Here These Words And Have Faith

An Orphan, Hidden in The Migration:

The smell of old blood was faint in the air. The smell of fresh blood, on the other hand, was thick. The soldiers bobbed nervously as they jogged closer but were forged hard enough that they never broke rank. The sulphur of the watery pits burned his snout, covering the scent of all others.

The herd made their way during dawn, while the air was still chilled and the ground soft with dew. Their breaths mingled as the column moved through rocky lands, the satisfying sound of them all running in unison, hooves churning the ground and snorts of anticipation pulsing through the pack like a heartbeat.

He could hear his own heartbeat, pumping away steady and strong. Eyes darted up to track the two ravens in the sky, watching them as they softly glided along. Today was the day, soon they would be meeting this so called Horned Queen who spoke of many interesting things that were to come.

Normally only the core group would have gone, their leaders, but after one of the lady's raven messengers mentioned her allies... well, they were making a display of strength. Even he, not even a year old, had been asked to join.

It was best, when one mentioned lions, to take no chances.

A hundred gnu were here this morning, a number which felt like a lot, but now, separated from the mega herd and out here in this strange rocky place, a hundred gnu felt like ten. They drew closer, so near that not even the sulphur could hide the smells. The homely stink of many animals made him quicken and push tighter amongst the larger males. He looked around trying to get a sense of this bizarre place, the whites of his eyes flashing as he did so.

The leaders came to a stop, making the column push tightly and squash. A movement above caught his eye, and he looked to see the two ravens spin and dive out of the sky. Hushed conversation passed between their leaders before they set off again, this time in the striding, intimidating walk only alpha bulls could do. They moved off and the herd relaxed and loosened, a battle formation firming up among their numbers during the small journey across the stretch of swamplands that lay around the base of a dark, jagged, mountain-esque... thing.

The entrance into the cave system looked like a gaping crocodile mouth. A hissing filled the air, making the herd freeze. The sound was coming from the caves, stretching on for half a minute before falling quiet once more. He couldn't help but fear this place, his legs trembling whenever someone jerked fast enough for his prey instincts to scream. It was dark as they gathered and formed in the shadow of the rocky beast, keen and ready for an attack.

The rest of the world was awash in a warm sunrise, glowing bright, but here it still felt like a moon less night.

No wonder they called it the Shadow Lands.

None of them saw the monkey bouncing out of the cave, but they could all clearly hear his pattering footsteps. The soft sound was a strange one, it was not often they hear the footfalls of a soft footed creature.

"Woah! Did you bring the whole migration? This is meant to be a secret meeting, you know?" One of the gnu by the entrance sneezed, nearly knocking himself off his own feet, accidently making dust fly into the monkey's face. Some of the herd chuckled, the rest frowned. With the mega herd packed so tightly sickness was spreading fast, all this rain and dampness doing nothing to help.

"The lady told us to bring our people, so we did," an alpha told the monkey over the sick gnu's hasty apologises.

"Ergh, it's alright. You won't all fit inside, so maybe just, say, the main guys follow me in please." The alpha gnu stiffly nodded his head in answer before heading on in, nearly walking over the monkey in the process. They were not praised for their eyesight, and these dark conditions weren't much of a help, especially when some creature so small insisted on squatting amongst the rocks like that.

He counted as the five main alpha's peeled away from the herd and went on inside. Three of their strongest members went along as guards and two elders strolled along after them. One of the old bulls, Max, lifted his head and scanned the herd. Not able to find who he was looking for, he took a deep breath and softly called out a name.

"Chester!" Wait, that was his name. Shocked into action, the young gnu kick into a trot. He was still quite terrified, but that had been overruled with how flattered and happy he was to be invited along. Like I'm part of the alpha group! He giggled on the inside.

"Count them, and memorise every species you see," Max whispered as he caught up. If the common gnu had poor eyesight, then these two elders had no chance. Often he was helping the half-blind, half-deaf bulls in their duties, of far more use as an aid to them then he was as a warrior, being so young.

In another life, he would still be hugging his mother's side, but that was not to be. He had matured fast after her death, a trait the elders appreciated.

Following behind the alphas, it was much easier to forget his fears. These were some of the strongest and bravest beast he knew, it would probably take ten lions each to bring them down.

With that smug thought in mind, Chester giddily kept pace with the elders, eyes going wide as the tunnel opened out into a cavern aglow in shades of green and red. He wasn't sure where lions lived, in fact he wasn't sure what lions even looked like, but this felt like the sort of place you would find one.

He wasn't sure what to think when he saw the Horned Queen. He had been told she was an antelope like them, but he had assumed she was one of the bigger species, with how much respect she demanded and how many beasts served her, this however... she looked like a newborn fawn even in old age, the most striking thing about her was the purple tear drop on her face, like some beast had rubbed the glossy blue colour of her nose up her face, trailing off into a stripe at her forehead.

She didn't even have horns. He knew that in other species where females didn't grow horns a doe would still considered herself a horned beast, just, to call yourself Queen of Horns, you think you would at least have horns.

He watched as the Alpha's went and inclined their heads to her, grand white beards fluttering along the ground and their heavy horns gleaming in the cave light.

Queen of all things with horns.

Working to memorise her face, he knew it was useless, anyone could pick her out of a crowd wether they had met her or not. She glowed with the sort of confidence and poise only an alpha had. Glancing around, he started to count. Five monkeys had climbed up amongst the rocks, nine ravens rustled around in the roof, small clusters of four or three other bird species, non-descript and grey, up there with them. Around twenty of the Queen's own species, slender and long but so tiny, were lying around chewing their cud or grooming each other's golden fur. One stood up and he could see that their underbellies were a crisp white, and their heads only came to the middle of a gnu's chest. When that antelope passed close by him, he noticed they had quite a few white details on their face, running along their top lip, tracing around their black eyes and adoring the inside of their freakishly big ears which flapped like a butterfly half the creatures size was perched on top of that dainty triangle head.

Eyes narrowed as he tried to pick more of the species details, black spots below the ears and a dark tuff for a tail. He didn't know what this species was called, but the elders would when he described them later on. The slender little creature paused on its way down the tunnel, sidestepping and now hugging the walls as it trotted.

Loud groans and yawns of conversation echoed down, making the hair on the back of his neck stand up. That was the sounds of a very big beast, low and deep.

One of them plodded around the corner, turning to nod at the antelope in greeting as they passed each other. Chester couldn't believe what he was seeing, this thing's tooth dwarfed the antelope, and not only was there one of them, but two following him, and three following them, and one brought up the rear. Did he need to bother counting them? Surely even a blind mole rat could see these things. Chester shrunk into the elder's side as the giants trotted on by.

These had to be the strangest things he had ever seen, where these lions? It was hard to imagine such beasts chasing a gnu down, their legs were so short, but they were so scary!

Max's face turned and cocked left and right, regarding the seven walls of muscle cruising on by.

"Hippos," he muttered to his fellow elder, both of them sharing a knowing look.

This is what hippos looked like underneath all that murky water? He had seen the beasts in passing, grey nostrils and tiny ear peeking out from the water. Never had it crossed his mind that they were so massive. All water animals were so thin and streamline, how weird that hippos were not. They inclined their heavy, fatty heads to the Queen as they past her ledge.

