I'm back at this fanfic deal! Man, I love writing these! Anyhow, this a sequel to two of my stories, 'Scars of Redemption, and 'One Last Try.' The events of both shall be explored further here. But if you didn't read any of them, it doesn't matter, because anything relevant shall be explained here.

If you see this: ()()()()()()()() it means the POV is changing. Don't worry, I'll say to whose POV it's changing to. Fun facts: Shenzi's name means pagan or uncouth, Banzai's name means brash, Ed's name means…. Well…. Ed, Macho's name (pronounced Maco, don't pronounce the ch sound) means vigilant or loyal, and Nafasi's name means chance. All these are in swahili.

Well, on with the fanfic! And please, do leave this humble author a review.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Shenzi's POV

Shenzi was alone.

All alone.

She would have looked around, but it would have been pointless. The sound of the earthquake still resonated in her ears, and it felt as if her bones were still shaking. She could feel dust settling onto her fur, and it wasn't exactly comfortable. In fact, it felt dirty, but she didn't really feel like shaking herself to get it off. When you only had three legs, turbulent movements were kept to a minimum.

She almost had a heart attack when Banzai jumped away without warning. And the worst part was, he didn't come back. It probably didn't help that the second he left, Shenzi decided to get out of there by herself. She certainly wasn't going to die in some blasted earthquake, that would have lame.

So she stumbled sideways, hoping against hope that she wouldn't fall into anything. She tripped more than once, but she kept on. Eventually, the rumbling stopped, and she could relax. Although now, she was faced with a problem.

Where the hell was she?

"Banzai!" She called, sending her voice cascading through the fog. She didn't hear a reply. If she was so far away from everyone else that they couldn't hear her, then she was in trouble. It meant she really was all alone

She sniffed the air, checking for their scents. If she found their scents, she could follow them. It took a few sniffs, but eventually she caught a little hint of Fahama.

Or at least she thought that it was Fahama's scent, truth be told she wasn't sure. If it was, it was just a little wisp of it. But it was better than nothing. She did her best to pinpoint the direction she thought it came from, then began to follow it. Eventually, the sound of the river came into range, the splashing and crashing of a lot of water on the move.

She aligned herself with the river edge, and began to slowly walk down the beach. She kept accidentally stepping into the water, getting her paws all wet. She really hated water, unless she was drinking from it.

She clicked a few times, making sure to go over and around obstacles. There were a lot of logs in this area, and she would have tripped over all of them if it wasn't for her ability to 'see' with sound. She wondered if all rivers had this many logs, or if she was just unlucky.

As Shenzi went on, the oppressing silence wore into her. Not even the bugs were chirping, nor the frogs croaking. Maybe they had all been scared by the earthquake. Whatever the reason, it was freaking her out. Especially since she used sounds to be able to know what was going on around her.

Well, there was nothing else to do but keep walking.

()()()

It was a few hours later when Shenzi figured she must have gone in the wrong direction. Which really was a bother, since she would have to go back all the way she had came to get back to Banzai and the rest.

She swore silently, cursing her bad luck. Could this day get any worse?

Then, she sniffed the air again, just to be sure the scent was completely gone. She inhaled through her nose, letting the familiar and unfamiliar smells come in so she could identify them.

Then, she froze.

She smelled lion.

Lions? What the hell were lions doing out here? And how the hell did she get this close to them without smelling them sooner? Shenzi started to back and prepare to run away as fast as she could when she realized something. She recognized the lion's scent.

She recognized it.

She breathed in the scents again, trying to identify why the hell she recognized a lion's scent all the way out here. Yup, she knew this scent. But she couldn't place to whom it belonged to. Shenzi tried to recall, searching her brain for anything that would jar her memory. But she simply couldn't recall why she recognized the scent. It eluded her.

Think think think. She had to have an answer. There was a reason for it, there had to be. But who the hell did it belong to?

Wait a minute…

"Oh shit!"

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()())()()()()()()()()

Scar's POV- a few minutes earlier.

Scar trotted back up the beach, with a fish in his mouth. Living next to a river had its merits, and easy to catch fish was one of them. The fish he had with him now was actually a very big one, one of the biggest he had ever caught. Nafasi would be pleased, of that he was morning's fog had dissipated a few hours ago, leaving the day sunny and clear.

He walked into the den, and set his catch down onto the stone floor. He looked around, but Nafasi was nowhere to be seen. If she wasn't in the den, where was she?

"Nafasi!" He called, his voice echoing throughout the den. There was no response. He went out of the den and back to the beach, looking up and down the river for any sign of her. He turned around, and walked around the cave mouth and into the forest that lay beyond the beach.

"Nafasi!" He called again, but he heard no response from the trees. Hmmm. Perhaps she was back at the graves, saying hello to the 'cubs'. Scar jumped into the forest, pushing his way through the foliage. Fallen leaves on the ground crunched beneath his paws, a sign that perhaps that hottest parts of the year were nearly over.

Scar walked between the trees and into his clearing, and saw Nafasi lying down next to the graves of the dead cubs. Giving a small sigh of relief, he walked up to her, and nudged her to let her know he was there.

