pride! You will now in the future stay away from any Lion that does not like you and will act accordingly!" demanded Liam. Though Ryker still looked unconvinced and his intentions that had already been demonstrated on the Pride where probably still present.

"You want me to refrain from even talking to some of the Lions?" asked Ryker.

"Damn straight! For too long have you been walking around thinking you own the place and you can do as you please but no more! This is not your world and while it isn't mine either, this is my home and my family and I'll be damned if I let an armed warmonger of the likes of you make this land your play thing! So with that in mind, drop your weapons and get out of my sight!" cried Liam.

A tense atmosphere then existed between the two humans. Ryker did not retaliate but neither did be drop his weapons as Liam demanded.

"Drop them, now!" Liam repeated. "Your pistol and that rifle of yours, on the floor!"

"I don't see that happening" said Ryker plainly.

Liam growled, either Ryker was being a stupid fool for resisting or was going to refuse Liam's demands until it resorted to blood being spilled. "Oh I do, you forget I'm not the one with a gun in their face." Said Liam as he put pressure on the bottom of Ryker jaw with his pistol to ensure he got the message.

"This is my home and you are welcome to be here for as long don't go around picking fights so your weapons, on the ground" again demanded Liam.

Then the tensest seconds of Liam's life occurred. Both Humans stared at each other, each waiting for the other to act.

And then, doing the most surprising thing Liam had seen him do, Ryker reached for his pistol and threw it to the ground, staring blankly at Liam the whole time.

"Your rifle" Liam said, noticing that it still remained on Ryker's back.

Ryker only shook his head slowly and continued his stare. The tension Liam felt was unbearable. Ryker would now wait to see what Liam would do to ensure his demands were met and where words had failed, Ryker would now see what else Liam could do. Removing the dangerous object that posed a danger to the pride was ruled out. Having a gun aimed at him was one thing, and something that would be useful in killing him, but fighting him for it was something Liam knew the odds were against him. A possible veteran of war Liam dared not risk a fight against someone who's fighting abilities was not fully understood.

Instead a more sly approach was needed. A more Ryker like action.

"You could refuse me the rifle and just walk off, but were that to happen, I would ensure that in the future all cooperation between the Pride and you will never happen. Think about that Ryker, alone in an unfamiliar world, not even you would z when such strange things are happening". It was a good attempt until Liam realised he may have spent prolonged time alone in the war in his world. That would mean Ryker would be walking off armed and dangerous for Liam would not kill him, for fear of being alone himself. He would have failed again, just like all of the other times….

Though suddenly, Ryker grabbed the case on his back the contained the rifle, pulled out its magazine and picked up any spares, and handed them over to Liam. " You may have the ammunition, that way I won't be able to use it but I will let my body be consumed by maggots before I give you this part of me" Obviously the rifle held some personal significance to him but without any ammunition, he would be defenceless.

Liam put the magazines in his various pockets. He had actually won this battle against Ryker. " Now then Ryker, I'll let you go but from now on you will actually contribute to this Pride and act like a normal person for once!" and just like Zira had done a few minutes ago, Ryker ever so slowly began to back away, maintaining eye lock with Liam though all the way. Liam, who kept his pistol in hand, returned the gesture with great seriousness. " You may think your powerful Ryker, but this is not your world and now you not be doing as you please, I will defend this Pride and if it means removing the only other Human as opposed to losing the only family I have left, then so be it!" Liam said with a hint of bitterness. This Pride was the only thing left worth living and for as long as Liam had blood pumping through his veins and a bullet in his gun, he would defend it. "So next time you think about acting like the bully you are, just fall in line, in will be easier that way!" finished Liam.

Ryker quickly turned around briefly showing himself angrily gritting his teeth and stormed off.

Liam was triumphant. He finally stood up for himself and the pride and stopped Ryker provoking the pride at least. It felt good.

"One thing Liam" shouted Ryker before he was out of sight. "You forgot this" he said in conjunction with the blade he attached to his wrist quickly extending out.

"You can keep it, let's see how that handles when you have claws and teeth surrounding you, asshole!" Liam definitely felt good defending his prides honour.

Ryker only laughed, but it was in annoyance and not humour as it was usually. He continued walking away to view Pride rock alone.

It was then when Liam realised he should thank Ryker for one thing. The last year had been one of sadness and uselessness. Liam had nothing to do except failing at finding his family and lying around for the rest. Now though, his purpose was clear, he would defend the Pride that adopted him into their lives. In the last few days he had been attacked by hungry Hyenas, captured by humans, and had to deal with Ryker. If all of that happened in such a short amount of time the next few months would be very interesting Liam thought as he went to finally have some time alone without Ryker.

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Half of an hour past with very little happening. On the whole, life past by without any differences with the exception of opinions and discussions occurring here and there regarding Ryker. But though Liam did try and ignore these conversations, a pattern did emerge regarding each individuals opinion on the new human. On the whole, the pride seemed to be trustful of Ryker and was happy of his inclusion in these lands. While that may be good if Ryker was more ordinary, Liam knew these opinions were not fully developed. If they knew what Ryker was really like and knew that he possibly housed secret plots, and then their opinions may be vastly different. In fact making their perception of him even worse, the one and only criticism someone had for Ryker was that he was lively.

And while Ryker fools everyone with his possible falseness, I will be the only one standing in between him and their lives.

On the plus side though, in this last half an hour, there had been no signs of any trouble between Ryker and the Pride. Even alone he had yet to start a fight with let Liam believe his earlier outburst had actually worked. Just like last night, Liam's voice could even be heard by Ryker if he shouted loud enough, both physically and metaphorically.

Perhaps I can now just lie down and relax.

"Hey everyone! We have some new arrivals" shouted a lioness in the distance.

Maybe not.

Reluctantly Liam got up to see what the fuss was about. Luckily for him, he didn't have to do much to see who exactly was arriving.

