Chapter 7- The Cackles in the Darkness
Simba stepped ahead of the two of us, but only by a step or two, turning with a look of both wonder and excitement as he looked around. In no more than a few extra steps, we looked ahead of us, realising that what looked like another ledge was in fact part of a tusk from a large bull elephant skull. Its size dwarfed all three of us and only made me feel even more unsettled in this place. The sheer size of it meant that in between the two tusks, a hole was large enough for us to venture in. I wasn't too keen on making my way in there however, seeing as the hole showed to be pitch black inside, not giving any indication of how far that darkness spread. To some degree I was getting paranormal thoughts, due to being in a graveyard and that being a dark, creepy place. "It's really creepy." Nala commented, looking at the landscape over the tusk, Simba next to her.
He smiled at her "Yeah…Isn't it great?" He didn't have to wait long for a reaction as she started to pull a face, not as concerned as I was about being there.
I got the other side of Nala just as she spoke up "We could get in big trouble." She looked to Simba and then myself with a smirk, looking like she was relishing in the rule breaking she was taking part in. The fact she could defy rules just like that and be getting away with it gave her an excitement, it was clear in her eyes this was a thrilling experience.
Keeping his eyes focused on the cub between the two of us, his smile didn't fade, and he seemed impatient, wanting to move on "I know," he said with the same thrilled look of defiance on his face. He hopped back to finally take in the skull's details; Nala and myself doing the same "huh." He admired the skull.
"I wonder if its brains are still in there." Nala thought out loud, looking into the black abyss beneath the elephant skull after looking to myself and Simba as we approached it, but stood a safe distance from the entrance.
Simba however, was feeling bold, starting to walk forward "There's only one way to know, c'mon, let's check it ou-" The lion prince was a few steps closer when I nearly felt my heart jump out of my body when a loud noise was heard, a figure jumping in front of Simba, blocking his path.
The figure in question was Zazu, calming me after my initial scare, though the jump also got Nala to an extent, the both of us quickly exchanging a worried glance before we both turned our attention back on the prince and the major-domo "Wrong!" His response was the shout that startled us. Simba seemed to shake it off fast, sighing in displeasure at or carer's arrival, it seemed the adventure was over. "The only checking out the three of you will do is checking out of this place!" He squawked, causing a disappointed response from Simba as he continued loathing the bird's presence, even more so with his demands. "We're way beyond the boundary of the Pride Lands." He emphasised how far we were with just the second word of what he said. As he said it though, he wasn't even looking at Simba, instead being as unsettled by the darkness, feeling the foreboding energy it gave much like I had.
Simba though, took this as an opportunity to start mocking the elder of our group, crouching with a smirk, speaking to make sure we heard him "Huh, look, banana beak is scared. Heh."
He was about to press forward when Zazu rebuffed, poking Simba on the nose as he spoke with a far more frustrated and stern voice "That's Mister banana beak to you, fuzzy!" His tone shifted as he looked around for anything threatening. This left Simba to take the chance to slowly walk by "And right now we are all in very real danger." Zazu clocked onto the prince walking past him but knew he could do nothing to stop him this time, the shock of the surprise fully worn off.
Simba walked closer to the entrance, not even looking to Nala or me with a smug smile on his face, buffing himself as he walked into that pose "Danger? Hah!" He exclaimed, going sideways on through the end of his next words "I walk on the wild side." He crouched sideways on to us, looking at me with a smirk as he finished, his brows lifting and falling as he spoke "I laugh in the face of danger. Ha ha ha." He lifted his head, so he laughed up into the sky, trying to make his laugh come off as a triumphant.
The next thing we heard forced his expression to shift to terror for a moment as he darted behind all three of us. I felt myself start to shake in fear, Nala also looking into the abyss with dread. The noise, a shrill laughter echoed and repeated for a moment as we realised, we weren't alone any longer. The laughing quietened but didn't stop as we saw three hyenas arrive. One appeared from the dark entrance of the skull and the other two slinked out of the shadows of the skull's eye holes; all three of them looking to our group with a crazed malice in their eyes, their shared grins only putting larger doubt into my head. Our small group was huddled, with Zazu fronting it, his wings spread as if it were a barrier to protect us. The hyena in the middle was the first to speak "Well, well, well Banzai. What do we have here?"
