A/N: Wow, another week day update. Evidently, I really needed this therapy. It's been a well, honestly, it's been a horrible week, at least as far as home goes. The only thing worse than having a hard week both at school and home is having a good time in one and a bad time in the other, because the swing from happy to mad/sad can take its toll. So, instead of turning bi-polar psycho maniac on everyone, I'll just vent my pent up emotion here, instead of studying for my pre-calculus test tomorrow. XD Just want to thank everyone for reading this and for all of your amazing reviews.

Chapter 13: Where Am I?

Kambili was resting in his cave, waiting rather impatiently for an update on the hyena's mission. The time had finally come for an aggressive large scale attack on the Pridelands and Kambili was anxious to know if the hyenas had created the proper amount of uneasiness among Mohatu's pride. Finally Kambili saw the approach of one of the matriarch hyena's messengers. The small hyena slowly made his way up to the lion, whose already dark presence was exemplified by the dancing shadows of the cave. The hyena submissively approached, stooping down on his belly to show total submission. The hyena felt a shiver run down his spine as he lowered his gaze in respect, or fear, rather. He wasn't sure if the chills he felt on his body were due to the cold temperatures of the mountainous region, which Kambili had chosen as his home base, or if it was the lion's intimidating presence. The hyena knew that many of his fellow clansmates had lost a limb or their life due to the lion's untamed temper.

"What news do you bring? Has the mission been fulfilled as I required?!" Kambili asked, snapping the hyena out of his thoughts.

"Uh, uh, yes, sir, we managed to launch a small attack on one of the hunting parties. According to our sources, one of the lionesses was fatally wounded." the hyena answered not taking his eyes off the lion's retracted claws.

"Good. Are you ready for the next offensive. First, it will be necessary to strike against an important member of the pride, say the lead huntress."

"Well, sir, that is also part of the news I was to bring. We've already managed that." the hyena replied.

"Well, out with it, you mangy fleabag!" Kambili growled when the hyena hesistated.

"Oh, well, we found the Princess wandering around near the northern border and a group of our scouts along with one of your lion's managed to capture her."

Kambili paused, for once, something the hyenas had done truly surprised him. With the princess under his paw, it would be much easier for him to take the Pridelands. Not only would Mohatu be distracted by looking for her, but Kambili could use her as a possible bargaining chip.

"Very well, tell your matriarch to send her to me at once." he ordered.

The messenger gave a quick bow before quickly exiting the dark cave, glad to be away from the brooding lion.

Kambili gave a smile at the thought of Jolina's daughter in his grasp. He still held a bitter grudge against the dead queen, her interference had led to Sinjun and his entire army being wiped out. It was her fault that the only real friend he'd ever had was dead, well, one of his only real friends. There was another, one who he'd truly loved, but he'd thrown away any shred of happiness he could have had with her a long time ago. Sometimes, in the cloak of the night, he could still smell her sweet, warm scent. Still feel her light breath tickle his fur like butterfly kisses, still hear her low, rich, alto voice whispering her love to him. And sometimes, in the early hours of the morning, he could almost feel her body close to his and her soft sighs as she woke in his embrace.

"NO!" he told himself. He mustn't think of her, for she was the reason he'd almost thrown everything away. Why, for her he'd almost betrayed Sinjun! Back then all it took was one look from her and he was lost in the sea of her deep emerald eyes, but now, she was only a distant memory, one that he would fight to suppress until his death.

"Sir." a masculine voice pulled him from his thoughts of his long-lost mate.

"Yes, what is it colonel?" he asked.

"We've managed to capture a group of young lions from the Kilaminjaro Pride, and we've moved them to a base relatively close to the Pride Lands. Sir, they are untrained as of now, but I can whip them into shape easily." the colonel replied.

"Very well, colonel. I trust your judgement. The more troops the better. The time is near for our attack and we will need all the lion power we can get."

"Very well, sir. Will that be all?"

"Actually colonel. There is one other thing. I'm having a young lioness brought in from the Outlands, will you please remove her from the hyenas' custody when they pass through your base and enlist her into your new troupe?" Kambili asked.

"Of course, sir." The colonel answered.

"Still sleeping Roo, it's been almost a day and a half since you were in here." Mohatu said stepping into the dark cave, where he thought his daughter had been resting. Yes, she'd been through an ordeal, but even so, it was unlike Uru to sleep for almost two whole days and Mohatu had begun to worry about his daughter. But as his eyes adjusted to the darkness and began to scan the cave, to his surprise, his dark-furred daughter was nowhere to be seen.

"Huh." he said.

And turned and left the cave, thinking perhaps she was at the watering-hole or one of her usual roosting spots.

"Get up you lazy lion!"

Uru awoke with a start to a large hyena shoving her to her feet. She looked around confused by her surroundings when she remembered all that had conspired the night before. Why, she'd been kidnapped!

"What do you want with me?!" she asked in a panicked tone.

"Oh, it's not what we want with you princess, it's what the boss wants of you!" the hyena sneered.

"What?" she asked.

"Just shut up and do what your told!" the hyena said before shoving her out of the cave.

