It was quite early in the morning when Nala woke up, not even dawn yet. She sat up in her cave and rubbed her head and thought about the dream she had been having a lot lately. In it she was like two people: herself and watching herself. She stood on the top of their pride rock and was joined by Kaseko and he sat down beside her a nuzzled her. She returned the gesture but then a white flash of light comes and she finds herself in the den of their home and her father walks in Talking with another male but it's not anyone from their pride. The new male looks at her and smiles then bows his head. She repeats the motion and finds him familiar in a sense. The light came again and she finds herself standing behind the new male as he squares off with Kaseko. As if he was protecting her from him. Kaseko lashes out and the dream stops and Nala wakes up.
Nala had been having the same dream a lot lately. As a matter of fact it was the fourth time this week.
"Its just a dream. Kaseko would never hurt me like that. Anyone for that matter." she said to herself. She got up and stretched her legs and walked outside. It was a little chilly and still dark as she made her way down to the water hole but she saw someone was already there.
"Hey Jabilo!" she yelled. Shocked Jabilo whirled around to face her.
"Shut up. You'll wake up everybody. Why aren't you asleep?" he whispered
"I'm not tired anymore. Why aren't you asleep?"
"Same reason." There was a short pause after until Jabari broke the silence. "Hey can I ask ya something?"
"Sure."
"Why do ya like Kaseko so much, can't ya see there is something up with him?"
"Why do you care so much? Everyone tells me that there is something wrong with him. Tell me what it is. I'm the one whose gonna marry him not you, so stay out of it!" Nala demanded.
"Sorry. Excuse me for caring. Would you not marry him if your father said no?"
"Why would he? He likes Kaseko."
" Does Kaseko like your dad?"
"Of course. The little arguments they have are nothing. Daddy just doesn't understand him. He doesn't take time out to try to."
"Whatever." Jabilo said. There was another short silence until once again Jabilo spoke. "Can I ask ya something else?"
"What?"
"What was your other betrothed like you know the one from Pride rock?" Nala felt a ball in her throat. Just the thought of Simba still made her uneasy and upset. Jabilo quickly realized this and quickly countered, "you don't have to answer if you don't want."
"No it's okay. Simba was… very special to me. Although I may not have shown it much. I guess you ever know what you have till it's gone."
"You don't have to answer this either but…if you saw him again, now, would you trade Kaseko for him?"
"I don't know. If I saw him I would probably be to ashamed to even talk to him."
"Why?"
Nala sighed, " Before Simba died and after I came here, my mother would always ask me if I wanted to go see him." Nala stopped because she could tell that she was going to start crying again and then she continued. "I always said no and that we could go after the drought passed. When we went I found out that Simba had died the day the drought started and that he had been waiting for me to go home." Nala started crying as Jabilo nuzzled her trying to console her. He felt guilty now since he kept asking her questions.
"Maybe you need some closure." Jabilo suggested
"What do you mean?" Nala sniffled.
"Don't get mad at me or anything but I've walked in on you talking to yourself countless times by the pond. At least I thought you were talking to your self. But now I know why."
"So what do you mean, "closure"? "
"Maybe you would feel better if you went to your old pride to visit. Avoiding them for the rest of your life won't make you feel any better. And I know you had other friends there besides Simba you need to see them at least. You can't just pretend they never existed."
"You know I think your right, Jabari. I still have Sarabi, Amani, Taraja, Diallo, and everyone else. I'm not going to stall anymore. I'm gonna go right now!"
"Now?? What do I tell your dad?"
"Tell him I went for a walk in the jungle like always. I'll be back by tonight."
"You can't go by yourself. Do you know what your dad would do to me I he knew that you were off by yourself and I knew? And then I'll be getting the third degree from Kaseko. Hell no. I'm goin too!!"
"Fine let's go before anybody sees us." Nala and Jabilo took off in the darkness of the early morning and headed for pride rock.
