AN: This chapter is a bit grizzly.

The earth blackened as they neared the boarder of the Elephant Graveyard, a rise of jagged black rocks known as Shadow Pass. Beyond Shadow Pass smoky clouds dominated the sky. As they entered the pass Ripuka took the lead, followed by Kivuli and Nala with Roho close at her side.

Although the clouds weakened the sun's light the ground radiated warmth and Nala thought she heard distant rumbling. The air tasted musky and stale and if she inhaled too much of it her eyes started to water. She tried to avoid taking deep breaths. Scanning the rocky walls of the pass, she saw few signs of life. An old, dead acacia tree feebly clung to a jagged rock above them with spidery roots. Brittle twigs cracked beneath their paws. The little vegetation she could recognize seemed to be long dead. There was only one living creature Nala expected to find here. Before they entered Shadow Pass, Ripuka cautioned them to be wary of the snakes that made their homes in crevices between the rocks. But although she kept her eyes open for their dens she found no sign of them, not even shed skin. She tread cautiously.

The twisting path gradually steepened until they reached its zenith; there they paused to rest on a cliff overlooking the Elephant Graveyard. A disquieting silence fell over the group as Roho and Kivuli gaped at the bone yard. For Nala the sight brought back chilling memories. She glanced at Ripuka, who stared across the gloomy expanse with neither bitterness nor welcome. "Did you live here?"

Ripuka said nothing. Kivuli looked at her sadly. "She doesn't like to talk about it."

As they descended into the Graveyard itself Nala realized how long it had been since the last time she sat foot here. The bones seemed much larger as a cub, though they were still massive.

Instinctively she searched for signs of life. The hunting lessons she received from her mother and Binti taught her to look at the world in ways she never considered as a cub. No birds flew in the sky, not even vultures. Her ears twitched as they passed an elephant skull, detecting the tiny squeaks of mice. That must be what the snakes eat. But what do the mice eat? These bones are picked clean and I don't see any plants here. I can't even smell water.

She spotted some faint animal tracks and slowed down to investigate them. Maybe they would provide answers. Her eyes bulged. "Ripuka, Kivuli – come here quickly! These are hyena tracks."

Several sets of tracts in fact, at least five individuals. They couldn't have been here for long. She sniffed them. Ripuka did the same. "They're at least a week old." Nala glared at Ripuka. "I thought your clan didn't live here anymore. What's going on?"

Ripuka shook herself and regarded her with narrowed eyes. "You ask Captain Shenzi," she snorted.

"Captain Shenzi was here?" Roho asked with his tail between his legs. Ripuka gave him a dirty look and he shrank away from it.

Kivuli looked confused. "What would Captain Shenzi be doing all the way out here? We're not even in the Pridelands anymore."

Nala eyed Ripuka with her ears flattened against her skull. She growled, "Are you sure you don't know anything about this?"

"No!" Kivuli stood in front of her protectively. "Ripuka's just my bodyguard, she doesn't report to Captain Shenzi. Only my dad and I can give her orders."

"She's still one of them."

"She's my friend! If she thought it was dangerous she never would have brought be here."

"Yeah, dangerous for you. No hyena would ever lay a paw on you – you're practically one of them. The last time I saw Captain Shenzi, she tried to kill me!"

"No I'm not!" Kivuli bristled. "I'm a lion just like you! Just because we're different doesn't mean we're enemies. You don't know them like I do, you've never even talked to them. You're just like all the other Pridelanders – scared of something you don't understand. But you don't even want to understand because you don't care about anyone but yourselves!"

"Hey, cut it out little guy!" Roho raised his voice as loud as he dared. His eyes kept darting to Ripuka worriedly, as if he expected her to charge. "You know Nala's not like that. She cares about everybody."

"Pish. Not everybody," she muttered sourly. No matter how unjust Mufasa's punishment she knew better than to mistake pity for forgiveness. The Sootfoot clan did nothing to earn it from her.

"Well you should! Any friend of mine is a friend of Ripuka's. She said so herself. Remember?"

Nala frowned. Ripuka did call her friend, though she still found that choice of words dubious. She wondered if Ripuka was smart enough to lie. The hyena's odd habit of referring to herself in the third person, coupled with her blunt, simple speech and heavy brow did not inspire her respect. If the average hyena had rocks for brains Ripuka's skull must be full of pebbles. Anyway, the look Ripuka gave her now was anything but friendly.

"This isn't getting us anywhere," Roho protested meekly in the uncomfortable silence. "I don't know about you guys, but I just wanna grab what we came for and get the heck outta here! There's no way Captain Shenzi is still hanging around here. And I hate to say it: if Ripuka wanted to kill us we'd be dead by now. She knows this place better than we do so we better trust her. At least for now," he added with a whisper.

