I got this idea from a story called 'A Light for everyone' by Alex Draco. The beginning of this story is similar to the beginning of his. However, my story goes in a bit of a different direction. But it was inspired by that story! You should go check it out, it's very well written in my opinion. One more thing. I am using some of Tearthgrrl OC's, just because they really add to the story. Tearthgrrl hasn't added anything to her profile for three years now, so I figured it would be okay to use some of her OC's. But credit where it's due!

Tearthgrrl OC's:

Maumbu- Eds big brother, a healer, sort of like Rafiki.

Hasina- Maumbu's mate

By the way, whenever you see : ()()()()()()(()(())(), it means the point of view is changing. And just to be clear, the first part of the story is from Shenzi's POV and is in a dream shenzi is having. Also, I did some research and it turns out that even if a person is totally blind, they will still be able to see random lights and colors, those lights and colors just don't correspond to what is actually in front of them. But for the purpose of this story, total blindness will mean that all the person will be able to see is darkness. No lights or colors, just a black void.

Anyways, on with the fanfic!

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The last thing Shenzi had remembered thinking was how much longer she would last before she passed out. The last thing she remembered was feeling as if someone was cracking her skull open, and tearing out her eyes while they were doing it. But now, Shenzi was dreaming.

She knew it was a dream. At the edges of her vision, there was a tell tale blurred area, that meant this was not reality. Shenzi was in the Elephant Graveyard, sitting atop the skull of a long dead elephant. She didn't know what the dream was trying to show her. So she just sat there, listening to herself breathe. The sky overhead was bright blue, which bothered Shenzi. She didn't remember a day when the sky wasn't overcast with dark clouds in the graveyard, so the sudden openness unnerved her.

Suddenly, she heard a small roar. A really small roar. It sounded as if it had come from a small kitten! Twitching her ear in annoyance, she supposed she should go see what it was. Hopping down, she went off in the direction the noise had come from. Picking her way through a ribcage, Shenzi slowly slid down the side of a ridge. Arriving at the bottom, she took a sniff, filling her nostrils with a scent she knew all too well. Lions. Grumbling, Shenzi supposed nothing bad could happen to her in a dream. Following the scent, she came upon a deep hole in the ground. From within the hole, she heard sounds of scrabbling, as of something was trying to get out. She crept to the edge and took a peek over the side. Staring up at her, was a brown pelted lion cub, with the begins of a black mane. Her eyes widened, and she drew herself up in realization. That lion cub, she knew that cub! She had seen it before, years ago when she herself was still a hyena pup!

"Hello? Can you help me? I'm stuck down here! Please help!" The cub called up to her, its tone of voice sounding desperate. Shenzi had a scowl on her face, frowning down at the helpless cub. She remembered that face all too well. It was Taka, before he became Scar. Years ago, Taka had wandered into to Graveyard to explore, and had gotten stuck in this same hole when he accidentally fell in. Shenzi had found him, and pulled him out. Since she was still a pup, and hadn't yet developed a hatred for lions, she befriended Taka, and soon she introduced Banzai and Ed to him as well. The four of them met nearly every day, since Taka didn't have any lion friends, except for his brother Mufasa, who was always training with his father, Ahadi. Those early days were the best, as Taka often brought with him some meat the hyenas could chow down on. They had talked a lot, and Taka was horrified at the living conditions Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed had to live in. He said that if he became king, he would let the hyenas back into the Pridelands, where food wasn't so scarce. Of course, he kept his promise years later, but by then he was Scar, and only continued his friendship with the hyenas because they helped him stay in power.

"Hello? Is someone up there?" Called Taka again, shaking Shenzi out of her reverie. She hated Scar, he had betrayed them. But this was still Taka, the one lion who actually became friends with a hyena! Shenzi wondered why the dream was showing her this. All it did was make her bitter, reminding her of the days when friends were still friends. She supposed she should rescue Taka in the dream as well, and see what would happen.

"Yeah, I'm up here, give me a second and I'll pull you out of there."

"You're going to help me? Oh thank you! I was going to starve down there! I fell in earlier today while exploring, and I couldn't get out!" Taka explained.

"Yeah, well it seems you were exploring a bit too far from your comfort zone." Responded Shenzi. She grabbed the thigh bone of an antelope, and held it down to Taka for him to grab on to. He reached up, and hooked the bone with his claws. Once he had a secure grip, Shenzi hauled him up and out.