"Nafasi! It's me! Come on, I've caught us lunch!" He said. Nafasi stirred, and looked up at him, her eyes red.

"Oh. Hi Scar." She said in a quiet voice.

"Nafasi…. Have you been crying?" He asked, his voice suddenly full of concern.

"Maybe." She replied, sniffling.

"Nafasi….. What is it?" He asked worriedly, as he brushed a paw through her fur to comfort her.

"Well…. Scar….. There's something I have to tell you…. Something…. That maybe I should have told you sooner, but I hoped that it would be different this time. I thought that maybe…. Things would…. Change. But it didn't." Sniffled Nafasi, her face downcast. Scar felt a cold hand grip his heart.

"But Nafasi…. What is it?" He repeated, desperate to know what was ailing her, so perhaps he could fix it.

"Well…..you know how my first two cubs were stillborn?" Sobbed Nafasi quietly.

"Yes….." Said Scar.

"Well, for the first two months of the pregnancy, things were fine, the cub seemed healthy, and there weren't any problems. But in the third month, the last month, their movements began to get….. Weaker, somehow. And as the month wore on…. They hardly even moved at all….. And then….. A day or two before they were born…. They stopped moving altogether….. Dead. Completely dead." Said Nafasi, as tears resumed falling down her cheeks.

"Well, Nafasi, it's like you said, I shouldn't obsess over the past. And neither should you. Come on Nafasi, let's go have lunch together, don't get stressed over what can't be changed." Said Scar, trying to comfort her. They couldn't focus on the horrors of the past, they had to be here, in the present, for when their next cub finally came.

"You don't understand!" Wailed Nafasi, as she looked up into Scar's eyes, larger and larger tears welling up.

"Nafasi, please. Everything's fine!" Said Scar, really getting worried now.

"No! It's not! Scar, what I told you happened to the other cubs…. It's happening to this one!" She said, sobbing.

"What!" Whispered Scar, his eyes suddenly wide.

"It's movements have been getting weaker and weaker… I can barely feel its kicks anymore! Scar… I think this one's dying too!" Nafasi drew out of Scar's grasp, and tried to wipe her years with her paw. Scar simply stood there, watching her, silently begging her to tell him otherwise than what he had just heard.

"Well…. I just thought I'd tell you…. You know…. Cause it's always better to….. Be prepared for the future…well…. I'll see you in a few hours… I'll be there for lunch." Nafasi whispered, as she slowly trotted into the forest, her tail dragging on the ground.

Scar watched her go.

He didn't know what to say.

He didn't know what to do.

So instead of thinking, Scar turned around, and marched towards the beach.

His paws hit the sand in a steady rhythm, but his glare was vacant. He walked up to the river, and dipped his forepaw into the water, letting the cold liquid run in between his claws. After a few moments of this, he took his paw out, and examined it. His paw was wet, and the fur was drooping down, with the water that was left running down his foreleg.

He put his paw into some sand, and brought it back up for him to see. Due to the wetness, some sand clung to it. He put his paw back into the water, and washed the sand , he clenched his teeth, and contracted his paw with his claws extended, so that he pierced the pads, and drew forth blood from the holes he had made in his own paw.

The world was so fucking unfair.

The world was so FUCKING UNFAIR!

He started breathing harder, trying not to think, but thoughts unbidden came forth nonetheless. Why…. Why did his fourth cub have to die? After all these years of trying, all these years of hoping, were all of his cubs destined to never have a cubhood? To never have a loving, caring father and mother? To be conceived in the womb, but never see the light of day!

He felt like roaring, but he held it in. Damn it all! Damn all of this, damn this very existence! His own cubhood had been miserable, his own father had been neglectent, his own brother had ignored him, and his friends

His friends

There had been but two shining lights when he was young. His mother, and his friends. His mother had died years ago, but his friends had once promised never to leave his side.

"You'll help me, won't you?" Asked Taka.

"Of course, we'll always be there to help." Replied a confident Shenzi. Taka smiled, feeling reassured.

Scar thought back to that blasted day, the day he had gotten his scar. Shenzi had given her word, and when he needed them most, they had abandoned him! They had tried to rip him apart, in some sort of revenge for words he never meant. Shenzi herself had ordered it…..

And now, there was no joy in the world, nothing to hang on too. The world was cruel, and unforgiving. And he couldn't be cruel back. Scar snarled, digging his claws into the sand. He couldn't be cruel back to the world, it was impossible.

He needed support from someone, but there was no one who would give it. Nafasi was feeling just as bad as him, if not worse. He needed his friends, he needed those who had said they would help him.

But he didn't have friends, he didn't have friends. Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed were long gone, the traitorous fucking bastards they were.

"Oh shit!" Rang out a sudden voice from Scar's left. Scar whipped to his side, to see who it was. And to his great surprise, he recognized the creature who had said it.

"Shenzi!?

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

And….. They meet. Heh heh heh, what's Scar going to do, given his current thoughts and feelings over his former friends?

BTW, lion pregnancies only last about three months.

Well, it's a fanfiction crime to be following a story but not review! Constructive Criticism accepted. No flaming!