The hyena she looked to, Banzai responded with the same tone, teasing the moment as if it were a joke to them. "Hmm. I don't know Shenzi. Uh…what do you think, Ed?" He looked to the third hyena who was responding in a maniacal laughter that suggested a lack of intelligence to me, though Banzai seemed to understand it as if another language. Before he spoke, we were circles by the three, with Shenzi directly in front of Zazu; all three of their figures looming over our huddle. "Yeah, just what I was thinking, Ed. A trio of trespassing cubs and a bird brain who don't know the boundaries." He accused.
The blue hornbill stuttered somewhat as he defended us all with his words "Ah yes, quite a mistake that was too. A pure accident let me assure you. A simple navigational error on my part." He gave a nervous laughter. As he finished, us three cubs took a few steps away from them, all hyenas in front of us as we watched. Zazu was not so lucky. When he turned to walk away, the female hyena, Shenzi, placed a paw on his tailfeathers, preventing his escape.
Zazu let out a small whimper as his feathers were caught, looking to the hyena as she got up close to his face "Whoa whoa. Wait wait wait…I know you. You're Mufasa's little stooge." She looked at him questionably, before looking almost bored with him, letting him pull back his tailfeathers as he prepared a response to her.
The major-domo huffed as he got started, trying to puff out his chest a little "I, madam, am the king's major-domo." He rebuffed, scowling at the lead hyena. The other two though were back to circling the three of us, baring their teeth, making me feel more worried, seeing some saliva drip from their mouths.
Banzai seemed to be keeping up with what was said, frowning towards the prince as he spoke "That would make you…?" He leaned in a little closer to Simba, which made him retaliate, frowning back.
He responded, "The future king!" he snapped at the hyena. At the same time, I stood in front of Nala as Ed got closer than either of us were comfortable with. I was terrified when he took it as a cue to give a warning snap of his jaws, but stayed up, frowning at him despite my body shaking with fear. A moment later, Zazu joined us in the middle of a three-hyena circle.
Once more, Shenzi spoke up, responding to Simba "Do you know what we do to kings who step out of their kingdoms?" She raised a brow for a moment, our eyes meeting for a moment as I glared at her, though she didn't flinch, knowing she had the power at this point.
Simba remained defiant of them "Puh. You can't do anything to me." He sounded so sure of himself, like the danger wasn't present, the scare well behind him, forgotten.
The major-domo gave Simba a reminder, nudging him "Technically they can. We are on their land." He sounded more worried, but it left the prince deadpanned for a second.
The expression changed to confusion as he asked Zazu "But Zazu, didn't you say that hyenas are nothing but slobbering mangy stupid poachers?" At that, the hyena's expression became stern and they looked at the blue bird in question. As Simba asked, Zazu was trying ways to make the prince stop speaking, but he couldn't, looking even more worried than before.
"Ix-nay on the oopid-stay." He seemed like he was about to force another nervous laugh.
Banzai heard what was said and stuck his head in close enough that the two victims of it were forced backwards "Hey, who you callin' oopid-stay?" He asked, sounding as if he was offended by what was said, although he had no idea of the meaning of what was said.
Our carer didn't want to continue with the conversation, starting to hasten the three of us away, looking back to the hyenas as we were being ushered away "My, my, my, look at the sun. It's time to go!" He looked as if he was about to start flapping his wings. Before we could get away anymore, Shenzi had manoeuvred herself to get in our way, pushing us back into the circle.
She grinned as her demeanour became less angry than when she heard Zazu's insults. A grin spread across her face, albeit a rather sadistic one. "What's the hurry? We'd love for you to stay for dinner." She smirked, holding the word 'love' out as long as she could.
