I'm back. It's been way to long since I've touched on this story again. Sorry I've been gone for such a long time, but the last several weeks have been consumed by schoolwork, very busy school work.

Here's the next chapter for those of you that are still here. Please enjoy and leave a comment. :)


Chapter 8: Not Gone

"Zazu has just reported back. Nala has not abandoned the Pridelands. She's with Simba right now."

"Damn it! I thought for sure she'd leave. Why hasn't she left?"

"I don't know. Maybe Simba got to her in the nick of time."

"…"

"Does that mean we forget the plan?"

"No. We stick with the plan. You forget, although this looks bad, the plant is still in her. We just need to wait a little longer for the full effect."


Nala opened her eyes with a start. She didn't know why but they hurt like hell and have been hurting like hell for the last several minutes. Why on earth they were was a mystery to her. She didn't feel any bits of dust or loose hairs behind her eyelids, but they felt irritated nonetheless.

The lioness blinked a few times before scanning the land around her. She was still near the waterhole, at the private spot where Simba went out on his first date with her to be exact, and the land was dark, the usual sapphire sky replaced by a dark, shimmering sky that was absolutely filled with stars.

She continued to look at the scenery around her. The area Simba had chosen had a sense of marvel in it, with a shimmering waterfront that had a beautiful savannah backdrop to it. Looking across the waterhole and slightly to the right, Nala could see the large, grey outline that was Pride Rock, her home.

The young queen felt a warm mass at her side and smiled. It was her king, Simba, sleeping soundly against his mate.

She turned her head and stared down at him with dreamy, happy eyes. He looked so peaceful, so tender, so strong, so calm. Nala could remember the first time she saw him like that, though it had been such a long time ago. He was such a small cub back then, just like her. A small, innocent, harmless cub that wouldn't kill anyone or anything even if he wanted to.

Nala turned her head back towards the water's edge and stood up slowly, carefully trying to not disturb the young king. Unfortunately that was a bit difficult, especially considering the fact that Simba still had his forearm around her. She really loved it when he did that.

The young lioness slipped out of her mate's hold and slowly walked to the water's edge. She stared at the night sky in calm. Nala had heard of the stories of the Great Kings, that their spirits were still up in the night sky, watching over all of them. She wanted to believe it and knew that the stories were true, for how else could their ancestors guide them through all the harsh things the world threw at them?

When the lioness reached the bank she sat down and lowered her head to the surface of the gleaming water. Maybe a drink would help her forget the events of the past and bring her at least a little bit of solace before she came back to the reality that she had come to know.

Nala began to drink, feeling the cool water slither down her throat smoothly and warmly. It was always good to feel that sensation, always good to feel the calm, wet liquid whenever she could. She could barely remember when water felt as good as it did now, after the long walk through the dry, arid desert that bordered a small section of their land, out to the very southeast. That was the time, the very first time, she had left her home and tried to find help for her family.

Without the need for help, the motivation to go find it, she would never have found the one person that had mattered the most to her, the one she needed most. Simba. Her best friend, her king, and, most importantly, her mate.

A deep rumble shook the water and Nala sat up. She looked around her, trying to find the source of the disturbance. It was strange feeling that sort of disturbance. Only a stampeding herd, the movement of elephants, or an approaching storm could make the earth move as much as she did.

She found nothing. No elephants, no herds, and no rainclouds were to be seen. Nala shrugged and went back to drinking, thinking to herself at the same time.

How strange it was, that fate had led her to this exact moment, this moment with Simba, with Scar's death, and the recurrence of the home which she had come to know. It was a curious thing, the way fate worked to bring her to this very moment. Perhaps there really was something, or someone, who had a plan for all of them.

Unexpectedly, another rumble sounded from the earth. This time she bolted her head up, trying to find where the source of the disturbance was coming from. There was definitely something going on around here and she needed to find out what.

Nala turned to her left and started walking into the nearby foliage. If there really was something doing this maybe she could find it and stop it.

Pushing her thoughts to the side, the lioness slipped into the savannah grass. She walked onward towards where she thought the rumbling was coming from, straight ahead, her paws touching the ground without so much as a sound.

It had become natural to her, the silent approach. Not just the method of it or the appearance of it, but its physical appeal, the way it felt. With so much time spent in recent past trying to perfect the art of stealth, it had turned almost into a habit, a tendency.

