"Is it just me, or has it really boring?" complained Nala, as she and Simba sat in a quiet corner in the den at Pride Rock.

"What was your first clue?" replied Simba, feeling the same as her.

Four days ago, Simba and Nala had gotten themselves into trouble after a little mishap with Zazu. He had been appointed to look after them so they didn't get into mischief, like they usually did ninety-nine per cent of the time.

Not happy about this at all, the two cubs had decided to try and get rid of Zazu, and ended up throwing a rock down on top of his head. They thought they had killed him, and spent the whole of that day trying to figure out a way of making it look like it wasn't them that had murdered him.

Unfortunately, their efforts had backfired when Zazu revealed he was playing a trick on them, and had only pretended to be dead. His own little revenge for all the tricks they had played on him over the months.

Simba and Nala thought that was the end of it. Zazu would have had his little fun, and the two of them could pretend the whole incident never happened.

However, that wasn't to be. Not only had Zazu played quite a clever trick on them, but he also told King Mufasa how they had thrown a rock over his head! No fair!

Needless to say, the two cubs got grounded, only allowed within the confines of the den. This had proved boring. There was no fun to be had, no stimulation, and they had only each other for company.

Luckily for them, today was the day they were due to be 'released'. They would finally be free to go about their normal routine, which normally consisted of finding a new adventure. Their last adventure with that lion Hago hadn't been too fun, however…

"Where's your Dad?" Nala asked Simba. "I thought he was going to let us go today?"

Simba shrugged. "Probably doing something to make sure he keeps us in here as long as he can. It's no fun."

"You can say that again," said Nala.

The den was completely empty. All the other members of the pride were busy doing their own things in the Pride Lands.

That was where all the fun was. But instead, Simba and Nala had only each other for company in this lonely, old den.

Where was the fun in that?

"We could always look on the bright side," suggested Simba optimistically. "Right now if we were out we could end up getting kidnapped by some psycho."

"Even that would be better than being trapped in here!" Nala moaned. "This is ridiculous! That whole business with Zazu wasn't even our fault!"

Simba nodded in agreement. "Yeah. If he's just kept his stupid beak shut then we wouldn't be in this mess. Wasn't playing one of his own tricks on us enough?"

"Obviously not," replied Nala, "because he told on us! I can't believe he did that. Especially after making us worry like that all day. We thought we were going to end up dead!"

"Don't worry about it," Simba told her with a sly smile. "We'll get Zazu back for it."

Nala rolled her eyes. "Yeah, and we'll probably get in trouble for that. Jeez, do we ever get a break? We get kidnapped by a crazy lion, we get tricked into think we've killed Zazu, and now we've been grounded. Can it get any worse?"

"Knowing our luck? Yes," Simba answered, rolling onto his back, looking up at the rocky ceiling of the den miserably. He groaned loudly. "If my Dad doesn't get here in the next five minutes we're going out, okay?"

Nala nodded. "Okay. I'd do anything to get out of here."

Five minutes passed, and that was more than the two cubs could take. They had to get out of here! They just had to!

"That's it!" Simba exclaimed, hopping to his paws. "We're getting out of here!"

"I'm with you on this one," Nala agreed, getting up.

The two made their way out of the den. Simba whispered in Nala's ear conspiratorially.

"As long as no one sees us leaving, we'll be free to do whatever we want," Simba whispered excitedly.

"And doing whatever we want includes…?" Nala asked.

Simba stopped, and looked around, in case anyone was watching. He finally turned to Nala, smiling mischievously.

"Why don't we go to the Outlands?"

Nala gasped. "The Outlands?" she exclaimed. "But it's…"

"Yes?"

"It's scary out there," she replied.

"Scary?" Simba laughed. "We can handle anything."

"Can we?" Nala asked, unsure. "I don't know, Simba…"

"Hey, we beat that creepy guy with the staff, didn't we?" Simba asked, referring to Hago, a magical lion who tried to use Simba and Nala to obtain possession of a powerful jewel, one that would allow him to control the universe. Simba and Nala soon put a stop to his plans, though. Hopefully for good. But you could never be too careful…

"I guess so," replied Nala, scratching her head. "But aren't the Outlands filled with hundreds of hungry hyenas?"

"So?" said Simba. "We can take on a few hyenas." Simba pulled Nala close to him, and smiled at her. "Me and you against the world, right?"

Nala smiled back at her best friend. "Okay," she agreed. "Anything's better than staying here."

The two cubs walked out of the den. No one seemed to be around. And that meant they were free to do whatever they wanted! No longer did they have to be trapped in that stupid den! Cubs needed wide open spaces to play in. It was a necessity. Take that away and there was no fun to be had. No fun at all.

"Perfect," said Simba, smiling mischievously. "No one at all around. It's just us. Outlands, here we come!"

Simba and Nala were about to make their way down Pride Rock, when a voice cut through the air of freedom.

"Where do you think you're going?"