Back at pride rock everyone was sound asleep. Everyone except Diallo, Kobe, and Essian. They couldn't sleep knowing that there where hyenas in their home although they had known this for the past three years, it bothered them a lot more now. Number one: Amani was gone. He had been gone for three years and no one knew what happened to him. He would have already been mature enough to challenge Scar, but he wasn't there. Number two: since they were getting more physically mature, Scar started to get nervous. He would see how they would play tackle and how they would attack any hyenas that came too close. He also knew that he wasn't very popular with them either. Till one day His daughter Zalika had an idea. She didn't like those young males much either, they were a nuisance to her, she suggested to Scar that he banish them out of the pride, before they could cause any more trouble. He complied and he, some of his lionesses, and a few hyenas chased them out of pride rock and out of the boundaries. The three young males were prideless now. They would have to fend for themselves. They knew that if Mufasa had been there he wouldn't have banished them out. If Simba were still around they would be the pride males when they came of age and aid Simba in his royal duties and help guard the pridelands. Since during Mufasa's generation he and Scar were the only male cubs born, there was only a king and one pride male, although Scar didn't help with much anyhow. Scar, the lionesses, and the hyenas chased them toward the desert. Essian did not like this one bit he could hear the real pride Landers roaring back at pride rock wishing luck to the new rogues. He stopped dead in his tracks. Why was he running he thought. He's running from his home, his family and why all because some little bitch didn't like him. Kobe and Diallo saw that he stopped and stopped running and saw that he was charging at the hyenas. Scar and the other lionesses had stopped their part of the chase and left the rest up to the hyenas. About ten hyenas had come along and piled up on Essian. Kobe and Diallo ran over to help, knocking hyenas off of their friend then biting and slashing at them while they were down. By the time the skirmish was overall ten hyenas were mortally wounded some falling and dying where they stood. Diallo and Kobe had nothing but a few scratches that could heal easily, but Essian had a considerably large gash on his arm that would be able to heal but most likely leave a permanent mark.
Now what. They were in the desert and could go either way out further west although there was nothing but desert. They had heard of some mysterious jungle that lay at the end of the desert, with beautiful waterfalls and some of the sweetest fruit one would ever taste. But they weren't willing to take the risk and what if it was just a myth. Or they could go back home they would just have to lay low for a while. Their territory didn't end directly at the edge of the desert and there were a few miles between the pridelands edge and the desert that were nobody's land. They could stay there. They would travel around the perimeter of the pridelands from the west side to the east in order to prevent any suspicion. And they couldn't allow any of their lionesses to know o their presence for fear that they might blow their cover. So that was their plan.
Currently they were on the east side. They spent about a week at each side and had just arrived the day prior. They would eat small rodents or any stray animal that was separated from the already depleted herds. And if any hyena spotted them they would have no choice but to hunt it down before they got to Scar. They had become quite efficient at that. The sunlight was starting to peek up slightly above the horizon creating a ridge of glowing light where it appeared that the earth met the sky. From miles away they could hear Scar's wake up roar. He was probably telling their mothers and friends to get hunting for his wife and HIS hyenas, while his little daughter sat and taunted the younger girls about not being able to hunt fast enough. Telling them they were worthless and are a waste of fur. Essian paced back and forth out of boredom and anger. Although he didn't enjoy having to hunt with his mother, sister, and the others he would feel better knowing that they were okay and that he could witness that.
"Damn!!"
"What now Essian?" Diallo exasperated
"Right now we should be in our cave sleeping, not staying out here like rogues. I'm gonna kill Scar for this you just watch." Essian replied angrily.
"Yeah well, with your nagging nothing is gonna get any better. When we get older and challenge Scar you two can take him on. I just wanna get rid of Zalika. you guys can have the crown." kobe suggested
"Man you can't attack a girl! We'll just banish her." Diallo stated.
"What Girl!? Safara and Taraja are girls. I have no idea what Zalika, but she sure as hell ain't a girl."
"I second that." Essian added.
"Dang I'm starving. We shouldn't be hungry this early in the morning!" Diallo exclaimed.
"Well, let's go see what we can find. Don't get your hopes up though." Essian said.
The three rogues headed out further east in search of whatever they could find and on the look out for any stray hyenas. A few miles away headed towards them Nala and Jabilo almost reached their destination.
"Are we there yet?" Jabari asked impatiently.
"Honestly, I don't know. Everything looks so different. But I know we came the right way." Nala stated surveying the land. They had noticed a few miles back that the land was starting to look a little dead, but it was even more so now. They continued walking until Nala came to a stop.