And it wasn't her fault either. Because food had become scarcer in her journey to adolescence, she needed to grow up quickly, become the huntress that the rest of her pride sisters were. Besides, the lionesses needed the extra set of paws, with all the hyenas setting themselves about and consuming all they were brought. Scar didn't see the hyenas the way the rest of the pride did, as savage, untrustworthy, parasitic barbarians that had no sense of moral or appreciation.

She continued walking. And walking. And walking. Eventually she reached what appeared to be a hill with a small rocky outcrop and a lone Umbrella Thorn growing at the peak of the hill.

The rumbling changed as she got closer. No, it was not rumbling but a low growling noise. A very powerful rumbling noise, one that shook the whole ground beneath her feet. Nala questioned to herself what could make a rumbling so powerful. There was nothing on earth that could growl as powerfully as it did, at least, not that she knew of.

She approached the top ever so quietly. If something was making a growling as powerful as it did, she would need to be extra careful to not give it any reason to attack her.

She was only a few feet away from the rocks when the growling suddenly stopped. Nala began to panic. Why did the noise stop? Did she do something to make it stop? Did whatever was causing the noise stop because of her?

Nala wanted to back away from the hill, so far away, but found herself frozen. Why couldn't she move? What was happening? This had happened to her only once before, but that was in a dream, a dream that had happened inside her head.

The lioness looking down to the ground, trying to find what was making it so she couldn't move. Her feet looked normal. There was nothing clamping down on them or snagging against them. But she still couldn't move.

Nala heard movement coming from the rocks in front of her and she bolted her head up. From the other side of the rocks she could see movement, a dark figure stirring on the other side. Slowly it climbed its way onto the rocks and into the moonlight that was illuminating the hillside.

The shape was not a shape at all but a lion instead, an old, dark-manned lion with a thinner but strong body shape, its muscles pulled against his bone in a manner that made him look a slight bit frail. He had large, glowing green eyes and a jet black mane. His left eye had a lone scar on it. "Hello, Nala," he smiled menacingly.

Nala let out a gasp of terror as she realized who it was. "Scar," she said. "But how-? You're dead."

"Supposed to be dead," he corrected, slinking himself off the top of the hill and moving effortlessly towards her. "But… things have happened in unexpected way before, my dear."

If Nala wasn't trying to get free before, she sure was now. The lioness pulled at her feet with all her strength, tugging as hard as she could, trying to be free, free enough to get away from this lion, this monster.

"And where," asked Scar, "do you think you are trying to go, Nala?" She looked back up to the tyrant fearfully, gazing into his glowing green eyes. What was he going to do to her? Why was this happening?

A thought came to her, seemingly out of nowhere. It wasn't much to use, but it was something. She had to use it, just to give herself a little more time. "You're the lion I saw that other day," she realized.

Scar paused. That wasn't the first thing he expected her to say, not at all. He expected her to ask questions, to find reasons in this unfolding madness. "Yes," he finally said, "I was. I knew you would have recognized me, among all other things."

"Why didn't you stay?" she asked, frightened still but slightly curious at the same time.

"Well… because of your friend, Simba. If he saw that I was there, then I surely would have been dead."

Nala thought she could feel a little bit of slack in her feet. Still keeping eye contact with the aged lion, she began shaking her feet, trying to release herself from the invisible shackles.

"But you haven't been here for the past several months. We were sure you were dead, murdered by your own hyenas."

"I, to a certain degree, was dead for all those past months."

The lioness narrowed her eyes in confusion. "What do you mean 'dead for those past months'?"

Scar paused again, trying to process the question. It seemed as if he had a bit of trouble himself trying to come up with an explanation.

Some time passed before the black-manned lion answered again. "There are some things in this world that can cause extraordinary miracles. And I'm not talking about magic or anything like that. That stuff is just a bunch of lies parents tell their children to keep them in line."

Finally, after some time, Nala felt that her feet were completely loose. Taking the opportunity like a starving animal took food, the young queen dashed away from the hill as quickly as she could. Her heart pounded as the events before her had unfolded.

She heard footfalls behind her and her heart beat faster in her chest. She quickly glanced around behind her back and saw, to her horror, that Scar was in pursuit of her.