Banzai noticed the tone change and started to grin as well "Yeah! We could have whatever's…" he suppressed some giggles "lion around!" He started laughing, the others joining in "Get it? Lion around." They seemed rather distracted with the joke and it seemed that it was our chance to get away. We started to move away slowly so we weren't noticed, but after a safer distance, we started to run, Zazu flying over us as we made our break for it. I looked back to see we had been spotted at the same time Banzai voiced his frustration "'Cos there it goes!"
It wasn't long before they made chase, but I turned away to follow the others. We sprinted over the ground, some of it being clearly the skeleton remains of an elephant's spine. After crossing over that, we turned to a stop, looking around "Did we lose them?" I asked, huffing from the light exertion.
Nala looked around "I think so." She tried to confirm, also huffing like I was.
Simba spoke up, pointing out something we had missed in our panicked run "Wait, where's Zazu?" He looked around, almost expecting the feathered ally to appear in front of him. He did not, and that was when we knew he was in trouble. A lot of trouble.
I shook my head to rid myself of any of the fear I had. A large oart of me felt determined to find that bird after he had done so much to protect us already. "We need to find him before the hyenas eat him." I started "They can't be far away, so let's try find any footsteps…actually, they smell pretty bad, so maybe we just find their scent?" I asked, both of them nodding. I wasn't the best at it, but I would do what I had to in order to try and save Zazu.
In the end, we didn't need that, hearing cackles close by. We rushed to the source, only stopping when on top of some large ribs of a deceased elephant that overlooked the small pit with a vent with steaming water in it. Zazu was placed in before the vent blew, launching the bird into the air, though not within his control. Having taken the same determined expression I wore, Simba chided to them, getting their attention "Hey, why don't you pick on someone your own size?" He frowned and I stepped beside him to give the same look to them.
Shenzi didn't seem the slightest bit bothered though, a nonchalant expression on her face as she spoke "Like…you?" Her expression shifted to a wicked grin causing Simba to realise his heroism came at a cost. We barely had any time to react as she lunged at us, snapping her jaws inches from us, her breath hitting us in our recoil back as we got a look at the yellow stained teeth that looked ready to sink into our flesh. In our confusion, we didn't notice she had just disappeared, and we kept running until the three of us were stopped by a vent of gas, the faces of the three pursuers came through all of a sudden "Boo!" Shenzi called out, her counterparts shouting the same word. We turned and sprinted back, leaping to get ourselves over an elephant skull, clambering over. I felt a sting as a claw from the hyena, Banzai, scraped a part of my left back leg, although it would have no lasting damage. This hit gave an adrenaline boost. I bundled up and over with the other two, all of us sliding down the spine of the skeleton, that if we weren't running for our lives I would have probably enjoyed. We didn't have time to recover though as we were launched off the spin onto a mound of bones.
We scrambled up, Simba reaching the top and, in our panic, we didn't realise Nala had been left behind, with myself closer to the top than her. She called out for us, slipping back as she tried to claw back up in desperation. Simba and I both made our way down to her. I helped pull her up as Simba stepped past us when Shenzi was lunging in for us. With one determined swipe, his claws raked across Shenzi's cheek, shocking the hyena at first, but in an instant that turned her face to a pure form of rage. I perhaps lingered too long to see that as I barely made an escape to the top where I caught up to the other two, rounding a corner where it appeared to be a dead end, an elephant skeleton up against the wall indicated it also got caught in this corner.
Simba and Nala were determined they could reach the top though, climbing on top of the skeleton, some skin still on it was their ground as the two jumped for safety. The skin gave way and tore, sending the two to the ground. The moment they looked back though, both reeled back in fear. I turned and saw the trio of attackers, Shenzi and Banzai wearing a wicked smile as they laughed a little. The other, Ed, had his usual laughter, though his full expression was hard to read. They had us cornered. "Look boys, a king fit for a meal." Shenzi taunted, stepping in, all eyes on Simba despite me being closer.
With us cornered, it seemed this would be it for us. "Here kitty, kitty, kitty." Banzai joined in the taunts with a growl and cackle before licking his lips.
