Chapter 8

When the Oracle finally spoke, Almasi and Damu couldn't help but stumble back in surprise and in terrified recognition. Damu gave a loud gasp and for a horrible moment the former outsider was dragged back years, to moons and years of dirt and dust and hunger. She wasn't the only one. Koron and some of the slaves who came from further afield looked about in bemusement as many of the native Pridelanders let out breaths of surprise and fear. The aura of menace that she exuded almost reminded Sash of the atmosphere the Shai'tan created from those who knew their kind.

Zira couldn't help but smile. After so long, it felt good to hear her name draw out such respect. She stared at her daughter. Vitani's expression was a curious mixture of fear, shock, and bewilderment. It was as if she had seen a ghost.

"Rhino. If you would be so kind…" She indicated, and Gharath sank to the ground, as she climbed of his back. She left a red streak on the old rhino's back as she did so. "Well girl. You're still alive. That is surprising and gratifying to see." Zira told her. Vitani's eyes narrowed. Her survival was unexpected? She had seen her mother die. Watched it over and over in her mind! She remembered that haunted look in her mother's eyes, the sudden, violent rejection of aide and of redemption. Then she had let go of. She had fallen, and Vitani – along with all of her Pride – had assumed her dead. You have some nerve! She almost gasped, but she managed to turn the snap into a snarl at the last minute. Zira stared at her daughter, unsure.

"You're dead!" Vitani protested.

"Ah. It would seem that rumours of my death have been exaggerated." Zira observed as the other animals all starred at her. Even those who didn't know her by sight knew her by reputation. Most at any rate. The jaguar cubs, and others whom had come to the Pridelands via Gateway looked mystified. Vitani continued to gape at her.

"Who are you?" Koron asked, sizing up the Oracle. She wasn't quite what he had expected. Another lioness would normally have been good news, but even he could tell that there was something about her. And she seemed to know Vitani the others. That couldn't be good news.

"Aren't you going to introduce me, daughter?" Zira asked her. Koron's eyebrows shot to the top of his forehead. This was Vitani's mother?

"You can't be here…" Vitani whispered. She felt like a young cub again, her mother staring at her with penetrating eyes the colour of blood.

"My name is Zira, cub." She said. Zira looked from Vitani to Damu and Almasi. "Ah. Damu. You I recall well; how could I ever forget Meetra's daughter?" She asked. "I'm glad the two of you stayed friends." She said. "Though I can't say that I recognize you…" she glanced at Almasi. "I do believe I have met your cubs, however. One of them at any rate. You have birthed two warriors. You should be proud of them." She said. If the compliment had been meant to defuse tension, it was the wrong choice. In a moment Almasi's claws were unsheathed and she growled, her hackles raised.

"You stay away from my cubs, Zira. You have no place in these lands." She hissed dangerously. Zira shrugged indifferently. It was good to be back in the open air. It filled her with new confidence and dangerous arrogance once more. She breathed in deep lungful of fresh air. A year of the dusty, mangy tunnels had led into many years, and it was only now she realized how used she had become to the disgusting atmosphere of the caves. She wanted to speak to Vitani, but she couldn't help but glare at Almasi.

"I meant no offense but if it will satisfy you, I will happily promise not to seek out the company of your cubs, Pridelander, you need have no fear of that. However," She said "you're wrong that there is no place for me in these lands. It is as much my home as anyone's." She said confidently. Vitani growled. She couldn't believe the audacity.

"No. You were exiled." She said. Zira smiled.

"Indeed." She nodded. "And much blood was spilled over it. But if I am not mistaken that conflict is over. Simba lifted the exile of every living Outlander. I don't recall any outsider being excluded from that little proclamation. I am prepared to accept the terms of that peace. We are One. Et cetera, et cetera." She said. She looked at her daughter. "I'm not here to fight you, Vitani. I promise. I didn't even want to face you at first but… Things happened." She said. "And here I am."

"I should kill you where you stand before you hurt anyone else." Vitani said. Zira blinked, expecting the ferocity but not being quite prepared for it. She had obviously changed since they had last met, as she had feared.

