Simba's eyes flickered open the next morning. He felt really… good today. That must have been the best sleep he'd ever had! He couldn't exactly figure out why, though. It felt like there was someone… with him while he was sleeping. It was kind of strange, but it was nice. Really, really nice.

And that's when he remembered just exactly how he had ended up like this. "Whoa!" he exclaimed aloud. "I fell asleep by Nala," he whispered to himself quietly. He looked around, and then realised Nala was no longer near him.

Now this struck Simba as quite odd, because the first thing Nala would do when she woke up would be to wake up Simba. So just where had she got to? Simba wanted to find out, and fast.

He got to his paws and walked through the den, keeping an eye out for her. I b et this is just a trick she's playing on me, