CHAPTER 16. FACING THE PAST
Simba looked around frightened, he eventually looked up towards the sky, where it looked like a storm was brewing. Simba looked long and hard at the clouds swirling in an unnatural fashion. They eventually formed a face, then a neck, then a pair of shoulders. The clouds took the form of his father, looking down on him, with a disappointed face.
"Simba...You have forgotten me." The ghostly image of his father said. Simba's hair was blown around violently as he spoke. "No, How could I?" Simba yelled back up. "You have forgotten who you are, and in doing so you've forgotten me. Look inside yourself Simba, you are more than what you have become, and you must take your place as leader." The voiced boomed from above and Simba started feeling the tears come back. "How can I go back? I'm not who I used to be." Simba whined. "Remember who you are. You are my son, and the one true leader." He the voice of his father said, and started to fade away. "Remember..." He repeated again and again as the image started to fade away as well. "Wait! Dad...don't leave me again..." Simba cried out, but the storm started to dissipate and his father faded away. He fought back the tears and pulled himself together. Rafiki then appeared next to him.
"What was that!" Rafiki chuckled. "The weather...very peculiar." Simba nodded. He knew what he had to do now, and that wasn't going to be easy for him. "It seems like things are changing, I know what I need to do...but that means I have to face my past." Simba said. Rafiki then swung his cane at him and hit him in the back of his head. "OW! Shit, what was that for?" Simba yelled, putting a hand on his head to check for blood. "It doesn't matter, It's in the past!" Rafiki laughed. "Yeah but it still hurts." Simba said. "The past can hurt, but the way I see it, you can either run from it...or learn from it." Rafiki said as he swung at Simba again, but Simba had anticipated the blow and blocked it with his arm. "HA! You see? So what are you going to do?" Rafiki asked. "Well first...I'm gonna lose your stick." Simba said and snatched the cane from him, and threw it in the opposite direction to which he faced. When Rafiki retrieved the cane, Simba was running back towards the tavern parking lot. "Hey! Where are you going?" Rafiki cried after him. "Where do you think?" Simba shouted back. "Good! Go on, get out of here!" Rafiki shouted after him. Simba got into his car and gunned it back to Timon's mansion.
At Timon's house, in the lounge room.
Timon and Pumbaa slept peacefully on the sofa, behind the TV, which was still running. Nala entered the room and tapped Timon on the shoulder. "Hey, wake up!" She whispered to him. Timon yawned and opened his eyes to see the woman who had come so close to killing them all not too long ago, staring straight at him from no more than a foot away. Timon screamed and woke Pumbaa who awoke and started screaming as well. Nala rushed to calm them down; "Hold on it's okay, it's just me...CALM DOWN!" She shouted at them. Timon composed himself and pointed a finger at her; "Don't ever do that again." He panted. Nala shook her head. "Anyway, where's Simba?" She asked. "I don't know, I thought he was with you...you know...having a grand old time." Timon folded his arms as he spoke and raised an eyebrow at her. Nala rolled her eyes in disgust. "He was, now I can't find him." She said as the front door swung open. Simba charged inside the house and went upstairs. "Hey! Where do you think you're going?" Timon yelled after him. "I'm going home!" Simba yelled back. A smile appeared on Nala's face, and Timon looked at her in disgust. "Thank you bitch, our buddy's going to ditch us and die in a pointless war because of you." He snarled at her.
Simba came back down the stairs, wearing a polo neck jacket and holding a 9mm pistol in his hand that Timon hadn't seen before. "I'm not ditching anyone, you're coming with me. Trust me on this, it will be better for all of us in the long run, and by doing this you are saving thousands of innocent lives, and no one's going to die. What do you say pal? Hakuna Matata?" Simba held out a hand towards Timon. Timon thought for a minute before finally agreeing, he shook Simba's hand reluctantly. "Fine, Hakuna Matata." He said. Timon still wasn't sure about it. How could he expect to overthrow Scar's government single handedly? Simba had promised him that there would be no problems doing it, but he didn't know what to believe from that guy anymore. Apparently he was relying on support from the Americans and the people of the Pridelands. Once it was acknowledged that the king's son lived, Scar's communists would be recognized as the bad guys by the world, and the PRF command would be the rightful government, being the monarchists.
"Get changed, we're leaving tonight." Simba said to Timon. "Wait hold on a second, we're going now?" Timon said surprised. "Yes, if we leave tonight we will be at the PRF camp sometime next morning. Now go get dressed in dark colors or camo, oh and take our rifle." Simba said. Timon complied and rushed upstairs. "The rifle won't be necessary." Nala said to Simba and he raised an eyebrow. "Come with me." She said and led him outside, and into the jungle where her camouflage painted Jeep Wrangler was hidden. She opened the trunk to reveal an entire arsenal of weapons. There were sub-machine guns, assault rifles; plenty of ammunition and various weapon accessories there. "You're going to need a bit more than a hunting rifle to take on Scar's boys." She told him. Simba smiled and said: "Okay then, I'll take it." Nala looked at him. "Which ones?" Nala asked him. "All of them." Simba said with a grin and turned away. Okay, so I'll carry it all, that's quite gentlemanly. Nala thought and started to pick up the guns and ammo. "Now come with me, it's my turn to impress you." Simba said and lead her down to the underground garage.
When Nala saw the GT500, her heart almost stopped. Her father had always dreamed of owning that car, and he taught Nala all about it. "Wow...It's pretty." She stuttered. "Yeah, we're going to need something a bit faster than a Jeep to take on Scar." He said and opened the trunk. "Put all weapons in here, if Timon sees them he'll freak out." Simba said and Nala started placing them neatly into the car, she finished just as Timon and Pumbaa entered the garage. "Alright fellas, let's roll!" Timon said enthusiastically as he put on his sunglasses, even though it was night. Simba started the car and revved the engine.