As they got closer, I stumbled back, keeping the distance and they noticed, grinning at me. Without even thinking of the consequences, in a way to make my last words damaging, I started to mock the female's injury. "Look at you, you got beat up by one of us. How stupid have you hyenas gotta be to get hurt by a cub? You've gotta be really stupid." I emphasised the word 'really', finishing my statement with the smuggest grin I could muster.
The reaction wasn't what I expected, thinking my life would be taken right then, but instead Shenzi looked a little embarrassed, frowning with a growl to argue "He got a cheap shot. It means nothing. Let's see you do it again." She tried, attempting to bring Simba or I into another fight that we wouldn't be able to seemed to have found some extra courage in the time I had them distracted, jumping out beside me to give a medium yowl, though the intention was to roar to intimidate them. This only made the hyenas laugh, looking to each other to check if it was funny to all. "Oo-hoo…that was it? That was a king's roar?" They started giggling uncontrollably. "Do it again…go on." They grinned. Simba, upset by their mocking of him did go for another roar, inhaling and puffing out his chest with his eyes shut. Before he could exhale with his maw open though, a loud roar was heard, made by a full-grown lion, deep and frightening if you were a hyena. We were all as surprised as them, Shenzi and her gang wide eyed in fear "Huh!?"
Mufasa appeared and dived into attack, smacking the hyenas aside with ease. However, the king was not content with just moving them away. Nala joined Simba and I as we watched Mufasa take on all three hyenas, beating them with ease until he was pinning all three of them down, pure hatred in his eyes as he stared down to them. Zazu had rejoiced our group, far calmer as he kept us close. The king silenced the three of them babbling, warning if they came near his son, but never finishing his warning as he was interrupted. "Oh, this is your son?" Shenzi feigned her surprise, finally someone other than us were the ones terrified. Banzai asked the same question, Shenzi speaking over him "Did you know that?" Of course, he refuted. Both of them asked their third member, who nodded, as if proud of that fact. It was a grave mistake and led Mufasa to roar again, standing over them with fury in his action. The small gap he allowed them was enough for them to use as an escape. The three of them dashed away, sounding hurt and terrified.
The major-domo got to the king's side, smirking in the distance as he watched the hyenas run away as if to say, 'that will show them'. Despite the relief I felt, I could see Mufasa was still not happy. Simba noticed this too and approached with caution, keeping his body low to the ground. Before he could really start though, Mufasa boomed over his son "You deliberately disobeyed me."
Simba, in a small panic, shook his head, trying to get an answer out. He sounded as if he was nearly tearing up "Dad, I'm…I'm sorry." He hung his head, standing between Nala and I again.
His father responded, still sounding stern "Let's go home." He didn't even look back to see he had made Simba and Nala follow with their heads low in shame, though I wasn't doing the same, keeping my head up as I was trying to predict his thoughts at that moment.
I was beside the other two cubs "I thought you were very brave." Nala whispered to Simba, trying to lift his spirits if only a little.
I felt compelled to do the same, saying to him "Not many would be brave enough to do what you did." He looked to both of us and gave a tiny smile, although the sad expression remained, causing Nala and I to looked at each other with some concern for the prince. Simba had already worked out his father was going to scold him some more for his actions.
It wasn't long before we were out of the burial grounds and I gave it one more look, shuddering. I was thankful to be out of that place. "I think your dad was just worried about you. He was scared for you."
Simba looked to me with a sad, dismissive expression, shaking his head slowly "He doesn't get scared. Ever." He explained. I didn't argue, but I did think that sounded a bit silly. Everyone gets scared about something, I knew that. "It was my fault we got in trouble anyway." Simba admitted, the weight of what happened clearly, he had placed on his shoulders.
Nala and I wouldn't let him put the burden on himself though "That's not true. We all went in there."
Simba shook his head "Yeah, but it was my idea to go there in the first place." He sighed, keeping his eyes down to the ground. He didn't dare look to his father.