Roho might have a point. She sighed, "Fine, let's hurry. This place gives me the creeps."

…

Venturing deeper into the Graveyard they found an enormous pile of bones. Judging by the skulls there were at least four elephant skeletons in this area and possibly bones from others. Ripuka climbed to the top of the largest skull and looked around. Satisfied that they were alone, Ripuka jumped down. Since there were so many skeletons here Nala suggested that they break up into groups to make this go faster. Kivuli went with Ripuka and Roho reluctantly crept away, leaving Nala to dig through her own pile of bones.

The nasty stench in the air was beginning to irritate Nala's throat. A fine, ash-like dust covered the earth, sticking to her paws and getting in her eyes as she shifted the bones. She growled in discomfort and shoved aside a giant shoulder blade. How the Sootfoot clan managed to live here for so long was beyond her imagination.

With clouds covering the sky she could only guess how long they had been searching. In a graveyard overflowing with pachyderms she never thought they would have so much trouble finding something as mundane as a leg bone. When they did the bone they were looking for it was always split open or broken in some way. There didn't seem to be much marrow inside these bones, leaving her baffled. It seemed like an enormous waste of energy for so little reward. Was food that scarce here?

Nala trotted toward what appeared to be the socket of a leg bone sticking out of the ground. Hopefully this one would be whole. The tough ground resisted her. This bone - if it was a bone - must have been buried here a long time ago. She raked her claws through the earth, loosening it. After a long hard time spent scraping away the soil she revealed the shaft of what appeared to be a complete elephant leg bone. Growing excited she began digging faster, a grin spreading across her face. This time she'd found it for sure.

Suddenly, somewhere nearby…

RUMBLE!

CRASH!

Startled by the noise, Nala bolted upright and franticly looked around. Someone moaned in pain. "Roho!"

She ran toward the spot where Roho was digging, but he was nowhere in sight. "Roho!? Can you hear me?"

"Down here! Ah… I think I'm alright…"

She followed the sound of his voice to a steep ledge hidden behind another pile of bones. Part of the ledge had recently collapsed. Nala tested it with her forepaw. It seemed safe, for now at least. There was no telling when it might collapse again.

Somewhere below, Roho stammered incomprehensibly, voice rising to a terrified squeak. "I… I… I… oh… no… no no… no no no…"

Nala cautiously peered over the edge. The drop-off was steep but not deep, possibly a section of an old muddy river. Roho was backed up against the other side, shivering with his tail wrapped around rightly his body, but aside from being covered in mud and having his fur messed he looked to be in good health. He jumped when she called his name, causing her to worry. While he certainly had a reputation for being a coward she had never seen him this frightened before. His eyes darted toward something on the other side of the river bed. A few pieces of the ledge crumbled away when she tried to lean over it. Fortunately it held for the most part, but she backed away just to be safe. "What's down there?"

"D… d… d… don't… c… come… d… down…"

"Is it a snake?"

Roho shook his head.

"Can you climb out on your own?"

He stared at her blankly, almost hyperventilating. If she didn't get him out of there soon he could pass out and she would have no hope of dragging his unconscious body up these steep cliffs. "I'm coming down for you."

By the time Roho gathered enough of his wits to stammer out a few syllables she had already leapt into the river bed. The air down here was stagnant and smelled of blood. Only by standing right in front of him could she see the blood dripping from his red forehead. Nala bit her lip. She would figure out how to explain this to Nyonda later. Right now she needed to calm him down. "Hold still," she said softly and licked his forehead to clean out the wound. He closed his eyes and leaned against her heavily. She smiled, teasing, "Don't be such a baby. It's only a little cut. What are you so afraid of?"

He shivered and choked on a sob. She thought he had grown out of his crying phase. "S… Shaba… Z… Zito… they… they're here…"

Nala felt her heart slowing down. Slowly, she turned her head. She saw them first out of the corner of her eye, two large feline carcasses cloaked in a thin layer of torn dry skin, their bodies twisted in chaotic death poses, but what she noticed first was their teeth - their blazing white, skinless grins. One of the bodies faced her, its black eye sockets burning like hot coals. She had seen dead bodies before on her hunting trips with her mother's team, the carcasses of plant eaters left for scavengers. This was not even remotely similar. She averted her eyes, gasping for breath. While she struggled to compose herself Roho babbled insensibly.

"It's them… it's them… it's them!"