"What is it?" Jabilo asked
"Pride Rock! I can see it! We're almost there." Nala exclaimed. Excitedly Nala ran ahead of Jabilo who was too tired from their journey there to run.
"You go on ahead. I'll catch up." Jabilo panted. As Jabilo passed through the dry savanna grass he paused for a while to catch his breath. Nala was already pretty far up ahead, when he heard some rustling in the dry grass. He was standing perfectly still as he waited so it couldn't have been him. He continued walking again when suddenly a flash of golden fur tackled him to the ground. He snarled as he struggled to get up to defend himself when another form dodged at him knocking him to the ground. He was able to let out half a roar when he was cut short we once again he was knocked of his feet by yet another creature. Nala heard his short roar and ran back to see what was wrong. Jabilo found himself being held down by three lions: one holding him by the neck with one arm and covering his mouth with the other. While the other held down his legs. The other was standing in front of him. Jabilo was trying to tell him his purpose there but the lion's paw muffled his words.
"Shut up!" the one in front of him whispered in a commanding tone. He was no older then Jabilo, none of them were for that matter, they must have been about the same age. Jabilo calmed down a bit but had an angry scowl on his face. "What are you doing here? Don't you know not to come into some ones land without being invited. You can get killed for that!!" the lion said, although he was bluffing since he knew currently they were in no ones land.
"Kobe take your paw off his mouth and -"
"Jabilo!!" Nala yelled as she finally reached him and found him being held by the lions. Nala's eyes widened as the lions turned and saw her coming up. This was last thing she needed a confrontation.
"Uhhh…" Nala stammered she really had no idea of how to answer. The lion who was not on Jabilo crouched low and snarled at Nala, "What do you want?" he snarled. Diallo saw that she was scared and eased up a little on his grip on Jabilo.
"Essian, don't scare her like that. Save that for Zalika." Diallo commented.
"Essian?" Nala repeated. She studied the three young males their faces, their voices, and the way they were holding Jabari down. She remembered playing with Simba one day and then out of no where the other cubs came and tackled him to the ground and were holding him in the same fashion as they were Jabilo.
"Diallo? Kobe?" She asked going out on a limb. The two lions released Jabilo and got to there feet and studied her.
"Who are you?" Diallo asked.
"Is it really you?! Oh my gosh this is so awesome. It's me Nala!" Then he spoke, "Nala what are you doing here?"
" I came to visit you guys." she then turned her attention to Jabari who was still breathing heavily from being choked for so long. "Oh I'm sorry about Jabilo He's a friend of mine."
"Well why didn't he say so?" Essian commented.
"I did say so, but he had his paw on my mouth." Jabilo replied.
"Sorry, but we better get away from here before we get caught." Kobe insisted.
The five lions quietly walked away from the pridelands. When they were far away Nala asked, "Why are you guys all the way out here?"
"Scar had us cast out. He thinks we're out in the desert. But we came back and so far I think he doesn't know we're here. " Essian explained.
"But why and what about Amani?" Nala asked.
"Hate to tell ya this but Amani has been gone for three years. We have no idea where he is. He picked a fight with Zalika and scar had him banished. He hasn't dropped by or anything."
"Who's that?"
"Scar's daughter."
"Daughter?"
"It's along story. You have enough time." Essian asked.
"yeah. Go ahead." Jabilo answered. The three lions told them everything, the new pride members, Amani's exile, their exile, and their plans for the years to come.
"Are you guys really gonna stay here. It looks as if it didn't change a bit since I was here last.": Nala asked after they were done with his story.
"Your were hear before?"
"Yeah. My mother and I we spoke to Amani and he was the one who told me about Simba." she replied with her head down.
"Oh yeah we still miss him. And now Amani. He's out there somewhere though."
" After we spoke to him we offered to let him stay with us if he ever needed anything. Maybe he's at my pride I just haven't found him yet. And you know since you guys are already banished do you guys want to come with us at least until things get better here. It would probably be safer."
Jabilo intervened, "No, No, No. Tauna wouldn't allow it and what if some bad guy comes looking for them they are gonna attack us."
"Jabilo. Shut up I didn't ask for your opinion." nala said.