Another flock of birds swooped in, these ones small and blue. They banked around the queen and landed by her, hushed in discussion before zipping away and perching among the cavern's walls. Looking around, he noticed that a lot of heads kept turning their way. Had they been warned that the gnu would be appearing tonight? Chester shuffled his feet and peeked around the large body of Max, searching all around at the glances shot their way. Most were curious, excited even, like they knew the gnu were the last piece of the puzzle needed.

They had not been expecting gangs of predators. That was what crossed his mind when a pack of hyena entered into the fray. They all knew that the Queen mixed with one or two prideless lions, but none of them had expected anything else. The hyena lolled and one jumped the rocks in order to whisper to the antelope, this was obviously another close ally. It made most shiver to see those fangs flash close to the small antelope's neck, but nothing happened besides two stiff nods and a curt order.

After that they flooded in, six zebra and four cheetah, five buffalo who carried on their backs two pythons. More birds swopped in, even a great eagle whose wingspan nearly scrapped either side of the tunnel, sending the rodents and rabbits dashing for cover under the larger animals. He hadn't even noticed they were there, milling around in the crowd, until they all jumped and scatter as one.

More hyena's came in, these ones giggling and packing tight to one another, exchanging rapid snarls with the earlier group. Two pups loped along with these adults, their innocent eyes shining with generations of hunting instinct.

The hyena were still fooling around in the tunnel when a troupe of warthogs rounded the corner. They squealed and made a massive fuss, japing their horns in the hyena's direction when the predators didn't scatter. A whole lot of baying and screaming went on as they played poker with each other, it was genuinely the loudest thing Chester had ever heard in his life. It felt like it would never end, but by some miracle they all paused and quietly folded away into the crowd as if there had been a cue.

Ten seconds later, it became clear why they had scuttled from the tunnel, fight forgotten. Two beasts, furry but sleek, came padding through the dark.

Without a doubt, these were the lions. Only a pair of them, wondering in shoulder to shoulder. He was fooled for a minute into thinking them rather small, there was only two of them, the tiniest group so far, and they were not giants like the hippo or being aggressive like the warthogs. In fact, he could hardly hear their footsteps. They were mouse like compared to the horrible racket of before and the great boulders of the cave.

That thought soon changed when one looked up and locked eyes with him, burning a molten silver which made his guts roll and blood stop, his muscles turning cold and weak.

No one had looked at him, he stood right by the cave's mouth, and no one had looked up and seen him. He was too good at blending in, as all young beasts were. It was an instinct.

But this beast looked him up and down. He knew that Chester was cataloguing him, analysing and counting, memorising the numbers for later.

He expected at some point for the lion to break the gaze, but he never did. Eyes still bore into his own as they drew side by side, forcing Chester to look up as the predator's bigger size became apparent.

As the lions drifted across the cavern, his senses returned. Ancestors, he hoped that smell of sweat and fear wasn't coming from him. Chest turned to look at the elders. Max was panting like he had just run the entire migration in a day, and the other elder was quivering like a leaf.

These were the wisest, oldest beast the herd had to offer, and they became shivering wrecks when confronted with two well behaved lions.

That told him something, something Chester promptly wished he had never learned. He understood now why the gnu considered themselves blessed to die by a lion's jaws. It was almost like gods in the flesh and come to reap the wondering souls.

And they were going to over throw a whole pride of these things? Kill the King of them?

He looked to the seven hippos, but even they had huddled and quietened upon the lion's arrival. In fact, the whole crowded cavern had gone silent. Chester's gaze drifted over to the alpha gnus, but they all had unreadable expressions.

With the noise gone and everyone afraid to speak, the Queen rose to her feet and announced the meeting underway. Her stern and powerful voice amplified by the cavern walls.

"Welcome all to this important event tonight. It is great to see you all here, gathered in peace," someone snorted close by, but it was too quiet for anyone else to hear.

"We are all here because we believe in the same cause and are ready to fight side by side, in the same war. So when you look around the cavern tonight, remember that these are your comrades. Everyone one of you brings a different strength and wisdom to our cause, from the smallest members to the largest." Here the queen paused to lick her lips and draw in a breath.

"Usually I stagger meetings, only three of so groups arriving any particular night. This was to protect identities as well as to prevent drawing attention to this place, large gatherings would be far too suspicious. This is why many of you will be seeing our group's full extent for the first time tonight, and becoming aware of the types of animals who you now have to consider friends, not foe. Representatives and leaders of each loyal fraction have arrived here tonight..." here her voice dipped, and she took another breath. For such a little lady, she was surely managing a large voice. Her head turned either way, her face showing the briefest glimpse of emotion. She had been expecting outcries by this point, perhaps some loud animal to cut her off with questions. Chester could see her surprise at had how well the crowd was listening to her.

He could feel it in the air, they were eager for her to announce what they anticipated for her to announced. It was no mystery why she would gather them all tonight.

"As of now, I can confidently say that we number well above a thousand loyal animals." The Queen lifted her head proudly and smiled when a cheer went up. "And I am pleased to say, prepare for battle." The cheer grew into a feral roar of animals, squeals and bellows along with the stamping of a hundred feet. It carried on forever as animals turned to their friends to shout. Just as it seemed nothing would stop the noise, the two lions roared, making his bones shake and back snap straight. Whether they meant to silence the congregation or were just shouting in excitement alongside everyone, nothing changed the fact that there was never a sound quite like it. Uneasy silence soon returned as the echo of the roar bounced endlessly around the cavern. The Queen shouted to gather eyes back on her, than continued on.

"Some of us are here to fight because they want fairness to return to our lands," her eyes flickered over her own kind, "others are here in order to finally see prosperity come to their kind," the birds tweeted amongst each other softly and the cheetahs nodded between each other. "Some are here for revenge, and some for faith."

Chester knew who the revenge jab was referring to. Once again he looked over at the alphas, but their faces were still carefully neutral. He was only a wobbly calf when the Gnu Lord and his court were killed, but he grew up all his short life hearing about it. Slaughtered: guards, medicine-women, wife, unborn calf, everything. With no rulers or court, disputes went unresolved, river crossings were poorly planned, ordinary events became deadly when the masses were confused, and coordination of the mega herds was non-existent.

Gnu were not much of a loyal or brave beasts, they did not dwell on much. Instead they moved endlessly, leaving everything behind. Most gnu did not care much for revenge; they only followed the rains. The alpha's considered them pitiful, how quickly they forgot the crime that had been committed against their kind. King Scar and his pride needed to pay.

Their group was made of a different kind, a kind who fancied themselves a better breed of gnu. Strong and fearless, ready to avenge their Lord. Young bulls who desired the action of revolution. The new guard. They were a guard with no king to protect. But no matter, today they would train and wait, as they did yesterday and the day before, and as they would do tomorrow and the next day. Soon a Gnu King will be reborn, the striking coat appearing in some mother's newborn calf. Maybe not in this year's calves, maybe not next years, maybe not for ten whole generation will he be reborn, but as long as the gnu still walk the earth, he will come again one day, and when that day comes they will be ready to serve him.