She ran as fast as she could to the waterhole where Simba was sleeping. If she could get to him, maybe he could help her face the evil tyrant that was following her.

Nala got to the waterhole and ran to where she saw her mate last. She went around a small cluster of trees and found… no one.

She began to panic even more as she realized Scar was still following her. Before he could get around the tree cluster to her, she ran as fast as she could to Pride Rock.

"Nala," he said in a singsong voice, "you can't run from me forever. I want you."

The lioness continued to sprint anyways. Although she hadn't noticed it before, there were no animals around the area she was running. Not even the slightest antelope or rhino could be seen.

Thinking nothing of it, the queen moved on, trying to reach the base of her home. She got to the base and began hastily climbing. Nala was sure she would be caught so let out a cry. "Mom. Sarabi. Help!"

She reached the top in less than ten seconds, quite a bit less time from the usual time it took to climb the rocky slope. However, when she got to the top, there was no one there. Not a single lioness could be seen.

Nala's heart continued to pound at her as she saw Scar approaching from below her. Why wouldn't he leave her alone? Where was everybody? How could this all be happening?

"Nala," he said. The lioness backed away from him slowly, towards the top of the promontory. But as she did, he got closer, ever so closer, to her, an evil grin etched across her face.

"What are you going to do to me?" she asked quickly, quite afraid of the lion standing before her.

"What I should have done to you long ago," he stated bluntly, moving to within touching distance. Nala shrank down at the mighty and terrifying lion before her.

Feeling that she couldn't hold what remained of her calm anymore, the lioness screamed. Screamed like she had never screamed before.

The world around her suddenly went dark and she continued to scream in fear, fear that she would never get out of this horrifying nightmare.

A voice sounded off in the distance, a very faint, but recognizable voice, one that she knew all too well. One that could bring comfort to her if it was close enough.

But it was so faint, so far away, almost as if it were coming from the other side of the world, thousands upon thousands of miles away. She felt she could never reach it in her lifetime, no matter how hard she tried.

Unexpectedly, the voice got louder. Little by little it got louder, as if it were coming towards her. She wanted to go to it even more, to reach it.

The voice was now loud enough for her to be able to make out what it was trying to say. "Nala," it said and continued to repeat her name.

Now she really recognized the voice. It became so clear to her as if the one who spoke it was right in front of her.

"Nala," it said. "Nala, wake up."

Now she felt a bit of shaking, hard shaking, enough shaking to rock the world.

Nala opened her eyes to find the one face she recognized the most, her mate's own face.

"Simba," she gasped with relief and sat up. Simba back away from her as she did so, only just enough to give her some room.

"Nala," he asked, "are you okay? Is everything alright?"

She blinked as she realized that there was sunlight hitting her face. Sunlight. Now she really felt relieved. The lioness had been alone in the dark for who knows how long, a black and fathomless darkness that seemed impossible to escape.

Looking around a bit, the lioness could clearly make out her surroundings. They were sitting by the waterhole, where they were last night. Everything was still in place, all the grass, the trees, and even Pride Rock. The sun was just barely beginning to show itself again, giving off an orange-gold hue.

Turning back to her mate, Nala answered the question. "Yes," she replied, "I think I'm alright."

Simba wasn't amused by the answer. "Really? You didn't seem alright."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because you were screaming again."

Nala didn't reply. She was too shocked from the events of last night, after she went to sleep. It was not, in the least bit, pleasant. As a matter of fact it was quite the opposite.

Gathering her thoughts, she asked, "What happened, exactly?"

"You were panicking," he said. "You seemed very afraid of what was happening in your head. I didn't know what to do so I tried to wake you up. Next thing I know, you start screaming."

The lioness cocked her head in thought. She screamed? Aloud? But it was only a dream. That shouldn't have been. But the dream felt so real, as if she had woken up into it.

Simba stared at her mate with a questioning look. Interrupting her thoughts, the young king said, "I think we should go see Rafiki, see what's causing you to act like this."

Nala looked into her partner's eyes. "Are you sure? I don't know if that is such a good idea."

His mate gave her the same look of concern the first time he woke her up. "I'm sure."

Nala wanted to argue, but knew it would do no good. There really was something going on with her and she had to find out what. "Okay."