"Stop it!" Nala hissed, tears in her eyes. Just as she was about to snap she heard Kivuli calling her from the ledge. She lifted her head, purposefully avoiding the bodies piled at the foot of the ledge, and saw the young prince standing in the same spot she had moments before, oblivious to the horrors below. Ripuka stood behind him. The tears ran down her cheeks as she blinked, seized by a new compulsion. I can't let him see them. She swallowed hard. "We're fine. I found a bone over where I was digging but it's stuck. Could you dig it up, Ripuka?"

"Are you sure you're okay?" Kivuli called. She nodded quickly, heart pounding.

"Yes. We'll be out in a minute. Go help Ripuka dig up that bone so we can get out of here."

Kivuli's tail swished in hesitation. "Alright… if you're sure. Just hurry, okay?"

"We will." As Kivuli and Ripuka disappeared behind the pile of bones Nala inhaled deeply, unaware that she had been holding her breath. Roho stared at her helplessly. "What are we going to do?" he said quietly.

She wished she had the answers. Maybe her mother would know what to do, but if she told her what they'd been doing… "I don't know. We should head back to Pride Rock. I'll try to think of something."

Now she just needed to find a way to get them back to Ripuka and Kivuli. They couldn't go back the way they came. She looked downstream, spotting the skeleton of an elephant that had died inside of the river, creating a natural bridge to the other side. It might not be pretty, but it was better than the alternative. Nala put her front paws on the cliff and dug in her claws. After Roho climbed out over her shoulders she pulled herself up and the two of them made their way back to the others in silence. By the time they reached them Ripuka had finished digging the bone out of the ground. It was a complete leg bone. Kivuli danced around the bone, giddy with joy. Glancing at Roho, Nala saw that they shared the same hollow expression. When their eyes met she realized what they were both thinking. The journey home would be much longer than the journey out.

…

Roho crossed the river first on their way back and Nala followed with Kivuli on her back. Roho fared much better this time, allowing the current to drag him rather than trying to fight it. Nala wondered if he learned his lesson before or if the sight they saw in the Elephant Graveyard was so horrific that he simply lost the will to struggle. Once Roho and Kivuli were on the other side and safely hidden in the brush, Nala swam back across to help Ripuka carry the bone through the water. It took all her strength to hold her head above water but somehow they made it, though by the end of it she was so exhausted that she needed to rest before they continued.

Thank goodness for the sun. She missed its warmth and light in that dark place. Based on its position they were outside the Pridelands for little more than an hour. That gave them plenty of time to rest, since their parents would not be expecting them back so soon. With the shade protecting them Nala could finally enjoy a little peace. She laid her head on her paws and sighed.

Was it worth it? If Kivuli keeps his promise I'll never have to worry about marriage again. But those bodies… She rolled onto her side, pulled her back legs to her chest and curled up in a ball, tucking her head under her wrist.

Could they really be Shaba and Zito? I never got a good look at them… I couldn't… and even if I could… there was so much missing. They didn't even have fur. She grimaced. No, can't be. Shaba and Zito aren't stupid enough to go wandering around in the Elephant Graveyard. I think they already planned where they wanted to run away to. It's been so long… what was it? The Acacia Pride? That's probably right. I'm not sure what direction that's in but I'm pretty sure you don't go through the Elephant Graveyard to get there.

They're not the only ones missing, either. No one has seen Huzuni in months. That's unusual. Normally there were Huzuni sightings every few weeks. The huntresses often caught glimpses of her from a distance and word got around quickly that she was still out there. Everyone was concerned about her, so as soon as someone mentioned seeing her everyone would bombard her with questions about Huzuni's well being. Some of the lionesses even talked about trying to convince her to come back. Then about a month after Kivuli's presentation suddenly everyone started talking about how no one had seen Huzuni lately. Then they stopped talking about her all together. Even Nala hadn't thought about her in months. She closed her eyes and tried to clear her mind in vain.

Stop thinking about that. Huzuni probably just left, just like Shaba and Zito did.

But then… who were they? How did they die? They couldn't have fallen. What if they were sick or injured? How did they get there? No one would search for help in that place…

…

Something must have killed them.

…

The hyena tracks.

Nala cupped her paws over her ears.

No. Stop it. It's not important. They could have been rogues for all you know.

She whispered to herself, "What if I'm wrong?"

…

If I tell mom what I saw I'll have to tell her what I was doing. If Sarabi finds out that I took Kivuli to the Elephant Graveyard we'll all be in trouble and Kivuli might take back his promise. And I still haven't found any cubs he would like. I don't even know how to make him fall in love, whatever that means. Damn it.

She rolled onto her other side and laid her head on her foreleg, gazing through the tall grass toward the savannah and the distant silhouette of Pride Rock beyond. She thumped her tail against the ground and squeezed her eyes shut. What would Sarabi do?

…

I have to tell mom.