"Liam, you should go and see what they want" quietly said the golden furred Afua. Liam knew he would have to. Because of the had titles he had gained from the King, Liam had also been given a lot of trust and responsibility along with it which made him be the voice of reason and official whenever it was applicable and with Mufasa gone and Sarabi nowhere in sight, it was applicable now.

He and the rest of the present pride members did not have far to walk to the approaching band of Lions. He had been resting under the extending rocky peak of Pride Rock and only had to cross a few metres of grassland to greet them. Though before he could actually greet them, a bouncy and happy cub got to Liam first. His orange tinted fur and black tuft on his head told Liam instantly that Malka had returned to Pride Rock. But unlike multiple past times he arrived here, after he first met Simba, he never brought more than one or two Lionesses with him. Here he was with at least a dozen.

"Hey Liam is Simba around?" Malka said with such as speed Liam nearly had to ask for him to repeat.

"I'm afraid not Malka, he is out with Mufasa currently but I'm sure Nala is about" said Liam with a smile. He had always enjoyed Malka's company.

"Oh Boy!" Malka shouted with uncontrollable excitement as he tried to run off.

"Not so fast Malka!" ordered his mother, Mzazi. "You will stay here with me for a bit"

"Come on Mom, please?" desperately pleaded Malka.

"No! Here, now!" demanded Mzazi, raising her voice that she tended to do after Malka had run off alone and **eventually met Simba for the first time.

Sulking, Malka stomped over to his Mother without saying a word. Meanwhile, Lionesses from both Prides began to happily chat and Mzazi approached Liam. "It's good to see you again Liam" she said with a smile.

" You do Mzazi but I wasn't aware Malka would be visiting again so soon" Liam replied remembering Malka only normally visited once every two weeks, and it had only been a single week since the previous visit.

"Well that is why us lot are hear" she said as she indicated with her head to the rest of her pride. "We have made the decision to join your Pride".

That was indeed a surprise, but not a completely unexpected one.

"Our Pride has jointly decided we would benefit by integrating into yours. We simply do not have enough cubs to replace us when we are old so it makes perfect sense to just join this one instead. And without Nafasi…." She stopped and looked at the ground with a great sadness.

"Mzazi I truly am sorry." Liam said as he tried to comfort her. The pride she was a part of was different to Mufasa's in the way that they did not have a King or Queen but instead two leaders, a male and female. These leaders were almost identical to a King and Queen but they did not follow the royal protocol that was so common here. So this made Mzazi the sole leader of her Pride as her mate, Nafasi had perished from an infection.

"Without him…" Mzazi sobbed and stopped mid-sentence, "Without him, we have grown increasingly defenceless and I fear for poor little Malka." She had to be. Malka was no prince and while it was expected for a son to replace his father if he died, there was no law the stated he was the sole legitimate candidate. Officially, any rouge could just walk in a take the empty position for himself and if that rouge should discover the past leader had a son, he would see it as a threat to his claim and would have to remove the cub. It was a hard life, but by joining another pride, they would not have to worry about this.

"Then I hope you will find Pride Rock a good enough home" Liam said putting a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Thank you Liam, I think we will. This is a good pride and we would be honoured to be a part of it, and unless anything has really changed, I think we will settle in just fine." She said, finally regaining a smile. But she was wrong in this instance unfortunately.

"Well, yes, about that. We have already had a new addition" cautiously said Liam, trying to figure out the best way to say another human had joined which he knew, may unsettle some Lionesses.

"The other human? Oh we know already" she replied.

"What? How? He had only arrived this morning" How the word of Ryker had travelled that fast to her pride in just a few hours, Liam did not know.

"Your major-domo. That-oh what his name? Zazu was it?" Liam nodded. "He flew to us earlier and told us everything. An odd bird. Talks absolute nonsense and is quite the obnoxious thing but I won't deny he sure is fast".

Well that saves me the trouble.

"I'm guessing that is him there? Mzazi stated making Liam turn around to view the armoured figure folding his arms and leaning against the base of Pride rock, staring at him and Mzazi.

"Yeah, there he is" said Liam slowly, suspecting whether or not Ryker now held a grudge or not against him for what happened earlier.

"I'm sure he is nice enough" Liam heard Mzazi say as he instantly shot his head back at her.

Not this again!

While Liam did not want to get into another heated discussion about Ryker and how Liam knew he wasn't as he seemed, warning Mzazi not to put so much trust into him would at least suffice for now.

"Maybe, but I'm not too sure. We don't really know enough about him" said Liam as he gave a quick glimpse at Ryker.

"And so what? We still don't really know about your past Liam" laughed Mzazi, clearly not taking the situation seriously.

"Well I doubt mine could be worse than his. He is very touchy when I ask him of it" Liam replied, careful to not tell anyone the full details of Ryker's still relatively unknown past.

Mzazi looked unimpressed. "You shouldn't judge him Liam"

"I know, I know. But you just can't be so sure around him" sighed Liam. "He's dangerous, I just know it"

"I thought I just told you not to judge at him" said Mzazi sharply and totally surprising Liam. "Maybe things in the past have given him the look of being dangerous or maybe not, but really, what has happened in the past, stays there. Compared to the present, the past is quite irrelevant."

She spoke with the same wisdom that Sarabi did. Perhaps it was being a leader gave you enough wisdom to see how the world really was or maybe it obligated them to give others a chance so the leader can lead them instead of instantly casting them away like Mzazi most likely saw Liam doing now.

"I hope you are right. I really do. But that can simply not apply to everyone. What if his past is so bad, it influences his present" said Liam, thinking what Ryker's past must have been like to make him the way he was.

"If that were true here, it probably would have happened already. Has he done anything that you would consider influenced by his past?" questioned Mzazi.

"Well he has nearly started multiple fights and he cares for no one but himself." Liam answered.

"So?" said Mzazi.

"So, he is being influenced by himself. I had to repeatedly step in to control him. It was the only way. Without someone constantly watching or controlling him who knows what could happen" passionately defended Liam.

