The gummi ship stops at it reaches its new destination. Namine, as well as the still slightly flustered Roxas and Xion, look out the cockpit window. Unlike last time, this world seems very unfamiliar to them.
"What a strange world. It looks like it's just wilderness. No civilization or anything." Says Roxas
"Well there are heartless down there, so there has to be something important going on." Namine notes.
"I guess we'll just have to find out what it's like," Xion says. Roxas and Xion collect a few supplies before descending to the world below. Upon landing, they begin walking but it feels strange, they look down at their feet, and see that they don't have them, rather they walk on four paws, the two look at each other and see it, they're both animals. Roxas took on the appearance of a Lion cub, with bright golden fur. Xion Took the form of a Hyena cub, with black fur.
"Uhh. . . Namine, Why are we animals?" Roxas asks Namine.
"After you two entered the world, I was able to get a clearer picture of the world's inhabitants, and well, they're all animals," Namine explains within their heads
"Okay, makes sense, but couldn't you have made us different animals? We can't exactly wield keyblades this way." Says Roxas.
"You both have mouths, use them," Namine Responds.
". . . You're joking right?" Asks Roxas. Suddenly communication cuts off and they can no longer talk to Namine within their minds. "Oh my gosh, she's not joking." The two get a quick look at their surroundings and notice its eerieness. Small holes are filled with a sickly green liquid that has vapor coming off of it, definitely not safe to drink "Geeze, this place is creepy" Says Roxas. Suddenly, they hear a shrewd voice
"You hear that guys!? They think this place is creepy." Suddenly laughter erupts from around them, unseen enemies in the shadows all around them. Suddenly, they're surrounded by three full-grown Hyenas. "You there, girl. What are you doing with that Lion cub? You'd be much better off if you brought him here dead." said the shrewd female Hyena.
"What!? No way, friends don't do that to each other." Says Xion. there's a pause for a moment before even more laughter erupts from around them.
"Fine then, I guess that just leaves more food for the rest of us!" shouts a male hyena. The three hyenas charge at them. Roxas and Xion run for the exit as fast as they can in these new bodies, but the hyenas begin to gain on them. Suddenly, a roar is heard in the distance and the hyenas stop. "Great, scar has the worst timing." says the male hyena again. Roxas and Xion don't know what they're talking about, and they don't stick around to find out, leaving the general area.
"*huff* I think *puff* we lost them. . ." Xion says, gasping for air. The two look around and find themselves in a large Canyon, large skeletons can be seen scattered all throughout the place. Suddenly, something catches their eyes. An adult female lion hissing at strange beasts, before dodging as theta track her.
"Xion, are those-?" Roxas asks, hoping he's wrong.
"I think so, Roxas. They're most definitely heartless." The two realize they can't leave the lion to die to the ferocious heartless, and jump in and help. It's tricky, but the two are able to take down the large heartless in their current state.
"Thank you, both of you. You really saved me there." Says the female lion
"We're just glad you're okay," Xion responds. The female lion takes a good look at Xion for a moment before speaking again.
"A hyena huh? Shouldn't you be with the other ones?" Asks the female lion
"No way, they wanted to eat Roxas! I couldn't let them do that!" Says Xion.
"You two must be very close. Hyenas and lions don't get along around here. I'm glad you two are the exceptions. My name is Nala"
"I'm Xion. Nice to meet you."
"And I'm Roxas. Have you seen any other heartless around?" Roxas asks. Nala is confused for a moment.
"Heartless? Is that what those things are called? I'm not sure if there are any others. . . I don't usually hunt outside the Pride Lands."
"The Pride Lands?" Xion asks
"You don't know? You two must be really young. It's the home of us lions, follow me, I'll show you." Says Nala, running off. Roxas and Xion quickly follow behind her.
"Namine, couldn't you have made us a bit older? We could use the extra strength" Roxas thinks.
"I'm sorry, that's just how someone your age would look like as a lion, and the form you take is only for show, you're strength is based on how strong you normally are," Namine explains in Roxas and Xion's heads. Eventually, the three make their way to the Savanah, or at least what's left of it. The grass is a dull green color, while the many trees spotted around the place are all dead. It's a surprise anything is still alive here. Roxas and Xion notice a large rock formation not too far from where they are, and it also happens to be in the direction Nala is running. The two follow her before she stops.
"No. . . It won't work." Says Nala. Roxas and Xion look in confusion "If scar finds you two, he'll kill both of you." There goes that name again, Roxas and Xion wonder just who this scar guy is. Nala turns to look in a specific direction, "go that way, over there you'll find a thick jungle. You'll be safe from Scar there, at least for now." Says Nala
"No! We can't just leave you! This Scar guy sounds like trouble, we should help!" Xion suggests
"No. You can't. Scar is not someone you want to mess with and right now, we're not capable of overthrowing him just yet." Says Nal "Now go! I'll come back for you guys when we need you. She says before running off to the large rock in the distance."