"Actually I think your friend is right. If something should happen we wouldn't want your pride to suffer with ours. And besides I think we should stay here and make sure nothing happens to our mothers and the rest of the pride. We'll keep your offer in mind though." Diallo proposed while the other two nodded in agreement.
"alright then. We'll be there if you need anything. I wish I could stay longer but I need to get back before sundown. My pride doesn't know we're gone." Nala said.
"well you better get going." Diallo said. The old friends nuzzled goodbye as Nala and Jabilo left.
"Its just a dream. Kaseko would never hurt me like that. Anyone for that matter." she said to herself. She got up and stretched her legs and walked outside. It was a little chilly and still dark as she made her way down to the water hole but she saw someone was already there.
"Hey Jabilo!" she yelled. Shocked Jabilo whirled around to face her.
"Shut up. You'll wake up everybody. Why aren't you asleep?" he whispered
"I'm not tired anymore. Why aren't you asleep?"
"Same reason." There was a short pause after until Jabari broke the silence. "Hey can I ask ya something?"
"Sure."
"Why do ya like Kaseko so much, can't ya see there is something up with him?"
"Why do you care so much? Everyone tells me that there is something wrong with him. Tell me what it is. I'm the one whose gonna marry him not you, so stay out of it!" Nala demanded.
"Sorry. Excuse me for caring. Would you not marry him if your father said no?"
"Why would he? He likes Kaseko."
" Does Kaseko like your dad?"
"Of course. The little arguments they have are nothing. Daddy just doesn't understand him. He doesn't take time out to try to."
"Whatever." Jabilo said. There was another short silence until once again Jabilo spoke. "Can I ask ya something else?"
"What?"
"What was your other betrothed like you know the one from Pride rock?" Nala felt a ball in her throat. Just the thought of Simba still made her uneasy and upset. Jabilo quickly realized this and quickly countered, "you don't have to answer if you don't want."
"No it's okay. Simba was… very special to me. Although I may not have shown it much. I guess you ever know what you have till it's gone."
"You don't have to answer this either but…if you saw him again, now, would you trade Kaseko for him?"
"I don't know. If I saw him I would probably be to ashamed to even talk to him."
"Why?"
Nala sighed, " Before Simba died and after I came here, my mother would always ask me if I wanted to go see him." Nala stopped because she could tell that she was going to start crying again and then she continued. "I always said no and that we could go after the drought passed. When we went I found out that Simba had died the day the drought started and that he had been waiting for me to go home." Nala started crying as Jabilo nuzzled her trying to console her. He felt guilty now since he kept asking her questions.
"Maybe you need some closure." Jabilo suggested
"What do you mean?" Nala sniffled.
"Don't get mad at me or anything but I've walked in on you talking to yourself countless times by the pond. At least I thought you were talking to your self. But now I know why."
"So what do you mean, "closure"? "
"Maybe you would feel better if you went to your old pride to visit. Avoiding them for the rest of your life won't make you feel any better. And I know you had other friends there besides Simba you need to see them at least. You can't just pretend they never existed."
"You know I think your right, Jabari. I still have Sarabi, Amani, Taraja, Diallo, and everyone else. I'm not going to stall anymore. I'm gonna go right now!"
"Now?? What do I tell your dad?"
"Tell him I went for a walk in the jungle like always. I'll be back by tonight."
"You can't go by yourself. Do you know what your dad would do to me I he knew that you were off by yourself and I knew? And then I'll be getting the third degree from Kaseko. Hell no. I'm goin too!!"
"Fine let's go before anybody sees us." Nala and Jabilo took off in the darkness of the early morning and headed for pride rock.