The sun had set, and the stars were starting to show in the night sky, and I would have admired it if I wasn't getting lost in my thoughts, just trying to piece everything together. I couldn't make any sense of it, but the thoughts kept me quiet for our walk, only breaking out of it to give some encouragement to the prince.
"Zazu?" Mufasa called, his booming voice bringing the bird over in an instant. As he arrived there, the king spoke up again "Take Nala and Tishala home. I've got to teach my son a lesson." He nodded and flew over to the three of us, Simba having crouched down to attempt being invisible from his father.
Zazu separated Nala and I from Simba by standing between us, "Come, you two. Simba…" he sighed and looked at the scared little prince, nearly shuddering at the thought of the 'lesson' himself. He put his wings on Simba's shoulders, sighing again before giving them a pat to reassure him "good luck." That was all he said before gesturing for Nala and I to follow him. We did, going at some pace to leave the father and son to themselves.
Just as Nala and I approached the sleeping quarters of Pride Rock, standing just outside, she sighed and looked to me "Simba looked really scared. I haven't seen his dad that mad before." She looked out to where the father and son would be, though we couldn't see them from where we were. Her voice came across as if she blamed herself for the trouble we were in.
I shook my head and nudged at her closest shoulder, giving a reassuring smile "I'm sure everything will be fine. Mufasa was just worried. I don't know too much, but I think, from what I heard, he was promised to not go there by Simba. I know that my parents would have been the same." My tone seemed to perk her mood a little. Thinking on it, I could remember how my parents were with me. For sure, they would have defended me with the same ferocity I had seen Mufasa do for his son. I could remember a particular example with my mother almost having a full personality transformation to go on my defence after I was told by tutors that it was unlikely I would get into a vet school. Of course, at seventeen I felt I didn't need the defending, but appreciated it, nonetheless. I knew it would be difficult to get into the schools, but persevered in the face of those who doubted me. At the time, it made me work hard and dig deep within myself. I couldn't have kept going without my parents' support though.
Being stuck in those thoughts for so long left me smiling silly, my gaze going beyond Nala until she snapped me out of it "Tishala?" She asked, breaking me from my thoughts, changing my smile to a rather sheepish replacement, but only for a second. "You just started staring and smiling at me for ages. Are you okay?" She questioned, looking a little uncomfortable after I had unintentionally been looking through her almost.
Before I could respond though, a familiar blue hornbill appeared between us "I must insist you two get inside. My job isn't done until you are safely home. With the night sky, 'home safely' means getting you into your den and to where you will sleep. Now…" he paused for a moment, taking the time to control his volume "In you go." He gestured with his wings to go inside, holding his composure. With a small roll of her eyes, Nala obliged and started to walk in. I didn't follow though, which took Zazu by surprise, having expected me to go with his gentle order. "Young madam, whatever is compelling you to stay outside is likely born from the same impulse that told you to go along to that death trap earlier. After what happened, I suggest you ignore it." He was getting a little more impatient with me when I barely even moved in response.
Instead of going, I sat down and faced him, looking down to counter his look up. The stern expression he wore wasn't shared. I looked at him with rather wide eyes, my mouth a little open "Do you think I'm stupid?" I asked, no anger in my words. I found myself curious on what the major-domo did think of me, but also what he thought of Nala and Simba, though I wouldn't ask that directly.
Despite his desire to get me inside, he sighed and answered "I don't think you are stupid. Much the same way I don't think Nala or Simba are. I just think even at your ages, you should know better than to avoid supervision. Being older has given us the advantage of knowing the dangers that you don't consider." He explained, sighing again after placing a wing on one of my shoulders "Now please, we all need rest after today. I will have more time for questions after resting." He took his wing off, stepping back to flap both at me "Now shoo, shoo!"