"Should we follow her?" Asks Roxas.
"No, her heart has made a decision. We should respect that." Xion says, turning to the direction Nala faced previously. The two begin to walk to the jungle. As they walk, they find themselves in a large valley. They continue to walk but run into a dead end the valley continues on, but there's a huge drop off separated them from the rest of the valley.
"We're gonna have to jump." Says Roxas.
"What!? Are you insane!?" Asks Xion. "We'll never make it across, the gaps too large,"
"It's the only way to the jungle though." Roxas Says
"Well, then let's think of another way to get there." Says Xion. She looks around and looks at the cliffs above "Maybe we can climb?" she says. But her train of thought is interrupted by the sound of sprinting behind her. She looks to see Roxas Running straight towards the edge. "Roxas! No!" Roxas leaps off the ground and into the air. He soars across the gap with ease and lands on the other side.
"C'mon Xion! It's your turn!" Roxas yells from across the gap. Xion looks down into the gap, it seems to stretch so far down. She closes her eyes and looks away from the gap.
"I can't Roxas! I'm not as strong as you! I won't make it!" Xion shouts
"That's not true Xion! I know you can do it! Just believe in yourself!" Roxas shouts back
"But I don't! I can't! I'm not special like you Roxas! I'm just a copy of someone else made of memories. There's nothing special about me!" Xion shouts, her voice begins to choke up as she holds back tears. Everything she's been holding in, bottling up, it all poured out at once in that moment she looked over the cliff, but Roxas interjects.
"That's not true Xion! Even if you don't think you're special, I know you are."
"How? How would you know that?" Xion asks
"Because you're special to me! And Axel! You make me feel like I have a heart Xion! Nobody else is able to make me feel like you do. So please, listen to me and not the doubts in your mind. You can do it!" Roxas shouts.
"Roxas. . ." Xion's worries disappear, all of those negative feelings are replaced by thoughts of her friends, and she chooses to trust in their faith. She walks back, and then sprints as fast as she can, she reaches the edge and jumps she closes her eyes and braces herself for a falling feeling, but instead rolls over and onto her side. She opens her eyes and sees Roxas
"Are you okay?" He asks. She made it to the other side! Xion gets up and nods.
"I'm okay. Thanks, Roxas." Xion says, she approaches him and rests her head on his shoulder, and nuzzled his neck, which is the closest she could really get to hugging him while in the state. Once she's done she backs off and faces the rest of the canyon." Come on, let's go Roxas." Xion says, with a big smile on her face. Roxas smiles back and the two run along, side by side through the Wildebeest Valley. They encounter heartless numerous times, but they're able to handle them easily as long as they have each other. After defeating a large group of heartless, the two notice that one of them drops something.
"Is that a torn page?" Roxas asks.
"I think so." Says Xion.
"We have to bring it with us! But how. . ." Roxas tries to think, but Xion already has an idea. She picks up carefully and approaches Roxas
"Xion what are you-?" But is cut off Xion
"Hold schtill. . ." Xion says in a muffled voice, trying carefully not to harm the page. She places it in the thick fur on top of Roxas's head that resembles his hair. "There, that'll work for now." Says Xion.
"Are you sure it'll stay there?" Roxas asks.
"Not really, but it's the best we can do. Keeping it in our mouths may damage it, and we already have to fight with our keyblades in our mouths. Says Xion.
"Yeah, your right. Let's just hope it doesn't fall out without us knowing." Says Roxas.
After some time walking the two find the jungle and traverse it, dealing with any heartless that gets in their way. They make it far into the deep jungle and eventually find a clearing. But what's more interesting than the clearing, is who's in it. On a large log stands an adult male lion, with a thick mane, surrounded by flying heartless. The two are about to jump in and rescue him when he lets out an incredibly loud roar. Roxas and Xion jump at the sound of it, and they're not the only ones afraid, as the heartless not only back off but disappear.
"Woah. . ." The two say in unison, The lion perks up and looks at them. He squints as if he's trying to recognize an old friend.
"Who are you two?" asks the lion.
"I'm Roxas."
"I'm Xion. The lion looks at the two, still looking as if he's seen them before.
"Have we met before?" asks the lion.
"I don't think so." Says Roxas.
"You may have met a friend of ours though. His name's Sora. Ring any bells?" Xion asks. The lion perks up at that name.
"So you're friends of Sora too huh? I'm Simba, nice to meet you-" but his greeting is cut off by screaming in the jungle
"Help! Simba! Heeelp!" the voice says from the jungle.
"She's gonna east us!" yells another voice.