"You and I both know that you aren't going to do that. That's not you, Vitani." Zira told her.

"How would you know?!" Vitani growled. Her eyes were wide and bright with so much fury Damu half expected to see her electric blue gaze start spitting lightning bolts.

"Wait, Vitani! You can't!" Inti protested. "She helped us in the tunnels!" Koron didn't say a word but he was alarmed at the speed at which this Vitani was passing judgement on the Oracle. To say there was bad blood between them seemed like the grossest of understatements.

"I hadn't expected a warm welcome, but threatening me already? Really Vitani, we have more pressing things to deal with then petty, family disputes." Zira said, her tail swishing and her eyes alight. Vitani was unbalanced. She was still shocked. This was comfortable territory.

"What are you doing here, Mother? Should I be surprised that you were working with the Shai'tan this whole time?" Vitani asked, her patience wearing thin. Zira gave a slow grimace.

"Oh please. Try to think about it. I raised you better than that. Does it look as though I was working with the Shai'tan? You were never the most cunning of creatures, Vitani but that is unworthy of you." She said, glowering. Vitani shook her head. All eyes were on her now, and she was not in the mood for games. Somehow her mother had risen from the dead, and already she found herself losing control of the situation.

"You've not answered the question."

"I wanted to escape that hellhole." Zira said, suddenly steely eyed and tense. "You can ask Inti if you wish. He'll tell you." She said confidently. The others glanced at Inti, and the young cub nodded, carefully.

"She was the Shai'tan's Oracle. Their prisoner as much as any of us. She didn't fight in the pits, but they hurt her all the same." Inti confirmed. Vitani growled.

"I never wanted this, Vitani. You have to believe that." Zira told her. Vitani glowered.

"Fine. You can keep your life for now. It isn't worth anything to me. But you are deluded if you think I am going to waste my time dealing with you." It was a bold-faced lie. Already her thoughts were consumed with the impossibility that her mother was here.

"Almasi, watch her like a hawk, and don't get too close. Gharath," She pointed at the Rhino. "If she moves, don't hesitate for a moment. Claw out her heart. If you can find one." She hissed dangerously. Vitani growled in frustration, and walked away as Zira chuckled to herself.

"Well, that was fun…" She chuckled. Then she rolled over and allowed herself to feel the pain through her again. It set her bones alight. She counted at least three factures and several more wounds and deep cuts across her body. Her eyes screwed tight with pain, and she began breathing heavily. Now that Vitani was gone, she could allow herself that humiliation. Almasi looked her up and down as she shook with pain.

"You have no idea the world of hurt she is going through. She thought you were dead!" Almasi said.

"And until a moon ago I thought the same of her. I thought everyone I ever knew was dead – that's another reason I must thank your son. Vitani shall come around, she is far, far stronger than you give her credit for. What did you think I would do? Beg forgiveness? Pretend we are a perfect loving family? If you think she reacted badly to my return you have no idea what that would do to her. Let her hate me if she wants to. She will be the stronger for it, wiser for it, and in the end, live longer for it." Zira said firmly. Almasi paused. Zira was always a slippery one. One could never tell what she was planning, but it seemed almost as if Zira was trying to mend bridges, in her one way. She shook her head, then paused once more as Zira collapsed on the ground, finally showing some pain now that her daughter was gone.

"Your injuries are worse than you would have her believe…" She realized. Zira grinned.

"How very perceptive of you." She said sarcastically. Inti was becoming to realize that Zira's tongue was sharp enough to flay a tortoise. She was still the same lioness he had met in the pits below Golgorath, but she was also more than that. The other lioness retreated to what they thought was a safe distance as Sara stared at the pair in confusion.

"You're really Zira? As in Zira Devil's Queen? The Zira. As in Vitani's mother? Scar's harlot?" She asked. Zira whirled in anger, and would have risen in an instant where it not for her injures.

