Chapter 2: Pale Flame

Simba arrived on the scene as quickly as he could, following Zazu closely. Once they reached the edge of the Pridelands, they came upon Kiara, Timon and Pumbaa. They all faced an unknown lion. Though his fur was of a similar shade to Simba's, his mane was as black as night and his eyes were a deep, hazel colour. Despite the fact that he seemed to have come from the Outlands, a place where there is little to no food, this stranger rivalled the King in both size and musculature. Simba stepped forward cautiously to meet this lion. The apprehensive expression upon his face implied that the intruder had no intention of causing trouble. Still, Simba remained cautious. Looks could be deceiving, he knew that all too well.

"Who are you, stranger?" he asked calmly. "What do you want here?" The lion looked upon those before him nervously, watching for any sign of hostility. He could already tell that he was not welcome.

"I'm Shuja. I mean you and your pride no harm."

"You come from the Outlands, yes?" asked Rafiki as he strolled up behind his friend. "The place where nothing grows and no animals run free to feed a lion such as yourself." The question was more of a trick than an actual wondering. Should the lion say he had indeed been living in the Outlands, they would know he was lying. Any source of food or water had disappeared from that place a long time ago.

"The wastes? No, I'm from beyond there. Though my home isn't faring much better these days." The joke was ignored by Simba and his party.

"There's nothing beyond the Outlands," the King spoke up then. "Where is it you make your home?"

"It's far from here," Shuja replied, a sense of regret in his voice. "Not unlike these lands. You…you rule here?" Simba nodded.

"What is it you're hoping to find here, Shuja?" Simba's questions were direct and abrupt. He did not trust Shuja. He needed to know why this stranger suddenly arrived in the Pridelands unannounced and what his purpose here was.

"Shelter," Shuja answered. "I seek shelter. A place to stay, nothing more." That was a lot to ask of a pride of lions you had never met before. Clearly he had travelled a long way. It was certainly possible that all he sought was somewhere to rest. Simba would keep an eye on him.

"You'll be watched closely," he told the intruder. "We only want to keep the peace here. Any sign of you disturbing it and you'll be exiled immediately. As long as you understand that, we'll be fine." He prepared to return to Pride Rock then.

"Wait. Before you take me in, there's something you must know." Simba halted, turning his head slightly to listen more carefully to the stranger. "I'm being followed. There's another lion from where I come from. He's been following me for weeks. If he tracks me here, he'll bring nothing but trouble." Simba caught Rafiki's eye. That was a convenient detail to withhold from them. This was sounding more and more dangerous by the minute. Apprehensive and distrustful of this new lion, Simba and his group returned to Pride Rock. As night began to fall, Shuja was told he would be sleeping outside. There was no way Simba would allow such a suspicious stranger to sleep with his pride, his family no less. The black-maned lion's words still troubled the King. If there was indeed another lion following him, that was a major problem. Simba and Kovu would surely be enough to scare off a hostile trespasser. However, it wasn't that that bothered him. Shuja could well be an ally of this as-of-yet unseen enemy, a spy. Still, if that were true, why would Shuja tell them about his hunter's presence at all? Simba's mind was troubled. The night was an unrestful one full of suspicions and worries that would only be allayed by speaking with Shuja. Simba did just that the following morning as the sun rose. Shuja was awake before the King, a feat few others had ever accomplished.

"Shuja? Awake already?" he called. Shuja was at the edge of Pride Rock, scanning the land below. Keeping an eye out for his enemy, no doubt.

"I didn't sleep." Simba could relate to that.

"I need to talk with you about what you said yesterday," he began. "You said you were being followed by someone, another lion I'm guessing isn't friendly."

"I assumed you'd have questions."

"I just want you to understand the danger this puts my family in. Your presence here complicates our situation." Shuja nodded in agreement.

"I understand that, I really do. That's why I plan on leaving as soon as I can. I just need to rest, it's been a long journey. One that wasn't easy for me." That raised more questions than it answered.

"How dangerous is this stranger?" Simba asked. "Why does he want to find you so desperately?" With a forlorn sigh, Shuja raised his head to glance at the morning sky.

"It's not a happy story," he began. "We were friends once. We lived in a place not unlike these Pridelands. It was prosperous and safe, a perfect home for our families. But peace doesn't last, does it? We were attacked from outside our lands, by a wild, aggressive group of lions from a place we call the Badlands. We tried to hold them off at first…but there were too many of them. They destroyed our families and took our home, exiling us to the wasteland they had just come from." Though Shuja's situation was wildly different, it was beginning to sound reflective of the destruction the Pridelands had seen in the past.

"I'm sorry, Shuja, that's horrible. Nobody should have their home taken from them like that."

"Those of us that were left grew up in the Badlands. There was food, but not much. There was a lot of fighting over who ate what. Needless to say, my friend…the one following me, he was none too pleased to sit by while the pride that had taken our home hunted our prey and slept where our families had done so. He wanted to take it back. We told him he was a fool, obviously…but he did it anyway. When they had taken over they were young and strong, and he was still little more than a cub. When he returned home to take back what was ours, he found the attackers aged and weak in their complacency. They were no match for him."

"He did to them what they had done to his family?" Simba asked, recognising the revenge-fuelled rampage that was so common in those that forgot who they were.

"He did," Shuja confirmed, the telling of the story clearly weighing on him. It was not a pleasant tale for him. "I wanted to show them mercy, these old, gluttonous lions that could do us no harm were we to exile them like they had done to us. He disagreed. He wanted to destroy them. We did not see eye to eye, naturally. He still hasn't forgiven me to this day."

"You did the right thing, even if it did separate you from your friend. He was too far gone." Simba's opinion of this stranger had changed rapidly. There were parallels between Shuja's past and Simba's that could not be ignored. If shelter was what he wanted, it was what he would get.

"You still okay having me so close to your family?" Shuja asked. Were the roles reversed, he would not be so sure about allowing a stranger with a revenge-mad lion on his tail stay.

"I am. There's no guarantee your friend will find you here," Simba assured him. "It's a big place. You'll be safe here."

"Thank you, Simba." The King nodded before returning to his family. Had he known how truly dangerous Shuja's pursuer was, he might not have been so accommodating. Though Pride Rock's cave was still dark, Simba could clearly see that his daughter was not asleep. She had likely been listening to the entire conversation.

"Kiara!" Simba scolded her. "Have you been awake this whole time?"

"Sorry, daddy," she told him as she rose. "Is he going to be okay?" Simba glanced out at the troubled Shuja who was still looking out upon the Pridelands for any sign of his former friend.

"I think so. He just needs some time."

"What about his friend? What happens if he makes his way here?" That was something Simba himself was still unsure about.

"Then we keep the peace, like we always have. Either he leaves or we make him. He's one lion against all of us. We'll be okay, Kiara." He embraced his daughter then as the light of the morning sun spilled into the cave and the sound of waking lionesses filled the air. "Now, wake your mother. We have work to do."