That was what the alpha's said. And he was all too ready to believe in it. His mother died in a river crossing, not from crocodiles or drowning, but from a thousand paniced animals trying to climb a sheer muddy slope. Her body had shielded him, all her strength going into remaining on her knees and not flopping down to crush him. Gnu screamed and kicked out, some balked and stopped, but the hundreds pushing up away from the crocodiles. Fear forced them to trample her. It was hours before they subsided. Night had fallen and the river slashed with happy crocodiles. His mother had been dead for awhile, but he still remained huddled and pressed against her. Both caked in filthy mud and blood. It wasn't until morning, when her body was so chilly he was shivering, that he found the strength to stand and gingerly dig his way up the slope. It had been carved a new face by the migration, one nearly impossible to climb, but he knew there was no other way. There were other bodies, little calves like him, and older beasts as well, that had been squashed and covered in mud so badly that only a leg or a side was visible.

If a royal court kept horrors like that from happening, then he would proudly serve in this so called guard.

The Queen's voice buzzed in his ears, snapping Chester out of his memories.

"They are stretched thin and the False King's grip on power has all the strength of a babe. As you are aware, the pride is being driven to hunger by the late migration. We have the plentiful rain elsewhere to thank for that. If seems even the ancestors are on our side." A murmur of agreement rippled throughout the crowd and the alpha gnu nodded their heads in acknowledgment. Before the Queen could continue on, one of the alpha's stepped forward, his strong voice easily gaining the attention of the congregation.

"You talk much of taking the pride down, but what after? Us gnu would like it to be known that we would not object to reinstating Mufasa, he was a strong and fair ruler, and the Gnu lived well under his reign." Creatures chattered, some thoughtfully and others with deep frowns upon their faces. It was not the Queen who responded, but one of the hippos.

"Gnu, I hope you are not letting yourself be blinded by guilt. We all know how your kind killed the heir and crippled Mufasa, but there was nothing to be done for that. What we are doing here is for something more. A legacy for countless generation. A new era, where we rule ourselves, not one where lions lord mightily over us all. It does not matter to me whether they are a good or a bad king, I fight for no king at all." He stopped with a proud puff and looked to the Queen, who was regarding him and the gnu with tentative blankness. "I want a life were hippos tell hippos what to do, and lions tell lions what to do, and not a single bit more or less," he finished with a stubborn growl.

Half the congregation were excited by his words, chatting and loudly agreeing.

"Trust me when I tell you all, the gnu no longer feel a debt to the lions for that stampede. Hyena chased the herd down that gorge, but their kind was never punished for their part. I hear some have even been taken into the confidence of King Scar. Yet we paid with the deaths with our entire royal court. It is a miscarriage of justice, the predators looking out for one another yet again and treating us prey like dirt!" The Queen's attention settled on the gnu, eyes honed on the speaker, body language shifting into a creature more cunning and careful. The hyena who grouped in the shadows yipped amongst each other, their yellow eyes flashing over the gnu. One of the largest started to pace and prowl in the small room she had, her silver-black pups listening to the conversation with perched curiosity.

"Mufasa is weak and sick, as he will be until the end of his days and his queen is old with no more cubs to give. Soon they will die, and the power will be passed on to the False King and his decedents once more. Entrusting in the good lions will mean nothing, when they pass onto their own. They are more interesting in keeping power within their pride then ruling fairly."

Many animals turned to muttered amongst one another, filling the cavern once more with the quiet buzz of conversation. After the first question had been bravely asked by the gnu alpha, many more stood up with their own to ask.

"Why do you call Scar a false king? Is he a fake lion or a liar or somethin'?" The Queen's eyes lit up in the volcano's green light, it was like she knew victory was already hers.

"Excellent question," a smile bloomed over her face. "Let me say this while you are all gather here tonight. My oldest comrades already know the reason, but I plead those new to our cause listen carefully to these troublesome facts." Most adjusted themselves nervously where they lay, some, like the hippo, couldn't wipe the smirks off their faces.

"Scar has no claim to the throne. The rouge lions in our mist have as much right to the crown as he does."

Growls went up among some animals, even Max drew in a sharp breath at the Queen's world. A warthog who had nestled himself at the base of the Queen's rock leapt to his hooves.

She hummed at the outbursts, smirking. This had always been her trump card, Chester realised. They may all gather here to listen, but it would take something earth shattering for them to actually lash out. One didn't gamely go to war against the Lion King on nothing more than buzz and pride.

"When he was born, there was no festival. Those of you old enough, think back." The noise in the cavern roared as everyone realised as one, before they all quickly stopped, eager to hear what else she had to say. "He may be Queen Uru's oldest cub, but he was never accepted as her son in the eyes of the crown. No royal ceremony, no festival, no holy oils and dusts. This means he is only a lion, and not a royal lion with the right to inherit. We all know what a large difference that is. And mere days ago, Pride Rock accepted a particular lioness into their mist. Our spies have reported that the litter of cubs she brought with her have been claimed by Scar as his own." There were a few shocked screams at that, half the crowd was confused to what significance this information had outside of meaning there was now three heirs. To those who had been loyal to the crown... wait, did someone actually faint?!

"The ancestors never came before Pride Rock to recognise him as a royal, so why should we? He is a false king. I assure you all here tonight, with every bone in my body. There is no reason for us to be cursed for rising against him – rather, we seem to be favoured by the ancestors. This is not treason. It is only right!"

A raven, resting on the shoulder of a zebra, screamed out at her. "When do we attack?!"

He saw her lips moving, but he couldn't hear anything over the roar of the animals and his own pounding heart. Up above, in the rafters of the cavern, the lone eagle met his gaze. Around its face, he could faintly see the swirl of rainbow feathers. It knew.

The Largest Eagle In Africa, Far Above the Pridelands:

This was getting very interesting. Pobell readjusted her wings as the wind buffered and threatened to blow her off course. When one was gliding this high up, it was frustrating to stalk her prey. Especially when he insisted on walking so damn slow! Pobell flapped her wings and climbed even higher. She was but a speck in the clouds, but just to be on the safe side, she wanted to be a near-invisible speck. Lions had good eyes, nowhere near eagles – but still good. If her prey was to ever chance a look up, she didn't want to be noticed. A whole week of shadowy stalking could be ruined if the lion noticed her.

Considered that her prey, argh, subject of interest, was moving at the rate of negative aerial nots, she had well over shot him during her little climbing manoeuvre. Banking to her right, she doubled back and started to circle him in a very vulture-esque manner. Locked back into auto-pilot, Pobell allowed her mind to wondered to that morning. Just before dawn they had assembled, some of them Pridelanders, many not Pridelanders, inside that stinky old cave. Blood thirsty for fairy tales, ignorantly rebellious, dancing on strings. It was such a small percentage, but in a kingdom as big as this, it was still a large enough group. Over a thousand that aging proxy leader had said. For weeks she has been watching the comings and goings of this land, trying to dig under the layers of secrets that covered this place.

Below her the King came to a sudden halt, one of the cubs that had been walking along behind him ran into his leg. They squealed and laughed, but Scar paid them no mind. His green eyes shot straight to the sky, locking onto the seemingly empty patch of sky, directly at her.

Quickly Pobell veered away, pumping her wings and directing herself to catch the wind drafts. Within seconds she was speeding away, already gone from where he had looked, half way across the sky.

She had spied all that she could spy. It was time to land. Hurdling across the sky, Pobell's eyes sought the grey outline of Pride Rock. Realigning herself she set off again, destined for the ancient tree that grew on its outskirts.