"Yes! I'm free! Hooray!" Taka cried, as he pranced back and forth celebrating his victory.

"If I may ask, what were you, a lion cub, doing so far from Pride Rock?" Shenzi asked, already knowing the answer.

Just as she expected, Taka's ears drooped as he stopped prancing and looked down at the ground. "Well, I don't have anyone to play with, so I was all alone and and had nothing to do. So I decided to go exploring."

"No one to play with? Why not? Don't you have any friends?"

"I have a brother, but he's always with my father, learning things. Ahadi won't ever take me with them, so I can learn things too. The other cubs won't play with me either, and I'm not sure why. I think they think I'm stuck up, being the king's son and all, but they won't even give me a chance! And my mom, Uru, who normally plays with me, is off hunting. So, no, I don't really have any friends,,,," Taka trailed off pitifully.

Sighing, Shenzi remembered what she did the last time this happened, when it was in reality and not a dream. Last time she had offered to play with him, and they had fun exploring the elephant skulls for the rest of the day. But this time it was just a dream, so what she did here would have no bearing on her life. Shenzi decided to cut the meeting short this time.

"Sorry about your lack of playmates kid, but it seems to me like you need have bigger problems."

"Like what?" Taka asked.

"Well, you seem rather lost"

"I'm not lost!"

"Hmm? Prove it. Which way did you come from."

Taka looked around questioningly, seeming to finally take in his surroundings. "Well,,,, ummm,,,,,, I came from,,, that way!" He replied, pointing further into the graveyard.

"Nice try, but that doesn't lead anywhere. Your Pride Rock is that way." Shenzi gestured east, pointing at the border of the graveyard. "I can show you the way, of you want." She finished.

"No, I'm fine!" Taka grumbled, as he started to walk in the direction Shenzi had pointed. Shenzi watched as he disappeared over the top of the ridge. She sat there, waiting for the dream to end. The sooner she woke up, the sooner she could get back to work.

She sat there for a long time. After what must have been hours, Shenzi decided to speed the process up. In her experience, whenever she was dreaming, hurting herself in the dream would cause her to wake up. She ran back to the top of another elephant skull. Peeking over the edge, she found herself looking down into a ravine, one of the biggest ones in the graveyard. Falling into that would surely wake her up. Taking a step back, she braced herself, and then ran forward and jumped as far as she could. She shut her eyes. She had never really been fond of heights.

She felt the air rushing past her, and she braced herself for the landing by gritting her teeth. She waited. And waited. And waited.

Shenzi opened her eyes.

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Kiara sat atop Pride Rock, at the highest point, looking out as the sun came up. She hadn't gotten any sleep last night, on account of sneaking into the Elephant Graveyard, and rescuing the sick hyena. She wondered how that hyena was doing right now. Hopefully it was getting some rest and recovering from whatever was causing it to convulse in pain. If it died, Kiara would blame herself.

As she thought about the night's happenings, another lion came up behind her.

"Hello Kiara! What are you doing up here so early?" Asked King Simba, her father.

"I'm just thinking. And watching the sunrise." Kiara replied.

"Hmm, yes, I've been up here before for that very reason, it is beautiful to see the light of the greatest king spread out across the savannah." The lions believed that the original founder of the Pridelands was in the largest star, the sun. And that his queen was the moon.

"It is very pretty."

"So, what were you thinking about?" Her father asked.

"Not much. Well, nothing important."

"You sure?"

"I'm sure."

"How are things with Kovu?"

"Just fine" Kiara answered,

"Really! Normally, if two lions get together like that, they are already fighting over the smallest things after only a few months!"

"Kovu's not like that!"

"Just wait" Simba replied, with a knowing smile on his face. They sat in silence for a few minutes, watching the land start to wake up. Birds were starting to fly about, and a herd of antelope began to bound towards the waterhole. Kiara stared at the abundant paradise. Then, her eyes were drawn to a place which was not faring so well. No light shone into the Elephant Graveyard. It was a barren, empty place. Well, almost empty, Kiara realized. The hyenas had to live there, without hope of escape or mercy from the lions. Kiara remembered how skinny and starved the hyena she had rescued was. There must have been almost no food in that place! It must be a struggle every day to find food for the average hyena. So, if the conditions were so bad there, why did they have to stay there and hide from all outside contact? Why did the lions exile them in the first place? Maybe Simba would know, she thought, as the turned to her father, who was staring out at the savannah.

