A/N: N/A

It was happening again.

This was the third nightmare she had experienced that night. As if running out of stars to count wasn't bad enough, now she was experiencing numerous dreams back to back regarding one of her family members. The first dream was regarding Scar, her father. She dreamt there was a fire burning around her, and his face was in the flames, watching her slowly collapse in the flames around her. The second dream involved Zira, which involved her being caught in a flash flood. When she tried to swim to the surface, however, she felt something... Or someone grab her leg, pulling her into the depths below. The third dream, however, was by far the worst she had experienced.

The warrior had "woken up", per se, in a gorge somewhere. Said gorge was covered in moss, rocks, and trees, and was filled with a thick layer of fog. It was almost as if it had been abandoned for years... Vitani looked around her spot for something that could have been of use to tell her where she was, but all she found was more rocks and mud... Save for when she looked straight ahead. In the distance, she could make out some sort of figure. A figure with feline aspects, but not one that looked familiar in any way. The figure appeared to be slowly heading closer to her. She could make out more features of the figure, namely their back left leg being broken, their body being crooked in shape, and perhaps most disturbingly, she could make out part of its face... Or, what was left of it..

The figure's face was absolutely ruined. Almost half of it was missing, revealing bare bone on its right side. The eye on that respective side had been completely gouged out, leaving behind nothing but an empty, black socket. The other eye was aglow in the mist, glaring a molten red. The figure approached closer, and more features could be made out. The creature, now confirmed to be male, hence its now-revealed mane, which appeared to have been torn to nothing but a single strip on his spine, also had numerous cuts on him, the biggest residing on his neck, which had blood dripping from it by the second. Vitani had a hard time identifying this thing...

Until he spoke.

"Vitani..." the severely injured lion roared out, his voice deep with a heavy, gnarly rasp. The lion also had somewhat of a British accent to his voice, which wasn't a common trait. "Vitani.. It's me.. I'm here.."

"N-Nuka?! Is that you?!" the relieved warrior cried out to what was left of her brother.

"Vitani..." Nuka, or what all was there of him, started picking up his pace. He started walking, then briskly walking, going into a jog, and into a sprint. However, he wasn't happy... Not even in the slightest...

"Nuka, I'm so glad you're ok!" his sister called out, reassuring him of her genuine love for him. However, Nuka didn't listen. He didn't seem to care. He was running towards her, and coming up impossibly fast for his condition. He then yelled, as if letting out a battle cry, then pounced and pinned Vitani. Needless to say, he was pissed.

"Vitani! You abandoned me! You left for so long, and only now do you wish to come back?!" Nuka repremanded his sister with his seemingly newfound voice.

"Nuka I'm really sorry! I thought you were-"

"Dead?! You thought I, the true king and successor to Scar, was dead?!" Nuka laughed maniacally out of frustration and insanity. "You didn't do one thing to save me! Not one thing!"

"Nuka, I'm sorry, ok?! How many more times to I have to apologize to your goofy a-" Vitani pleaded before getting interrupted by a hard slap to the face. Somehow, she could actually feel the slap, and more concerning, she could feel the claws... The jagged, dirtied, blood-stained claws... Vitani felt her cheek to confirm her suspicion. She felt three deep cuts digging into her face, and fresh, hot blood seeping out.

"I will not be belittled by my sister! You were going to be my advisor! My second-in-command! But alas, you had to betray me!" Nuka got up off of Vitani and started circling her.. Monologuing.. Almost as if he were taunting her...

"You think this is all a dream, Vitani? You don't think that I'm still out there somewhere? Looking for you? You left me to die on that God-forsaken day, Vitani. You did nothing to help! Furthermore, you didn't even help Mother later on! You just let her tumble down to her death! For this very reason, from this day forward, I am no longer your brother, for I have risen above that mortal statement. I am everything you secretly fear deep down inside. I am your sins, your deepest regrets, the amalgamation of your emotions that you never release. I am your nightmare, Vitani... I.. Am.. Immortal!"

It was then that the adolescent ghost had kicked over his sister into a wall of logs, which then tumbled over her and crushed her. She could somehow feel the pressure on her chest.. She couldn't breathe.. She couldn't move.

"Now you know how it feels to be crushed by the weight of the world and have no one there to support you!" the twisted teenager cackled as he disappeared into the fog to let Vitani's world crumble around her. Soon, her entire vision faded to black...

Vitani had woke up immediately after she "closed her eyes". Apparently, she had fell under the effects of sleep paralysis, which would explain quite a bit. Vitani got up and went outside of the Lion Guard's lair to breathe and get some fresh air.

Before she could leave to watch the sunrise, however, she heard the terrified screams of a voice from the den. The voice sounded genuinely scared, followed by the loud sobs of a terrified female, the same voice. She knew exactly who this was at this point, despite only living with the royal family for only a few weeks; Zuri.

Vitani ran inside of Pride Rock to find everyone in a panic; the lionesses were all running around frantically, as if they were looking for something, or someone, Simba, Nala, Kiara, and Kovu were surrounding Zuri, who was bawling her eyes out, screaming in genuine horror.

"What's going on here?" Vitani asked, trying to stay calm during the entire ordeal. Kiara looked over with a terrified face, looking as if she were about to break down as well.

"Tiifu's gone missing-"

"Don't remind me, Kiara!" Zuri butted in, fearing for what became of her faithful friend.

"I'll round up the guard to look for her!" Vitani stated confidently before being held back by Kiara.

"There's something else.. Something that tells me this may be personal.." Kiara stated, her voice trembling with fear, pupils tinier than pebbles.

Kiara led Vitani around the corner of the den. It was an empty corner that seemed to be unpolished, dirtied, and furthermore, strangely charred. A brown, obese lioness with crimson eyes was in the corner, inspecting the area.

"Aunt Kula?" Kiara questioned the large lioness. "Who used to stay here?"

Kula, voice trembling, reluctantly responded. "These used to be Scar's sleeping quarters.. No one's been here since he died.. Until today.." she then pointed at the wall, which seemed to be splotched with a red substance, which formed glyphs, which formed words, which formed a message that left even Vitani shaken.

"FOUND YOU..."

A/N: Wow.. What a chapter, amirite? Probably not the best, but damn, if I didn't get chills writing this.. I REALLY hope you all enjoy! More is on the way soon!

P.S; I wonder what happened to Tiifu..?