Chapter 7

It was a long time before Molly broke the silence, "Scar, I don't think I ever thanked you, not when you could understand me at least."

"For what?"

"For saving me...twice."

"Hmm," was his only answer.

Smiling, Molly remained tucked under Scar's chin as she watched a few gazelle return to the water's edge. It was peaceful here. She could feel the heat of the sun working on her despite them being in the shade. A few birds sang in a nearby tree and countless insects danced and buzzed above the waters surface. Feeling lazy, Molly slumped a little and lowered herself to her stomach. Following suit, Scar sighed, content, as he stretched out on the cool ground again.

"We can rest here for the day," Scar said, "Nothing should bother us, and we can hunt when the sun goes down."

"Hunt?"

"Yes. We have to eat," Scar raised an eyebrow at her, "Oh, don't worry about me hunting too, I'm used to doing the work. Mufasa may have his females to do all his hunting for him, but I've had to feed myself for a while. I'll help you."

"But I- Scar, I've never gone hunting."

"What do you eat then? I saw you eat fruit like a monkey, but there's not enough fruit around to keep your lion body full. Can you eat grass?"

Shaking her head, dumbfounded, Molly said, "We can eat meat, it's just that... I've never had to kill it, and we cook it."

"The female humans don't hunt?"

"No."

"What do you do then?"

"Well...we take care of the young."

He didn't look convinced, and she didn't blame him. Her kinds customs were bound to seem just as odd to him as the lions were to her. "Everything's...very different in the human world, Scar, even among ourselves. Too different to explain in words really. Here, the humans have to hunt to eat. Where I come from, hunting is something people choose to do for fun. They don't HAVE to kill something, they could just go get something from someone else that that person killed, and so on."

"You're scavengers like vultures?" Scar's tone held much disdain.

"Hmph, no!"

"Then what?" exasperated, the big lion tossed his head.

"I...I don't know how to explain it to you Scar. Just...understand that I've never been hunting."

Watching her, he asked, "Would it make you unhappy?"

Molly shrugged, "I'm really not sure. I think so. I don't think I could kill anything, especially not up close with my teeth." Shuddering, Molly tried to stop thinking of chasing down a helpless gazelle and biting down; its lifeblood exploding into her hungry mouth. Her stomach churned.

"Molly."

Looking up into those bright green eyes, Molly felt herself being grounded again.

"I will hunt for you, but you must eat, whether it's what you're used to or not. You can't let your body die because you're uncomfortable." He spoke softly and matter-of-factly and she felt tension ease in her shoulders.

"Thank you, Scar."

"Don't thank me yet," his eyes sharpened their focus on her, "You WILL help me. You won't have to kill anything, but I expect you to help me track and run things down. Do you understand?"

Swallowing and nodding, Molly wondered what exactly she'd gotten herself into. For a little while, she'd been a bit worried about whether this potion would really wear off in a month or not. Now, she began to worry that even if it did, she wouldn't be able to go back to being a human being.

...

Laying his head on his paws, Scar told Molly, "Get some sleep. You will need it."

Watching her as she shifted around and tried to find a comfortable position to lay in, Scar felt a smile start on his face. Turning, she caught him and narrowed her eyes, "You're not laughing at me, are you?"

"Wouldn't dream of it," he lied.

"Sure," Molly finally gave up and flopped herself down onto her side, "You wouldn't find it so humorous if the roles were reversed."

"What, if Rafiki had turned me into a human instead?"

"Why not? He changed me. What would be so hard about doing it the other way? Then you'd have to figure out how to walk on two legs with no tail and sit in chairs," she laughed a little as her eyes closed.

Staring at her, Scar's mind started to turn. What if the monkey COULD do everything backwards? He'd be able to become human and leave the Pridelands, go wherever he wanted. He could get away from Mufasa and his damned pride, the hyenas, all of it.

"But only for a month," Scar reminded himself. A splash brought his head round to the watering hole. One of the gazelles had fallen in and was scrambling to get out of the water, terrified of what dangers might lurk beneath its surface. Making it to dry land, the gazelle kicked its legs and disappeared into the tall grasses. Eyes trailing back to Molly, Scar shifted and reached out his neck so his cheek rested against the back of her head. He only had one month.

...

Over the few days that she had been recovering under the care of Rafiki, Molly had become fairly accustomed to the regular noises of the plains. That had all been with human ears however, and now as she tried to sleep the day away, her lion ears twitched at even the slightest sound. Every time a fish came to the surface of the nearby water, or a small rodent scurried through the grass, she knew about it. At first it bothered her, how could anyone function with that much sound pouring into their head? But as she lay there dozing, it became easier to filter out things that didn't matter, like ignoring background chatter in any noisy bar back home. Rolling over, Molly listened for Scar's breathing. It was slow and deep, never wavering. Smiling, Molly drifted into full sleep.