"Hey dad? I got a bit of a question actually,,,,"

" A question? Sure Kiara, ask away." Simba answered.

"Well, why do the hyenas have to stay inside the Elephant Graveyard all the time?"

"Hyenas! Why would you be asking about hyenas? Did one of the lionesses tell you about them?"

"Ummmm, yeah, it was, uh, one of the lionesses."

"There isn't much to know about those vile creatures." Her father spat. "They are like ticks, slowly bleeding the land dry of it's animals, and getting fatter and fatter as they do so. I don't know why they were exiled to the graveyard during my father's reign, but when Scar became king he let them back into the Pridelands. They ate all of the herds, and the Pridelands nearly became a dried up desert, devoid of life and creatures. Fortunately, when I killed Scar, we were able to drive what was left of them out. We sent raiding parties into the graveyard, and found that they were all gone. However many of them survived probably crossed the desert, and we haven't seen a single one of those vermin since."

"So, they were exiled from the Pridelands because they over hunted?

"Something like that."

"But why were they originally banished from the Pridelands? Why were they exiled during Mufasa's reign?"

"They were originally exiled during the reign of Ahadi, Mufasa's father. From what I understand, they were sent to the graveyard because Ahadi thought the hyenas might have been sneaking into wildebeest grazing grounds and taking extra food."

"Wait, they were only exiled because Ahadi thought that the hyenas might have been taking extra food?" He didn't even have proof?"

"Hyenas are vermin Kiara, Ahadi didn't need a reason to send them away."

"Vermin! But, that's not fair!" Kiara exclaimed. The hyenas were exiled just because king Ahadi didn't like hyenas! They probably weren't even sneaking the extra food in the first place! No wonder hyenas hated lions so much. They had been thrown out of paradise unjustly!

"Kiara, they are hyenas for crying out loud! They don't deserve fairness! They the scum of the earth, the scourge of all creatures, and the most vile carnivores on the savannah!"

"Those aren't reasons to treat them unfairly, those are just prejudices!"

"Kiara, you were born after the last hyena was driven away from here. You haven't met them, you haven't fought them, you haven't nearly been eaten by them! They helped kill my father! They tried to eat me twice as a cub! And they helped king Scar enforce his iron fist on the Pridelands! If you ever met a hyena, believe me, it will become abundantly clear who is the vermin of these lands. So don't try to defend a monstrosity you never had to face! I most certainly have had to, and believe me, the only thing I ever hated more than them is uncle Scar. They will always be the enemy, no matter what."

"Were they really that bad?"

"No Kiara, they were worse than that." Finished Simba, as he turned around and began to walk back down to the dens, leaving Kiara to ponder what she had just heard.

Simba's long winded, but very one sided, rant on the evilness of the hyenas worried Kiara. Were they really that bad? What if the hyena she had saved was an evil creature, who would tear her throat as soon as look at her? Kiara wanted to know for certain. She set off down Pride Rock, wanting to get back to the den where she had dropped of the sick hyena. She would form her own opinions of hyenas from how this one acted. That was probably the best way to find out for sure.

Before long, the secluded den came into sight.

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Shenzi opened her eyes. And then closed them. And opened them again. And again, and again, and again. Was she still dreaming? she wondered. She must still be dreaming. But this was indeed a strange dream. No matter what she did, all she could see around her was a massive black void, devoid of color. She couldn't even see herself. The problem was, she didn't recognize the telltale signs of a dream anywhere. There wasn't a strange blurriness at the edge of her vision, the ground she felt beneath her paws felt more like actual rocks than the softer ones in the dream landscape, and there were no signs of anything she had seen before. Whenever she dreamed, it had always been about a past experience, but she didn't remember ever being in a black void, devoid of all color. She could feel that she was standing up, but when she looked down, she couldn't see her feet. She raised her paw and touched her nose, but while she could feel both her nose and her paw make contact, she couldn't see either.

She rubbed her eyes, trying to get whatever was blocking her sight off. It didn't work. Wait a minute, it didn't work! Why couldn't she see! And where was she? Starting to get worried, Shenzi called out, "Hello? Is there anyone here? Banzai?" To her surprise, someone answered, but it wasn't Banzai.