I backed up and turned to walk into the den where a few of the lionesses were still awake to see me walk in. In the sets of eyes, I could pick out Sarafina, and off to the side of her were Sarabi's. I hadn't been able to talk to them about what had happened, but they must have known the danger we were in earlier in the day. With both mothers looking at me, through the smiles I could tell they had a pang of disappointment in my choices, but relief that I was okay. I could see Nala was already close to falling asleep, even if she was fighting it to join the adults in staring at me. Sarafina was the first to break the silence "Poor cub, you look exhausted." Her initial smile had changed to a sympathetic frown. "There is no need to look so glum. We are all happy the three of you are safe." She added, gesturing me closer.
"We were all worried, not just for my son, but for all of you. You three are part of the future of our pride, and of course, no parent must see their child exit the circle of life before themselves. There is surely no pain greater for a parent." Sarabi included herself in the talk, Sarafina nodding in agreement as she cuddled her cub closer. The queen had my attention as I looked to her "Eventually you will all understand the same feelings. I do not know exactly what happened earlier today, but I can assure you that it matters little now you are safe." She paused to think for a moment "I believe that the three of you have learned a lesson from that experience. Simba is perhaps most fortunate, even if he doesn't feel it, to have a father who is willing to make sure a lesson is given to his son. Mufasa wants our son to take the right steps towards being a king. It is something he takes very serious." A small smile crept onto her face as she continued "Ideally you'll learn these lessons in a less dangerous environment, but sometimes the great kings decide there are more necessary measures to be taken." The lioness looked up to the ceiling when talking about the kings of the past, as if they were there watching at that moment. My eyes trailed up to the same place, looking all over until I looked out to the mouth of the den, a starlit night sky that sparkled with light dotted from the stars in the sky. "Do not worry, they will return soon. If I know my king, and believe me, I do, then I know that he will be back soon." She assured me with a smile.
I didn't have long to react when a paw reached out to drag me in. The lioness, Sarafina, was the culprit, bringing me up against her, though soon I was also pressed up against Nala, who stirred a little, having fallen asleep prior to me being grabbed. Her eyes fluttered open, though she was very drowsy upon waking. "Come on now, we need to make sure you get some rest. We can't have you exhausted tomorrow. You're too young to be acting tired all day." She had a loving smile on her face, and she laid her head to rest as well. I shuffled a little bit to get comfortable in the lioness's hold. Once I had, I shut my eyes only to open them again when I could feel something press up to me. Nala had shuffled as well and we were soon cosied up next to each other, our cheeks pressed up against the other's. I found this comfortable enough, starting to close my eyes, feeling they were heavy. Just before I lost sight and consciousness, I could see a large figure enter the den. I could just about make it out as Mufasa with a sleeping Simba on his back. With that last image in my head, I lost consciousness to a blissful sleep.
I found myself stood in the centre of a clearing. I could see at the perimeter of the clearing was grass all around, but instead of being its normal colour, I couldn't tell what colour because I was seeing red all around. It wasn't mist, but it was there in the air, like there was a faint glow of red to the area. I couldn't tell how this was happening, but the atmosphere had a familiar unsettled feeling about it. Seeing some of the grass shake from movement within it, I took a step closer, wanting to inspect it. The next thing I saw was Simba leap out, the two of us rolling until he had me pinned. Through it all though, his expression was entirely blank. I could tell I was speaking, but there were no sounds for me to hear from it. What I could hear though was the faint sound of laughter, but it was growing. At first the laughter was normal sounding, but as it got louder, it broke down to become a little distorted, uneven and there was an edge of madness to it that brought my fur up on edge. Everything got more unnerving when the expressionless Simba let his lips curl into a crazed grin, baring his teeth at me as he did so. Within a few seconds, the laughter had synced with the prince, making the sound come from him. He didn't move from me, leaning in closer as I got to watch him transform from the lion cub I knew into the Hyena I had struck. With the laughter continuing after this, the hyena glared at me with his teeth bared, and before I knew it, he snapped his jaws on me.
