Welcome to Chapter 4, ladies and gentleman. Before I begin the chapter, allow to respond to the lovely reviews I have gotten for Chapter 3:

Jack905: Thank you.

LionKingIsAwesome: Thank you so much Drew. I'm happy that you are enjoying my story.

Daniel's the man 98: I like the relationship between Simba and Matthew too; they are so cute together. :)

Chapter 4: The Hidden Danger

A few months later, and Matthew was now fully settled into his new life in the Pride Lands and he was enjoying every second of it, his skin had turned darker from exposure to the hot rays of the sun and his clothes had dwindled to just his shorts. He was also getting taller. The child was relaxing on the cliff, nestled in his parents' fur, smiling. Simba and Nala returned the love back to their man-cub by licking and nuzzling their son's tanned cheek, making the kid giggle. "I love you Mama… Papa…" Matthew said.

"I love you too, cub-cub." Simba and Nala replied, purring. Simba stopped nuzzling his cub and looked out to the horizon to see Zazu flew down to perch on the king's shoulder. "Good morning, sire. Good morning prince Matthew" The hornbill said as he landed on the ground before the two and, bowed. "Good morning Zazu." Matthew replied happily, already acquainted with the hornbill, after being already introduced to his father's majordomo by Simba a month ago, after bumping into him when Matthew went to get fruit from a nearby tree and scaring the life out of the hornbill in the process.

Simba smiled. "Good morning Zazu. Have you come to give me the morning report?" Zazu nodded in response, extending his right wing "Yes sire." Zazu coughed and cleared his throat. "A group of elephants are getting angry over food shortages where they live, past the waterhole. Their loud arguments are upsetting the other herds, and it would be bad if they leave the area because of it."

Simba sighed and shook his head. "Those elephants…" He nuzzled his mate and licked his cub's cheek. "I'm going to sort this out" Simba started to walk away, down the steps of Pride Rock and onto the soft grass. "Papa… please wait!" Matthew ran down the steps after Simba.

"Please Papa let me come with you. I want to help you." Simba sighed and looked at his son. "I'm sorry Matthew but you have to stay with your Mama. It's too dangerous." The sad child nodded slowly "Yes Papa…" Simba pulled his son into a tight hug. "I'll be just fine, my cub-cub. I'll be right back." Simba licked Matthew's cheek lovingly."

Simba then ran off with Zazu and it didn't take long for Simba and Zazu to turn to small figures in the distance. Matthew, while at Pride Rock, sat down on one of the bottom steps and cupped his face in his hands. Noticing this, Nala walked up to him and wrapped a paw around him and pulled him close, and the two embraced each other and Matthew smiled softly when his lion mother licked his forehead and hugged his Mama tightly.

"Mama… I'm worried about Papa. What if he gets hurt?" Matthew muttered as he clung to his mother's fur tightly. "Don't worry my cub. Your father will be fine, he will come back safely. He has dealt with worse you know." The two remain embraced and the child smiled. "Can you tell me more about Papa, please Mama?" Nala nodded and picked her cub up and carried him to the cliff of Pride Rock and dropped him in her paws, and licked his head. Matthew giggled and snuggled into her paws.

Nala then told her cub tales of Simba's past and how he faced dangerous hyenas as a cub and survived, and how he fought his evil uncle and his army of cruel hyenas after he turned the Pride Lands into ruin. "Wow… Mama Papa is so cool. I can't wait to be as cool and powerful as he is." Nala laughed and nuzzled her cub. "Just wait until your older, my son. You will be as great as your father will be." Matthew gasped "Really Mama?" Nala nodded and continued nuzzling her cub.

Time flew past and it had been an hour since Simba and Zazu left to deal with the group of angry elephants and Matthew grew worried. "Mama… where is Papa? He isn't back yet."

Nala held back her worried face and held her son close. "Don't worry my cub. Simba will be back soon." However, another hour flew by and still, no Simba and no Zazu. Matthew grew impatient and ran down the steps of Pride Rock to find his father and Zazu while his mother was sleeping peacefully, the paws leaving a hole where her man-cub used to be. Matthew reached the waterhole and took a break, taking a deep drink from the waterhole "Hold on papa I'm coming." Little did he know that Muuaji was stalking him…

It was now midday and the African sun was burning down onto the Pride Lands. Matthew, now past the waterhole, was sweating and panting heavily. One issue that the human would have to face by living in Pride Rock was the terribly hot weather. He would avoid the hot weather by spending his afternoons inside the cave, with Simba and the rest of his family, keeping cool.

Muuaji continued to stalk this human brat, his prey unaware. He was too bothered by this heat to see the predator closing in for the prey. Now was his chance!

Muuaji's speed steadily increased as he continuously closed in on his prey. This human was done for! Muuaji successfully pinned Matthew down and heavily pushed a paw on his back, causing him to scream in pain. "Well well well…" Muuaji stated, an evil smirk appearing on his face. "Where are you going, Matthew? Shouldn't you be staying at Pride Rock with your Mummy and Daddy?"