"Harlot?!" She seethed. "Oh, Scar my love, you always spoke of history and bloody victors, but even so…" She shook her head in frustration. Almasi stared at her son. She had inched closer to him during Zira's outburst, and wanted nothing more than to drag him away from Zira. In fact, she wanted to drag him away from the whole thing. Instead, she tried to focus on the things she could actually control. For example, the language he had just used.

"Where did you hear that title?" Almasi asked her son, sounding shocked. Inti shrugged.

"It must have been one of Danyal's stories…" He said. He recalled asking Danyal what it had meant but Danyal had refused to reply, and had only given that small smile which told him that he knew something which Inti didn't.

"Really? Danyal?" Almasi asked, frowning. What sort of stories had he been telling them cubs. She snorted. "We shall be having words when we get back…" Almasi muttered to herself. Zira heard however, and sniffed.

"You'll have to get in line…" Zira added. At that Almasi glared at Zira and almost roared.

"You stay away from Danyal too! He's far too good a lion for –"

"Oh, would you just stop it? I am not here to eat any cubs or whatever other nonsense they've been saying about me. Believe it or not, I have no interest whatsoever in attacking former enemies or opening old wounds. If you can believe it, I actually want to help." She said.

"You're right I don't believe it." Almasi said flatly.

"Well, strictly speaking, right now I just want to sleep. But in the future? Who knows?" She said. And promptly closed her eyes. There was little to say to that, so Almasi made her way over to where Inti looked on in confusion.

"Inti… I need to know everything that happened to you in that place… If you think you can tell me about it." Almasi said carefully. She didn't want to force the boy to recount old memories, but for her own peace of mind, she needs to know. She had to know what had befallen her two children. Inti gave a sigh, and slowly, in the quiet began to retell to his mother everything which had taken place since Sekhmet's hunting party had captured them. Almasi listened in mute horror, as each beating, each torture, each abuse was recounted in graphic detail. Inti didn't shake or cry. When he retold his story, his voice became distant and cold. When Inti told her how he had won a fight by shearing the ear of the aggressive wildcat, she could take no more.

"Stop!" She begged; her eyes filled with tears at the thought of her beautiful boy fighting with such brutality to survive. Inti stopped, and looked at her sadly.

"I didn't have any choice…" he said, silently begging her to understand. Almasi shuddered.

"I don't blame you… I am not criticizing you… but what the Shai'tan did… it was evil. Pure evil." She said. Inti cocked his head. He had seen worse, in the pits. Being made to fight for some meat didn't seem nearly as bad as the injuries inflicted on Zira. But then, Zira turned out to be The Zira. The stuff of legends… Or horror stories. She was silent now. She might have been sleeping – but no one dared get close enough to check.

Vitani stalked away from her mother in silence. She burned with fury.

How could she be here? She had watched her mother fall… seen her sink beneath the waves. She had even returned to the shores a day later to search for her remains… Kovu had refused, point blank, to have any part of it… But Vitani had returned, the dutiful daughter she had been, to find some scrap, some shred left to bury… She had found nothing. How could Zira have been alive the whole time? And how was she supposed to feel about it?

Joy? She didn't feel joy. Her mother had been despicable. She had brutalized them from birth, used them in her insane quest for vengeance. Nuka had died for it. She had nearly brought about the destruction of everything. Only her brother and Kiara had made her see otherwise…

Was she supposed to be angry then?

Somehow, she could not conjure that emotion. She was angry, yes, but at the things Zira had said. Angry at how quickly old habits had resurfaced. Angry at how quickly Zira had resumed her dominance. Angry at how soon a year of training, of conditioning, had returned to her. But angry at her mother for surviving? No.

There was nothing.

No emotion. She knew then with a cold horror than any ounce of love she had once held for her mother was gone. Eradicated. Exterminated from every fibre of her being.

Nothing.

She stamped the ground hard, letting the pain move through her paw, a reminder that she could feel. How could she not care? Her own mother? But Zira was not her mother. Her real mother had died long ago – during Scar's reign. And by all accounts had been friends with both the Tyrant and the murderous witch that had taken her in. How could that have been possible? Vitani shook her head.