Back at pride rock everyone was sound asleep. Everyone except Diallo, Kobe, and Essian. They couldn't sleep knowing that there where hyenas in their home although they had known this for the past three years, it bothered them a lot more now. Number one: Amani was gone. He had been gone for three years and no one knew what happened to him. He would have already been mature enough to challenge Scar, but he wasn't there. Number two: since they were getting more physically mature, Scar started to get nervous. He would see how they would play tackle and how they would attack any hyenas that came too close. He also knew that he wasn't very popular with them either. Till one day His daughter Zalika had an idea. She didn't like those young males much either, they were a nuisance to her, she suggested to Scar that he banish them out of the pride, before they could cause any more trouble. He complied and he, some of his lionesses, and a few hyenas chased them out of pride rock and out of the boundaries. The three young males were prideless now. They would have to fend for themselves. They knew that if Mufasa had been there he wouldn't have banished them out. If Simba were still around they would be the pride males when they came of age and aid Simba in his royal duties and help guard the pridelands. Since during Mufasa's generation he and Scar were the only male cubs born, there was only a king and one pride male, although Scar didn't help with much anyhow. Scar, the lionesses, and the hyenas chased them toward the desert. Essian did not like this one bit he could hear the real pride Landers roaring back at pride rock wishing luck to the new rogues. He stopped dead in his tracks. Why was he running he thought. He's running from his home, his family and why all because some little bitch didn't like him. Kobe and Diallo saw that he stopped and stopped running and saw that he was charging at the hyenas. Scar and the other lionesses had stopped their part of the chase and left the rest up to the hyenas. About ten hyenas had come along and piled up on Essian. Kobe and Diallo ran over to help, knocking hyenas off of their friend then biting and slashing at them while they were down. By the time the skirmish was overall ten hyenas were mortally wounded some falling and dying where they stood. Diallo and Kobe had nothing but a few scratches that could heal easily, but Essian had a considerably large gash on his arm that would be able to heal but most likely leave a permanent mark.
Now what. They were in the desert and could go either way out further west although there was nothing but desert. They had heard of some mysterious jungle that lay at the end of the desert, with beautiful waterfalls and some of the sweetest fruit one would ever taste. But they weren't willing to take the risk and what if it was just a myth. Or they could go back home they would just have to lay low for a while. Their territory didn't end directly at the edge of the desert and there were a few miles between the pridelands edge and the desert that were nobody's land. They could stay there. They would travel around the perimeter of the pridelands from the west side to the east in order to prevent any suspicion. And they couldn't allow any of their lionesses to know o their presence for fear that they might blow their cover. So that was their plan.
Currently they were on the east side. They spent about a week at each side and had just arrived the day prior. They would eat small rodents or any stray animal that was separated from the already depleted herds. And if any hyena spotted them they would have no choice but to hunt it down before they got to Scar. They had become quite efficient at that. The sunlight was starting to peek up slightly above the horizon creating a ridge of glowing light where it appeared that the earth met the sky. From miles away they could hear Scar's wake up roar. He was probably telling their mothers and friends to get hunting for his wife and HIS hyenas, while his little daughter sat and taunted the younger girls about not being able to hunt fast enough. Telling them they were worthless and are a waste of fur. Essian paced back and forth out of boredom and anger. Although he didn't enjoy having to hunt with his mother, sister, and the others he would feel better knowing that they were okay and that he could witness that.
"Damn!!"
"What now Essian?" Diallo exasperated
"Right now we should be in our cave sleeping, not staying out here like rogues. I'm gonna kill Scar for this you just watch." Essian replied angrily.
"Yeah well, with your nagging nothing is gonna get any better. When we get older and challenge Scar you two can take him on. I just wanna get rid of Zalika. you guys can have the crown." kobe suggested
"Man you can't attack a girl! We'll just banish her." Diallo stated.
"What Girl!? Safara and Taraja are girls. I have no idea what Zalika, but she sure as hell ain't a girl."
"I second that." Essian added.
"Dang I'm starving. We shouldn't be hungry this early in the morning!" Diallo exclaimed.
"Well, let's go see what we can find. Don't get your hopes up though." Essian said.
The three rogues headed out further east in search of whatever they could find and on the look out for any stray hyenas. A few miles away headed towards them Nala and Jabilo almost reached their destination.
"Are we there yet?" Jabari asked impatiently.
"Honestly, I don't know. Everything looks so different. But I know we came the right way." Nala stated surveying the land. They had noticed a few miles back that the land was starting to look a little dead, but it was even more so now. They continued walking until Nala came to a stop.
"What is it?" Jabilo asked
"Pride Rock! I can see it! We're almost there." Nala exclaimed. Excitedly Nala ran ahead of Jabilo who was too tired from their journey there to run.