"Timon! Pumbaa! Something must have happened in the jungle! I have to go help them!" Says Simba, running into the jungle
"We'll back you up!" Says Roxas following him. The three run into the jungle, Roxas and Xion lag behind Simba, who runs much faster than they do. Eventually, Simba leaps and tackles something up ahead. Roxas and Xion catch up and see, that it's Nala.
"Simba Wait!" The two stop fighting, Simba looks over at the two wondering why he's asking him to stop, but Nala's eyes open wide.
"Simba!?" Nala says in shock. Simba turns back to Nala and looks closely before his eyes open wide
"Nala!?" Simba's shock is equal to that of Nala's.
"Simba!" Nala says happiness fills her voice. The two but heads and circle around each other, playing like young cubs "I thought you died!" Nala says, Nuzzling Simba, Simba responding by Nuzzling her back.
"What's going on?" the meerkat, who's presumably named Timon, meaning the Warthog must be Pumbaa.
"Shhh, they're having a moment." Says Xion, watching the beautiful reunion of two. Timon and Pumbaa jump back at the sight of Roxas and Xion. Nala and Simba look over at the four and have a nice laugh.
"Don't worry. They're all friends of mine." Simba says reassuringly
"So that means. . . Nobody's planning to earth anybody else for lunch, right?" Timon asks nervously. Roxas and Xion nod. Timon and Pumbaa take a sigh of relief. Everyone has a good laugh before Simba speaks up again
"Can you guys excuse us for just a moment?" Simba asks. The four nod and Simba leads Nala to the clearing, just the two of them. After some time the four check to see what's up, just in time to see Nala walking in their direction. She passes by them without acknowledgment.
"Nala? What's wrong?" Xion asks. Nala pauses for a moment, then sights.
"He's not the Simba I remember." She says before she continues to walk off. The four turn to face Simba, who stares off into the distance, saddened. Roxas and Xion approach him, to see what's wrong, But as they approach, Simba simply turns in walks off.
"I guess he's not in the mood to talk." Says Roxas. The four wait for Simba to return, but he does not. As Sunsets, Roxas and Xion curl up next to each other and fall asleep, and wait for the morning, to see if Simba returns.
Much much later, the two hear a voice in their heads. "Hey! Wake up! Both of you! He's back!" Roxas and Xion open their eyes and get up, just in time to see Simba return. The five are quiet, and only Xion dares break the silence.
"Have decided on what you're going to do?" Xion asks. Simba nods.
"I'm going back to face my past. And I could use your help." Says Simba the four smile and agree to help the rightful king take back his throne. As the five run back to pride rock, Simba asks Namine something
"So how did you know Simba was coming?" Roxas thinks
"Same way I'm watching you guys right now, looking through his memories as he makes them," Namine says. "He really is a worthy king, it just took him time to realize it." Said Namine within his mind.
The five backtrack their way to the pride lands. From the thick biome of plants that is the jungle to the drought-ridden wasteland of a desert to the heavily-traveled path of the Wildebeest Valley, the finally, back to once prosperous savannah. Simba looks on in shock at the place he calls home.
"Wait, we're gonna fight your uncle for this!?"
"Yes, Timon. It's my home. I can't leave it like this." The five make their way to Pride Rock, to face Scar. Scar walks to the edge of the cliff on pride Rock and looks around at his kingdom. Suddenly something catches his eye on the side of his pride rock. His eyes wide and he steps back as Simba jumps from above and lands. The rest of the lions in pride rock awaken, and their eyes widen at the sight of him.
"Simba- You're alive!?" Scar says as he continues to step back.
"This kingdom doesn't belong to you, Scar." Says Simba
"Simba's the rightful king!" Shouts Nala from below, and soon the other lions begin to say the same thing. Chanting it over and over. Simba approaches Scar as he continues to step back in fear.
"The choice is yours, Scar. Either step down. Or fight." says Simba, Scar, is backed into a corner, before he regains his composure and begins to speak back, attempting to mess with Simba's head
"Must this all end in violence? You'd hate to be responsible for the death of another family member, would you?" Says Scar.
"I put the past behind me Scar!" Simba says in a heartbeat
"But what about your faithful subjects? Have they?" Asked Scar, tauntingly. The lions below look confused. "Go on. Tell them who's responsible for Mufasa's death!" says Scar, pushing him closer to the metaphorical edge. Simba hesitates for a moment before speaking
"I am," says Simba. There are some gasps from below
"He admits it! Murderer!" Says Simba, beginning to push Simba towards the literal edge. "If it weren't for you, Mufasa would still be alive. Do you deny it?" Scar continues. To push him towards the edge.
"No! But it was an accident!" exclaims Simba.
"You're in trouble again. But this time, Daddy isn't here to save you." Says scar, taunting as they get closer and closer to the edge. "And everybody knows why!" Says scar, suddenly Simba slips and falls, barely stopping his near-fatal experience by grabbing onto the cliff's edge.
