Nala and Ban'ai both jumped back a few feet when the strange figure suddenly appeared. At first, Nala thought it was Scar because of the mane but when she gave a second look she noticed that the mane was a little bit lighter. That was when Nala knew that this lion was a stranger to the land.
"My goodness you scared me don't you know that it is not polite to jump out at someone when they are not paying attention," said Nala a little annoyed.
"Yeah I nearly had a heart attack," said Ban'ai.
The lion stepped closer from the shadows revealing his face and that was when Nala realized that something was wrong with him. He was limping and his breath was a little ragged.
"Please…….help me," he said before collapsing into the grass.
Nala gasped. "Ban'ai go get Rafiki, maybe he could help him," said Nala.
Ban'ai nodded and flew as fast as he could to find the old shaman while Nala walked closer to the injured lion.
Once she was close enough, she realized that he was young, about her age, he was also quite handsome but Nala knew that handsomeness was not something to look for in a husband. Then she realized what his problem was. His shoulder was bleeding quite badly and the wound did not look like something other lions would make. It was from something different.
"Oh my, who did that to you?" asked Nala.
'Two legged's" said the lion weakly.
Nala looked down at him quite confused, did he mean someone like Rafiki, she had heard that baboons could be quite dangerous. Maybe Rafiki would explain it to here better.
"What is your name?" asked Nala a little nervous about asking him questions since he was so weak.
"Kamau," he said.
"Quiet Warrior," she said softly knowing that that was the meaning of his name. She liked it but said nothing since she really did not want to drain his strength.
It felt like forever by the time Rafiki arrived and when he looked down at Kamau he knew that the wound was serious.
"Help me bring him over to the bushes where he will be safe from the sun, I am sensing he is going to have a long recovery," said Rafiki.
"Kamau did you here that? You have to get up and move back to the bushes, we will help you," said Nala.
Kamau said nothing but slowly lifted himself up and leaned against Nala as she led him over to a clear spot in the bushes where Rafiki stood there waiting. Once Kamau reached the spot he collapsed from exhaustion. Rafiki then touched his wound causing Kamau to growl slightly.
"Now Kamau I am going to help you so please try not to bite me," said Rafiki.
"Don't worry…..I can…..only growl any way," he said.
Rafiki inspected it while Nala and Ban'ai stood nearby watching. Once Rafiki was done with the inspection, he spoke.
"I have seen many creatures carry this wound and this one is very light compared to others. Just as long as I heal it properly he will be fine," said Rafiki.
"So what is that wound from?" asked Nala.
"Humans," said Rafiki.
"Humans? What are those?" asked Ban'ai.
"They are creatures that walk on two legs like me, but they not as kind and use up the land like it should be their own instead of for every creature in the world. Kamau here was shot by a stick they use for killing other animals. They most likely wanted his fur," said Rafiki.
'That's terrible," said Nala.
"I know, now please be quiet, this takes a lot of concentration and I don't want to mess up," said Rafiki.
Nala nodded as she and Ban'ai watched Rafiki make special herbs and other remedies to stop the bleeding and remove the bullet. It seemed to take forever until Rafiki smiled happily.
"I got the little bugger," said Rafiki.
Nala and Ban'ai looked at him quizzically until he pulled out his bloody paw to show them a round object that had been in Kamau's shoulder.
"That would have killed him?" asked Ban'ai.
"Yes it is more powerful than it looks," said Rafiki.
Nala sniffed it and then pawed it lightly before she caused it to fall on the ground and into the grass.
"Oops," said Nala.
"Don't worry about it, it is better to have it there than inside you. Now then Kamau is going to need rest so I would suggest that you stay away from him until he is better. I will stay beside him at all times making sure the wound will not bleed too much. When I am ready I will find you or I will get Ban'ai to see you," said Rafiki.
"Yes sir. And if you need anything I would be glad to help you," said Nala.
Rafiki nodded as Nala and Ban'ai left the bushes so they could go hunt for Sarabi. So far Rafiki sensed that these two would become friends in time.
Even though Nala would not stop thinking about Kamau, she was able to kill an antelope and bring it home to Sarabi who was actually up walking around when she arrived.
"Here you are Sarabi, sorry it took so long," said Nala.
"That is quite alright, I know how hard hunts can be sometimes," said Sarabi.
"Actually that was not the real reason," said Nala.
