Two more weeks of quiet passed. Before long Nala was once again absorbed in hunting with her mother and the other lionesses, but what she saw in the Elephant Graveyard remained a shadow in the back of her mind. She wished she could talk to Sarabi or Nana Uru about it. With the contest less than a week away, at least she had a means to distract herself.

There was a little good news: Kivuli and Tumbusi were getting along. Although he seemed to have no interest in Tumbusi's sisters she hoped that would change as he grew older. She would have liked to observe them, to search for ways to bring them close together, but most of the time Zira prevented her from getting too close. Nala was beginning to wonder when she would find the time to put her plan into action. For now her days were consumed with hunting and training. When she had a spare moment all she wanted to do was rest. If she had any energy left at all her friends always managed to scoop her up before she could put it to use spying on the Outsiders. The contest was important to her, it always came first. Of course, if she won, leading a hunting party would give her even less time to work on her plan. How would she ever pull this off?

"Nala?"

"Hm? Sorry, I was lost in thought," she said sheepishly to Wezi. She, Wezi, Buibui, Eupe, and her mother were on their way to a herd of wildebeest Chibi had scouted for them.

"I understand. I'm excited about the contest, too," Wezi said cheerfully. Though her friend was soft spoken Nala could see the subtle eagerness in her eyes. After the Royal Presentation of Kivuli, Eupe stopped talking about taking her daughter and leaving the Pridelands. Even though nothing had occurred since then everyone sensed Eupe's dissatisfaction with Scar's leadership, especially Nala, who feared she might still decide to leave one day. Fortunately now that she was a teenager, Wezi was old enough to stay behind on her own if Eupe ever decided to leave for good – not that either of them wanted that. They hoped that if Wezi won the competition next week she could convince her mother to stay. Despite being in direct conflict with one another, Wezi remained a good friend.

The herd was in sight. Eupe and Sarafina turned to the youngsters while Buibui kept an eye on the herd. "We're going ahead to set up an ambush. It's up to you two to choose our targets."

"Two targets?" Nala whispered, astonished. She had never been on a double-kill hunt before. Only the adults participated in this type of hunt, not because of the danger – but because of how easily the plan could go wrong. Instead of ending up with two kills they could end up with nothing to eat and a lot of wasted energy. Sarafina nodded gravely. She smirked at them.

"You two were at the top of Binti's hunting class. We all have faith in you. Now listen carefully… Buibui will be stationed over there by those trees. Wezi, it will be your job to select a wildebeest and lead it to her. You'll have to help her bring it down. Do you think you can handle that?" Wezi nodded without hesitation. Sarafina turned to Nala, saying, "Your job will be to select the largest bull you can find and drive it towards Eupe and I. Once the herd starts to split Eupe will help you isolate your target. Together you'll drive it toward the bushes where I'll be waiting in ambush."

"Right," Nala nodded, grinning.

Eupe gently nuzzled her daughter's cheek. They looked so much like each other, more like sisters than mother and daughter: pale cream fur, light dusty ear spots and eye shadows, and the same turquoise eyes. "Be careful, Wezi."

"I will, mom."

"You too, Nala," said Sarafina. Nala only grinned. She could barely contain herself.

The hunting party split up. Staying low to the ground, Nala and Wezi crept toward the herd. During this part of the hunt quiet was absolutely essential. Nala and Wezi communicated through telling glances, subtle facial gestures – a flick of the ear could change the outcome of the entire hunt. By the time they closed in on the herd Nala had chosen her target. Wezi gave a small tilt of her head. She had found her target, too. This is it.

She would never forget the feeling of her first hunt. No longer an individual, she transformed into a part of the whole, becoming one with her hunting party. Somehow she could almost sense what the other lionesses were thinking, as if they were all connected by an invisible web of belonging. She never tired of it.