Minutes of supersonic speed passed in roaring quiet as she made a bee-line for Rafiki. She did not bother to slow her approach, instead keeping speed right to the last minute, weaving around large trunks and snapping her talons out to grab a passing branch. The sudden halt to her speed sent her wheeling forward, swinging around and underneath the branch she had the iron grip on before coming to a tidy stop hanging upside down. Flapping and cursing herself, Pobell managed to extract her talons from the deep grooves they had drawn and glide with semi-dignity down into the main part of the tree, where Rafiki drew the records and kept the melons. Pobell had just enough time to land on her feet and look cautiously around before Rafiki spoke unamused from his perch.

"You're late." Her feathers puffed up in annoyance at the old baboon's welcoming statement.

"I've been travelling for far and wide, Rafiki, give me a break. I broke speed records getting here in the time that I did." She turned to face where his voice had come from, surprised at how much older he looked. The big primates were so long lived, nearly rivalling the elephants, she had never expected to be faced with a grey haired Rafiki.

"I sensed your arrival weeks ago, yet you failed to come directly to me. It's nearly been a year since the ancestors put the call out. Since he was appointed King." He looked run down but the baboon still talked with fire.

"What part of broke speed records don't you underst – oh for the love of – why am I bothering to explain flying to a monkey. I was so far north that I reached the ocean." Pobell flapped up to a low lying branch, testing its strength.

"Ape." He corrected, just like she knew he would. "And I thought the ocean lay to the east?"

"It does. And if you go far enough north, it lays there too. Or maybe it's a second one. I crossed it in search of new lands. And I found one. This real flat desert place ruled by tribes of camels and packs of wolves. I was about to follow the ocean, it tracks North-West from there, when I got the call." Pobell shuffled around, switching to a better perch. This was more like it. Right here used to be her favourite spot as a chick, still puffed with down and curiously watching everything Rafiki did. It was weird to be back, standing in the same spot, now so much bigger. Rafiki swung his way down to the floor, grumbling the entire time.

"I'm getting way too old for this. Why can't any of you just take my place already?" The dark feathers that blanketed her ruffled into an angry crown.

"Don't get mad at me! Get mad at Rainbow-face. She's the next in line to take the Tree of Life over. But nooooo, she's a gnu and had to 'migrate while she still could'. Then she got caught in the middle of that shit storm massacre and is now in hiding presumed dead? Honestly Rafiki, I leave for eight years and this happens?" One large obsidian talon slammed down on the branch with finality, her full grown talons digging their first groves amongst the scars of a smaller bird.

"Don't get me started. But she is needed where she is, the two young gnu must be protected." Rafiki looked tired again, causing Pobell to tilt her head to the side and consider his heavy words.

"Is it that bad?"

"This new enemy will stop at nothing. If they had stayed she, or her benefactors, would have quickly organised a second attempt on their lives." Rafiki tisked and gathered his rattling stick up. "Dark times. The ancestors grow quiet. I hate to say this, but they are weakening. They pour all their power into Mufasa, trying to awaken his spiritual connection, but everything so far has been hazy and brief. And there is something else they have sacrificed power for, the unusual rains might be a part of it but..." Here the old ape looked at her conspiratorially from the corner of his eye. "Tell me, what do you make of the foretelling?"

"The true king one?" Rafiki nodded solemnly. "I think the truth couldn't have picked a better time. It seems a war of fractions is imminent. The best way to solve that is with a true king, or, what the truth brings in their wake."

"Unity." Rafiki muttered as he stroked his beard and settled on the floor. She nodded.

"A new era, new peace," she added. Rafiki drew his rattling stick across his lap in thought.

"But, usually the truth is the cause of the disintegration of the realm along with the rebirth," he argued with a confused frown.

"Sometimes. But not every time. What would that mean for us, that the true king is that twitchy antelope queen?" Rafiki almost laughed at her words. Almost.

"No. Considering I have yet to divine the true king's gender, they are still terribly young."

"Or have not been born." After she said that, Rafiki groaned.

"Please, I try not to think about that. Disintegration is days away and you talk of them being years, maybe decades from now."

"Alright, let's be optimistic than. They are just on the cusp of puberty, and in the next few months, we will be able to divine both gender and species from them. But we still won't know where they are or even who they are. What have you actual divined so far. Let's focus on what we have." Rafiki nodded and went back to stroking his beard, getting lost in his memories. Pobell spent the time preening her badly ruffled feathers.

"The weather was bad, stormy, when it came. They gave an image to me, burning the insides of my eyelids in the process." He paused, knowing she would find this bit of information interesting.

"Insides of the eyelids, interesting. That means it will be someone you think about a lot. Do you have suspects or... no? Too optimistic?"

"If I knew I would tell you, but what if it is a creature I do not know, but will meet and think about often later in life?" Rafiki then closed his eyes and went back to recalling the vision he was given. "The shape of their soul was lean and deadly... and covered in blood. It was all dark, especially where they stood, with their head bowed. There was animals around them, moving, each one a different species, moving and shifting in unison around them."

"Yes, all true kings appear within the circle of life." There had to be a reason why he bothered to describe it to her.

"This was different. They were all so noisy, squealing and laughing, chattering, though I couldn't make out works. And there was a lot of blood, as much on the animals as the truth seeker. And days later, when I divined into the spiritual nature deeper, I got a glimpse of a mountain peek surrounded by jungle, and with it, I strongly sensed warthog."

"So our lead suspect so far is a warthog?"

"No. I talked to Rainbow-face just before she fled with the twin daughters. She managed to divine the same mountain peak, but she sensed meerkat."

"Meerkat? They aren't very common in these lands, you're sure she was not mistaken. Perhaps a mongoose or... weasel maybe?"

"No. I have faith in her abilities. She distinctly remembers a lone meerkat."

"So they could be from some far southern lands. A foreigner. Warthog and meerkat. What does that mean? And to give you only one each is strange."

"We think the truth will be something between a warthog and a meerkat. Or at least, closely associated with both...you divined nothing similar?"

"No. I suspect because both your familiars are dead, yet mine lives, and is in power as the supreme ruler no less. I have much more power at my disposable." Rafiki and Rainbow-face had long outlived their familiars, King Mohatu and his daughter Queen Uru respectively.

She didn't know what it was like to lose your counterpart, she felt sorry for Rafiki, but the ape has lived more years without his royal familiar than with. He must have adjusted to the loss somehow. Stubbornly staying and serving as advisor, even stepping up as replacement when Mufasa's familiar failed to ever arrive, was probably how he coped. Rainbow-face didn't do as well. She all but ran away after Uru's death. Another idea occurred to Pobell as her mind drifted towards journeys and travelling.

"The distance might have had something to do with it as well, because the feelings cleared as I flew. I have a suspicion that King Taka has met with this true king. My divines connect quickly, yet I still learn little." Rafiki was clearly interested.

"Share what little you have."

Pobell mentally braced herself. It was never fun to magically recall these memories. They were so oppressive.

"Tonnes of animals, bearing down on me, like being buried alive, blocking the day out and crushing me into somewhere dark and... then, I jump, off the edge of the world. Both because I decided to, and because I was told to. I fly, and the sun is falling with me, making the sky red and bloody. The blood theme again. No one is there to catch me, but something does. Thorns."

