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. 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. To clear things up, 'Macho' means 'vigilant' in swahili. And the name is pronounced 'maco' don't pronounce the ch sound.

Anyways, on with the fanfic!

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Kovu was wondering where Kiara was. Today, he and Kiara didn't have to go on patrol anywhere, so he wanted to spend today with the one he loved. Unfortunately, he didn't know where Kiara was. They had been sleeping in the main den at Pride Rock, and Kiara had woken early and left to go someplace. So Kovu had nothing to do except sit around outside the den and nap. As the day wore on, Kovu became increasingly bored waiting for Kiara to show up. He got up, yawned, and stretched himself out, pushing his forelegs up and pushing his back legs against the ground. He trotted down the side of Pride Rock, to go see if he could find Kiara. Maybe she herself was napping, but in their private den farther away from Pride Rock.

Kovu started to jog in the direction of his den. As he went through the savannah, he saw some herds of wildebeest of in the distance. He licked his lips. Wildebeest was his favorite! Unfortunately, he had already eaten an antelope that morning, so he wasn't hungry. He decided to keep going.

The wind whistled through the grass. It was fine weather today, since the only clouds above him were a few white cirrus clouds. The sun shone warmly down on Kovu, and Kovu felt happy. Now if he could only find Kiara! He could share his happiness.

Just then, as if in answer to his thoughts, Kovu saw Kiara walking in his direction.

"Hey Kiara! Kiara!" Called Kovu, as he bounded towards his mate.

"Kovu? Oh, hi Kovu!" Responded Kiara, when she saw him running towards her.

"Hello Kiara."

"Hi Kovu."

"What are you doing?"

"I'm just walking back to Pride Rock."

"What were you doing out here?" Asked Kovu, curious to know what Kiara did this morning.

"Umm, I was doing some thinking." Responded Kiara.

"Thinking about what my love?"

"Just, you know, stuff."

"Anything important?"

Not especially."

"Well, if you aren't doing anything, you want to come with me to our den so we can talk?" Asked Kovu. He wanted to talk with Kiara because he was incredibly bored, and he wanted someone who would listen to him and respond to him.

"Yeah, no, I don't really want to go to our den right now."

"What! Why not? Don't you want to be with me?"

"No, we can still talk, just, someplace else."

Kovu wrinkled his nose in confusion. What was wrong with their den that Kiara didn't want to be there?

"Oh come on Kiara, it isn't far. Just a few minutes, and we'd be there! It's just a hop, skip, and a jump."

"No, I'm quite sure. I'd rather not go there right now."

Puzzled, Kovu wondered why Kiara didn't want to go to their den. He would go there, and find out.

"Well, if you don't want to come with me, I'll go myself."

"No!" Kiara exclaimed, perhaps a little too quickly.

"What's wrong with me going there?"

"Nothing! It's just that, umm." Kiara stuttered

"Just what?"

"Well, nothing at all!"

"Okay….. I'll just be on my way then."

"No, Kovu, just don't". Pleaded Kiara. Kovu was thoroughly confused as to why Kiara wanted him to avoid their own den. He had to go and find out why!

"Okay, okay. Fine. Let's go back to Pride Rock then." Kovu offered. Then, he got an idea. If he could trick Kiara into racing back to Pride Rock, he could run the other way and find out what was at their den that she didn't want him to see. "In fact, how about we race there?" Kovu said. Kiara's face lit up.

"Okay then! Three, two, one, go!" She shouted as she ran off back the way Kovu came. Kovu immediately turned around and began to run in the opposite direction. He would be out of sight before Kiara realized what he had done! Chuckling to himself, he saw the cave that he called his den. Slowing down, he walked up to the entrance. Then he peered inside. To his enormous surprise, he saw a hyena sleeping inside! A hyena! Hyenas had been banished from the Pridelands, and this one had the audacity to not only re-enter, but to sleep in Kovu's own den! Kovu's blood boiled, and he ran up to the slumbering fool and pounced on it! He heard an 'oof!' come from the surprised creature as he pinned the hyena to its back.

"What the heck…" It began to say, but Kovu sank his claws into its shoulders, and it let out a yelp of pain.

"What did you think you were doing?" Asked Kovu forcefully.

"Get your stinking claws off me!" It yelled, its face in a grimace of pain. "And what did I think I was doing? I was taking a nap! Is that against the law around here?"

"It is when you do it in the Pridelands." Snarled Kovu. He leaned forward, his teeth inches from its face. The hyena seemed completely unfazed by this however, and snarled back. Its bravery surprised Kovu. Not many creatures would be brave if they were pinned by a male lion more than twice their size.

"The Pridelands? You think I want to be in stinking lion territory! Now get your claws out of my shoulder!"

"Sorry, it's a bit too late for that." Responded Kovu menacingly, raising his paw to deliver the killing blow against the trespasser. He would kill the hyena, to get rid off their pestilence on the land. Simba would be proud once he told him what had happened. The hyena stared unflinchingly up at him.

"No Kovu, Wait! Don't do it!" Cried a voice from the entrance to the cave. Kovu and the hyena turned their heads toward the sound. It was Kiara! What did she mean by she didn't want him to kill the hyena?