Matthew moaned in pain. "What do you want with me? How did you know I would be out here?" Muuaji smiled, which scared the child. "…I have been following you. Early as you stepped out of that king's pride's view." Matthew gasped as the evil lion started to push harder on his back, making the child scream in pain. "Why are you doing this to me? I didn't do anything to you." Matthew said weakly. Muuaji just shushed him quietly as the pain grew too much to the child and he passed out. Happy with the result, Muuaji lowered his head under the unconscious child's belly and crawled under him to put the child on his back, and carried him to the Outlands, laughing.

Simba and Zazu finally returned to Pride Rock after dealing with the elephants. The elephants once again had not been conservative with their food supply and had to be told by Simba to be more careful. The two were shortly approached by a worried Nala. "Simba! Zazu! Where have you been? Have you seen Matthew on your way back?" Her voice was not as strong as before Simba left and she had a look of terror in her eyes. Simba shook his head. "No, I haven't. I thought Matthew was with you." His face now had the same worry as Nala did. "He was with me… but he must have left to find you. I fell asleep with him in my paws. He was snuggling into my paws, smiling. I never knew someone like him would just walk off without telling anyone." Tears started to form in Nala's eyes. "I'm a terrible mother…"

Simba interrupted her by kissing her on the mouth and nuzzling her. "Don't say that. You were a great mother to Kiara, and you are a great mother to Matthew. I'll send a search party for him." Simba sent a search party with Vitani leading, she offered to lead. Vitani loved the child, and she remembered how she would tell the child stories when they had the time. Some funny, some happy and some sad, but Matthew loved it all the same, and that drove Vitani to find the man-cub.

Now in the Outlands, Muuaji carried the unconscious child on his back to a giant termite mound and he entered deep inside. He walked down a dark and dirty path deeper into the mound until he reached the biggest part of the mound, a big space near the bottom of the mound. Muuaji and his group of lions had turned this mound into their base of operations. The evil lion leader carried the child to one of the holes in the wall, and dropped him inside, and sealing him inside the hole by covering the holes with a rib-cage.

It didn't take long for the child to wake up. "W..Where am I?" The child muttered as he got up and saw Muuaji on his 'throne' of bones. "You take me back! You take me back home, right now!" The child demanded tears of regretting leaving his sleeping mother's paws and anger for being captured, falling down his tanned cheeks. Muuaji laughed "Why would I do that? You will be the perfect tool I need to take down the king and take over from where he left off." Muuaji was now standing at Matthew's 'cage', smirking at his newly trapped prey. "I will never help you take down my Papa's role as king!"

Muuaji sighed and walked back to his throne of bones. "I knew you wouldn't agree." Matthew moved back slightly in the small hole to try and hide his shivering scared form as best he could, hoping that Muuaji would let him out. "Papa…" the child muttered as he curled up tightly on the hard ground while crying and shivering in his cell. "Please save me."

Matthew had noticed the sun was now setting as the light that fell from a hole in the ceiling. Was this his new fate? To be locked away like this? Whimpering and crying out for his papa in the dark? Matthew didn't think much about it as he was tired, he wondered how long he was knocked out for. The child soon fell asleep, cold and afraid.

The search party came back after a two hour search and they shook their heads, their feline faces showing their sadness of not finding the child, with Vitani taking it the worst. Her claws clinging to the ground as she cried tears of grief, she flicked up some grass in anger. Kovu ran to her, nuzzling her. "Did you find him?" Kovu asked, concerned for her sister.

"I'm sorry." That was all Vitani could say. "We tried. I wanted to keep looking but we were gone for too long. We looked close to the Pride Lands, we looked past the waterhole, and we even went as far as the Outlands. And nothing, I promised him I would always be there for him. He saw me as more as a friend. He saw me as his auntie."

Flashback – Earlier today

Matthew was sitting against the cave's wall, minding his own business when Vitani strolled in from the latest hunt, a failure. "What's wrong Vitani?" Matthew asked as he walked up to her and placed a friendly hand on her cheek. "We missed a good zebra for lunch today." Vitani answered, sighing sadly. Matthew smiled and snuggled into her paws, surprising her. She smiled and licked his cheek, making him giggle. "Tani..?" Matthew asked, Tani was Matthew's nickname for her, and she found cute. "Can you be my auntie?" Vitani was surprised. "Auntie…? Are you sure, Matthew? I haven't even had a mate yet."

Matthew nodded. "Yes Auntie Tani. I want you… You're kind and funny and you tell the best stories. Vitani smiled and held the child close. "Well… it wouldn't hurt. Okay, I'll be your auntie." Matthew smiled and hugged Vitani tightly. "Thank you Auntie Tani." Vitani nuzzled Matthew, purring. "You're welcome…"

Flashback over…

"I failed him." Vitani continued to sob and Simba and Nala went up to her. "No you haven't failed him. We will find him Vitani." Simba nuzzled to console her. "We'll keep on searching until we find him."

The sun was now set and the pride were saddened by Matthew's disappearance. Nala took his disappearance the hardest. Simba nuzzled his crying mate as they fell asleep without their cub sleeping with them…

…And that's it for Chapter 4, guys. Do not worry guys. The story will end happily, I promise you. Matthew will escape. And for this 'human in the Pridelands' fanfiction, Matthew will grow and become more mature as the story continues. I hope you see you guys again for a much happier Chapter 5. Don't forget to review, follow and favourite, and take care. :)