"Liam, if you constantly try to control someone all you are doing is restricting who they really are. And when that happens, of course they are going to act out of the ordinary, they may hate it so much, memories of the past are brought up that remind them of the containment they are in and then things will definitely start going wrong" Liam recognised a pattern here. Just like Sarabi had suggested when she said Liam should not judge so early when things in the future could be so different, Mzazi was being very similar. Perhaps Liam simply did not know Ryker truly well enough to make a full conclusion on his character. On the outside he may seem unappealing but on the inside, no one but himself knew. But it was this lack of knowledge the made Liam so untruthful of Ryker. After losing his original family where he could have done nothing to prevent it, constant vigilance for this new one would be required if he was to ensure no one, who's real intentions were unknown, could harm it.

"But how are we to be sure these mysterious new people don't pose a threat? They may act nice but their intentions may not be so pure" Liam asked.

"By letting them be themselves. Don't interfere with their lives unless they ask so. Be yourself around them and over time, then you can see what they truly are." Mzazi kindly said. "I hope you will understand this in time" she said as she walked off to meet her pride land friends. This left Liam just standing in the same position and wondering. Maybe Ryker's past just made him bitter and antisocial, nothing more. Mzazi did have some merit to her words as well when she said abnormal things would occur if Liam was preventing Ryker from being himself. Liam had forced Ryker to come to this Pride and help it. Perhaps that wasn't Ryker and he was so annoyed by it, he felt he should vent his annoyance on those he had yet to develop friendships with, namely the lionesses such as Gasira.

And now Liam had just put a gun to Ryker's head and forced him to stop his actions which had only occurred because Liam had made him come here in the first place.

Possibly an apology was in order, Liam thought as he looked at Ryker who still emotionlessly leaned against pride rock. Liam needed to understand if Ryker seriously did not want to be here, than that was his decision and if that would mean Liam being the only human again, he should just bite the bullet and accept it. He simply should not ruin one life to satisfy his own.

So Liam walked over to Ryker, ready to apologise, but as soon as Liam reached him, Ryker raised he hand, stopping Liam. He stared off into the distance and seemed to have an attempt at listening to something. After a few seconds he lowered his hand. "Yes? Can I do something for you?" he said.

"Ryker, I need to say something. I just need to clear this up" Ryker coked his head to indicate he was listening.

"Ryker I should apologise to you. I haven't exactly been so thoughtful of you lately and I would just want to say sorry for me interfering so much." Once he had finished, a wave of relief spread across Liam.

"I can honestly say this is a surprise" smiled Ryker "But I don't care. Take you apologies elsewhere" he bluntly dismissed.

Liam was hurt. How could he be so cruel when Liam had taken the effort to admit his mistakes and to try and rectify his relationship with Ryker?

"What? I'm trying to actually say sorry for the errors I have made but you just say go away?" Perhaps he was indeed right. Perhaps Ryker wasn't just antisocial; he was downright cruel as well.

"No! What I meant is that I don't care because I took no offense. I'm okay with what you said to me." Liam was going to ask why but Ryker spoke first. "All of that stuff you so desperately want to apologise for is quite insignificant."

"How so?" Liam curiously asked.

"Stand here" Ryker said and pointed to a spot next to him which Liam did as instructed. "You want to know why I don't care, then listen" but his point was not clear.

"To what?" Liam asked.

"What do you think? Listen to the conversations around you. Listen to what these new Lions have to say" he replied. So Liam did. He focused his ears on any conversation close to him but he still felt ignorant to why he was actually doing this.

"Am I listening for anything in particular?" Liam asked and looked at Ryker. He nodded.

"Have you cared to think to why these lions left their home?"

"I know that already. They had to leave less their pride became too weak" Ryker only replied by shaking his head.

"Listen carefully. Listen to what seems so out of place."

So Liam did. For the next five minutes.

"I still can't-"but he stopped as he heard one of the Lionesses mention something.

Focusing on a group of three Lionesses talking, he carefully listened to the one from Mzazi's pride. "It went across the sky in the morning and came back in the afternoon" she seemed to say. Curiously, Liam listened on. "It sounded like some sort of a bee" the Lioness then said once probed on other features of the thing she had seen. After that though, the Lionesses dismissed it as nothing to worry about.

Was this the thing I was meant to listen for?

"You heard that didn't you?" asked Ryker, "Does that not seem strange to you?"

"I guess" replied Liam, not knowing what else to say.

"I've heard these conversations for as long as you were talking to their leader. Some have mentioned it had a black appearance while others have gone as far as mentioning that it seemed to have maybe even crashed in the distance" Liam was confused. Why would this make Ryker not care for Liam's apology, something that did not relate to it at all?

"And why does this matter then?" asked Liam, determined to get some proper answers.

"You asked me why I didn't care for your apology and I replied by saying it was insignificant. And this is why. Compared to this, I could not care for my past time here and so, your apology is worthless"

"And this thing they talk of is significant?" Liam asked to which Ryker slowly nodded. "Why? What do you think it is?"

"I do not know. I had my suspicions but I could not be so sure." He said with an almost sadness to his voice, "But then I listened on and eventually, a pattern emerged. This pride of lions actually left because, not only they felt weak as you said, but also because this thing they had seen had unnerved them."

"What are you trying to say?" asked a confused Liam.

"Whatever this thing was, it has done something that has frightened them to move" concluded Ryker. Yet there were still holes in this theory.

"But their leader, Mzazi, said nothing of this"

"Maybe she did not know what this thing was so she possibly didn't want to sound crazy by just saying she saw things in the sky. That would not be very leader like" said Ryker who seemed to be extremely interested in this.

But Liam needed more evidence. He had noticed the lioness Afua had been talking to a multitude of other lionesses, mostly from Mzazi's pride, so she could try and confirm what was being asked here.

"Afua, can you come here for a moment please?" kindly asked Liam.

"Yes Liam? Something you want?" she asked happily.