Hooves pounded all around her as she cut through the herd on the heels of her target. It felt like running through a thunderstorm. Eupe sprang to her side as if springing from the earth itself. Running out of breath, Nala took her eyes off her target for a moment to watch Eupe run beside her. In a few seconds Nala would slow down to let her take over until they reached Sarafina's hiding spot, then her mother would tackle their target and the two of them would close in to help with the kill. Nala allowed Eupe to over-take her. As she fell back she noticed something approaching out of the corner of her eye, an enormous shadow rolling pitilessly across the land. The herd was fragmenting. "Eupe, watch out!"

Eupe neither saw nor heard the approaching danger. Nala tried to catch up to her on burning legs. The roar of the herd filled her ears. Too far away to help, Nala screamed until her lungs ached, "Eupe!"

Her ribs shuddered in the cacophony. Finally Eupe became aware of the danger, but instead of speeding up she slowed down, her mouth wide open. The herd was almost on top of them now.

"No!" Nala screamed, still too far away to help. Yet she was close enough to see the fear in Eupe's turquoise eyes. Even if she reached her they would only be trampled together in the stampede. If only Eupe ran. Why didn't she run!? Nala dug her claws into the earth and spun around on her heels, her tail whipping against a wildebeest's shoulder as she fled from the gauntlet. Another wildebeest leapt out in front of her. Nala ducked and skid as it leapt over her, its hooves narrowly missing her neck only to be cut off by two more. She changed direction, running with the herd instead of through it, but her legs were about to give out. Spotting an opening she charged past another wildebeest and into the open air. The sun flared and clawed at her eyes as she collapsed into the grass, utterly exhausted.

The thunderstorm faded into the distance, replaced by her ragged breathing. For several seconds the savannah was deceptively calm. Suddenly, she heard her mother cry, "Nala! Eupe! Where are you!?"

She tried to call out to her but her throat was parched and cracked dry. She coughed, licked her muzzle and blinked, clearing the tears from her eyes. Tall stalks of elephant grass obscured her vision. They seemed to be looking down on her like vultures. She wanted to bury herself in the dirt and shrink from them. Somewhere she heard her mother frantically leaping through the grass, searching for them. Gritting her teeth, Nala dragged herself onto her stomach and pushed herself onto her four legs. Her legs shuddered to hold her weight.

"Eupe?" Knocking through the grass, her mother shrieked, "Eupe! By the stars!"

Looking over her shoulder, Nala saw her mother standing ten yards away. She was staring at something on the ground. Eupe was nowhere in sight. Nala filled her lungs with air (the smell of blood) and willed herself to move toward her mother as quickly as her body allowed. She expected the worst.

Trampled and stained red, the elephant grass bent beneath Eupe's bruised and broken body. Blood bubbled and dripped from her lips with her every exhale, flowing from the gash in her throat, and her back leg looked badly mangled. She shuddered in agony. "Oh no…" Tears threatened Nala's eyes, causing her to grit her teeth. She looked to her mother. "Mom, what do we do?"

Sarafina was already crying. Tear stains were plainly visible on her cheeks, accented by the dust from the stampede. It was the first time since Mufasa's death Nala saw her cry. She seemed to be a million miles away. There was no time to comfort her, no time for a reunion. "I need to get Rafiki. Stay here and lick her wounds." Nala started to ask what to do about Wezi and Buibui, but her mother was already running as fast as her legs could carry her.

Part of Binti's hunting lessons included an in-depth guide for what to do if you or one of your team members gets injured. As always Nala was the stand-out of her class, but being faced with the real thing for the first time made her simultaneously want to sob and throw-up. No one had ever depended on her like this before. Lying down at Eupe's side, she gently placed a paw on her shoulder – ready to move if she flinched – and started licking the wound on her neck, which seemed to be the most serious. Some of Eupe's blood got into her nostrils. Shivering, Nala choked back a sob. If she couldn't control the bleeding Eupe might die before Rafiki could help her.

"Naa…"

Nala froze and stared at Eupe. Was she trying to speak? Eupe sucked in air, lips painfully peeled back. "Naa…"

"Yes, it's me, Nala," she said, quivering. "Please don't try to speak. You're going to be all right, mom's gone to get help. You're going to be okay, Eupe."

