Chapter 7:

Perfect Ambush

"There's going to be an ambush tomorrow?" I nearly shriek.

"How do we know you telling us this is not part of the ambush?" Enlil demands.

Nuka replies, "Look around me, Stripes, do you see any other lions? I just nearly escaped Mother's wrath getting out here; she has no clue I'm telling you this."

"He's got a point. But where's it gonna happen; do you know?" I ask.

"You know the burned grasslands? Mother thinks Simba is going to take Kovu there. Mwezi, Mother is very, very intelligent. But you can beat her with your brain. I know you're sneaky, so you'll have to closely follow Simba and Kovu, or cut off the pride at the ravine. I only know that much of the ambush." Nuka explains.

Enlil says stomping his front right paw down, "In that case, cutting them off is the best bet! Mwezi, I'm willing to help you!"

Nuka says with a smile getting a little excited, "That's perfect! Mother will never expect a cat like you; it should really confuse her and throw her off!"

"Alright, we'll cut off the pride. We'll have to leave before the others wake up; it'll give us enough time to hunt and enough time to get to the ravine to plan our ambush." I plan out.

"Hahahaha, you're already coming up with a strategy!" Nuka says excited before he returns to being serious, "I'm really counting on you, Mwezi. I'm known to let my excitement get the better of me. If your ambush works, then I should snap out of the heat of the moment."

"You got it, Nuka! Maybe this time, I'll be returning the favor!" I say, recalling the moment he saved my life.

"We need to get back. Nuka, you should too. We'l see you tomorrow." Enlil says.

Nuka says, "Yeah...I'm really counting on you two. Three lives are in your hands."

Enlil and I turn around and trot back to Pride Rock. As we return, we meet up with Kiara and Kovu who appear to be really happy. The four of us climb up to the cavern where Simba waits in the shadow. Kiara and I head in while Kovu heads to the standing stone to sleep. Enlil greets Simba who allows him inside. Simba then walks over to Kovu and invites him inside. I walk over to where Shenzi, Banzai, and Edd are and curl up next to them and start to sleep. Enlil curls up next to me and starts to drift off.

Early the next morning, I'm first up. I exit the cavern and walk to the edge, looking out at the horizen. It's an early morning twilight, where the stars are no longer in the sky, and the sun has yet to rise. I sit down and scratch the back of my left ear before descending Pride Rock. I then hear someone else descend, and as planned it's Enlil. We look at each other with serious expressions, nod once, and sneak off into the savannah. As we begin to trot, we notice that most of the herbivores have not woken up yet, but the birds are up bright and early. They'll have to do for now. Enlil cautiously approaches the flock on the ground trying to find worms. I go around the other side, and soon we both pounce, each catching a bird. After eating such a small meal, we quickly start heading to the ravine on the other side of the burned grassland.

We carefully pick out spots where it's easiest to climb down and with it still being covered in shadows, there's no way the Outlanders would bother to show up here. We cautiously scope out the area, finding good places to hide and ambush the Outland Pride. Pretty soon, we come upon a dam of logs blocking the rest of the canyon. There is no other way out except to climb if one's in a hurry to get away. There is one spot that can be climbed up or down, so chances are if Simba were to be chased here, he'd probably go up the logs, not being able to see the ledges in time. Enlil suddenly starts to growl in the direction we came from. Out of the darkness appears Nuka, surprising both of us.

I ask, "Nuka, what are you doing here?"

Nuka replies, "Making sure you two were exploring this place. Not a bad place to throw Mother off, huh?"

Enlil says, "There's plenty of hiding places here. But, this dam worries me. The logs are loose and anyone can lose they're footing. We'll probably try to hide near here."

"Good idea." Nuka says, but starts to look down.

"You look like something else is wrong." I say getting concerned.

Nuka sighs and says, "It's because I'm not a bad guy; for a long while now, I've strived to get Mother's attention and...Mwezi, I'm doing this so that you don't get hurt. I've watched you grow up from a careful and playful cub into a very intelligent and cautious lioness. Yet, you don't have the physical strength to be putting up with this. If I didn't tell you, you might get hurt, or worse. Not to mention...I think Mother's had her eye on you ever since you two conversed a while back."