As this was a dream though, despite my shriek at my life ending in that part of the dream, I opened my eyes to see I was back in my student room. I sat up and looked around, seeing everything was how I had left it before I managed to end up as a cub. My eyes were wide as I inspected the room, my eyebrows raising and falling with each investigative stare I gave objects, my books for example. Having realised where I was, I looked to my hands. They were my hands, not paws! I clenched my hands into fists, then released them again, reaching up to touch my face, feeling all the human features of it. Before I could spend too long doing this though, there was a knock at the door as it slowly opened. When the door was fully open, I could see nothing past the frame. It was pitch black. I could see in and around my room though, leading me to look at my window, covered by the curtains, where a gentle, warm orange glow seeped into the room. Looking back to the pitch black I felt my heart sink. It gave me the same feeling of dread. The silence of the room was off-putting. A pair of eyes glowed in that dark, and they grew in size, showing it was getting closer. The eyes were increasing their pace until a hyena jumped out to me, the malicious intent in its eyes. The whole thing was silent and I closed my eyes to accept my fate.
When I opened them though, I was still in my room, but when I looked to see myself, I was back as a cub. By now, the dream was startling me to the point I was unable to keep a steady breath. I looked to see the door was closed and thanked my mind for not dreaming anything too scary for now. It didn't last though as the door started to open at the same slow pace again. This time though, there was some sound to accompany it, an unnerving squeak that was drawn out the hole time the door was opening. Another difference was that I could see outside my room. The next thing I felt was a gentle rush of wind run through my room. I checked to see, but my windows weren't open, yet there was still a wind present. It seemed to be fixed on circling me, running over my body as I stood up. Each time it brushed over my ears I thought I could hear voices from it, but I shrugged it off as my mind playing more tricks on me. Looking beyond my room, I could feel myself drawn to go outside the bounds of my room.
I did so with great caution, entering a small hallway. Other than the squeak of my bedroom door and my own steps, there was no sound to accompany me. As I moved though, the wind that surrounded me followed. I didn't know if I should be concerned or intrigued by the breeze sticking to me, but it did both. The short walk in the hallway led me through the living room and into the kitchen. I couldn't see the tops of the counters in the kitchen, but that didn't surprise me. I was walking through without even feeling like I was controlling the walk. A door opened to the bathroom, although it was dim lit, the light not being as bright as I remembered it.
As soon as I was in, the door slammed closed, causing me to leap forward, turning to face it. When I did, what I saw were the three hyenas: Shenzi, Banzai and Ed. They were glaring at me with a menacing look. They moved together, taking steps closer to me as I leapt up onto the same counter as the sink. Their eyes and bodies followed me there; still they closed the distance. Just as Shenzi took a snap to me, the lights cut out and all I could hear were the mad cackles from the trio, possibly more. I could feel my heart racing, and I turned as if to run, remembering that I was only going to hit the mirror. When the lights returned, I could see my reflection, but also a figure over me, which was definitely my human self. It was a reverse of the last time I was in front of the mirror. Whilst it wasn't clear, there was no denying that the figure was me.
The lights then dropped, dimming the bathroom for no more than the blink of an eye. When this happened, my mirror image disappeared, the three hyenas instead looking back at me. I fell backwards, off the counter as the light was back to a normal level. After standing up again, I looked around, breathing heavily, my senses feeling alert, though no one was there. Once again though, the lights flickered between the dim light and the normal. In a sort of strobe effect, I could see the trio approach me, finding myself unable to move as I backed up against a wall. I closed my eyes to prevent seeing them approach, but I could hear their laughs bounce off the walls in the room. They were right up against me. Just when I thought I was about to be attacked for the third time by a hyena in this dream, the wind seemed to pick up around me, the faint voices I thought I heard became a little clearer, telling me to "Stay strong within." I didn't even question it, finding the voices had almost calmed me. As a result, my eyes opened, and I saw nothing there. The room was empty. That was, until a final flash brought them lunging towards me, but this time I yelled 'stop' from the top of my lungs in retaliation, showing them no fear.