Just then Nala heard a roar. That was Buibui signaling that she and Wezi had made a kill. They were so far away, she wondered if they even knew what happened. For a moment she wondered if they caused the herd to split. No, couldn't be. Buibui is too experienced for that and Wezi would never be so careless. Some kind of freak accident?

She almost called to them but something made her hesitate. Buibui and Wezi were the only ones with a kill. With food so scarce the pride couldn't afford to lose it to scavengers. They would just have to stay put until Scar showed up with the others. Suddenly Eupe covered her nose with her paw, startling her from her thoughts and drawing her into her eyes. In spite of her obvious pain and weakness Eupe held her gaze compellingly as if trying to impart information of great importance, but her voice was weak and rent. "Huuh… huuuuhh… uck… sssssssk… ahh…"

Nala shook her head, mystified. "I'm sorry, I-I don't understand. Please be still. I'm going to take care of you, I promise."

Eupe did not try to speak again, though she was in too much pain to be quiet. Once she even tried to stand to Nala's disbelief. Binti warned her that moving around with an open wound only caused it to bleed faster. Panicked, she gently coaxed her to lie down again. Scar and the hyenas were approaching on the horizon by the time her mother returned with Rafiki bounding after her, using his stick as a pivot to leap through the air. Nala quickly got out of his way. Her mother stood close to her, panting hard. As they looked on the baboon broke open a gourd and smeared some sticky paste over the gash in Eupe's neck. Eupe hissed and flexed her claws and Rafiki replied with gentle, placating noises. He turned to Sarafina and said, "We need to get her back to Pride Rock right away. There are too many predators out here."

"But the hyenas –" Nala protested. Rafiki raised his hand for silence. "Better the enemy you know than the enemy you don't. Help me get her up, Sarafina."

Sarafina stood beside Eupe while Rafiki helped the injured lioness to stand. Eupe leaned heavily against Nala's mother, holding her injured back leg in the air like a flamingo. Desperate to help in any way, Nala said, "What can I do?"

"Stay with your friend. She needs you," said Rafiki, gesturing towards the advancing pride with his staff. Wezi stood apart from the rest of them, staring at Sarafina and Rafiki holding up her mother with mouth agape. Nala ran toward her.

"What's going on? What happened to my mom!?"

"There was an accident. I'm so sorry Wezi, I tried to save her but I couldn't reach her in time."

"Is she going to be alright?"

"I don't know. Mom and Rafiki are taking her back to Pride Rock now."

"I have to go with them." Wezi jumped past her before she could say anything. She followed after Wezi, watching over her as she spoke to her mother through a veil of tears. Eupe looked at her daughter, too weak and injured to communicate with more than her eyes. As they walked back to Pride Rock Nala nervously watched the Sootfoot clan flow over the land like smoke. There wouldn't be enough meat for everyone.

…

"I wish we could push the contest back, but several litters have just been born to the Sootfoot clan and there isn't enough food to go around. We can't afford to delay."

Nala's heart sank. Since yesterday's accident Eupe could barely eat or drink on her own. With her condition so fragile, neither Wezi nor Rafiki could leave her side. "Couldn't you two form your own hunting team? At least temporarily."

Binti and Chibi were such wonderful teachers Nala couldn't imagine they would have problems leading their own hunting party. However, Chibi frowned. "We have been doing relief hunting for the other teams. The problem is we also have our paws full tracking the herds. Many of them are being over hunted."

"Some of them have even formed coalitions to stop us from attacking them," Binti added. "There's also the leopards and cheetahs to deal with. Our over hunting is making it harder on them, too. Since the herds have started banding together it's gotten more and more dangerous to hunt them so, as you know, many of our huntresses have turned to hunting prey usually reserved for the other meat eaters. Some of the hyenas have also started poaching their kills."

Chibi sighed. "But what else can we do? There are so many mouths to feed."

Nala had never seen the twins look so tired before. She thought forming a new hunting party would help the Pridelands, but she had no idea that the other animals were suffering too. This new hunting party would only make matters worse for them. Chibi was right. What else could they do? "But if we can't post-pone the contest there's no way Wezi will be able to compete. Her mother needs her."