"What was it then?" asked Sarabi as she began to tear at the flesh of the antelope.
"I met someone," said Nala.
"You met someone, was he or she from the outlands?" asked Sarafina.
"No mother I met another lion," said Nala.
"Where is he and may I meet him?" asked Mufasa who sounded a little anxious by the fact that Nala seemed to have found someone already.
"You can't right now, he's hurt, Rafiki is trying to heal him but once he feels better I'll bring him to you sir," said Nala.
"Does he seem nice?" asked Sarafina.
"I don't know, he only said a few words like his name and how he got hurt but that's about it," said Nala.
"What is his name?" asked Sarabi.
"Kamau," said Nala.
Mufasa just nodded at her, he was glad she told him this so now it wouldn't come so suddenly to him although he wished it was Simba she had found but that was something that would never happen, his son was dead and that was final. Though he wished that that was not the case.
It was three days later; Nala had just killed a wildebeest with the pride when Ban'ai came flying up to her.
"Kamau would like to talk to you," he said.
Nala stood up and looked over at Sarabi and Mufasa who had heard the whole thing.
"Go ahead, and bring him some of the kill, he might be hungry," said Sarabi.
Nala smiled and took a piece of hindquarter and ran as fast as she could with it towards Kamau.
When she arrived she found Rafiki standing outside of the bushes waiting for her. "Ah I am glad you brought some meat with you or I would have sent you back to get some," he said.
"I knew he would want some," said Nala who then walked into the bushes and found Kamau laying up and smiling at her.
"Thank you for bringing food for me too and thank you so much for saving my life," he said.
"Your welcome but Rafiki was the one who really saved your life," said Nala.
"But you sent Rafiki didn't you, I've seen lionesses just walk away," said Kamau who then began to eat the piece of meat she gave him.
Nala watched him, now that he was healed; his face looked friendlier meaning he could be trusted. She then saw his bullet wound which had actually been bandaged by a special leaf Rafiki used.
"How is your shoulder?" asked Nala.
"Its okay, Rafiki healed it up nicely though, the only problem is is that I will have a scar for life and I will walk with a limp," said Kamau.
"Oh," said Nala.
"So Rafiki said your name is Nala, am I right?" asked Kamau.
"Yes it is so where did you come from and how did you run into humans, I have never even seen then out here," said Nala.
"It's good that you have not seen them, you can never tell whether they want to kill you or not, my old pride dealt with them all the time," said Kamau.
"Oh dear, what was your pride like any way and why did you leave it?" asked Nala.
"Let me tell you then," said Kamau as he began to tell his story. "I was born probably around the same time as you; we were a nice big pride to the south of here. My father was the king and my oldest brother was going to take his place one day. It did not matter to me, he looked like he would grow to be a fine king and I always saw him as my role model. Now about the humans, I first saw them on the first day I actually went out to explore with my mother. They were in a strange contraption and they just watched us or clicked on a box that would suddenly flash a bright light at us. Then they would leave. We had many of those types of human's visit us like that though sometimes we did have a human come with a stick and shoot one of the members of our pride. It was always horrible to see and I never liked that. Finally when I was old enough I did not want to worry about getting shot and killed so I left the pride. No one wanted me to do that but I knew it was for the better.
"It was a week since I left the family and while I was hunting for something I could smell the human sneaking up on me. I saw him and a first I thought he was just wandering the savanna and if he got close I would attack him. Then suddenly like lighting he whipped out his stick and shot at me. He missed the first time but as I was running I heard him shoot the second time then I felt this searing pain go through my shoulder but I did not stop running I just kept going until I ran into you."
Nala had heard the whole thing and was surprised about how well he accepted his brother being king; she was used to Scar and his evil ways.
"So tell me about you," said Kamau.
Nala stared at him for a moment; she was surprised he had asked that. "Nothing much to tell, the king of my pride lost his son about a year and a half ago, he tried to have another cub but was stillborn so now he wants me to take his place when he is ready," she said.
"He doesn't have a brother or anything to help him rule?" asked Kamau.
"Actually he does, but he was banished for trying to kill him," said Nala.
"Any you say there is nothing much to tell, tell me about this brother, in fact tell me as much as you can because I would like to know," said Kamau.
Nala then told Kamau everything she could remember from the day of Scars banishment, the death of Zazu, Simba's death, and Sarabi's sadness. Kamau listened to every word and felt bad for her.