"I've just been wondering if any of the Lionesses from Mzazi's pride you have been speaking to have seen anything out of the ordinary" She looked confused, but Liam knew he could not act so curious less it seem like it was of importance to this pride also. "Anything that could help me find my parents". A lie though. Everyone knew Liam had been looking for anything unusual that could help him find his parents so this would not seem so out of place.

"Well, some of the Lionesses said that in the last few days they had kept hearing odd noises at the same time on each day. Others said that they then felt a vibration of sorts in the ground after something in the sky went into the distance".

"And after this did anyone hear any noises again?" said Ryker as he stepped close to Afua.

Visibly nervous of this human she did not know, she paused before answering. "Um… I don't think so" she said finally. Ryker then seemed to sigh in an annoyed fashion.

"Thank you Afua, this may help me greatly" said Liam.

"Anything to help a fellow Pride Lander. I hope you find your parents soon Liam" she said as she left to begin another conversation with someone else.

Thinking back to what she said though, Liam's curiosity peaked on the subject. Ryker meanwhile just stared off into the mass of Lionesses greeting and talking to each other.

"I keep telling you" Ryker said without giving any looks at Liam, "There is something suspicious about this" he said at a much lower volume.

"I agree" replied Liam, now sold on the prospect that this subject was worthy of suspicion.

"We have to go and look for it" said the now whispering Ryker, "We must find out what this thing is" he whispered but still staring at the Lionesses and acting like nothing was the matter.

Liam agreed. He had no clue of what this thing could be and had no knowledge on if it could be dangerous or not. A swift investigation was needed to find out the true nature of this thing in the sky. If it was not dangerous in any way, no matter, Liam knew he must leave nothing to chance when something like this happened.

"We shall send some Lionesses ahead of us to scout out the location of this thing" Said Liam, now also whispering.

"NO!" suddenly said Ryker, rising is voice loudly. "No" he said again but much quieter almost as if he was embarrassed. "No one but us will investigate this matter, we shall tell no one alright?"

"Why?" asked a puzzled Liam.

"Look at them" he said indicating with his head towards Mzazi's pride. "They are on edge. They may look happy but the worries they harbour are still there. They are frightened, and whatever they are frightened of must not be known be even more." He paused before slightly leaning towards Liam "They didn't leave because they were worried some stray male may invade" he said, now even more careful of whom could hear his voice, "They left because they feared the unknown. They feared these strange occurrences they had been witness to and I don't know about you, that in a world where you and I aren't even from the same version of the planet, I wouldn't get comfortable by sending your friends after these things." He finished saying while leaning back. "Keep it secret. You don't want them getting affected if crap hits the fan".

Liam then thought for a moment. He now concluded that whatever this thing was, it wasn't a one off and neither was it something natural. This was something that could only happen it a strange world such as this so as such, he decided that the pride should not be exposed to such things that do not play a part in their natural lives. But despite this, and Liam's curiosity and suspicion, this matter was not top of his agenda. This things danger to the pride was unknown but Liam remembered there still was things that he knew were dangerous, and despite them being in contrast to this new strange occurrence, by taking the forms of other animals and social issues and not the unknown, they actually posed the closest and most immediate threat to the Pride. Liam knew what a large gang of Hyenas could do or what damage could be self-inflicted by feuds between Lions so, Liam decided, these would be the issues he should face first.

"I won't send any Lionesses" Liam said in which Ryker nodded with approval in response, "But neither will I be joining you now" he said carefully.

"What? This is not a thing to be ignored." He almost shouted before realising he had been trying to get this conversation noticed. "You say you want these Lions to be safe? Then help me investigate this" But Liam could not yet agree in doing this at the moment.

"I'm sorry Ryker; I have more important matters to handle now. If a miss a patrol for example, who's to say some hungry Hyenas don't infiltrate these lands" Liam argued.

"So what. If this thing turns out to be bad, your patrol won't even matter" he said bitterly and sounding like it wasn't important, which Liam suspected to Ryker, that was the case.

"Then why don't you go alone?" suggested Liam, confused at why Ryker was getting annoyed when both he and Liam could get both of their jobs done at once.

"Me?" Ryker replied, surprised. Liam nodded.

Ryker paused and stared at Liam and looked to be thinking of a response. "We both have to. We need to cooperate if we are going to understand this world" he said unsurely.

But Liam had tried to understand this world already. He had tried to figure out how he physically got here, how he could possibly get back home and also find the reason of why his search for his missing family had lead him here in the first place. All endeavours had proved failures.

"No Ryker. I must do this first" Liam said.

Ryker did not immediately respond. He stared at the ground in annoyance as Liam slowly began to back away so that he may begin his objectives. Ryker then gritted his teeth and faced Liam once again, stopping his retreat.

"Why? These are not your people Liam. You are not of the same species, so why bother?" Ryker said, now visibly annoyed but still hidden from anyone else.

"You're wrong Ryker. These are my people. They are my family and I must protect them and if that means I must patrol the borders daily to do so, then I will do that without question." Ryker did not understand. No, Liam was not of the same species as the Pride, but he considered them as his equals, friends, and life. This was all he had left and he wasn't going to so easily let them go because he neglected his duties.

"Piss on your patrols" Ryker said as he spat on the ground, now very annoyed.

Liam then felt like that action had done it for Liam. He turned around, also in annoyance, and began to walk away, much to Ryker distaste.

Ryker began to curse and mutter. "Then go! Go! Go and live your pathetic little life! Mark my words, you will regret this!" he then said, shouting.

Liam quickly saw the now confused and fully aware Lioness silently staring at an embarrassed Ryker. Liam guessed it would be an awkward moment but after Ryker rudeness and lack of understanding towards Liam's important duties, he couldn't care less.

As he saw Ryker then storm off angrily, Liam sighed and tried to clear his mind. If Ryker was going to remain civil over this investigation Liam would gladly join him later but for now, his long regular patrol equally awaited.