"We know and we're sorry. There's just nothing we can do. Binti and I are working on finding someone to take her place. We already –"

"Ah, there are you are! Good morning, princesses!" Chibi stopped as Zazu flew down and landed on the lowest hanging branch of an acacia tree above their heads. The three lionesses looked at him. "Pardon me for interrupting, but his Majesty has requested your presence at the Throne immediately! He has an important task for you regarding the vacancy in the hunting competition."

Binti and Chibi exchanged glances. Sarabi had placed them in charge of the hunting competition. To Nala's understanding she granted her daughters total control over the proceedings. Her tail ruffled at the thought of Scar butting in where he didn't belong.

She followed the twins to their meeting with their uncle. Neither Zazu nor the twins objected, which slightly disappointed her because she was itching for the chance to prove her rights. An audience with the king would give her a chance to plead Wezi's case to the highest authority in the Pridelands. Surely he could do something to help her. Wezi deserved this opportunity just as much as any of them. Even though she insisted she didn't mind forfeiting the contest to help her mother, Nala couldn't leave it alone.

They found the king and queen lounging on the Throne of Pride Rock. Pride Rock's massive spire cast a shadow over them. In addition to Scar's hyena guards there were two other lionesses sitting near the royal family. Recognizing one of them, she felt as though a gazelle kicked her in the chest and had to restrain herself from curling her lips. What is she doing here?

Zira and her mother Shetani sat at Scar's right shoulder. A smirk touched Zira's muzzle when she recognized Nala. The older lioness looked just as Sarabi described her, except for one feature: her cold blue eyes. Her unblinking gaze reminded her of a serpent. Nala chided herself, reminding herself of what Nana Uru told her about never judging others based on their appearance. Still, something about Shetani's eyes made her uneasy. Looking away from her, she noticed Kivuli asleep in Sarabi's arms. His eyes were closed but his ears stood erect. Maybe he wasn't sleeping after all. Scar smiled at them without getting up.

"Hello girls," the king purred amicably. "Thank you so much for coming. You too, Nala. It's good that you came."

Nala raised her eyebrows. Scar shouldn't have been expecting her. What did he want? He turned to the two Outsiders.

"Zira, Shetani – these are my nieces Binti and Chibi. They're in charge of the hunting competition. Binti, Chibi – I'd like you to meet Zira, one of the newest members of our pride. I believe you two have already met Shetani. She wishes to enter her daughter in the competition."

The twins were stunned, as was Nala. At first neither of them knew what to say. Finally, Chibi said quietly, "Thank you very much Shetani, but I'm afraid Binti and I already had our hearts set on Moto. She was one of my best students you see and… well..."

"We were hoping to keep the entries limited to the young huntresses we trained. We've never seen you hunt before," Binti continued, straining to be polite. Although Shetani's expression remained unchanging, Zira wrinkled her nose.

"Precisely why I sent for you dears! I wouldn't expect you to include Zira without a demonstration. She should have to prove herself first. That's why Sarabi and I have decided that in order to be fair to everyone we're going to send the three of you on a hunting expedition. Our most experienced huntress Halali will accompany you to act as an impartial observer."

"That's really not necessary," Chibi said calmly. This time she may have been a little too blunt, for Scar's eyes narrowed and his smile changed to a sneer. As if sensing a change in the atmosphere, Sarabi spoke up. "Binti, please. Shetani's daughters have helped me on my hunts before."

Binti and Chibi exchanged looks again. Reluctantly, Chibi turned to Zira, "I suppose it's only fair to give you a chance. At least we'll finally get to know each other."

Nala said nothing until Binti and Chibi left with the Outsiders. While she disliked the idea of having Zira in the competition even more than Moto, at least she knew the odds of her taking Wezi's place were slim to none with her bad attitude. To her surprise, Scar stood up before she could approach him and went to her side. Now that he got what he wanted he appeared to be in a much better mood. "Nala, come with me to the watering hole. There's something I need to discuss with you."