"That's it?"

"That is it. Anything else I try to divine is dark and filled with endless running. If I try to divine through my connecting with Taka, I can feel him getting restless and sub-consciously trying to throw me out of his mindscape. But when I manage to catch him with his guard down, I feel unbelievable guilt and a past madness that terrifies him. It drives him to hide from everyone. To protect them."

"That is what Taka feels, when you call the soul signature of the true king to his mind? Guilt and... fear of madness?"

"Unbelievable guilt. It is always so instant and raw. So we know that he knows the true king. Recalls this individual vividly."

"Someone close to Taka, linked with guilt. Someone he wronged? Someone he hurt?"

"Rafiki, when I described the guilt as unbelievable, I meant it. I have trouble trying to process it when going through our connection. If it was someone he hurt, it would have been a high crime. Violent and wrong, or perhaps that person trusted him completed and he failed them?"

"Rape? Maybe our true king is the product. These new cubs, perhaps?"

"His reaction to the cubs and their mother has not been with guilt. It's not them."

Rafiki sighed and pulled out his tortoise shell. This discussion called for a little more magical assistance. If they were going to start throwing crazy ideas out there, they could at least do it over a mixture that told them if they were getting warmer or colder.

"We could ask him."

"Hey, um, Scar. Would you mind confessing all the details to your most closely guarded, darkest secret. You know. The one your most ashamed of in your whole entire life and have worked hard so no one ever, ever finds out?"

"Alright. I get it."

Nala of the Pridelands, Outside a Warrior's Council

Something was going on. Something bad. All the warriors had been called into a secret meeting, so secret that the apprentices were not allowed to attend. Nala sat patiently on the spot Magnar had told her to stay at, her blue eyes darting along the horizon in search of an enemy. The other two warrior apprentices were there as well, Enma, the absolute idiot, was trying his luck at climbing the tree Nala sat under. Ulan was pacing. The faint start of a worn path was appearing around her poor tree as the grey cub circled again and again. Ulan had always been a quiet and content sort of character, so this anxiousness was worrying her. Something must be eating at him.

"Do you know something, Ulan?" If he didn't give it up, she would hound him until he did. Those yellow eyes avoided her, focusing on the ground under his paws.

"No," he mumbled. Nala stalked over to him, drawing alongside the male as he started on another circle.

"You look anxious." She observed. Above them she heard the snap of a large twig and a pained squawk from Enma as he nearly fell backwards out of the tree. Ulan didn't even blink. "You shouldn't keep information from your pride mates." Nala quoted Magnar, needling him with a glare.

"I'm not hiding anything!" Ulan blurted, coming to a stop and glaring at her. "I just... feel like something is going to happen, that's all."

"No shit, we all can! Even Enma." A stack of leaves fluttered to the ground as said cub nearly fell again. "We should spar," she chirped, back straightening and ears lifting up at the mention of one of her favourite past times. Ulan gave her a flat look.

"We should save our energy. Whatever this is, I feel like it is close." Ulan left her as he resumed pacing. Above them Enma gave up and draped himself with a huff over a branch.

"It can't be that close." The tree bound male complained. Nala was just about to run off after Ulan and integrate him some more when the sound of the lions returning reached her ears. The warrior caste was only small, with three members compared to the hunters seven, but they were large and the grass parted before them with a loud rustle. Scar trotted up over the hillside first, followed by Magnar, Lea and finally Sergeo. Instantly Lea's eyes were snapping around, searching for her apprentice. Knowing him well, she obviously had a hunch he had managed to get stuck or eaten while she was gone.

"Get down!" She snarled, coming to stop directly below him. The cub threw a pitiful look over to his grandfather, which Magnar pointedly ignored. With a drawn out sigh the boy slowly reversed and tried painstakingly to inch his way back down. They all watched in silence as he finally slipped and fell the remaining meters, landing in an undignified heap.

"If you insist on climbing, then at least make sure you're a good climber first!" Lea growled at her charge, sniffing him for injuries before batting him over the head in the way only a cranky old lioness could. Enma groaned and rolled over, muttering something about injustice. "Just for that, you're going to be posted on cub watch." Once Lea had said it, Scar stepped up from where he stood by Magnar.

"No. We need a responsible apprentice - not him." The King's green eyes went to her, and Nala knew he was angling for her.

"We need responsible apprentices in the patrols too. We can't have both." Lea snapped, her ears pulling back, even the one that had been torn off right down to the base.

"They don't need to be responsible, that's what mentors are for, and the apprentice appointed for cub watch will be the only cub to be separated from their mentor tonight. I nominate Nala. End of discussion." Nala grimaced as her name came up, not happy about being mentioned in the growing fight between the warrior lioness and the King. "Magnar, instruct her on her duties tonight, and Lea... try not to die, no one else is stubborn enough to train that cub. I'm headed back to meet with Sarabi, start your patrols as soon as possible." They all gave Scar a stiff nod of understanding, stepping aside to let him walk past. Ulan went over to his mentor, asking what the meeting was all about. Nala followed after him, her eyes remaining on Scar as he walked away and disappeared into the leaves.

Turning away from watching the empty tree line, Nala realised that Lea had started the briefing already.

"- reason to believe it will happen sometime between tonight and the next night. We will be at the front of the battle, with the hunters fighting in groups of three. They will be there to provide support to us warriors and minimise loss as much as possible."

"Loss?" Ulan echoed, frowning more and more as Lea's briefing went on.

"All estimates so far are that we will be outnumbered." She curtly replied as professionally as Nala had ever seen her. Ulan opened his mouth to ask another question.

"By who? Who will be trying to attack us?" He was searching for something. Perhaps for answers to whatever worried him.

"Rouges of all species. It seems they have banded together and decided to try for a destabilisation of power." From Lea's tone is was obvious she didn't think much of their cause.

"All species..." Ulan once again echoed Lea. "Do these alliances happen often?" This time it was not Lea who answered him, but Serego. He was the strongest warrior they had. Magnar was bigger but not as younger. Lea was deadly but not as strong. Her bachelor uncle answerer Ulan with his customary quiet grumbles.

"It's uncommon, but not unheard of. Technically our own pride is a cross-species alliance, with the birds we employ and the recent addition of the hyena." Again, Ulan was poised with another question.

"What will the hyena do?" Lea raised an eyebrow. "During the attack?" The grey cub clarified.

"The attackers have a large force of hyena themselves, some of them rouges or lone hyena, a large part made up of the hyena that Scar exiled from the Pride Lands. The pride's hyena will be focusing on countering and keeping them separate from the main fight. It will be a mad house if the hyenas managed to get lose. We wouldn't be able to tell friend from foe and they could gain a real edge over us." Magnar nodded along as she talked.

"So hyena, antelope and gnu? Those are the main species?" He was definitely fishing for something, but it seemed Nala was the only one who could sense it. Lea grunted and looked either side of her to Magnar and Serego, a silent discussion passing between them.

"The hunters will take care of the lesser threats, but our job as warriors is to deal with the dangerous ones. So ignore the antelope and gnu largely, and focus on the few predators or large beasts within the rouge force." Lea coughed to clear her throat. "The main threats we've identified will be snakes, which hopefully our birds can take care of, a bachelor gang of buffalos – not massive but still grown bulls – and two lions."