"Oh hey! You're up! How are you feeling?"

"Who are you? Are you Hasina?" Asked Shenzi.

"No I'm not, I don't know who Hasina is."

You don't! Then who are you?" Asked Shenzi, taking a sniff of the air. Whichever hyena it was, the scent would tell her. When the smell filled her nostrils, Shenzi froze in fear. It was a lion! A lion was right here, right next to her, and she couldn't see it!

"Actually, my name is Kiara, I'm not a hyena, I'm a lioness."

Shenzi stepped back in fear. Even if she was at full strength, she could not take on a lioness one on one and expect to win. Especially now, when she had somehow lost her eyesight.

"Stay back lion! Stay back, or I'll claw your throat out!" She called out to the unseen lion.

"No, I'm not here to hurt you," the lion called Kiara said.

"Yeah right! You lions never showed us any mercy. The second I let my guard down, you'll be on me in a flash. I'm not falling for that so easily."

"No, I am really not here to hurt you! I don't have anything against hyenas."

Shenzi snorted. "Well, now I know you're lying. All lions hate hyenas. It's a fact."

"Well I guess I'm the exception. I was the one that rescued you yesterday, When you were extremely sick."

"What! I wasn't sick!"

"You were lying on the ground screaming in pain!"

"I wouldn't do that."

"I'm not lying. I found you yesterday convulsing in pain, so I dragged you back here so you could recover!"

Shenzi flicked her ears. She remembered that she was having an extreme headache, and that she saw a lion right before she passed out from agony. Was this lioness telling the truth? And even if she was, Shenzi couldn't even see the lion to be able to tell if she was telling the truth.

"Well, where am I" Shenzi asked.

"You're in an unused den not too far from Pride Rock."

"Pride Rock! But, there are more lions at Pride Rock! They'll tear me apart if they see me!"

"But they won't. This den is not near any of the usual patrol or hunting routes. It's secluded."

"It's just that, well, wait a minute, where are you?." Shenzi asked, still straining her eyes desperately to try too see the lion.

Suddenly, the realization that she could not see finally sunk in. She couldn't see. She couldn't see! She was, she was blind! This wasn't a just a dream that ended when she woke up, this was reality, and Shenzi could not see! She had lost her eyesight! She was blind!

"Oh no! Oh no oh no oh no!"

"What? What is it? Asked the lion.

"I, I can't see! I Can't see!" Shenzi cried. An animal that couldn't see was as good as dead in the wild. An animal that couldn't see could not hunt, could not not contribute to the clan in any way! She was doomed!

"You can't see? You mean, you're blind?"

But Shenzi was too distressed to listen to the lions questions. She had to get out of here! She had to get back to her clan! She couldn't stay here, she had to get out! Shenzi ran forward as fast as she could, toward the sound of the lions voice. Hopefully the exit was somewhere there. Kiara leaped aside to get out of the way of the panicked hyena. Shenzi kept running, not able to see where she was going. She tripped against a rock that was sticking out of the ground, and fell forward. She stumbled back up, and tried to keep going, but after a few more steps, she suddenly felt an object smash into her forehead, and she fell over, unconscious from the collision.

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Kiara saw the hyena run directly into the tree. She supposed it might have been very funny to watch, if not for the panic in the hyenas voice, and the fear in it's face when it ran from the cave. She trotted over to the hyena, which was now lying on the ground, unconscious. That was probably from hitting the tree while running at top speed. Wondering what the hyena had meant about not being able to see, Kiara slid back the female hyenas eyelids. To her shock, instead of seeing pupils and an iris, the eyes were completely gray. Was the hyena blind? It certainly wasn't yesterday, yesterday it had seen her just fine. Kiara wondered if maybe the sickness the hyena had yesterday had done that to her. But what a horrible disease to catch! Making an animal blind was one of the worst possible outcomes there was, except perhaps death.

Kiara grabbed the female hyena by the scruff of its neck and dragged it back to the cave. She noticed that the meat she had left for it yesterday was still uneaten. Kiara decided to stay here and wait for it to wake back up. When it did, she would calm it down and make it eat some food. It probably needed it.

After a few minutes had passed, the hyena began to stir. Kiara watched it slowly wake up.

"Ugh, my head hurts"'it said, it no one in particular. Then, it seemed to realize again what was happening to it. "Oh no! My eyes! I can't see! I can't,,,,," the hyena was cut short by Kiara's interjection.