"So Mwezi's a target?" Enlil demands.

"Sorta. But you guys, be careful. The pride is strong and relentless. I'll be here later." Nuka answers before he turns to rush back.

"This is it then. It's time to pull out all of your willpower." Enlil says.

"Yeah...I'll be sure to smack Zira around this time." I say getting tense.

As the sun starts to rise, Enlil and I remain on opposite sides of the canyon. Shenzi, Banzai, and Edd leave with the lionesses to do some early morning hunting. Simba has taken Kovu out onto the savannah, telling Kovu the true story about Scar. Kovu is stunned to hear it frrom a different point-of-view, unable to believe how much of a killer Scar was. Suddenly, the two are surrounded by the Outland Pride, Nuka having no choice but to participate. Zira aims at Kovu teling him he's done well to lead Simba away from Pride Rock. Simba quickly thinks that Kovu was part of a plan when Kovu tries to say he had nothing to do with the situation. Zira tells her pride to attack and everyone jumps in attacking Simba. Kovu tries to aid Simba in fending off the Outland pride, but one of the lionesses kicks him back, making his head hit a rock. Simba has no choice but to run being completely outnumbered. The pride gives chase, boxing Simba into the ravine. As he dashes up to the dam, the pride starts to close in, and that's when Enlin and I jump out roaring as fiercly as possible, stopping the pride in their tracks.

Simba looks at us stunned trying to catch his breath after receiving many scratch and bite wounds. Zira, Nuka, and the other female lioness approach the front of the pride.

"So, you're here, Mwezi. We never met as cubs. I'm Kovu's sister, Vitani. And you're about to die here." Vitani threatens.

"Sorry, but dying isn't on my to-do list." I reply.

Zira roars in anger and yells, "How did you know to get us here?"

Nuka then walks up to us, turns around and faces Zira with a stern look and bluntly says, "I told them about your little plan."

Kovu suddenly appears on the ledge and calls, "Simba, up here!"

"Get him, Kovu!" Zira shouts.

"Screw it, he's not gonna attack!" Vitani says lunging right at me.

Nuka gets in the way and swats her back, throwing her off. Kovu climbs down the ledge steps we spotted earlier and gets in front of Simba, putting up an aggressive front. Vitani shakes off the counter and goes right for Nuka this time, pinning him to the ground. I try to get her off, but another lioness cuts me off and while we both get up on our hind legs, she pins me to the canyon wall about to slash my face. Enlil bites down on her tail and rips her away, but other lionesses slip by and go after Simba. Kovu tries to fend them off as Simba heads for the ledge steps. Enlil pulls the lioness away from me and I dash after the other lionesses that got by Kovu, trying to slash at their feet, slowing them down. However, I'm quickly pounced upon by Zira, and we tumble down to the canyon floor. Nuka manages to get Vitani off him by using his hind legs to kick her back. He gets up and pounces on Zira, getting her off me. Enlil manages to knock out the lioness by swinging his tail hard enough at her head, and aids Kovu.

I get up and try to help Nuka when Vitani gets in the way once again, swatting me across the face and knocking me to the ground. The lionesses that were fighting Kovu and Enlil retreat after Enlil uses his tail as a whip, hitting their paws. Kovu and Enlil pounce onto Zira and Vitani helping me and Nuka out. Suddenly, Nuka collapses panting like crazy while I try to stay standing despite feeling physically weak. Enlil and Vitani go at it on their hind legs swatting each other until Vitani falls back, and Enlil body slams her. She slips out from under him and retreats, knowing she can't take another body slam. Zira finally manages to get Kovu off her back and swings her claws at him, scoring a hit across his face. When he turns, he has a scar over his left eye, just like Scar's. Although Zira recoils at first, but doesn't recover in time to be slammed to the ground by Enlil's vicious pounce. He joins Kovu as they watch her weakly get back up. Nuka has caught his breath, and he and I join Enlil and Kovu, glaring at Zira.

