Sorry about the delay! I really wanted to make these good! Well, it seems that, even though you all still seem a little confused with matters concerning Simba, everyone appears to like Khara so far! That's good, because you'll be seeing a lot more of him!

Anyway, at the end of the story I'll reveal what villain he's inspired by. See if you can guess before then. His dialogue in the previous chapters (including the song) might be a helpful clue…

ThatPersonYouMightKnow: As we all know very well, Simba is a rather over-emotional individual, which you demonstrated numerous times in your series. You're right about Nala though. And yes, these two chapters will provide time for more intimate interaction between them.

Chu10: If it were just the teasing, he might have consulted the adults. Remember, he attacked one of the cubs too. Pity he doesn't realize Mufasa knows the difference between a provoked and unprovoked attack. As for Khara, he reminded you of Nigel? I never thought of him, though I do like that character.

Kora22: Yes, he is very self-absorbed. I reread through all of my PM correspondences with you and could not find where it was I shared that information with you.

Greg M 94: "There's an air of hatred all around him, yet he is so sleek when he employs it." I would call that another helpful hint as to who inspired him…

Chapter Five: Life in the Jungle

It was early morning when Simba awoke to find himself in the cave, trapped in a tight grip by his new adoptive mother.

She's crushing me! Simba thought as he tried to escape her paws. He then stopped when he noticed she was beginning to wake up.

"Hello, my little cub," she smiled in a sinister voice.

"Good morning, uh…"

"Kali," she answered. "But you're supposed to call me Mom now, remember?"

"Okay…Mom," Simba sighed. He hated having to call this lioness his mother, but for the time being, it seemed he had no other option.

"Let's see here," Kali muttered to herself as she examined Simba. His fur stuck out in places, and it looked like he had a lot of dust on him from journeying through the desert yesterday…

"I think you could use a little grooming," she smiled, and Simba widened his eyes. Kali extended her tongue and began to bathe Simba, squeezing him to her chest with her paw as she did so.

Why this? he asked himself. Now it's even worse after everything leading up to coming here…

Under normal conditions, Simba would have yelled and complained so loudly that any creature within a mile could hear it. But after Khara's harsh warning yesterday, he decided it was better to try and contain it.

When she was done bathing her new cub, Kali unsheathed the claws from her right paw and began to comb Simba's fur. Simba grimaced widely, discovering he hated this almost as much as the bath. After about a minute, she finished this task and picked him up by the scruff with her mouth before walking out of the den.

Khara stood in the center of the clearing, smiling happily. Simba had to admit, this guy's constantly cheerful mood was both reassuring and unnerving at the same time…

I guess it's because he thinks he's so powerful, Simba reasoned in his head. Wait—scratch that. He is powerful. He could probably have a decent fight with Dad. I bet he'd beat poor Uncle Scar to a pulp, though.

Kali set the cub down, and Simba was now at Khara's feet, looking up at the imposing king.

Khara smiled, "Well, Simba, it's time to begin your training."

As Simba trotted alongside him, Khara began to speak. "Simba, I wanted to explain that I won't normally be as harsh as I was last night. I think now that my warning seems to have registered with you, the two of us can be on good terms. You might actually enjoy some of your training."

"What are we gonna do?" Simba eagerly asked.

"Enthusiasm! I like it. Well, cub, first we are going to attack monkeys."

"Don't you mean hunt?" Simba asked.

"No," Khara smiled. "One thing you will need to learn here is that there is no 'hunting' like you're used to in whichever pride you came from. We don't kill for food in this pride. We kill for fun."

"To be honest, that doesn't sound very fun…" Simba muttered.

"Well, you say that now, but that's because you've never experienced that rush, that feeling of sheer power, of ultimate dominion! That feeling you get when the life of another creature is entirely in your paws…and you kill it without a second thought! It's a beautiful feeling, I tell you, and after today, you will see for yourself!"

"Sounds like a few people back home…" Simba commented.

"Really? See, they have the right idea, whoever they are!"

"If you say so."

"Good. Now we'll go find those monkeys…"

Out in the desert, just barely on the outskirts of the jungle, Nala was walking through the hot sand.

"Whew," she sighed as she wiped her forehead. I didn't think the jungle would be here! Let's hope Simba had some sense and stayed here last night. Better than sleeping in the middle of the open desert like me…

She bounded into the lush green jungle, determined to find Simba. Little did she know what else she would find…

Simba and Khara crept slowly through the jungle grass, stomachs flat against the ground, spying on a congregation of monkeys that had descended from the treetops to drink from a small pool. There were at least twenty of them there…

"Now, the key is to not appear to be a threat. Just stay low to the ground."

Those were the same words Dad used when he was teaching me how to pounce on Zazu, Simba remembered.

"You go on ahead. They know me. Try and reel them in. You seem to be an outgoing and pleasant person. Make some small talk with them. Then I'll come in and we'll get two or three of them."

Simba nodded solemnly. He then slid out of the grass and approached the monkeys.

"Hey monkeys! I just came to this jungle, and I'm really lost! Could you please help me find a place to stay?"

I can't do this, Simba realized. I can't let Khara make me into a killer. What would Dad think? Or Mom? What about Nala?

I'll just have to fake it, he decided. I'll make it look like I killed one of them!

Simba then walked towards one of the monkeys, and Khara watched, smiling. Within seconds, the golden cub pounced onto one of the monkeys as the others ran away, chattering in terror.

Simba batted at the monkey until it was lying on the ground, unconscious. Simba stepped back a few feet as Khara approached, and put on a fake smile that resembled Khara's.

"Well done, Simba. See how fun it is?"

"Yeah," Simba lied in a smooth manner. "But why is it we feel that? Why don't we feel remorse?"

"We always have the strength to endure the misfortunes of others."

Simba ignored Khara as he stepped aside and let the king inspect the unconscious primate. Khara repeatedly prodded it with his paw, not even noticing as Simba slipped away in the grass.

"It's not dead," Khara realized. "It's not dead!"