Hours after Maten had fallen asleep on his back Saga had caught sight of Pride Rock. It reared majestically into the afternoon sky, a gray silhouette against the clear blue sky. It was a sight that made him wonder if he should banish anyone loyal to Simba and claim the mighty throne for himself.

He was coming up to a watering hole when Maten suddenly woke up, falling off his back with an oomph. He recovered in a second and scrambled to his feet, his fur bristling as his head darted around. Saga looked back at him and raised a brow, but before he could question the cub a voice growled from the plains.

"Maten, you spawn of nightmares, why don't you just die?"

Saga noticed a dark lion with a black mane approaching him, flanked by several lionesses. Maten snarled and tried to dive for the hated Kovu, but Saga quickly intervened. Kovu paused stared at the huge lion, remembering the words of the Council regarding a certain Saga. He spoke with deathly quiet to the impressive lion easily pinning the furiously struggling Maten beneath a single paw.

"Who are you?"

"Saga, King of the Kuborn Pride."

One of the lionesses spoke up, the pretty one standing immediately next to the dark lion. Saga noticed similarities between this pretty lioness and his Char.

"But the birds said the Kuborn pride was wiped out…"

"Saga, you cannot stay. Leave now."

Saga's eyes narrowed dangerously, his lips rising into a snarl.

"I didn't come here to banter words with you, kid. I've come to speak with the King of the Pride Lands, the son of Mufasa."

"Simba's dead, Saga. I am the King. And I'm telling you to leave."

Saga roared with laughter in the face of the demand.

"You? I would have thought the son of someone from…"

"Arina, where's Arina?"

Maten's frantic cry cut Saga off. Saga glanced down at Maten, repeating the name slowly under his breath.

"Arina?"

Maten twisted painfully out from Saga's paw and struggled to his feet, staring the king in the eyes.

"Where's Arina, Kovu?"

Kovu snarled at Maten but didn't answer, turning his eyes stubbornly away. Kiara moved slowly towards Maten. She focused solely on him, not the look Saga was giving her or the warning growl Kovu was sounding. Maten shook with anger but didn't lash out at her. The tears in her eyes as she walked towards him stopped his vengeful claws from raking across her beautiful face.

"Maten…"

Saga perked up at the sound of her voice, a move which Kovu noticed. He growled in the rogue's general direction, but Saga only flashed a smile. Kiara glanced over at him then back at Maten, her voice cracking.

"Maten, please tell me you know where my daughter is…"

He stared at her, the rage in his eyes quickly giving way to fear.

"Kiara, what are you saying?"

"What do you think she's saying?"

Kovu's voice was shaking as well as he snapped angrily at Maten. Maten stared at him, beginning to rethink his plans of having Saga murder him. At least not yet; Kovu was suffering enough as it was, and death would only promote peace in his soul. Maten lowered his head some, staring levelly at Kovu. If Saga trained him to be a killer, he would be able to kill Kovu himself – a much more horrible end, he thought, to be killed by the prince instead of the rogue. He turned to leave, but didn't break his eyes from Kovu's.

Kovu couldn't bear to look into his blue eyes, eyes that were as accusing as if he was looking at Vitani. His tough front faded and he turned his head away, closing his eyes. He would never forgive himself, but he didn't need Maten's eyes reminding him of that. Maten moved up to Saga, who ruffled his small mane before standing. He cast a final glance at Kiara, who quickly moved back to Kovu's side and avoided his eyes as her king did, before he turned to leave.

The white eyes… He froze, staring at the white eyes moving quickly towards them. They were like small suns, bringing to light a memory he wished to forget. A cloud of dust rose behind the box-like animal. Maten blinked curiously, moving forwards as if to meet the thing.

"What's…"

"Run, Maten, run!"

Saga's roar deafened the cub, but the giant frame slammed into him and forced him to the ground. He struggled to his feet and rushed after Saga, terrified at the look of fear in the huge lion's bloodshot eyes. A sound like thunder roared out behind them and Maten heard the cries of his pride as they turned and ran. He turned to see if Kiara was okay, but Saga roared again.

"Don't stop, you fool, run!"

Maten hesitated, but the thunder roared out again. A stinging pain erupted from his ear, but he didn't stop to inspect the pain. He ran because he knew his life depended on it, and the throbbing agony from his ear only spurred him faster.

The jeep rolled to a stop just in front of the lioness the bullet had hit. The oldest of the men, balancing on the passenger seat with the rifle in his hand, jumped out and inspected the wound before muttering to himself as he wrote brief information in a small journal.

"Clean shot 'twixt the eyes." After replacing the journal in an oversized pocket he cleaned the blood off the lovely pelt then carried the lioness into the jeep. The younger man, the driver, jumped out and moved towards the watering hole. He was handsome, with dirty blonde hair and brown eyes glowing on a youthful face. He was staring across the water, squinting against the reflection of the sun.

"Dad, there's something over there."

The man walked over next to his son and studied the golden figure before he gasped and broke into a run. "That's a girl, Damien!"

Damien ran behind his father and the girl they'd left in the jeep perked up, standing on the seat to watch them. After a moment, curiosity made her jump out of the jeep and run to catch up with her father and brother.

They were kneeling next to her, making sure she was alive. Her skin was a very creamy white and her hair was gold. She had a medium frame, was quite muscular, and… attractive, Rose noticed. She tore her gaze away before she studied any further. She stared into the clear water, meeting her own gaze. Her mother had named her Rose because of her eyes, which were a vibrant shade of pink. Her long blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail, except for two burgundy locks hanging on either side of her face.

"Rose!"

She tore her eyes from the water and turned to her father.

"Yes, Da?"

"Get the green blanket out of the back so we can cover her."

She nodded, stole another glance at the girl and then ran to the car. Damien and Da were close behind, carrying the unconscious girl gently between them. Rose pulled the requested blanket out of the back while they stretched her on the back seat and then handed it to Da so he could wrap her. She crawled into the back seat while Damien and Da got back in the front, starting the jeep and turning quickly around, speeding back in the direction they had come from. The engine roared as they sped away, and then silence reigned again.

Aime, having watched the entire episode perched in the center of the water, sighed. She had remained invisible to not only the Pride but furless ape – no, human was it? – and after witnessing the death of the lioness Shena she was glad they hadn't seen her. She didn't know if the human weapons could hurt her, but she wasn't willing to take this risk.

Death had barely had time to retrieve Shena's soul before her body was disturbed. They had waited behind, both watching the humans through the black mist that only the Goddess seemed to notice. As soon as the humans had taken Arina, Death and Shena vanished. Aime waited a moment, watching them disappear. She frowned thoughtfully then vanished as well, melting slowly into the surface of the watering hole.