"Would you like it if I became your mate?" asked Kamau once Nala was finished.
Nala looked up at him in shock; she did not expect him to ask that. "Only if you want to," said Nala.
"I won't push you then," said Kamau.
"I would like to think about it then," said Nala.
"Take your time," said Kamau.
Nala just nodded but now it felt being very awkward in the bush with him. "I'm going home, I'll see you again soon," said Nala who then without a second glance or waiting for a reply she ran out.
When Nala returned to the rock, she decided to sit down at the edge and think. It was something she had never done so naturally Sarafina came over to check on her.
"Is something wrong Nala?" she asked.
"Kamau asked to be my mate today," Nala sighed.
"What did you say?" asked Sarafina.
"I told him I would think about it," said Nala.
"You would rather have Simba huh," said Sarafina.
Nala nodded. "I know he's dead but I still feel I would be betraying him if I loved someone else, Simba was my life Mother."
"Time will heal all wounds, one day you will realize that Simba is just a memory and then you will probably love every lion you come across," said Sarafina.
Nala just sighed and said nothing, Sarafina knew that it was best to leave her alone and let her think for a while.
Two days passed before Kamau could finally leave the bush and meet Mufasa and the rest of the pride landers. Nala met up with him and together they walked toward pride rock. Kamau limped the entire way like Rafiki said he would but it was barely noticeable.
When Kamau reached Pride Rock he was greeted by Mufasa who looked him over carefully. He liked how well built this lion was and how his face showed kindness.
"I would like to welcome you to the pride, if there is anything you need, don't hesitate to ask," said Mufasa.
"Thank you sir, I will try to be a good member of your pride, but I of course cannot make any promises," said Kamau.
"Just beware of the outlands, that's my only warning to you, I'm sure Nala told you all about it," said Mufasa.
Kamau nodded; so far he thought Scar was a big bully who should be taught a lesson. He knew he could not do it though because he was inexperienced but hoped that one day he would do something about the evil lion.
A week later, Nala stayed up late to look up at the stars and wonder how Simba was doing up there.
"Hi Simba, I miss you so much, I wish you could come back, I have so many thought in my head and I feel that you're the only one who can help. Hopefully you will answer when I ask you this, do you think Kamau is right for me?" she asked.
Nala stood there as nothing happened, she never could never understand Mufasa's way of talking to long dead kings. Suddenly the silence was broken by Kamau who came limping up to see her.
"Nala what are you doing out here, all the lionesses were looking for you and wanted you to play a game with them," said Kamau.
"I just thought I would try this idea of talking to the stars and maybe help me decide on what to do," said Nala.
"I see, never thought about doing that, of course everyone's pride is different," said Kamau.
"I just hope I make the right decision when I do make one," said Nala.
"Decisions are hard to do, that's why there are many lion kings out there that can't make any decisions at all and their pride suffers until mutiny forms," said Kamau who then sat down as close as he could to Nala who just looked at him and was amazed by his knowledge.
"Don't worry I will tell you if you are the one for me, it will just take me a while to decide," said Nala.
Kamau nodded "Hey at least I don't have to try and catch you and then you will know as soon as I do catch you," he said.
Nala smiled. "Well I can still try to catch you any way," she said as she tried to pounce on him but he moved just in time and began to run.
Nala laughed and ran after him. Soon the two were chasing each other and laughing through the calm night. They did not care what tomorrow would bring they both just wanted to forget their worries.
Rafiki watched them from a tree nearby; he was just as puzzled as Nala was. It wasn't about the sudden happiness that came over them, it was about something different. For some reason he sensed that something or some one else would change their minds.
A/N: Ew sorry about this chapter, I know everything went kind of fast. But I hope you still enjoyed it and don't worry everyone your questions will be answered soon; I just don't want to answer them because I want them to be surprises. Also I believe I have five or six more chapters left to go and then I will be done, and these last chapters are going to be quite interesting. On a more important note, if I don't update the way I usually update, don't worry it's only because our house was sold and we had to move. It's only been up for two weeks but I did get a call today that said someone was going to offer so I might go missing soon but I will be back as soon as I can. Well that's all I have to say so review or I will send Mushu after you to burn your butts for not reviewing. Sorry saw Mulan 2 finally, thought it was actually quite good. Well have a great week and I will see you soon.