Despite the turmoil I had endured in the dream, I woke with a slow yawn, seeing the light reach into the den. It looked as if I had a peaceful sleep. I looked around and sighed, the ordeal finally being over. It had been a shock to my system, the closest I had been to my human self since I first arrived in the pride lands. I didn't have too long t think about it though as I had a lively Nala prod at me, outside of her mother's hold, a large grin on her face. "Wakey wakey. Mum has been waiting for you to wake up for ages." Sarafina raised a brow at her cub, her daughter noticing and grinning "Okay, not that long, but we do need to go outside." She seemed desperate to get out.
"You can stay here for a little longer if you want. Nala and I won't be far. Join us later if you want." The lioness said to me, getting up to guide her daughter out of the den and presumably to a spot in the savanna where she could keep an eye on her. I felt the need to stretch out, feeling a few clicks until I felt suitably stretched, having let my claws show, making sure they went back in.
I took a few steps towards the mouth of the den when I was met with the familiar sight. It was Simba. He noticed me and walked up with a smile on his face. He was far more perky than when I had left him the night before. It seemed he had learned the lesson and made amends with his father. "Hi Tishala. My dad told me I should say sorry to you and Nala for taking you to the elephant graveyard. So, sorry." His mood didn't even drop a little bit when he spoke to me, which was nice for me to see. In just a second he looked around and lowered his head with a sly smile "We were brave though. You jumped in front of Nala when I took care of the hyena." He stated proudly, acting as if we were major heroes. Regardless of the truth, it was good to see he wasn't still down. A moment later he perked up, starting to walk out of the den, looking to me "Let me show you what my dad showed me. C'mon, it's really cool." He bounded away, looking back to make sure I was following.
I found I didn't have much choice in following him, getting to his side when he stopped at the edge of a rock platform where a vast landscape was visible "This is an amazing view." I said, looking around at the magnificent scene.
Simba snickered and looked to me with one brow raised "Oh yeah? Well you are viewing my kingdom. Dad says everything the light touches is our kingdom. See that?" He pointed to a place rather gloomy, void of light. "That's where we went yesterday. That isn't part of my future kingdom. I can't wait to have all this kingdom. I think being king will be so much fun. I can make the rules and do whatever I want." He gave another chuckle "But dad says there are still rules I need to follow; like respecting the circle of life." He stopped talking just to let me look across the land, trying to envision it with the cub prince as king. I got to wondering what he would even look like as an adult. At a guess, I would think the same sort of figure his father was, with a glorious red mane to go with it. "I should probably go and find Nala to say sorry to her as well. You coming with?" He asked, cocking his head to the side a little. I nodded in response.
Just as we were turning to go, we were met by the sudden appearance of a lion. His brown fur and black mane as distinguishable as the scar over his eye. He was looking to Simba with a held back grin. "Oh Simba, I'm so glad I found you." He paused and pursed his lips into a smile, a claw at his lips "Oops, I do hope I wasn't interrupting anything." He lifted his pitch a little, getting both of us to shake our heads in response, both looking equally confused at each other. "Wonderful." His grin returned "I have been told by your father to bring you into the gorge. I do not know what to think of it, but I would imagine it is something special for his special boy." His words became more and more lazy, sounding almost resentful in the last two.
Simba stepped forwards and gave me a nod to do the same, but as soon as I took one step closer, Scar shook his head "No no no no, I didn't say Simba and friend. I said Simba." He looked at me with a little amusement. "I believe what he has planned is more of a familial event. As Simba is his family and you are not, one would think he only wants Simba to go. The only reason I am going is to escort my favourite nephew. Perhaps your father would have done the same if he were here." He gave a dark smile at that last part, though he made sure only I saw it. With that I took my single step back. "Come Simba, we mustn't keep your father waiting." He hummed the end to his last word, bouncing in his steps as he led the way for the prince. For a couple of minutes, I sat there and watched until their figures disappeared.
A/N: Well there's another one for you folks. This one had a longer time delay in it because my assignments don't complete themselves. Once they were out the way, I got to work, so hopefully you all like the work I have done for you. I do not own Disney characters or settings, as per usual. Please, if you do like the story even a little bit, or even if you don't, I would love to know about it in the reviews. So please don't hesitate to review! With that said, see you next time.