Uru blinked in horror as she realized where she was. She was in the elephant graveyard. It was a horrible place, and hadn't changed at all from the way she'd remembered it when she'd been brought here as a cub. The ground was no more than loose, dried up dust. The only vegetation was a few scraggly trees, whose obvious mal-nutrition was evident in their lack of leaves and thin bark. The sky was a dark gray, overcast by gloomy clouds, so thick that even the sun couldn't penetrate the dark atmosphere. All in all, it was just as horrible as Uru remembered.

"Whatta' ya lookin' at trash? Getta a move on!" the hyena spat before giving Uru another sharp push.

"C'mon the matriarch wants to see ya!" the hyena said giving off a string of manic chuckles.

The way the hyena was laughing told Uru that this wasn't going to be a house warming visit. She could only give a gulp as the hyena shoved her into another small cave and led her down a series of underground tunnels until they came into a large chamber, in which a female hyena sat upon a large, flat stone, looking down upon her with a condescending sneer.

"Welcome Princess Uru. Your visit has been most opportune." the matriarch said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Hey, Izogie, have you seen Uru?" Mohatu asked coming upon a group of the male lions.

"No, dude. Not since the other morning. Everything alright?" Izogie asked.

"I don't know. I can't seem to find her. I've searched in all the usual places."

"Dude. Chill. With teenagers, especially upset ones, it's the unusual places you gotta look. C'mon guys, let's help a brother out." Izogie said to the other males.

"Thanks guys. I just hope she's ok, I'm getting really worried." Mohatu said.

"Mohatu, relax, I'm sure she's ok." Strawberry said as he and the others formed separate search parties to look for the young lioness.

Uru could feel her heart pounding in her chest as she faced the clearly angry matriarch.

"You see, Princess, I would certainly love to keep you here as my guest, but I have a dear friend who is simply dying to see you. In fact, I believe that you two are already acquainted."

Uru was confused as to the female hyena's remarks, but before she could inquire, the matriarch began barking orders.

"Take her to Kambili directly. No food, no water, no rest. He wants her there within two days and it will be your tails if she is a second late!"

As soon as she had finished instructing her officers, a small group of hyenas circled around Uru and led her out of the chamber, back up through the tunnels and to the surface.

"We'd better get a move on. You heard her, if she's late, it'll be our heads." one of the hyenas said.

"Right you are." another replied.

Uru watched as a group of hyenas created a circle around her, ensuring that she couldn't escape.

"Darn." she thought to herself.

Uru was terrified at what would happen to her, but she tried to put on a brave face as the hyenas began to force her to walk westward away from the direction of the Pridelands.

Uru felt like her feet were going to fall off, they had been walking for at least a day and a half without stopping. The only time she could get any amount of relief was when they happened to come upon a small watering hole, into which Uru would greedily dip her head and take in as much water as she possibly could before she was forced to walk on. It had been at least 3 days since Uru had eaten anything, and with every step, she felt dizzy. As she stumbled about, her vision swan and her head ached. For the first day, her stomach had rumbled nonstop, but as her hunger and fatigue increased, her stomach had become so numb, she only felt a dull pain.

"We'll stop here." the lead hyena said.

Uru gratefully sank to the ground, she was too weak and tired to care about her dignity. The ground was hot and dry, but Uru didn't care as she fell almost instantly into a dead sleep.

"Where could she be?" Mohatu asked loudly.

The male lions had searched the entire Pridelands up and down, still there was no sign of Uru. Even Zaza, from her superior aerial view had seen no trace of the princess. And it was clear to the other males that Mohatu was almost past his breaking point.

"Mohatu, it's ok. There are still many places that we haven't looked in the Pridelands. She's probably just tucked away in some cozy den or something." Kelsh said.

"No, we've checked every inch of these lands. Uru is not here!" Mohatu said, even now he could feel his heart race from anxiety.

"Just calm down, she could have wandered into one of the other kingdoms. We'll just send a messenger over to see if anyone has seen her." Raoul said.

Mohatu slowly nodded his head, though the words didn't bring him much comfort. The only thing that could provide him with solace would be to see his daughter safe and sound.

"C'mom, there's nothing more we can do tonight." Strawberry said.

The other males began to turn back toward Pride Rock, Mohatu at the back, his head down in sadness. From past experiences, he never expected positive outcomes, and he couldn't help but dread the worst.

When the males arrived back at Pride Rock, Mohatu noticed a lone lioness sitting by herself. She was frantically clawing at a small rock, as if trying to ward off an attacker. Upon closer inspection, Mohatu recognized the lioness as Kali, the lioness who had lost her cub to the hyenas. After her cub's death, she just snapped, and as time passed, her condition only worsened. She no longer communicated with the other lions and would disappear for weeks at a time. She refused to eat with the pride and she slept in one of the dens several miles from Pride Rock. The only time she would interact with her pride mates was when she had one of her spells where she insisted on the fact that her daughter was still alive. At one point, she was so disillusioned that she attempted to steal another lioness's newborn cub and nearly killed the cub in the process.