---

Liam's patrol had finished within the hour. It was uneventful, with no intrusions occurring and no current disputes happening.

This short completion time thus gave way for a period of relaxation for Liam. He sat down in the sun at the back of Pride Rock. He was alone for the most part with only a few Lionesses also bathing in the sun, yet he distanced himself from then. It opened up to Liam a period of relaxing quietness and peace.

Eventually though, Liam decided this almost near silence had gone on for long enough. There was none of the usual laughing and playing the cubs so loudly made at this time of day and neither was there thankfully, any arguments brewing which would include Ryker.

Confused at this lack of noise, Liam then remembered Ryker had not even been seen by Liam since Ryker had stormed off in annoyance. He not even yet tried to find Liam again so that they may both begin the search for this strange object. Because of this, Liam closed his eyes to rest and decided he would wait until he was needed or the usual noises arose.

But he couldn't. He felt the hot African sun suddenly get blocked off his face and realised it was a shadow doing this.
Opening his eyes he saw the tall and dark armoured figure known as Ryker looming over him.

"We must go, now" he said with great speed.

"Now?" Liam replied, not knowing why so soon. He had finished his tasks and was waiting for something to do but he did not expect Ryker to so urgently get going.

"You've done your patrols?" Ryker again said with speed.

"Um…yes" said Liam.

Ryker then grabbed Liam's shirt and briskly helped him get up. "Then we must go now" he said with little emotion. But Liam agreed none the less. He had delayed Ryker this thing he refused to do alone. And it showed, for Ryker was now walking very fast.

"Do you know the way" Liam asked, wondering if the direction they were heading quickly had any value.

"Yes" Ryker replied also quickly and as if he was in a hurry.

And for the next twenty minutes or so, Ryker replied to Liam's questions with only a yes or no, if the question was related to directions, or not at all. His swift walk could have been considered a run at some times by most people's standards, judging on the speed of it.

"Ryker, just-just stop for a moment" Liam pleaded. It worked regardless.

"No time, we are close. Ten minutes away." Ryker said as he restarted he power walk. It was in moments like this when Liam was thankful for his time in the marines and constant exercise he performed less, due to Ryker's speed, he would be surely without breath by now. But it kept him going, even when he felt like he should stop for shade to cool down from today's unusually hot sun.

It kept him going until Ryker stopped. Initially, Liam was thankful for this much needed break and suspected Ryker had now finally also decided they would both profit from escaping the heat.

"We're here" Ryker said instead. But even if they were, Liam would not have noticed. Only the usual savannah was to be seen and no strange object was in sight. Possibly sensing Liam ignorance to the location of this thing, Ryker handed Liam his strange rifle. He accepted it gingerly, unsure why Ryker would so easily give up the very thing he fought for earlier to keep.

Ryker pointed in an area that Liam needed the rifle scope to see. It was now also a chance for Liam to closely inspect this weapon for himself. The first thing he noticed was how heavy it was. It was heavier than any assault rifle he had held before and instead matched the weight of a high calibre sniper rifle or light machine gun. Also, immediate to Liam, was the length of it. Again unexpectedly sharing similarities to a sniper rifle was the length of it. The shape of the gun was odd too. The black weapon looked like it was straight from a Sci-Fi film. It had its similarities with modern weaponry but for the most part, it was very futuristic. Even the digital scope was built into the rifle unlike the attachable scopes of Liam's world.

Now looking down the scope, which was essentially a screen made to look like it hadn't been built into the gun by raising it via emerging it from the main body of the weapon, Liam had a clear, zoomed in view of the indicated area. Initially seeing nothing, the haze created by the heat seemed to disperse revealing a large black object protruding from the ground. "

"What is that?" asked Liam handing Ryker back his rifle. "It's crashed whatever it is" Liam said noticing the deep scars in the earth.

Ryker gave a little laugh, suggesting he knew what it was. "Isn't it obvious? It's a damned gunship"

A gunship? Like a helicopter gunship?

"I told you I had my suspicions, but I could not understand why its behaviour was so sporadic" Ryker said, leaving a confused Liam wondering how he could have possibly knew.

"How did you know it was here? It could have crashed anywhere" Said Liam.

"Well after I looked into why it was continually flying over your friend's pride and being weird in its patterns, that vehicle I acquired detected many radio distress signals from it which was in turn, relayed to my armour."

"Then shouldn't we be worried? A gunship has been flying over the land and what if its pilots have now sent out their location? We can't have more humans running around" Liam said, fearing that the humans that had captured him and tortured Lions may now know a location near Pride Rock.

Ryker smiled softly before looking at the crashed ship. "You needn't be worried about any of those points. It's a drone. Something that small cannot fit any people inside"

"And the fact that a heavily armed robot has been flying over, doesn't that even concern you?" Liam replied.

"Not now. Why else would a drone send out a distress signal over and over?" Ryker said at Liam who shook his head, not knowing the answer.

Ryker sighed at Liam's lack of a response. "Because it has nowhere to land. It needed fuel and its practically running on fumes. And you know why it had nowhere to land?"

"Why" replied Liam.

"Because yours truly destroyed its landing pad. This drone was one belonging to the mad General" It made sense now. Because Ryker had nuked the base it was supposed to call home, the drone had been flying around trying to get someone to come and pick it up and refuel it, which was obviously impossible now so hence it had crashed instead.

"Shall we go and have a look at it" Ryker said before walking towards it.

"Are you sure it's safe?" cautioned Liam.

"It was built for war, it will never be safe but I will protect you if you're scared" laughed Ryker.

Regardless of Liam's caution of this device, Liam curiosity finally got the better of him prompting him to again run after Ryker who was already nearly there.

Then, after finally reaching Ryker and the wrecked drone he was standing next to, Liam could hear a faint noise originating from the ship that surprisingly, Liam was taller than.

"What's that?" asked Liam.

"Oh, that's its radio." Ryker said on inspection.