She had been so sure. So certain, her mother had died. It had been a given fact of the universe. And it shook her to her core to discover how wrong she had been…

"Why couldn't you have stayed dead? Everything had been simpler before." She thought to herself. Yeah. Simpler. Right. Tracking across deserts and wastelands to rescue two cubs. Living constantly in fear that monstrous tigers might slaughter her friends. Because that had been simple.

"Why me?" She asked no one in particular. "Kovu was the King… He should be ruling… He should be fighting the invaders… I can't lead this Pride. I could never lead. Kovu was the leader. I was just good at killing things…" She thought cynically.

"I am not staying around for another moment, just waiting to starve to death. If we stick together, we become a great big massive target. The Shai'tan will come after us like vultures to dead meat!" A voice said angrily. Vitani sighed. She stood up. She would sort this out. She had hoped for a few hours rest. But even that was to be denied her it seemed. Time to shoulder that burden once more.

"If we split apart, we will be hunted down separately. We have safety in numbers!" Another voice protested.

"Now you are thinking like a prey animal! Grow a spine!"

"To the Shai'tan, we are prey. Or was three years in that pit not enough to teach you that lesson? Stop thinking you can outsmart them. The moment you underestimate those things, you die – very painfully."

"I will not stay here and risk recapture. I would rather die, then go back to that blasted place. I am certainly not waiting around here for that to happen." The second voice said again.

Vitani pushed herself to the front of the surge of animals, and saw to her surprise, a Panther, and second feline cub – larger than a leopard cub, but smaller than a tiger – facing one another. Before she could intervene however, a second voice interrupted.

"Quiet." he said. And Koron dropped down between them. His red eyes glinted with annoyance. He jabbed a claw at the panther.

"You are certainly not going anywhere. Everyone is sticking together. We fled as a group, so we need to stick together. It only takes one weakling to give up our location, and then we are all as good as dead. You needn't fear recapture, because I assure you, the Shai'tan are not interested in keeping us alive any longer." The lion cub said. The other cub (a jaguar, she would later discover) smirked, until Koron rounded on her.

"And you are not in charge here, Karina. You do not get to give orders." He snapped. Karina growled.

"And who died and put you in charge?" She asked disdainfully. Immediately, a dozen other voices began to clamour for attention, taking side and shouting.

"I have had enough of this." The panther said, and darted past Koron, who span and struck out. Vitani and Damu drew breath, but the other animals didn't bat an eyelid as Koron's claws raked into the young panther, who stopped, and took a step back, wobbling from the pain.

"ENOUGH!" Vitani shouted. The animals turned to her. Great. Now what?

"This fighting among yourselves need to stop. Stop doing the Shai'tan's dirty work for them." She said angrily. The animals looked at one another.

"What's the matter with you all?" Sara asked the former slaves, indignantly. "We only survive this if we work as a group. Alone, we have no hope against the Shai'tan." She snapped. The other animals looked at Sara, and some began to nod thoughtfully. Vitani looked at the cub in surprise. She had intended to say as much herself, but the young lioness had taken the words right out of her mouth.

"What would you have us do then?" One of the panthers shouted out. Vitani nodded.

"Well-" She began, but one of the Jaguar's glared at her.

"Not wanting to be rude, or to seem ungrateful. But we were speaking to Sara. She and Init kept us from killing each other back in Golgorath. I do not know any of you yet, and the trust of one of the Shai'tan's fighter-slaves is not so easily won." She said, sharply.

Vitani blinked in surprise. Then nodded. She knew that feeling. It had been months before she had even spoken to one of the former Pridelanders in the days following the reunification of the Pridelands. She had never quite gotten over the beaten message to mistrust and be wary of every living thing – and she was willing to bet that Golgorath was a more effective tutor than even her psychotic mother. Sara paused.