"You go on ahead. I'll catch up." Jabilo panted. As Jabilo passed through the dry savanna grass he paused for a while to catch his breath. Nala was already pretty far up ahead, when he heard some rustling in the dry grass. He was standing perfectly still as he waited so it couldn't have been him. He continued walking again when suddenly a flash of golden fur tackled him to the ground. He snarled as he struggled to get up to defend himself when another form dodged at him knocking him to the ground. He was able to let out half a roar when he was cut short we once again he was knocked of his feet by yet another creature. Nala heard his short roar and ran back to see what was wrong. Jabilo found himself being held down by three lions: one holding him by the neck with one arm and covering his mouth with the other. While the other held down his legs. The other was standing in front of him. Jabilo was trying to tell him his purpose there but the lion's paw muffled his words.
"Shut up!" the one in front of him whispered in a commanding tone. He was no older then Jabilo, none of them were for that matter, they must have been about the same age. Jabilo calmed down a bit but had an angry scowl on his face. "What are you doing here? Don't you know not to come into some ones land without being invited. You can get killed for that!!" the lion said, although he was bluffing since he knew currently they were in no ones land.
"Kobe take your paw off his mouth and -"
"Jabilo!!" Nala yelled as she finally reached him and found him being held by the lions. Nala's eyes widened as the lions turned and saw her coming up. This was last thing she needed a confrontation.
"Uhhh…" Nala stammered she really had no idea of how to answer. The lion who was not on Jabilo crouched low and snarled at Nala, "What do you want?" he snarled. Diallo saw that she was scared and eased up a little on his grip on Jabilo.
"Essian, don't scare her like that. Save that for Zalika." Diallo commented.
"Essian?" Nala repeated. She studied the three young males their faces, their voices, and the way they were holding Jabari down. She remembered playing with Simba one day and then out of no where the other cubs came and tackled him to the ground and were holding him in the same fashion as they were Jabilo.
"Diallo? Kobe?" She asked going out on a limb. The two lions released Jabilo and got to there feet and studied her.
"Who are you?" Diallo asked.
"Is it really you?! Oh my gosh this is so awesome. It's me Nala!" Then he spoke, "Nala what are you doing here?"
" I came to visit you guys." she then turned her attention to Jabari who was still breathing heavily from being choked for so long. "Oh I'm sorry about Jabilo He's a friend of mine."
"Well why didn't he say so?" Essian commented.
"I did say so, but he had his paw on my mouth." Jabilo replied.
"Sorry, but we better get away from here before we get caught." Kobe insisted.
The five lions quietly walked away from the pridelands. When they were far away Nala asked, "Why are you guys all the way out here?"
"Scar had us cast out. He thinks we're out in the desert. But we came back and so far I think he doesn't know we're here. " Essian explained.
"But why and what about Amani?" Nala asked.
"Hate to tell ya this but Amani has been gone for three years. We have no idea where he is. He picked a fight with Zalika and scar had him banished. He hasn't dropped by or anything."
"Who's that?"
"Scar's daughter."
"Daughter?"
"It's along story. You have enough time." Essian asked.
"yeah. Go ahead." Jabilo answered. The three lions told them everything, the new pride members, Amani's exile, their exile, and their plans for the years to come.
"Are you guys really gonna stay here. It looks as if it didn't change a bit since I was here last.": Nala asked after they were done with his story.
"Your were hear before?"
"Yeah. My mother and I we spoke to Amani and he was the one who told me about Simba." she replied with her head down.
"Oh yeah we still miss him. And now Amani. He's out there somewhere though."
" After we spoke to him we offered to let him stay with us if he ever needed anything. Maybe he's at my pride I just haven't found him yet. And you know since you guys are already banished do you guys want to come with us at least until things get better here. It would probably be safer."
Jabilo intervened, "No, No, No. Tauna wouldn't allow it and what if some bad guy comes looking for them they are gonna attack us."
"Jabilo. Shut up I didn't ask for your opinion." nala said.
"Actually I think your friend is right. If something should happen we wouldn't want your pride to suffer with ours. And besides I think we should stay here and make sure nothing happens to our mothers and the rest of the pride. We'll keep your offer in mind though." Diallo proposed while the other two nodded in agreement.
"alright then. We'll be there if you need anything. I wish I could stay longer but I need to get back before sundown. My pride doesn't know we're gone." Nala said.
"well you better get going." Diallo said. The old friends nuzzled goodbye as Nala and Jabilo left.