"Stop! Don't worry, it's okay, calm down, just calm down." Kiara soothed. The hyena fearfully turned towards the sound of her voice.

"No! Stay back lion, I may not be able to see you, but I can still claw you!" She said, as she took a swipe at the air.

"Just calm down! I really won't hurt you. If I was, I would have done it by now. Just calm down." The female hyena squinted in her direction, as if trying to discern where exactly Kiara was. Then its face became fearful and panicky again.

"Why can't I see? I, I need to see! I can't hunt without being able to see! I, I can't lead my clan without sight! I'm useless without sight!" To Kiara it seemed the hyena was suffering a mental breakdown.

"I can help you if you calm down! I can help you! Just, please try to listen to me." The hyena looked in her direction, not seeming convinced.

"Help me? Help me? You can't help me, I'm blind! and last I checked, that situation was permanent!"

"Listen already! I can get you back to your clanmates in the graveyard, but I won't help you if you don't calm down!

The hyena glared at her, or at least where the hyena thought she was. Truthfully she was looking too far to the left.

"Okay. Fine. I am now calm" the hyena spat. "Now what do you have to say?"

"Well, finally. I just wanted to talk."

"Get in with it then!"

"Okay, in that case, what's your name?"k

"Shenzi. My name is Shenzi."

"Shenzi! Really?"

"Yes. Why, you know that name?"

"Yeah. Simba told me that was the name of the hyena that tried to kill him as a cub."

"Simba. It's almost a shame that I failed to kill him when he trespassed into the graveyard."

"Why 'almost'," Kiara asked. So, this Hyena had tried to kill her father! Kiara had started to get a feel for why Simba hated the hyenas.

"Because Simba nearly killed our good pal Scar. And Scar was a traitorous bastard. As soon as Scar felt he was backed into a corner, he blamed us for what he did in the Pridelands. And when they fought, Simba cast Scar down to the bottom of Pride Rock. And then, we finished him off for betraying us. So it seems Simba helped us out after all in the end. Of course, after that, he drove us back to the Graveyard."

"Whats life like in the Graveyard?" Kiara asked. At this question, Shenzi gave Kiara a dirty look.

"What's life like in the Graveyard? Well, it sucks. It is just about as low as a species can go before they get to cannibalism. Every day, our pups can barely get enough milk from their mothers because the mothers are starving, and our older members can't get enough food to stay alive! Our oldest hyena is still only a young adult!"

"You can't get enough food in the Graveyard?"

"Not nearly what we need."

"Why don't you move someplace else then? Someplace with more food?"

Shenzi snorted. "Well gee. Why don't we move someplace else? Why, I hadn't ever thought of that before! What a great idea" she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. Kiara didn't think that it was a bad idea.

"What's wrong with that idea?" Kiara asked defensively.

"Put simply, we physically can't. The desert crossing takes over a week, without any food or water along the way. Not a single one of us has that much food in his stomach. The pups and older ones would be dead within the first three days. The rest of us would follow on the fourth. It just isn't a journey we could make."

"Oh"

"Oh indeed. The worst part is, even if we don't doom ourselves by attempting to cross the desert, we are probably doomed anyways. Due to the lack of food in the graveyard, we have always been hungry, but lately there have been fewer and fewer rodents we could catch to eat. Since we can't sneak over to the Pridelands anymore, we have to exclusively take our food from the Graveyard. And we are draining the food supply slowly, even though we are eating less and less. Eventually we simply won't have enough food, and most of us will starve to death. Those that don't will probably not live long enough to see the food supply replenish anyways. It's just that, my clan is in trouble, and now, I can't even help them! I can't help them anymore!"

Kiara saw that Shenzi was extremely distressed. She felt sorry for Shenzi, and all of the hyenas who had to live on below the bare minimum of food. She resolved, right then, that she would help the hyenas, no matter what it took to improve their situation.

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Well! It seems Shenzi has an ally she didn't count on! She is going to need it too, especially in later chapters. Also, rest assured, Shenzi is going to make it back to the Elephant Graveyard in the next chapter. And Kovu is going to get some more action soon as well. I haven't really included him so far yet. Anyway, see you soon dear reader! If you liked it, tell me what you think! Constructive Criticism accepted. No flaming!