"Lions? They wouldn't be connected to that rouge a few moons ago, would they?" Ulan asked.

"We suspect one of the lions was the rouge, yes." Lea confirmed. This seemed to be what Ulan had been looking for. Because he fell silent after that. A long minute filled with the rustle of leaves fell over the warriors. It was Enma who spoke next.

"How have you learned all this?" He looked to his grandfather and Lea for the answer. This time Magnar responded to him with carefully selected words.

"Scar has personally collected a lot of this, and..." the old male looked around to check that they weren't being listened in on. "His hyena, ah, I believe have been doing some double agent work within the rouge group."

"Can we trust this information. Can we trust the hyena?" All the adult warriors shifted uncomfortably. Lea cleared her throat again, old age making it hoarse no matter how much she coughed.

"I asked Scar that too. I'm not sure if I am pleased or nervous that he actually considered my question carefully. In the end he said they stood to gain little by switching allegiance." There was another look passed between Lea and Magnar, before her mentor dragged himself back to his feet.

"I'm going to start with Nala before we run out of time." Both Lea and Serego grunted in agreement, the lioness glancing to the sun to check the hour as Magnar made his way out of the circle.

"Yes, alright. Meet me in the western sector of Mildura Valley before dusk. The rest of you, come with me." The caste split silently, the ability to follow orders drilled into them until it became instinctual.

Ulan and Enma looked over to her, yellow and red eyes both soft with a farewell. This was the first truly dangerous attack any of them had faced. They grew up together, no matter their differences as cubs, and it was only natural they would look for one another as battle mates. But she had to go. To cub watch. It was her job as a warrior, alongside protecting the royalty, to guard the venerable. And when the venerable was royal cubs... it was doubly so her duty to protect them. Nala tried not to be bitter about being stripped of any use and holed away. On any other day she would have been secretly ecstatic to be rostered onto cub watch, towering over those kids and ordering them around made her feel so big and grown. But there were other concerns now. Magnar trotted home faster than normal, his dark fur, only a few shades lighter than the King's own, was slick in parts with sweat. It wasn't from exhaustion, she and him had run this path a hundred times over. It smelt like adrenaline. No matter how calm the three warriors had tried to appear, whatever they had discussed with Scar had left them on edge.

"Cub watch is going to be different this time." Magnar said suddenly, not bothering to look at her or slow down. "If it looks bad, you are under orders to stash the cubs somewhere hidden, then leave them and join the fight." Shock ran along her spine as she processed what she was hearing.

"Why did he insist on me if my job was to leave them unprotected anyway?" Magnar knew who she was referring to. They passed through a grove of trees, staying silent all the while. Senses searching for hidden enemies. It was only once they got back out on the plains that Magnar answered.

"You and a few others are going to be our hidden backup. If it's more than we can handle, you are our only hope frankly. Also, along with the cubs, you're going to be guarding Mufasa. If it comes to the point of abandonment, Mufasa will take over as guardian. Hide the cubs as far away as possible while still being within his sights. The old boy is crippled but that doesn't make him any less freakishly big, and with no feeling in half his body, he is virtually immune to pain. If anyone is perfectly suited for a fight to the death, it's Mufasa. He insisted on this plan, it is the only way him and Scar can see him being of any use. In the tunnels of Pride Rock, they will come for the cubs, but only one at a time because the caves are so small. Mufasa can handle one at a time, thanks to Sarabi's relentlessness he is far more rehabilitated than most of us realise."

"Alright." Nala swallowed and frowned at her paws, using their steady rhythm to ease her racing thoughts. "So I come out of the tunnels and do I look for you first? For orders?"

"No, don't waste time looking for me. Don't waste time asking for any orders; no one will have the time. You are going to be battling on your own advice alone. You can see why Scar didn't want Enma in this position. He's a brilliant soldier, but a solider needs orders." They were reaching another cluster of trees and fell into silence once more. The three ravens that cawed in their branches also went quiet as the lions passed underneath them. Pride Rock was close now; Nala could make out the pride members climbing its winding paths. "I hope you remember the games we played last moon. Are you still confident in getting around the tunnels on your own?"

"Yes. Ulan never did get the hang of fighting in the dark." Usually she would have chuckled at the cub's expense. Now didn't feel like the time.

"I wasn't to learn fighting in the dark. Well it kinda was. But mostly so you learnt the cave system." Magnar slowed the closer the got to the pride, allowing Nala to draw up next to him and peer up at his face.

"How long have you guys known about this?"

"Two moons. But Scar and Mufasa have known even longer. The past king had birds spying on it even before the, ah, stampede." Usually it was referred to as the accident, or the incident. It was the first time where the mention of it didn't automatically trigger memories of her best friend. There was urgent matters at hand right now.

"They've known about this enemy for so long, and they had so many eyes on them, but they let them grow enough to threaten us. Why didn't they deal with this sooner?" Nala asked with annoyance.

"When one has so many eyes on an enemy and knows so much, it is easy to become complacent about them and let them gather in the dark. Each day that you let pass only lets them unwittingly dig themselves into a deeper hole. They moved faster than Scar anticipated originally. Besides, I think he has been waiting all this time for them to make the first open move. To reveal all their cards. It is never a good look when a King attacks his subjects, no matter the rumours about their dealings. We don't want another massacre."

The rest of the journey was in silence. Nala hoped she had asked the right questions, because Magnar left for Mildura Valley straight after a brief word with Sarabi. Feeling more alone than ever, no matter how many pride members bustled around her, Nala felt incredibly frightened. She watched Magnar leave with the young male Kuu at his side.

Nala closed her eyes, took a deep breath, then got to work. She was on cub watch. Currently doing a terrible job, considering she was watching a total of zero cubs at the present moment.

Scurrying up the path to the main den, Nala peered into the shadows with relief upon finding the cubs in their bed.

"Nuka," Nala called to the one who was sitting up and alert. Oddly, he didn't respond to his own name. "Nuka!" She tried again, louder. All three twitched at the sound and glared at her, upset that their nap time had been disturbed. Nala frowned and padded over to inspect their tiny faces.

"What do you want?" Haru asked her - he was the biggest and bossiest of the cubs. Nuka inspected her with far less hostility while the little girl remained lying silent. Since they had arrived six days ago, the girl had yet to speak. Her mother called her shy. Sarabi had a theory that she was simple.

"I'm gonna be guarding you for the foreseeable future, so show some respect." Haru puffed up like an angry bird, snarling at her in that cute cub voice.

"She says you gotta show us respect! We're important lions, I'm gonna be king and you can't talk to me like that! If Mother -" Nala decided to cut him off before the tirade got any worse.

"Once a crazy monkey cracks a melon over your head and marinates you with oils, you can go on and on about being King, until then, I would advise you didn't say that too loud. Now listen to your talented and beautiful superior and give me a report of what you've done today." Haru's two siblings were looking at him warily, gauging what he was going to do next.

"Why?" He pouted childishly. Nala snapped at him.

"Because I just love to know the mundane details of your life." Thankfully his brother took over, rattling off everything he remembered doing. Zira waking them up and bring food to them, a young warthog, than playing outside of Pride Rock by the watering hole with Mother's two lionesses. One lioness went away and caught a bird for them, she mangled its wings so it couldn't fly away, and then they played at hunting it before it eventually died. Then they ate it and came home to nap through the midday hours. Nala was jealous at how often these cubs were being fed. Their mother and her sidekicks were definitely very attentive. This was good. She could comfortably make them go the next forty eight hours without having to find them meat.