"Simba!" Nala yells with worry. Along with the other lions.
"Now this looks familiar." Scar says. "I think I've seen this before." he goes on. "Oh, yes! I remember. This is just the way your father looked. . . before he died.' Says Simba, grabbing Simba's paws and clawing into them "And here's my little secret. . ." Scar whispers "I killed Mufasa!" Simba's eyes widen as flashbacks to his father's death appear in his mind, All that pain, trauma, suffering, was all a lie crafted by his uncle. Suddenly Simba's filled with rage and pulls himself up into the air, and tackles Scar.
"Murderer! Tell them the truth!" Yells Simba, right in Scar's face.
"All right All right, I admit it." Says scar.
"Louder!" Simba yells
"I did it! I killed Mufasa!" Says Scar. Roars of anger erupt from the ground below. The sound of many sprinting lions is heard from below. Suddenly the three hyenas that attacked Roxas and Xion emerge from the cave in pride rock and tackle and attack Simba, Allowing scar to get up and run away into the cave. The three hyenas surround Simba, but before they can attack, Nala, Roxas, and Xion come swoop in
"You go after scar! We'll handle these guys!" Says Roxas. Simba nods and runs into the cave after Scar. More Hyenas come to the other three's aid, but they're not prepared for the sheer force of a charging warthog, launching off the cliff and onto the ground below. Those who weren't chasing Timon and Pumbaa, who run into the cave.
Roxas and Xion follow them and attack from behind. The hyenas don't expect this and flee after taking major damage from the surprisingly strong cubs. After that, Roxas and Xion continue through the cave and reach the peak of pride rock, where Simba and Scar are dueling. The two lions claw at each other, and Scar gets the upper hand, knocking Simba onto his back, He jumps at him, preparing to deal the finishing blow, but Simba thinks fast and kicks him with his four paws, and knocks him over the edge of the peak.
"You did it!" Xion says but is interrupted by a familiar headache that comes and goes.
"Oh, that's just a preview." The three turn to see a black Lion walking up the cliff."' Causes this ain't over- not by a long shot!" The fat lion, may look different than usual, but it's unmistakably Pete. he points behind them to the cliff's edge. Suddenly, from the edge, Scar climbs back onto the peak. "Anger and jealousy turned the king of Pride Rock into a Heartless! Oh, your kingdom's gonna rise again. But this time, as the Pride Lands of Darkness!"
"That's what you think!" Says Simba. As he, Roxas, and Xion face the heartless king of pride rock. The heartless king is attacked by the three heroes and is quickly overwhelmed but he suddenly knocks them all back with a wave of darkness. Scar envelopes himself in darkness and sprints around the peak, lightning striking the ground he walks under. The three strike at the heartless when they can but he leaps around very quickly, fire erupting whenever he lands. Eventually, however, Roxas, Xion, and Simba weaken him slowly, but surely, and in a fit of desperation, the heartless king envelopes himself in total darkness, and beings dashing around the arena with incredible speed, the three heroes dodge when they can and heal each other when they can't Scar can't keep using the attack forever, and eventually the darkness fades, allowing for Roxas and Xion to strike him, before Simba leaps onto him and claws at his throat, finishing him off.
His subjects watch as Simba walks to the cliff's edge while the sun sets over the pride lands. Simba reaches the edge and lets out a loud roar, the rest of the lions of pride rock roar along with him in celebration. The sun glimmers on pride rock once more, just as Simba glimmers as Pride lands newfound hope, Roxas and Xion are not seen at the celebration however, instead, they watch from a distance in the savannah. While others don't see it, Roxas and Xion see a keyhole form on the sun. The two point their keyblades at it as best as they can, and beams of light shoot from their keyblades, piercing the keyhole. The two then disappear in a flash of light. The two keyblade wielders appear on the gummi ship face down on the floor.
"You know, you two aren't animals anymore, you can stand up now." Says Namine, Jokingly. The two get up and Namine notices something "uhh. Roxas? What's that in your hair?" Roxas puts his hands in his hair and feels something strange, he pulls it out and realizes what it is.
"Oh look! The torn page! I forgot about that." says Roxas. The three laugh for a moment before Xion speaks up
"Geeze, I missed being a human." Said Xion, stretching her arms and legs, already getting used to being a human once more.
"You can say that again," Roxas says, the three giggle some more before sitting in their seats.
"There doesn't seem to be any more worlds to explore." Says Namine.
"Hmm, how about Atlantica? I'd like to think I'm stronger than I was then." Says Xion.
"Alright. Atlantica it is!" Says Namine, setting course to the undersea world.
"First Fish, then monsters, then animals, then back to fish. We never catch a break do we?" Says Roxas. The three laugh some more as the Gummi ship blasts off, the three heading off to a not-so-distant world.