Let's suppose Simba woke up a few seconds late. Would he still go the distance if only for Nala?

Alternate Fate Chapter 1: You Just Missed Her

"Simba-URK!"

Simba moaned in his semi-slumbering state as his ears picked up on Nala's voice and hissing sounds that followed. His still sleepy mind mistook the latter noise for his best friend's flatulence still petering out, lifting his head slightly from his arms. "Look, I know it's a raw deal but it's the best I can think of," the former prince groggily retorted to what he thought was his crush trying to talk him out of his decision again. "You can get on my case... all you want... in the morning..."

Simba attempted to return to sleep when his ears picked up on some laughter along with that same hissing. "Oh, ssssshe won't be here in the morning, your highnessss," the reptilian voice gloated with a haughty tone of voice Scar would've blushed at. His Highness began to open his eyes when he didn't recognize the voice and slowly began to push up from the branch with his fore-paws. "What's with your voice?" he groaned out. "You sound so..." His head glanced back.

"...strangled..."

One look caused Simba's mind to wake up in an instant and get him jumping back on all fours, fear injecting adrenaline throughout his veins. He prayed for but a second that he was still dreaming until he turned himself around and felt that freezing feeling of horror again. At the branch's base were Nala's hind paws being swallowed up whole by a large purple python. Simba had woken up in time to see it gulp her down and slither off down the tree fast. She was just gone.

Simba slapped himself with his right paw if only to snap himself out of his stupor and do something about this. "Hold it, you-!" he cried out while rushing after the purple python. However, the snake was already half way down the tree trunk when he began to climb down with his claws. Simba was so wracked with fear and panic that he only managed to get so far before losing his grip and sliding down the trunk crying. He landed on the dirt back-first softer than expected.

Simba was stunned for only a few seconds before her remembered Nala and how he didn't have time to feel hurt. He sprung back up onto his paws while horror returned to his face and shrunk his pupils in his anxiety. Simba tried to find the purple python with his night vision but couldn't spot even a scale of it. "Nonononononono," the lion cub repeated in his growing dread, looking in each direction. His chest heaved up and down while his heart raced from pure fear.

"NALA!" Simba screamed at the top of his lung in desperation. "NAAAAAALAAAAAAA!" His cries sent roosting bird flying from all nearby trees. Thirty seconds passed while the ex-prince slowly began to process the horrific situation. "No," he choked out, his voice quivering in weak denial. "Please, not her." He was quick to let large tears form in his eyes and splash onto the dirt. Once again on this very day, the lion cub had led one of his beloved to their untimely demise.

Simba knew that Nala was probably in the purple python's stomach as he sobbed and too weak to get out of them herself. He also knew that if he followed a false lead, that time wasted would allow the lioness cub to be digested slowly and painfully. The thought of it only wounded Simba's heart more. He'd heard cautionary tales about pythons and how they could swallow a cub after squeezing their life out. However, his best friend was still alive in the belly of the beast.

Simba hung his head in a heavy combination of guilt, despair and horror in knowing there was nothing he could do. Nala was spending her very final moments alive being burned painfully and melted down into nourishment for a cold, heartless monster. "I... didn't mean to..." Simba bargained with himself. "I... I couldn't've..." However, he could blame nobody but himself this for letting Nala die. If he had only been attentive even in his sleep, he could've done... anything.

"Is... this my punishment?" Simba choked out with heavy sniffling. "Anyone who gets close to me... dies?" His grief led him to believe that Nala was swallowed alive because his exile meant that he was to endure the Jungle's brutalities in isolation. If the lion cub dared to make a single friend, the fates would dispense of them cruelly. If Nala hadn't ran into the desert with him, she could've been with her mother all safe and sound. Instead, her so-called best friend'd killed her.

Simba sobbed his heart out while resigning himself to his destined punishment when his sniffling caused his nose to pick up on something. He had been so consumed with his guilt and angst that he almost completely ignored it before recognizing it. It smelled like a really ripe fart mixed in with the purple python's scent. The exact stink Nala had blasted into his face at near point-blank before. The lion cub's face lit up with an expression of realization. He may still save her.

Simba closed his eyes to focus on the scent and locked onto the purple python's direction. However, he only took a single step before feeling a weight of hesitation clamping him down. If his punishment was to endure the Jungle's horror alone, wouldn't it be best to let Nala go? Simba even considered that it would be merciful if she was put out of her misery. This thought proved to be fleeting when he shook his head and glared in determination as well as defiance.

Simba sprinted forth while his mind replayed old memories of Nala that fueled his resolve. Her smile, her sass, her tomboyish tendency to get into trouble just like him. He couldn't bear to let it all end like this and pressed onwards. Maybe he didn't deserve Nala but she did not deserve any of this. If she was going to be stuck with him, at the very least he could keep her safe. The lion cub sprinted faster and faster towards the python, devising a way to deal with the big guy.

"Sim... ba..." Nala repeated with a strain in her voice. She felt her fur becoming soaked with the purple python's internal body fluids while she stared down a dark tunnel of pink muscle. Said muscles pulled her down the tail-end of the snake's esophagus slowly but surely and confined her tightly all the way down. Both of Nala's fore-paws were pinned to her belly while her hind legs were pressed together. She could breath decently but the air was nothing short of rancid.

Nala had found herself trading one prison for another but couldn't bring herself to scream and shout like any other girl in her position. The purple python has squeezed her to near death and worn her out before swallowing her. She was so physically tired to kick up a fuss but that didn't stop her from sobbing softly once the gravity of her situation had sunk in. "Please..." Nala choked out with tears. "I don't want to die." Memories of the Pride Lands flashed before her eyes.

Nala could clearly remember all those times she had mouthed off to her mother and griped whenever it was bathtime. Sarafina had always meant well to not act so overbearing yet the lioness cub was such a brat and felt embarrassed by her affection. Now? Nala wished so very much to see her mother again just once and tell her exactly how much she loved her back. The cub always thought that her parents would always be there. Until she was ripped away from them.

Nala then found her mind replaying all the times Simba had risked himself to save her. She still remember his bravery making her blush when he got in front of her and the hyenas. The prince wasn't trying to look cool or act tough but rather putting his life on the line all for her. Nala especially remembered how he had dragged her across the desert by himself and attempted to pull her out of a cub-eating plant. She smiled tearfully this time in seeing how much he meant to her.

"Simba..." Nala choked out, imagining that he was right there with her. "I... love... you..."

Nala slowly slips into the stomach. Does Simba have the time to make a plan?