Then a thought came to Liam. The base of origin for the drone may be no more but what if the distress signal had been sent to other bases? Where this noise made understandable than perhaps some insight into where and who this distress signal was being sent to may be gained.

"We should fix it" said Liam plainly.

"Why? You worried the distress call may be sent to someone else." Liam nodded, fearing preciously this. "Bloody hell you need to stop worrying about everything. There is none of those guys left; I made damn sure of that!" Ryker said with a hint of anger in his voice.

"And what if there are people left? Or even other bases. We need to be sure." It was a thing Liam now felt passionate about. Any possible human threats would be devastating to the pride if a conflict arose, and finding out if any threats were around would be top priority.

"Don't worry about that either. The radio signals intercepted by that vehicle of mine also found out that the signals were only being transmitted to the area that the base was. So no chance of it being picked up by anyone else" This was not enough for Liam though. He needed more evidence and only the fixed radio would provide with this.

"It should still be fixed" Liam said stubbornly. He would have fixed it himself if he had the tools. Ryker however, he had many various small containers attacked to his armour which Liam had seen housed a variety of tools, both for engineering work and other unknown functions.

"You're not going to back down on this one are you?" Ryker asked, practically conceding defeat.

Liam only smiled and shook his head; glad in the thought Ryker had finally been beaten.

"Fine!" he said as he kneeled down to begin his work.

"Are you sure you can do it?" Liam asked, now questioning Ryker's skill's in fixing things.

"Look, you were the one asking me to do this! Just shut up and let me do this without you plaguing me with doubt" Ryker said with agitation, forcing Liam to be the one backing down.

"It doesn't look so badly damaged. Just move this thing here and that thing there…" mumbled a busy Ryker. Tools Liam had never seen before were being used but instead of probing Ryker on it, Liam just remained quiet and waited.
" Done! That was easy!" Happily proclaimed Ryker. But if it had been fixed Liam couldn't tell, for now there was only silence. That was until a slow tune began to play.

Liam began to listen to the instrumental song which, from the sound of it, seemed to be played by acoustic guitar. He listened for a while, hoping for the distress signal but it never came. Only the same tune played on a loop.

"Well that was a waste of your time. Sorry Ryker" Liam said half-jokingly towards Ryker who he suspected would be both annoyed, thanks to the work he put into fixing the radio for only it to play a bit of music, but also pleased because he had been proven right.

However this was not the case. He was neither annoyed nor smug. He wasn't even moving. He was in the same place he had been when he was busy fixing the radio. He hadn't even moved from the same posture he had been for he was still kneeling on the ground like he was still working. But he wasn't, he was motionless.

"Ryker? You alright?" Liam asked.

"That music" he said quietly while remaining a still as before. "You know what it is?"

"No" simply replied Liam.

"I do" was Ryker's reply. Liam then noticed a fist of Ryker's slowly form into a fist. "This is a song only found in one place" His head slowly turned to face Liam, emotionless and pale. "My world. This was a song written by the war" he said bitterly, then slamming his metal glad fist into the drone.

"Ryker…" Liam said, but he did not know what to say. It was obvious that this war he played a part in was a sensitive area and it had shown when Liam had touched on the subject before. But Liam now felt an urge to somehow comfort him, strange as may seem as he knew their relationship was not so strong.

"Am I going to now receive questions?" Ryker said as his dark eyes stared motionlessly in front of him.

Am I? I'm not sure what I even want to say

"You will receive answers this time, don't worry about that." His voice was almost sad now. "Something this unexpected deserves answers…."

"You don't have to." Liam said sympathetically.

"No, I do. This is a dangerous song and while it may just have been stored in the drone's database, it should be clarified upon." Ryker said, now finally moving a standing up to face Liam. "It's a victory song" he said.

Trying not to probe too far into this, Liam could not but help being curious into something he had been constantly wondering about. "A victory song about what?" he asked.

Giving a little laugh in return, Ryker made his way to sit on a platform created by the wreckage of the drone. "To understand that you will need to understand how the entire war had played out"

"Oh." Liam said. Ryker had blamed Liam before for being ignorant when it came to understanding things which Liam had disagreed but here and now, Liam had to agree. He knew nothing of this war and Ryker wasn't going to so easily explain something to someone with such a lack of knowledge into it. It may force up painful memories. "Then forget about it." He said.

"No" Ryker said, shocking Liam in his rare openness. "I will tell you so you won't have to ask me at a less convenient time" Ryker then sighed and paused, ready to tell Liam on the eagerly awaited past of his. "This song was only made because of the events that preceded it." Liam now also found a place to sit on out of the remains of the drone and eagerly listened to what Ryker had to say.

"Are you ready for this? I will only say it once." Liam could only nod in return. "This war all stared in the year 2039. I cannot tell why but it came hard. Nuclear missiles and everything. The world quickly ripped itself apart as every nation on Earth sent its militaries and whatever armed forces they had to counter any enemies, be they countries or companies. Relations practically fell apart and and just like that, every nations was at each other's throats. It wouldn't last however; countries very soon simply cease to exist. They were just land then. No military, no government, nothing. Just people trying to live in a bit of land." He paused, allowing Liam to take this all in before restarting. " Now eventually, when the world had no nations and was just land like it had been millions of years ago, the survivors decided they should stop living and sighting like animals and join together so they may restore order, live a life under new rules or simply just to survive. This is when a pattern would emerge that would last until present day." Ryker again paused to think about it. Liam almost asked that he not continue less he dig up bad memories but he didn't, perhaps out of shear curiosity.

"So then, as new factions emerged worldwide, more and more people joined them and this led to the change from fighting to survive to fighting because we hate the people in the other factions. The pattern then followed as such, factions would rise from the bleak chaos, and the factions would then grow and develop new technologies and create new weapons and armies. Then once at full strength, full out, total war would exist worldwide between the factions and this would continue until the leaders would get some annoyed at a lack of progress in whatever objectives they had, and would turn to alliances, manipulation and whatever sly actions they could think of. This was arguably the most dangerous stage. Spying and deception was rife creating a medieval like society in which only the strong and intelligent survive" He pointed at himself in self-praise. Liam only rolled his eyes at this.