When Mohatu approached her, she whipped around to face him, and snarled before retreating into the tall grass. Mohatu gave a sigh of sadness at the condition of the lioness, all because of one act of cold blooded cruelty. Not only had Kali lost her child, but she'd also lost herself. Mohatu gave another sigh before continuing toward Pride Rock.

Uru's eyes slowly opened. It was in the dead of the night, her ears quivered when they detected the harsh snoring of some of the hyenas who were escorting her who knows where. Uru glanced down at the treacherous little creatures and realized that they were all asleep, even the one that was cleary supposed to be on guard duty. Uru realized that now was probably her only chance for escape. Climbing slowly to her feet, Uru slinked quietly away from the sleeping group and when she was far enough away began to make a slow trot in the opposite direction, somewhat confident she could find her way home. As she put more and more distance between herself and the hyenas, her mood lightened and her pace quickened, relieved to have gotten herself out of the dangerous situation. Uru laughed as she thought of all the trouble the hyenas had gone through to make sure she wouldn't escape, only for her to slip out from under them as they slept. But as Uru trotted along, she suddenly felt a force hit her on the side of the head and it was strong enough to knock her off of her feet.

"I don't see anything funny about a runaway lioness." a male voice growled.

Uru gasped in shock as she looked up at the large male lion hovering over her.

The lion smiled, obviously satisfied that she found him so intimidating.

"Where I come from, the punishment for a disobedient female is death, but I'll let you off with something light..." he said with an evil glint in his eye as he raised his paw to strike her.

"AT EASE!" another voice shouted.

The male quickly lowered his paw and stood down as an older male approached. He observed Uru, who was still sprawled on the ground. But as he was about to speak, the troupe of hyenas came bounding up.

"Colonel! Thank you for capturing this lioness. We have orders to bring her to Kambili." one of the hyenas said.

"Well it's hard to bring someone to someone else when you allow them to escape, isn't it?" the colonel growled.

The hyenas only gulped in fear and shame, lowering their gaze from that of the large lion.

"Well, it's just as well I suppose, for I have orders from Kambili to remove this lioness from your custody. Your assistance is no longer needed. Return to your base." the colonel ordered.

The hyenas knew better than to argue and quickly made themselves scarce.

"Uggh, hyenas, incompetent, disgusting creatures. Why Kambili insists on using their assistance, I'll never understand." the young lion who'd attacked Uru spat.

"Well, it's not your place to question Kambili is it? Return to your post!"

Uru watched the ordeal in a bit of a shock. She was almost tempted to pinch herself to see if she was awake. The large male ordered her to climb to her feet, which she quickly did.

"Oh, you've no idea how thankful..." she started, but was cut off by the male,

"You will speak only when spoken to! And I wouldn't be thanking me just yet."

Uru shivered as she heard the malice in the male's voice and couldn't help but wonder if she'd only traded one tyrant for another. She quietly followed the male until they came to an outcrop of rocks on the outside of a small ravine. At first, she noticed only large rocks, but as she drew closer she saw many more lions, this time, both male and female, cleverly camouflaged by the boulders, ready to strike at a moment's notice. The "colonel" as she presumed he was known as, stopped quickly in front of a small opening in between two boulders, standing on either side of which were two lions, they were obviously guarding something. Uru stopped and only looked at the three other lions.

"Well, what are you waiting for?!" the colonel barked.

"Oh, well, I- uh..." Uru stammered.

She was quickly silenced by a blow to her cheek.

"And there'll be more than that next time you open your stupid mouth!" the male barked. "Now get in there!"

He roughly shoved Uru into the small opening and when she stumbled in, she felt something soft under her foot, which caused her to trip and land on top of another lion.

"Hey, watch it!" the lion said.

"Oh, oh, I'm sorry." Uru apologized as she climbed off the lion and rubbed her sore cheek.

The lion's cross look quickly softened as he realized the lioness must've been a newcomer, unused to the harsh conditions.

"Hey, don't sweat it." the lion replied. "What's your name, newbie?" he asked.

"Oh, my name is Uru." she answered.

The name struck a chord with the lion,

"Whoa, Uru, as in, Princess Uru, from the Pridelands?!" he asked.

"Well, uh, yes." Uru answered.

"What are you doing way out here?!"

"Well, it seems that I was... kidnapped."

"Seems? More like most definetly, unless you get some kind of kick out of vising death camps."

"DEATH CAMPS?" Uru cried.

"Hey, hey, chill, it's not always that bad... well, ok, it pretty much sucks around here, but if you stick with me, you'll be fine, ok." he said.

Uru nodded slowly then said,

"So, what is your name?"

The lion smiled at her,

"Well, Princess Uru, I'm hurt that you don't remember me."

Uru studied the lion's features in what little light came into the cave. As she looked into his light blue eyes, realization dawned on her.

"Dameii!" she said.

A/N: Muhahaha, another cliff-hanger! Sorry, but I have to keep you on the edge of your seat. Again, thanks for reading and for all of the great reviews. Hope you liked this long chapter and I plan to be updating soon! So, we have finally met Dameii again. What do you think is going to happen next?