"...You bastards...you two have been completely corrupted!" Zira yells.

"Hey at least I accomplished at doing something! Do you know what it's like to be the oldest out of three and not even get one ounce of attention? I've tried getting your atention, but you were so focused on Scar and Kovu that I became the scapegoat! So you know what, 'Mother'? You can go f*ck yourself from now on!" Nuka shouts, roaring in the last few words.

Kovu and Enlil look at him shocked and Kovu asks, "Erm...was I really that spoiled?"

"Give up, Zira. Your pride has retreated, and you're the one outnumbered now. Either retreat, or die here." Enlil says.

Zira growls and says, "I won't forgive any of this!" as she turns to retreat, but looks back at me and says, "Oh, and by the way, Mwezi, about your origin...YOU'RE AN OUTLANDER!"

Zira retreats as I call out confused. Nuka stops me from making any advances. Me, and Outlander? There's no way. Having gained a victory, we follow Kovu up the ledge steps and try to follow Simba's pawprints. He was heading back to Pride Rock and we needed to catch up. We begin to go into a full dash back to the savannah, hoping Simba isn't too badly injured. As we approach Pride Rock, a lot of the Prideland animals are gathered. All are staring more at Kovu as he's the one with the scar. Enlil, Nuka, and I bring up the rear as we try to ascend Pride Rock, listening to the animals' talking to each other. We get up on an aisle where Kiara is happy to see us, but Simba cuts her off. I become filled with fear and lie down in submission, covering my head. The Hyenas appear next to Kiara with concerned looks. Simba approaches us and snarls Kovu and Nuka, but lets Enlil and I back up. I headbutt Simba as a thanks and head over to Kiara where I headbutt her, and the Hyenas pile on top of me at once trying to hug me.

Enlil helps Simba back up onto the ledge and pulls him aside, trying to explain to him what went on after he was able to get away. He can't seem to change Simba's mind about Kovu, until he tells Simba what happened when I was a cub when I got attacked by Big Meteor. Simba looks surprised that Nuka had rescued me then, and repeated that same behavior now. Simba tells Enlil to stand next to his daughters while he goes back up to the ledge to pass judgment. Enlil does as asked and stands next to Kiara and I. Nuka was definetly showing signs of fear, quickly lying on the ground like I did in submission, shivering and covering his head. Kovu looks up hoping Simba will not pass a negative judgment. Timon and Pumbaa go through a comical moment where Timon tries to have Pumbaa hold him back, but it fails.

Simba demands, "Why have you come back?"

Kovu replies, "Somba...I had nothing to do with-" before Simba cuts him off, "You don't belong here."

Nuka tries to say being nervous, "H-hey, I know I probably don't belong here, but he does! I mean, c'mon, I saved Mwezi from Big Meteor!"

Kovu says trying to keep calm, "Please... I ask your forgiveness."

Kiara cries out, "Daddy, please... listen to him!"

"Simba, don't take your anger out on Nuka too; he warned Enlil and I about the ambush and we acted upon it! You saw him; he helped!" I call out.

"SILENCE! Kovu, when you first came here, you asked for judgment..." Simba says.

The animals call, " Give him what he deserves!" "Kick him out!" "That's right!" "Judgment day is here!"

Simba continues, "...And I pass it now."

"Damn it, no!" I shout.

Simba announces, "The both of you are exiled!"

"No!" Kiara yells.

"Dammit!" I growl.

The Prideland animals start to get angry and begin to sing in chorus as they hound Nuka and Kovu away from Pride Rock. Kiara tries to give chase a few times, being cut off from the lionesses. Enlil watches in awe, having never seen something like this before. I watch on with Kiara in horror as Kovu runs towards the desert. Nuka stops at one point and looks back, knowing he can't change anything. He lowers his head before following Kovu. Pretty soon, the song is over, and I lie down once again in submission. The Hyenas follow suit, Edd wimpering like crazy.