"No more sleeping. It's best you spend all your energy now and save the naps for later." Nala eyed them wearily. She could either sit here and stare at them, or spend her time wearing them down, ultimately making her job easier later tonight.

"Spar with me," she ordered, couching down and waiting for a pounce. Haru responded enthusiastically, throwing himself at her and bouncing back every time she swatted him down. The other two remained in their bed. Considering how diminutive she was compared to her brothers Nala expect the girl to be naturally wary of rough games, but her ears were perked with interest for the first time. She got to her feet, stumbled a bit off balance, then leapt at Nala, soft legs wrapping around Nala's left leg. Nala looked down at her in surprise as she play-bit her. Haru took that moment to launch at Nala's neck and catch her ear in his mouth. Shrugging him off and, far more gently, shaking the girl off her forearm, Nala retreated. All three chased her around the den, following her over the rocks and around the mantle where Scar was supposed to sleep. They then proceeded to play the game around the mantle rock, where she would run around it one way and then switch direction, trying to catch them from behind or get them as they mistakenly ran towards her. There was a lot of squealing. Haru jumped up onto the mantle and tried to jump down on her back, but she met him halfway and tackled him to the ground, wrapping her mouth gentling around his neck and laying on him.

"Let me up," he whined. Nala pressed more of her weight down on him.

"No. I've killed you. You have to play dead."

"You haven't killed me! I'm just buying my time until my battle mates get into position." Nala snorted and bent down to mouth his neck again, this time with a bit more pressure.

"There. You're dead." He huffed and whined, but eventually he played dead. Nala made him lay still longer than usual, just to annoy him, before letting the cub get up.

"Why didn't you help me?" Haru angrily asked his brother. Nuka was non-disturbed.

"I enjoyed seeing you die."

To Nala's surprise, the daughter giggled.

"Haru die." Her brother didn't yell at her like he did with every other lion, instead his voice was light and joking.

"Haru live again. Haru about to take vengeance on those who wronged me!" The egomaniac lion cub declared. As the cubs huddled and Haru whispered plans for a second attack, Nala's ears caught the sound of Rafiki's magic stick clacking into the cavern.

"That them there?" Asked someone who sounded nothing like Rafiki.

"Yes, you idiot." She recognised that voice. Nala turned around quickly once she realised Scar was coming towards her, eyes going wide when she saw the mysterious third creature that accompanied Scar and Rafiki. Perked on Scar's back like the parrots and song birds did, was a massive eagle, looking complete out of place. The giant bird of prey, even for an eagle, was obviously annoying Scar. Larger by a hundred times than any of the birds that served Pride Rock, with talons deadlier than Nala's own grasping tightly to the King's back. Her dark feathers matched Scar well.

"Get to it than. I don't have time to waste." Scar snapped at thin air. Nala panicked, not sure if he was talking to her. The confusion was answered when the eagle jumped off the King's back and fluttered to the ground. She had only extended her wings a quarter out, yet they had thrown the back of the cave into darkness for half a second.

"Alright your Royal Highness. Rafiki get the potion ready." The eagle proceeded to breeze past her without a glance and preen the three cubs. Each stayed stock still as she inspecting them, rotating her head back and forth around them. "Interesting..." the predator grumbled.

"Uhhhh," she started to say, causing both Rafiki and Scar to glance at her.

"The sooner they conduct whatever experiment they need, the sooner they can leave." Scar said, as both an explanation and an order to her. She nodded and remained quiet, even when the eagle's talons came down around the girl's neck and dragged her away from the rest. Her brother's got to their paws, agitated by this.

"Oi, what do you think you're..." Haru started to complain, before cutting himself off and shrinking away when the eagle trained her spooky eyes on him. She chirped what she assumed was a satisfied noise, to which Rafiki came over and took the cub from her.

"I only sense the blood in this one." Then, lower, so that the cubs couldn't hear. "Use the individual test this time, Rafiki."

"This is very strange." The baboon muttered as he put her down and picked up the two brother, taking them to where he had spread leaves, fruit and ... old bones? Nala's eyebrows raised, shooting Scar a look that he returned. Obviously he wasn't an enthusiastic party in this whole 'experiment'.

"Scar, blood." Rafiki demanded, making the King do a double take.

"You didn't need my blood last time."

"We're doing it properly now. With Pobell here this should be pretty much hundred percent accurate. Now stop sulking and come over here."

"Pretty much be," Scar sulked. The eagle reached over and bite him, making the King yelp and Nala giggle at the sound. She didn't think she had ever heard Scar make that sound. Her chuckles died when she saw the blood welling up under his fur, already thick enough to show through. Rafiki pressed what seemed to be the flesh of some fruit or a ball of paste into the blood. Once it had held there long enough, he took it and rubbed it over the chest of the boys and the girl, who the eagle had dragged over. Then he took some leaves, which had been grounded into a fine grit, and sprinkled them over the now wet parts of their coats. Almost instantly Nuka started to squirm in discomfort and the leaves attached to his fur smoked. Quickly Rafiki picked him up and scrubbed the leaves off him, wiping him down in an oily looking substance.

"Okay. So that one has, like, zero of your genetics." The eagle declared, preening the boy once Rafiki sat him down.

Nala glanced at Scar, wondering if she should be here for this. It seemed private and full of spooky magic only royals and wisefolks had the right to witness. After news that like, all thought of her must had flown out of Scar's mind, and Nala was happy to remain quiet and unnoticed.

"This was expected. But what dose zero genetics mean?"

"He isn't your son, or your brother, or your nephew or cousin or second cousin or child of your distant twice removed auntie, not even your ancestors have intersected."

"Oh."

Oh?! Understatement of the century! Nala screamed on the inside. Those lionesses had been trying to pass this kid off as his, heir to Pride Rock. That was a crime punishable by death.

Haru's leaves started to smoke next, this time Rafiki dousing the cub's chest in sand in order for ... reading or something. He and the eagle proceeded to crouch over the cub and watch signs appear that only they could read.

"Alright, this one is related to you through his mother who is your, argh, father's niece."

There was a big long silence where no one dared to breath.

"No claim to the royal blood then. That's good." As one they all cringed at the calm tone eked out of Scar. "They have different mothers?" Scar settled on asking neutrally. The relief on the wise folk's faces was barely hidden.

"Evidently, otherwise that one would have shared the relation and not been burnt so quickly."

"Why hasn't this one started smoking yet?" Scar demanded of Rafiki. The eagle huffed at him.

"I told you I sensed this one had royal blood. Since I'm good at what I do, she most likely has royal blood. Distant blood, maybe, the land Zira comes from is the pride's favourite place to exile their kings. Or competing heirs. Which means her bloodline is harmonious with yours and isn't reacting." Then she added under her breath, "like I fricken said the first time."

Rafiki waved the eagle away and dusted sand onto the girl when she failed to start smoking within the next three minutes. She stayed perfectly still the whole time, remaining how Rafiki had positioned her on her back. Lying contenting, she truly look small, wide red eyes blinking at the faces around her. If they were born to different parents, than this explained a lot. She was younger than them, by leaps and bounds. Nala felt stupid for not realising it before.