"The next bit was the falling and defeat of the factions. Now the world slowly began back its decent into the horrors of nothing. This was a stage in which the strongest continued to bitterly kill anyone foolish enough to oppose them while the poor should that choose poorly and went with a weaker factions found themselves at the horrors of Human mercy, which I will say, can be demonic. Then the world entered a gorilla type war and disorganisation and terrorism was common. Even the strongest factions would weaken which led to the next stage. The last factions would fall and it would be every man for himself. This finally led to the last stage and perhaps the most dangerous of them all. Similar to like the world had been once the nations had gone; the entire planet again entered a post-apocalyptic wasteland. You could either survive long enough to see yourself die in a few months or die in the search for someone to re-create a faction. Then the cycle would restart. Factions would rise, millions would die and the memories of a peaceful would seem ever further away." Ryker now stopped talking allowing Liam to think of the horrors he so luckily was not a part of.

And I thought my life was bad.

Liam was thankful he had lived relatively good life. This was almost certainly the reason behind Ryker's gritty personality. Living a life in a world in which the next person you see could want to kill you would change you to say the least.

From now on Liam would at least try and understand Ryker's actions.

"And your will be wondering how this influences the song? Simple. In one cycle a faction rose that became so powerful, so isolated; it made them a danger to everyone. Unlike past cycles where factions would ally and assist each other for mutual benefits, this faction was unique in the way that they saw themselves as all powerful beings who answered to no one. They did not see any understanding in alliances or client factions owned by larger ones. They acted solely in their own interests and never accepted help nor gave it to others. They tended to kill anyone and everyone they saw."

"They seem like monsters" Liam said

"Maybe. They weren't cruel. They didn't kill for the sake of it, if you played no part if this faction war and only fought to survive, they would generally leave you alone. They saw no reason to kill non enemies. They would fight like hell against an enemy faction though." The rifle was now in his hands as his fingers caressed and moved over the shape of the gun as he continued his story. " So eventually, once this faction got so strong and world domination was in their sights, the rest of the world asked themselves the question that the now leading factions asked themselves at their beginning, ' Who are you that we must be spat on by?' So soon enough, factions would join together and the world would rise up against the factions that always remained alone. But this was not some heroic rebellion or fight against tyranny, this was a fight that allowed others to benefit from a more even playing field and not run by one powerful force. This was a fight that people saw as beneficial for them and would do anything to be a part of. But above all, this was a fight that was aiming to simply crush the faction. The world was not going to stand idly by as they were challenged by the few that wanted the world for themselves. And sure enough the world won and not a trace of this once powerful faction remains because for as long as we as humans have the ability to choose, we will do everything we can to survive in a world where we think we can all live. Not one in which a few create a world unknown to humanity. This is what they call 'The Exitus', something you may have heard before"

Ryker smiled and forcing Liam to remember last night's negotiations. Ryker had left by proclaiming that the 'Exitus' was also here.

"You remember, I know it. I said that because last night was very similar to the events of Exitus. You were trying to ensure you had everything your way but I ensured it acted out a little more evenly. Hence the reason I said that, you were like the powerful factions but I was the world ensuring life is not dictated by a single cause." Liam now understood why he said it; he failed to understand why it was right to say it though.

"If I remember correctly you were destabilising relations between the Pride and you leaving possible conflicts-"But Liam was cut off swiftly by a raise of Ryker hand.

"Whatever. I have no desire to go over this again. You asked me the meaning of this victory song and an answered. I will not discuss the errors you made last night" Liam did not pursue the cause. Though Ryker was deluded if he thought the errors lie mainly with Liam then.

And then silence reigned. Liam didn't know what to say after an overload of information of Ryker's past and the man in question was lost in deep thought.

"Let us be going back. I have had enough talking for now. I need rest" Ryker said, breaking the silence.

"And the drone?" Liam said concerned of leaving it unattended.

"I will retrieve it later. I must find out why this thing had such a song on board." Liam could only accept this and agree. Worries of its danger to the pride had been lessened with its crash and Liam could not refuse it to Ryker now it had mysteries of his world with it and so, he left it, trying to already forget about this unexpected development.

The duo began then to walk back and not a single word was said again throughout the entire journey.

---

Soon enough Liam and Ryker arrived back at pride Rock, now at the end of a long and eventful day. No one seemed to question where the two humans had suddenly gone allowing Liam to avoid spilling any information of the crashed drone.

"I think today was quite productive, would you say mate?" smiled Ryker as both the humans sat down besides Pride Rock.

"You could say that" replied Liam, a great lack of enthusiasm within his voice.

Ryker's eyes focused on Liam, suggesting he suspected Liam of disagreeing. "Something wrong?" he asked, confirming Liam's theory.

The truth though, was completely the opposite. On the long walk back from the crashed drone, Liam had time to summarise the day. In just a couple of quick hours he had went from jealousy of Ryker's new position in the pride to pure fear of the possible fight with Zira and then to finally hearing of Ryker's long wondered past. Really, the whole day and even the days he had spent previously with Ryker were now being reflected upon. It had been a rocky start to say the least, with more danger and confusion Liam had felt for a long time but now, Liam only felt sorrow for Ryker. Moving from a world in which it was practically hell on Earth where his only purpose was to survive, to moving to this world where he had no purpose. It made Liam feel uneasy. On one hand he felt like he should understand Ryker's actions to an extent and just let him live his life and on the other hand he felt confused and uncomfortable around a person whose actions and life have caused Liam so much distress.

"What? No, nothing" Liam denied, not knowing how to voice his troubles to the person they concerned.

Ryker then stood up, turned around, and inhaled before turning back around to face Liam again. "What's your problem Liam?" he said.

"My problem? I don't have a problem, why would you say that?" said Liam unconvincingly.