"We definitely have to stay together. But we can't hold out on these plains for too long. As soon as Ben-Kai-Ra discovers the slaughter at Golgorath, he will be extremely angry, and I am certain there was more than one gateway in the higher towers of the Outlands. He'll move plenty of grunts and fighters from his other minions. When he does, he'll bring as many forces to bare as he can against us." She said. Vitani nodded in agreement.

"One of the Shai'tan is abroad as well. Amun. He must be heading for the tree of life." Vitani said.

"No, that's not right." Inti said, now appearing at his sister's side. Vitani blinked in surprise. "Amun is taking the Shai'tan's jackals and snakes and attacking the Elephant Graveyard. We ran into him on the way to the Outlands. So long as we get out of the Outlands quickly the way back to the tree of life should be clear. We can make it. All of us." Inti told her. This provoked a chorus of outbursts from the other animals.

"The tree of life? I thought Inti was a Pridelander." One of the animals asked.

"There's more than one lion Pride in the Serengeti, idiot."

"The tree of life is supposed to be a safe haven."
"I'll come with you as far as the jungle. But after that, I ain't staying in such a large group. We'll be hunted down." The protesting animal said. Sara nodded. Vitani paused to agree. Then she stopped. Slowly, an idea was beginning to form in her head. It was a wild idea. A crazy, insane idea, that was not going to work. But the more she thought about, and the more she doubted it could possibly work, the more she became desperate to try it out.

"My friends." She said, calmly. The chattering animals stopped. "Golgorath has been harrowed. You are now free to do as you wish. Your actions were brave and daring. The more I hear of your… experience… in that cursed place, the more I feel for you. Not pity – but anger. I am furious that fellow beasts such as yourself should suffer so much for the sake of so little. The Shai'tan believe that their power is absolute. They believe that there is nothing that can stand against them. They think that nothing can challenge their might, nor withstand their fury. But they are so wrong. They have been thrice defeated. The Shai'tan just lost their fortress from under their noses. Don't run. Don't go back into hiding. Stay with us! Stay with us and fight!"

One of the former Pridelanders swallowed, and looked nervously at Vitani.

"King Kovu is dead. You might have survived, but Pride Rock is ash. His kingdom died with him. What's left to fight for?" He asked. Vitani took a deep breath. They had tried to hide their presence. But now it seemed inevitable, Shai'tan knew of their existence. There was no turning back. What could it hurt to give them something to hope for?

"Kovu, My Brother, was slain. That is true." She conceded. A sobering silence went through the crowd. Even Zira looked away at that.

"But his heir, lives on! Prince Kiava is alive! I've seen him, I know him! He's, my friend!" Sara said, speaking up, seeing what Vitani was doing. Inti nodded.

"Yeah! We're still here!"

"So long as any of us, Prince Kiava will come into his Kingdom! The Pridelands stand once more! We have everything to fight for. Revenge, for the pain and death they have caused. Freedom from their accursed rule. Sekhmet is dead. The rumours are true. Sekhmet was slain by one of our own! And there are far fewer Shai'tan then there are us. The Pridelands are not gone. Not yet!" Vitani urged them.

"That's good enough for me!" One of the Jaguars called out. "I don't know you, or your family. But I know Sara and Inti. And I know what the Shai'tan will do to any of us given half the chance." It was Karina. Her sister was standing by her side.

Not all of the creatures looked convinced though. Some looked sceptical.

"Sara and Inti, we know. But as I recall, it was Koron who released us, and it was us that bled for the sake of your cub's freedom. I don't see your king here, and I didn't see you king when we were rotting in the dark." That drew grumbling, and quickly Vitani realised that it wouldn't be as simple as she had hoped. These weren't Pridelanders. They might be good, honest, and decent animals but they had no particular loyalty to the Pridelands. It wasn't an army. It was a group of killers and rogues, of fighters, and barbarians. Vitani drew breath, but before she could speak Inti spoke up.

"Koron! You once told me, that you would do anything to make them pay for the deaths of your loved ones. And Rei, you said you would pay any price for the chance to hurt them in revenge. Prove it. Fight with us. Please." He urged them.