She glanced warily at Sarabi. The queen returned her gaze with a serene smile and her fur slowly settled down. I guess it's not like I have a choice… Two hyena guards filed in behind them as they descended from the Throne of Pride Rock to the grasslands below. Her ears rotated behind her head, listening for signs of trouble from their two companions. Scar never went anywhere without at least two hyenas close by. She wondered what made him so paranoid. He certainly didn't look like he had anything to be afraid of. The way Scar carried himself he seemed to believe it was he who should be feared.

Sarabi once told her that Scar was complicated. Having observed his behavior many times and gleaned a few intimate details of his life through Kivuli, Nala felt inclined to agree.

"I just wanted to say how sorry I am about what happened to Eupe. I know all too well what it's like to lose a family member."

"She's still here," she said defensively, glaring at him.

"Really? I thought she'd passed on during the night." He seemed genuinely surprised. He shrugged. "I apologize. The fact of the matter is that the odds of Eupe's survival are slim. How are you holding up?"

Nala's temper cooled. She looked away, drawing herself up to make herself look tougher. "I'm okay. It's Wezi I'm worried about. She worked so hard during our classes together. I know Eupe would want her to see this through but Wezi refuses to leave her side. Isn't there anything you can do? Send another lioness to look after her?"

"It seems to me Wezi is happy where she is," Scar replied coolly, irritating Nala. What right did he have to speak for her friend?

"You don't know her. She has to compete…" She couldn't explain why. If Scar knew about Eupe's intention to leave she might get into trouble.

The gentleness in Scar's voice startled her. For a moment he sounded almost like Uru. "While that may be true, Eupe will be lucky to survive the week. If Wezi wishes to share mother's finals days then I see no reason to force them apart because of some competition."

"Eupe is going to make it. She has to." She blinked back the tears threatening her eyes. Eupe was like an aunt to her. She couldn't imagine the Pridelands without her or Wezi.

Realizing that they had been walking for a while without saying anything, she looked at Scar. He met her eyes, shapely eyebrows raised faintly as if asking a pertinent question. She knew what he was implying. Of course he thought the same thing about Ahadi, Johari, Mufasa, Simba, and everyone else he lost. For a long time Nala also refused to believe that Mufasa and Simba were truly gone. But they were gone. Nothing could bring them back. Unable to stand what she saw Nala looked at her paws instead. "Are you still going to compete?" he inquired, tactfully changing the subject.

Would she? She never thought about it before. If Scar was right…

No, he can't be right.

"Of course I am," she snapped. "I've been dreaming of becoming lead huntress my entire life. Besides, I'd be letting my mother down."

The corners of his mouth turned up in an approving smile. "That's the spirit. How is Sarafina, by the way?"

"She's with Eupe. We haven't spoken much since the accident… I'm worried about her, too. I've never seen her so upset before." She worried that her mother blamed her for the accident somehow. Ever since she brought Eupe back to Pride Rock they hardly spoke to each other, despite Nala's best attempts. If not for her mother's strange behavior she would have been reluctant to say anything to him. Nonetheless, this subject made her uncomfortable.

"What a pity. Parents can be so misunderstanding," he said consolingly as if reading her thoughts. Nala looked up at him in confusion. Suddenly, he didn't seem so menacing. The way he spoke to her was almost kind. Imperious, but kind.

"What was she like when she was my age?" She felt anxious to talk about something else. Walking in silence beside Scar was too unnerving. There was something else she wanted to tell him, too. She just needed to be careful how she brought it up. His smile lit up giddily.

"Oh, she was at least two when Zimwi sent her here. She was always a spitfire lass. I sort of fancied her for a while." He gave her a sideways glance and chuckled deeply. "Don't look at me that way! She liked me, too. That was all before that fiasco with the Sootfoot clan. She blamed me for letting Sarabi get hurt, as if my presence could have made all the difference. Can you imagine me beating back waves of hyenas with a flick of my wrist?" He waggled his paw comically. His expression sobered. "No. I tried to convince her to come with me but she refused to abandon her pride. I suppose that was noble of her. However, I am at my core a lion of principals. She could no more convince me to stay than I convince her to leave. In the end, we all paid the ultimate price for his arrogance. The choices we make have a way of catching up with us, for better or for worse."