"Alright, trace her." The eagle commanded Rafiki. Surprisingly the baboon did as he was told. More sand came out and the two crouched even closer this time to see.

'Are you seeing what I'm seeing?'

'You've got to be kidding me.'

"It's better than I hoped for!" The eagle declared to everyone in the cave. Rafiki laughed as he oiled the cub with something extra, before picking her up and lifting her high, a beaming smile of his face.

"It certainly is!"

The girl started to squirm, so Rafiki quickly placed her down at Scar's feet.

"Allow me to introduce this young lady. Decent of both the Pride Rock blood line on her father's side, directly, and the Mara River blood line through her maternal lineage– also directly."

There was a look shared between the three of them, questioning looks and answering looks, shocked and happy and smug (that was the eagle). This Mara River blood line talk must mean something to them. Now Nala really felt like she shouldn't be there.

"How?" Scar's voice rasped when he asked the question. The shock was taking its toll.

"I'm not sure if we will ever truly know, but my guess is that the mother learnt of the plan to take a litter of cubs to you, and arranged for the child to be amongst them." Scar had yet to take his eyes off the cub.

"I didn't actually expect any of them to be mine. I -" The cub shifted and Scar nearly jumped out of his skin. "I just played along to see if she would reveal her hand. I thought she was working with the rebels, trying to assassinate my from the inside."

"That could still be possible."

"A mother wouldn't leave her cub in the hands of a lioness intent on wiping out its father. When Kings go their heirs go too, she wouldn't have been so stupid as to send her back to me, hidden in plain sight."

"Maybe?"

"No. She was a rouge, she was paranoid about these sorts of things."

"One would argue, that the lifestyle of a rouge is more dangerous than being under the protection of a powerful enemy. Especially for a cub so young, she should still be suckling. But the situation has not allowed for that. I'm thankful she seems to be doing okay on the meat. Thank the ancestors you royals develop so quick."

"You say that, but Sarabi told me she was a slow cub."

"Physically, Scar. Ancestors help me, your brains grow at the same rate as every lion. For a mind, time is far more beneficial than being rushed to grow. Praise me, the minds are given the time they desperately need."

Rafiki was doing a lot of praising and calling to the ancestors, perhaps because of the world turning stroke of good fortune he and the King had just received. Scar looked much more anxious than both wise folk combined.

"We need to keep this between us, for now. I need Zira and her lionesses for the battle, if they learn that we know, they will flee. Once the battle is over, then I will deal with... this. Until then, none of this leaves this den. Understood." Green eyes glared out of their dark surrounds at her, boring in with realisation that she had been there the whole time.

"Not a word, I promise." Nala whispered to him fervently, more than a little afraid. He was looking unpredictable again, more dangerous than he had been in a long, long time.

"Nala. I need you to swear to it." She scrambled through her memories, wondering what a swear of secrecy sounded like. She hoped it had the same basic structure as the rest. Speaking slowly to make sure every word was true, Nala inserted the titles where they needed to be, hoping that they were right. Just like the apprentice one.

I, Nala of Pride Rock, of allegiance to the True Royal Majesty of the Serengeti Pride Lands, pledge to you, King Taka of Pride Rock, to serve with loyalty and courage as Warrior Apprentice to Magnar the Smoke Lion, ancestors so help me.

"I, Nala of Pride Rock, of allegiance to the True Royal Majesty of the Serengeti Pride Lands, swear to you, King Taka of Pride Rock, to take this secret to my death or until you unbind me, ancestors so help me." Rafiki chuckled, Scar started at her unblinkingly. She prepared for something server to come from him, but his next words were light.

"You didn't need the death part, but it was a nice touch." Nala nearly cried.

"I didn't know what to do!"

"Whatever, you've sworn, so keep it." Then he turned, took two steps on his way out of the cave, before stopping dead on the spot.

"What do I do with her?" Scar asked Rafiki, coming back to stand beside his cub.

"The same as usual. Nothing has changed."

"Everything has changed, it's my actual child. That is my real daughter, I can't just leave her here... can I?" Rafiki shrugged his shoulders and looked over at Nala. She felt obliged to speak up.

"I'm still on cub watch - unless that has changed also -I'll be sure to defend her with my life."

"Change of plans, again, Nala. If things go badly, you get this kid away to safety. Off the Pride Lands entirely if nowhere is safe anymore." The King glared at the boys who had by now scuttled behind Nala. "Make sure those two don't rat us out."

"I won't rat!" Once again it was loud Haru, "if you promise to take down Zira, I'll pledge to you as well. Swear it. She nearly killed my mother for speaking against her. I hate her!" All eyes in the cave swivelled to regard the dark cub, thoughtful and surprised in equal measures. Nala looked at the cub beside her in bewilderment. He had been playing along with the charade so well up until this moment, and suddenly he was spilling the secrete faster than gnu crossed rivers.

"And I don't care that I don't have to pretend no more. She is my sister, blood or not, our mothers told us to protect her, and I promised. I'm not gonna let anyone hurt her!"

Scar's green eyes almost glowed. "Her mother, you met her? Where is she?"

"I don't know. She was allowed to stay as long as she caused no trouble, but when she tried to protect mother that time... she disappear after that."

"What did she look like?" The two boys glanced between each other, ears twitching in a silent battle. With a nod of Nuka's head, Haru started to talk again.

"Like Mara does, I suppose. Dark colours with a black stripe. She even had a few spots like leopards do, near her belly."

"That's enough." Rafiki interrupted the cub, stroking his beard with narrowed eyes. "Whose this Mara lion you mentioned?" Haru almost laughed at that.

"Mara is that one... lying in front of the King." Rafiki's face glowed with a self-satisfied smile.

"Mara. That name was chosen to tip us off. A placeholder name until I could perform the ceremony and have the ancestors christen her. There is our proof that she intended for the cub to find its way back to us. Might as well call her Pride Rock, bloody hell." The eagle laughed and Scar grunted unhappily in response, both staring down at the cub who seemed to have... fallen asleep? Rafiki nudged her with the base of his stick, drawing a glare from the King's daughter. Nala's attention was drawn away from the cub when Scar started to walk over.

"Boy, how do you feel about becoming a Royal Guard." Her heart stopped at the words. The last time a Royal Guard was sworn Queen Uru was only a young heir. And a foreign cub, was he sure about this?

The cub's eyes light up in a way Nala had never seen.

"You're not joking?! I'll swear the oath right now!" Scar nodded firmly, pleased with the reaction.

"Both of you can, if you want. Pledge to protect my daughter, and I'll make sure to see Zira trialled for her crimes." It was like he had said the magic words. To her surprise, Nuka leapt straight into a pledge, startling her with his knowledge of the ancient oaths.

"I, Covi of the Ghost Forest, plead to protect you as a guardian with my life, Mara of the, argh, Mara of Pride Rock, fearless and loyal, may the sun dry me up."

They both stood there like proud lions, raised by proud lionesses. She could see how Haru's mother found herself at odds with Zira. Scar's face was visibly surprised that the cub had ignored him completely and instead pledged directly to his daughter.

"I, Haru of the Bad Lands, plead to protect you as a guardian with my life, Mara of Pride Rock, with all my strength and loyalty, may the winds scattered my bones far from home."