"I told you. I don't know how many times. I'm not one of your Pridelanders." Koron said, sniffing.

"Do you want to be?" Inti asked him. Koron blinked. He looked at his two friends, including the one he had nearly killed. There was no anger in his eyes. Only an earnestness that was almost endearing. He felt his ears pin back to his head and exhaled. The notion was entirely new to him. Sara was staring at him hopefully.

Like a lot of Inti's ideas, it seemed liable to get them all killed, but amazingly it wasn't the worst idea that Inti had ever had.

He nodded. And as if somehow the others had been waiting for his verdict, it triggered cheers and woops and growls throughout the gang of former slaves.

Vitani allowed herself to smile.

It had seemed impossible before today. But maybe, just maybe, it was possible. That they could actually make a go of this. Of fighting the Shai'tan. Of driving out the Imperium from the Pridelands. It wasn't a proud and honourable army, as Vitani wanted. Most of them had barely contained bloodlust at the thought of killing one or more of the Shai'tan even if it killed them, and they seemed as likely to die as martyrs than as heroes. But it was something. They had been living in the dirt for moons and moons. Vitani knew better than any what did to someone over a long enough time. But she also knew it was a curable affliction. She had moons to give them their honour back. To restore their sense of Pride. But they had given themselves something she could never train them. The will to fight.

She returned to Almasi, who was still guarding Zira – though the two had heard the whole thing.

"I'm Impressed, Vitani. You've become quite a leader." Zira said. Vitani ignored her, and focused on Almasi, who was more troubled at how she had seen Inti act. It was a side of him she hadn't seen before.

"I almost don't recognise my son, but it's no bad thing, that he has found his courage."

"I don't think any of your children have ever lacked for courage. To survive in this place as child is no mean feat, believe me." Vitani told them.

"I can't imagine what they've been through. Though I suspect you can." She said. Vitani nodded stiffly.

"Go to your children." She said, and Almasi nodded greatly. She frowned, and whispered to Vitani.

"What will we do when we return to the tree of life, if Kion hasn't found Kiava?" She asked her, cautiously. "What will you tell them, when they discover Kiava is nowhere to be found?" Vitani shook her head.

"Another problem for another day." She said. Zira grinned.

"Plots and schemes and manipulations. Through such are wars won." She said, approvingly.

"I am not manipulating them. I am giving them the chance they need, and the cause they crave!" Vitani protested. Zira cocked her head.

"I suppose you are. How droll. And now you have your beasts of war, what will you do now? Am I to be your prisoner?" She asked, rolling her eyes. Vitani growled.

"If you think I am going to let you wander around free, you must think I am as dense as Nuka. You will remain under guard at all times. Except when we are under attack. If I ever feel I can trust you, you are free to go." She said. Zira's eyes narrowed.

"Oh wonderful. Fortunately, I have a score to settle with the Shai'tan. Some of us don't heal as easily as you, Vitani. And I intend to take my own vengeance." She said. Vitani hesitated.

"That's the first honest thing I've heard you say. But by all means. I will take any help we can get when it comes to the Shai'tan mother. But you are not to hunt by yourself, and you are not to go off by yourself either. It would be just like you to go crawling back to the Shai'tan. You were never one to let old debts to go unpaid, and I will be sleeping with one eye open from now on."

"You need not concern yourself on my account. I would never betray a family member." She with characteristic viciousness. Then she paused. "I am not lying. And I wasn't lying when I said I am glad to see you alive, daughter. Truly." She said, turning aside, her tail swishing. Vitani gritted her teeth.

"And you stay away from all the cubs. Not just Inti and Sara – who knows what you've already done to them. You stay away from that panther trio, the Jaguar sisters, and every single other child." She said. Zira sighed.

"You go too far Vitani. Suspicion I can accept, but paranoia doesn't suit you. Name one cub I ever hurt!" She said. Vitani's eyes grew cold.

"I can name three." She said, before stalking away. Zira sighed. She would have to find some way of fixing the division between them. She had already failed Nuka and Kovu, she was not about to fail Vitani as well.