Something about the way he talked about Mufasa put her ill at ease. Maybe it was because he refused to say his brother's name. In spite of all that, there was something eerily familiar about the way Scar spoke of his older sibling. She tried to steer the conversation back to her mother's past. "Mom never told me about that. Did she ever want to be queen?"

"She saw it as her duty, nothing more. Even after she gave up her title to Sarabi she still had a lot of influence in politics up until my nieces were born. She stayed close to Sarabi, taught her all she needed to know. Sarafina deserves all the credit for Sarabi's success. I'm not sure how things would have turned out without her."

"Did you always want to be king?"

A grin slowly crept over his features. "You have no idea." Composing himself, he quickly added, "But then I was never my father's favorite."

Suddenly Nala realized where she heard that tone before. "Sarabi said you and… she said it was complicated. I think I understand now. My friend Roho never gets any attention at home because his mother is too busy with his older sisters, so he spends all his time alone or with me. No one ever notices how smart he is. Or how brave."

She sensed no recognition in Scar's eyes when she said Roho's name. Once she explained his situation, however, Scar immediately put on a knowing smirk. "No one ever pays attention to the runt of the litter. We're the ones you have to watch out for."

A genuine smile touched her face. Feeling confident in herself, she decided the time had come to pop the question. "There's something I have to tell you. I don't want to be engaged to Kivuli. It's nothing against him personally, I just don't want to marry anybody."

They were nearing the watering hole. Over Scar's shoulder in the distance, she caught a glimpse of Turtle Rock with Zira's sister and her cubs relaxing in the sun. Scar did not look at her. "I'm not surprised," he said blandly. "Thema felt the same way about marrying your uncle. They're quite happy now, so I've heard. The point is Kivuli is still just a lad. Wait until you're both older. You may find out you have more in common than you think."

He bent to drink from the watering hole. Nala studied him uncertainly, wondering what to make of his answer. She wanted to believe that he would let her change her mind when she was older but his words sounded more like orders to be optimistic about her future than an alteration. After drinking her fill she tried to get a look at herself in the water's reflection. Her face became distorted on the unsteady surface. Scar stopped drinking, but the ripples he left behind broke her image into a thousand fragments. "There's one more thing I need to ask you. Did you notice anything unusual when Eupe had her accident?"

She tried to think back to yesterday. Remembering back to that moment was almost as futile as trying to remember her first day outside the den. She had only vague notions of what happened. "We were trying for a double-kill. Wezi and Buibui went after one target while Eupe and I chased another toward mom. I was falling back behind Eupe when all of a sudden the herd split in two and changed directions, headed right for us. That's all I remember. Wezi and Buibui were too far away to have caused it."

The look on Scar's face reminded her of when she first met him face to face in the birthing den, when he seemed to be paying very close attention to everything. Just when she was starting to feel comfortable with him he found a way to make her uneasy again. "You don't think something else is going on, do you?"

"Perhaps. Huzuni is still unaccounted for as are Shaba and Zito."

Nala shook her head, furious at the accusation. "Huzuni would never do that. She was a nana, she watched us grow up."

"Her grip on sanity has been tenuous at best since Amadi died at the start of the Sootfoot conflict. She was his mother."

She stumbled backwards, shaken. "No! I don't care what happened in her past – Huzuni is not a killer and neither are Shaba and Zito. They might not be Pridelanders anymore, but they would never betray us!" She retreated further from him, feeling the eyes of his hyena bodyguards pinned to her face. Scar made no attempt to stop her. She sneered at him in disgust, hating him for his pretentious apathy. "They would never betray us. I don't wanna talk to you anymore."

"I was only asking a question," he said with a slimy shrug. "Very well then. You may return to Pride Rock."

Her nostrils flared. She almost growled, I don't need your permission. Something held her tongue. Maybe it was her sense of tact or self-preservation. She didn't know. The clearest thought in her mind was that she needed to get away from him before her temper got her into trouble. She turned and made her way back to Pride Rock.