"What? Kiara, why not?" Asked Kovu.

"Don't kill it Kovu! It's defenseless!

"Defenseless, well, all the more reason to kill it while it's down!"

"What did it ever do to you?"

"Well, nothing really, but…. It's a hyena! They are vermin! And this one trespassed! I'm just administering the punishment!"

"So it deserves to die just because it crossed the border?"

"Yes!"

"That sounds too harsh!"

"I agree with Kiara." The hyena added.

"Shut up, it's not your choice vermin."

"Huh! Vermin! To us hyenas, you lions are the vermin."

"Yeah, but whose territory are we on?"

"You mean this stinkhole is called territory?" The hyena said mockingly.

"Shut up, both of you!" Kiara interjected. Kovu looked back at her, and she continued, "listen Kovu, for starters, let Shenzi up." Shenzi? Kiara referred to the hyena by name? "Just do it Kovu" Kiara sighed. Kovu backed up, and the hyena sat up and began to lick the blood that was streaming out of its shoulders.

"Kovu, you scratched Shenzi!?" Said Kiara, with concern in her voice.

"Kiara, it's a hyena! Why do you care what happens to it?"

"Because I saved it!"

"Wait, you saved a hyena? Hyenas are our natural enemies Kiara! They deserve to die!"

"Do their pups deserve to die? Do their weak and infirm deserve to die? Do their mothers who desperately search for food just to get some milk to their little ones deserve to die?"

"Umm, well,... Uuhhhh, not necessarily…. But the ones that trespass despite warning are guilty! Like this one!"

"Kovu, she didn't come here on purpose, I brought her here."

"What for?"

"Because I when I found her she was dying! She was dying of a horrible sickness, and I bought her here to recover. And so far she has recovered! Mostly, anyways." Kiara explained.

"Yeah! Mostly. If you call being blind mostly recovering, them yeah, I'm good." Grumbled Shenzi.

"Blind? You're blind?" Asked Kovu. Now that he looked, he saw that the hyena called Shenzi didn't have an Iris, but her eyes were completely gray.

"Yeah. Don't remind me." Shenzi responded, suddenly much quieter.

"For how long have you been blind then?"

"Since this morning, when I woke up."

"Oh. Thats sudden."

"Just shut up!" Shenzi yelled, with a scowl on her face. Kovu felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around and saw Kiara motion for him to come outside. They walked out quietly, with the hyena oblivious to their departure. When they got out of earshot of Shenzi, Kiara turned to Kovu.

"Listen Kovu, I know you don't like hyenas, but this one really needed my help when I found it. I found her writhing on the ground, shrieking in pain. No animal deserves to go through that sort of suffering. And now that Shenzi has lost her eyesight, she needs my help more than ever. She is the Matriarch of all that's left of the hyenas, and she can't save her clan from starvation without sight. So I promised her that I would help her and her clan get food." Said Kiara, with a sort of hesitant look on her face.

"You promised to get the hyenas food! Kiara, that's, that's,... that's outrageous! What would Simba think! You know he hates hyenas more than anything else!"

"Kovu, it's the right thing to do, the hyenas really are starving. They can't enter the Pridelands anymore, so they have survive solely on the Graveyard. There is isn't enough food in there to support them! Their pups are dying as we speak! Do the innocent pups deserve to die? No, they don't! They are just pups, that know nothing about how or why the hyenas and lions hate each other."

"If the hyenas are still in the Graveyard, we should at least tell Simba about them, he is the king after all, and deserves to know."

"No Kovu, don't tell my dad! He would go straight to the Graveyard and slaughter them all! Just, don't tell Simba for now. I was going to do that later, perhaps when I catch him in a good mood."

"Kiara, I have no idea what drives you to help those mongrels. But of it really means so much to you, I won't tell Simba. But if he finds out you're helping hyenas, he will be furious. The last lion that became friends with hyenas was Scar! So just, be careful."

"Okay Kovu, I will. I promise."

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Banzai was worried. Really worried. He had no idea where Shenzi was. And that was bad. Shenzi was their Matriarch, and she was the one that called the shots. And yet, she was nowhere to be found. Normally, she was always up and about, ordering hyenas on hunting parties, or organizing food, or overseeing disputes. It was not like her to neglect her duties, she was too overprotective of her clan. But she had been missing for nearly a day and a half. It did not bode well. Banzai felt he had to go talk to Maumbu. He was one of his closest friends, aside from Shenzi and Ed. When he arrived at the healer's den, he called out,

"Hey Maumbu? You home?"

A tired voice came out from the cave. "Ugh, Banzai, just let me sleep. I've been up all night taking care of my pups. Come back later this afternoon of it isn't urgent." Well, that stank, Banzai thought as he turned around. Maumbu was out of action for the moment. He had no one to talk to. And Ed wasn't exactly a conversationalist. Sighing, Banzai went off to sit down someplace. He had some thinking to do.