"You have constantly been acting weird around me ever since I met you. Is it you don't want me here? Do you still think I am out to kill everyone, huh?" his voice was getting progressively louder, and sounded ever more annoyed.

"No! Of course not! It's just- it's…." He stopped, not knowing at all what to say.

"It's just what? What the hell is wrong with you?" Ryker said angrily.

Liam could not go on like this for much longer. Both in this debate and in the long term. He would finally need to clear his issues he had with Ryker that would finally allow him to do as Mzazi and Sarabi suggested he should do.

"It's just- Look, you're not like me. You come from a place that I could never even imagine and then enter a world of peace and a delicate society that I am a part of. I just don't know how to react around you really!" Liam said sadly.

Ryker did not retaliate angrily like Liam suggested he would. Instead he sat back down and sighed. "I understand. The cultural differences between us are way too high. You live a life a peace, fun and otherwise have quite the uneventful life. I though, I just can't get used to this world. It doesn't feel right you know?" Liam could only praise Ryker for being serious about the matter Liam thought would be a joke to him.

"Then, what should we do? If we can't go back to our own world, how are we to live with each other?" Liam said.

Again Ryker sighed. "We'll adapt. It's what humans do. We both already know we live in a strange world and as such, I'm going to have to revaluate my life here."

It was something Liam could only agree on. He also would have to change. No longer did he think he lived in just a pride of talking Lions in the peaceful savannah. Like he had thought once before, he would now have to be vigilant and stand up to defend the Pride, though now, as he just realised, not against Ryker.

"Ryker" Liam said, gaining his attention. "Do you feel we should start anew with each other, and just focus on the world we live in now, not the one we knew and thought existed before?"

For a moment Ryker did not answer, only staring at Liam. "Yes. It's about time we finally stopped acting like we are both strangers" he smiled.

And just like that, Liam felt no uneasiness, no worry or even any negativity. He and Ryker finally saw eye to eye in a world they knew nothing about.

"Thanks Ryker, it means a lot" Liam said as he smiled back, to which Ryker simply nodded in acknowledgment.

A pause then occurred between the two, each not knowing what to say now they had finally cleared any personal issues with each other. "I think the time is now right to give you back these then" Liam said as he broke the paused and reached into his pockets to retrieve Ryker's confiscated magazines.

"I forgot about them!" Ryker proclaimed happily, putting them into individual containers on his armour. "You'll have no fights or deaths at the hands of my guns, I promise you" he also said with a gentle smile on his face. It was an unexpected yet welcomed promise. It made Liam feel so much more at ease with Ryker walking around armed.

"I guess I will have to try and get out of my 'war' mode then." He said, leaning back against a rock and referring back to the plan to only focus on this world now.

"Yes please. I'd rather not have to build bomb shelters and shoot something every day" Liam joked.

Ryker smiled a little in return to the joke Liam and been careful to phrase in order it would not insult and very serious part of Ryker's life. "It wasn't all like that" Ryker replied staring off into the sky and relaxing. " A lot of the time was spent trying to sleep in fear of an enemy offensive or wondering if that guy you killed earlier really wanted to fight" Liam did not smile in return. He couldn't really understand if this was Ryker joking in return or a serious memory.

"Not to mention the cleaning of the blood from your face" Ryker then said, his smile disappearing. "Or waiting for anyone with even a shred of medical knowledge while you put pressure on your comrade's neck, trying to stop the bleeding." His face was now growing serious. " Or knowing that the guy you were fighting with next to would probably turn on all of you later, betraying you for a damned can of beans. " His face stiffened, his teeth grinned together as he went into deep thought. "Or fearing that the day you wake up may be your last and that you may finally leave this world of deception and war!" he cried, slamming his fist against the ground in, from what seemed like anger.

Luckily for Liam, he did not have to uncomfortably watch Ryker recall stories of the past and see his anger continue to rise as a Lionesses call was now heard.

"Liam!" shouted Sarafina as she ran in haste towards him. "Thank the Kings of the past I finally found you!" she said, now panting for air. Turning to look at her and not Ryker whose face was still stiff and emotionless.

"Slow down Sarafina! What do you want to tell me?" asked Liam at Sarafina who must had been running for a long time, judging on how breathless she was.

"The Queen, Sarabi, she told me- she told me to find you immediately" she panted. Then Liam saw that Sarafina looked worried, like she had just seen a ghost.

"Why? What has happened?" Liam said concerned, worried that a Hyena gang had infiltrated Pride Rock or worse, Liam fears of Scar betraying Mufasa had come true.

"It's the cub, Feraga! He has been seriously wounded and is in a critical condition, the poor thing!" She said with fear for the cub in her voice.

"Who would want to harm someone so young?" Liam said astonished at the saddening chain of events.

"I don't know, but you must come quickly!" Sarafina managed to say in-between breaths before running off again.

"Are you coming Ryker!?" Liam quickly said.

"No" he replied emotionlessly. "I have other things to do".

Liam decided he had no time to question Ryker on this. Running off after Sarafina he focused on more important matters. A cub was in danger and as Liam now knew his purpose was, he would defend this Pride, even if it killed him.

---

Done!

It could have been in done in multiple chapter definitely but like I said, I would type unnecessarily type more.

I'm kind of glad I finally finished this chapter as well. I don't think it was too bad but so far, Liam's chapters have been intertwined with non-Pride matters and focused too much on Ryker which now, should not happen as much. From now on, Liam and Ryker will act much more independently thanks to their acceptance of each other. Now we can get some separate story lines going for the main character which I will say now, will be more.

Not much else to say apart from one thing. This chapter may well be the last one I upload before I move on to University. Now that does not mean I will be leaving this story, nor does it mean chapter will be uploaded every six months. Chances are they may be longer delays in between chapters but I can assure you I will NOT be dropping this story. I will update any chance I can. Promise.

Reviews would be great but until then, see you when I see you.

Review!