Her over-sensitive ears were the first to pick up the voices. It sounded like two English-speaking men, but the conversation certainly didn't match.

"It doesn't smell the same anymore."

"We've been through this, Bapoto. It couldn't have just changed into something else."

"I'm just telling you what I know from the trail. The scent is the same, it's just...different somehow."

"The same but different?"

An exasperated sigh, then, "Masika, we've been tracking Scar and his...whatever since Sarabi picked up the scent days ago."

Blood running cold, Molly shoved her head against Scars, lifting his chin unceremoniously off his paws and plopping his head onto the ground roughly. Snorting, he woke, glaring and looking ready to take her head off. Shushing him, Molly nodded towards the right of their little alcove. The two trackers, whatever they were, were almost on top of them.

...

When his face had hit the ground, he'd been angry with Molly, his eyes flying open, ready to demand what the hell she thought she was doing. Hearing the voices of two of Mufasa's pride members, Scar rose to his feet and nudged Molly closer to the wall, "Move quietly, and stay low." Turning back to the lions, he waited, tail swishing in agitation as Bapoto and Masika came into view.

The two young lions were on the cusp of being old enough to leave the pride to make their own. Scar had no doubt they would end up forging one together. He remembered them as cubs and how inseparable they'd been then. The fact that Sarabi had sent these two instead of a pair of her lionesses meant this was a tentative and friendly house call. Which meant they wanted something from him.

"Scar!" Bapoto called out and smiled, "We're glad we finally found you!"

Nodding to the loud young male, Scar turned to Masika, "What do I owe the pleasure?"

Shifting under the older lions gaze, Masika reverted back to when he was a cub, "Sorry to bother you, Scar, sir, but Sarabi sent us after you to find out-"

"Who the lioness with me is?" Scar interrupted.

They exchanged puzzled expressions. Bapoto spoke up first, "We-that is, Sarabi and the rest of us thought...we thought we smelled a human."

Scar widened his eyes, and burst out laughing, "A human?" Slumping, his shoulders shaking from his deep chuckles, Scar tilted his head, "Why don't the two of you come meet her and see for yourself?"

...

Swallowing hard as she heard Scar invite the two lions over to meet her, Molly stood and went to meet them, trying desperately to not ooze fear into the air. It was her first time meeting any other animals besides Scar and Rafiki, and she was worried what they might do to her if they found out she wasn't 'one of them'.

"Hello," Molly said sweetly as she came around Scar. The two lions were young males with manes on the backs of their necks that hadn't managed to grow any further yet.

Staring at her, the two exchanged a look that she couldn't read. They almost seemed relieved.

"Hello," the one whose voice she recognized as Bapoto's grinned broadly at her, "I had no idea Scar had a-er," he gave Scar an uncertain glance.

"A companion," Masika saved him, "He's been pretty much a loner," he gave the older lion a sideways grin. Shrugging, Scar returned a blank stare to him, neither confirming or denying the observation.

Molly guessed the less she said the better. She didn't want some little detail in what she said giving herself away, so she followed Scar's silent shrug tactic, only with a smile.

Narrowing his eyes, but still smiling at them, Bapoto gave a short laugh, "Aaaalright, Masika, we've done our job, let's get back to Sarabi."

Nodding, Masika turned away without a second glance for Molly. Breathing a sigh of relief, she caught Bapoto and Scar exchanging a look as the younger lion turned to follow his friend. Scar gave the smallest of nods, and Bapoto's grin widened. Turning away, the two lions disappeared up the path, starting a new conversation, this one on what to hunt down for dinner.

"What was that at the end?" Molly whispered, "Did he figure out that I was a human?"

"No, but now they're going to go back to Sarabi and tell her I have a lioness in tow. They'll assume..." he trailed off and looked away from her, "They'll assume we're mating."

Heat swept over her body and Molly looked at her paws, embarrassed. How was a lion making her feel the same way they boys in high school had? It unnerved her.

"Sarabi will send a summoner soon. Maybe even an escort depending on how urgently she and my brother want to meet you. We need to leave the Pridelands for a while."

"Leave where? For how long?" the edge of panic must have been evident in her voice because he turned back to her and rubbed his cheek against hers.

"Don't worry, Molly. I won't let anything happen to you, human or lion form."

Nodding, Molly found she didn't doubt him one bit.

...

Tada! Bet you all thought I was dead! Again, sorry for taking so long, and I am SO grateful to the people still putting up with my crap and still reading when I update. I love hearing from you guys and knowing what parts of the story you like best. From now on I will try to address any comments/questions you guys have at the end of my chapters since I'm horrible about replying to the actual messages. I will also try to make sure I don't make you wait a month or more for chapter 8, but...you know me by now... ;)