When Banzai arrived at private cave, he sat down and tried to think about where Shenzi could be. Hopefully, she was just so tired that she had forgotten to get up. Unfortunately, Banzai doubted Shenzi would ever do that. But if she wasn't sleeping, where could she be? She wouldn't leave on purpose,... Suddenly, Banzai's stomach clenched as a horrible thought occurred to him.. What if Shenzi had been attacked by lions? That would explain why she wasn't here. Banzai dearly hoped Shenzi wasn't lying injured someplace, or worse dead. If Shenzi was dead, Banzai wouldn't know what to do. She always had the answer, the reason for why they did anything. And more recently, Banzai had begun to really like Shenzi, he had hoped that one day he would have the nerve to ask her to be his mate.

They just had to find Shenzi! She could be hurt, or injured, or something much, much worse. He would go get the other hyenas, and see if he could get a few of them to help him look for her.

He exited the cave, and hurried to go get his comrades.

"Hey, guys, I need your help." Shouted Banzai, as he approached a returning hunting party. As expected, they had only caught a single mouse between the five of them. It wasn't that they were bad hunters, but there was just not enough food available.

"Banzai? What is it?" Asked Macho A/N: (Macho means 'vigilant' in swahili. Also, it's pronounced maco, don't pronounce the ch sound).

"I need your help to find Matriarch Shenzi. She went to go hunting two days ago, and she hasn't returned since. It's possible she may have been injured while she was hunting."

"Shenzi is missing?"

"Since the day before yesterday."

"Where was she last seen?"

"Heading off towards the eastern border."

"This is serious then. Comrades, follow me!" Ordered Macho, as he and his hunting party went to search the Graveyard. Macho was the highest ranking male hyena in the clan, other than Banzai. He was always serious, and he knew how to get things done.

Banzai went to follow the rest of the hyenas. Once they reached the easternmost caves, they spread out, looking for any sign of their missing Matriarch. Banzai tossed aside an old ribcage, as he sniffed the air for any scent of Shenzi. No such luck. As they searched, the sun began to go down. He refused to give up. She had to be here somewhere! They continued to look high and low, as the sun began to dip below the horizon.

Banzai was very hungry.

They were going to search through the night, the other hyenas assured him. Their Matriarch was very important to them, she had saved them from the lions when they came to slaughter those that were left. They all owed her their lives, and now they wanted to repay their debt. The moon came up, and shone its white light onto them.

When Banzai hopped atop an Elephant skull, he surveyed all of the ground they had yet to cover. He saw no sign of Shenzi anywhere. He was now really, really worried. Where could Shenzi be? Just then, he heard a voice call out,

"Hey guys, over here!" Banzai felt elated! Had they found Shenzi? He dearly hoped she was alright. He hopped down, and followed the voice down a ravine. When he arrived, he found a fellow hyena sniffing the air.

"What is it? What have you found?" Asked Banzai, as other hyenas gathered round to listen.

"Just sniff the air! You can smell the Matriarch's scent! And another creature's too, I don't recognize it."

Banzai sniffed the air, and took in the scent around them. Shenzi's scent filled his nostrils. So she was here recently! He took another sniff, and to his horror, he recognized the scent of another animal, an animal that all hyenas hated. Lion! There had been a lion here! Around Banzai, the sudden intake of breaths made it evident the rest of them had come to the same conclusion.

"Lions! What was a lion doing in the Graveyard? And why is it's scent right next to Shenzi's?" Asked Macho.

"What if the reason Shenzi is missing is because she got into a tussle with a lion?" Said Banzai, voicing his greatest fear.

"There isn't any sign of a struggle here though." Said another hyena.

"Spread out! Follow the Matriarch's scent!" They did so, and Banzai followed the scent trail of Shenzi closely. To his increasing worry, the scent of the lion stayed consistent with her scent. Eventually, the trail lead to the ridge that marked the border of the Graveyard. Banzai and the rest of the hyenas climbed the ridge, and gazed out onto the savannah. The scent trail lead further into the Pridelands, and the scent of the lion was still present.

"Why did Shenzi go into the Pridelands?" Said Banzai.

"She's never done it before, she's always admonishing us to stay far away from the borders." Added Macho.

"What has me worried is that the scent of the lion mingles strongly with her scent. What if a lion attacked her and dragged her back to Pride Rock?"

"That is the absolute worst case scenario. Don't worry yet, Shenzi may have been simply tracking a lion that trespassed into our territory."

"If that's true, then why isn't she back yet?"

Banzai swallowed. He hoped Shenzi was alright. They stood in silence for a few seconds.

"If the lions found her, she may still be alive. We have to go find her. Preferably as soon as we can." Said Macho.

"We go right now." Said Banzai. The others nodded in agreement. They turned to the savannah, and ran into the forbidden Pridelands, intent on finding their lost Matriarch.

Banzai hoped the lions hadn't killed her.

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Okay, sorry for this short chapter, but I had to update! Anyways, it seems Banzai and some other hyenas are entering the Pridelands. Will they be found by some other lions? Or will they find Shenzi in time? And what will they think of her blindness? Also, now that Kovu is in on the secret, will he be able to keep it a secret? Ill try to update as soon as I can. If you liked this chapter, leave a review! Reviews are what make me want to update faster. Constructive Criticism accepted. No flaming!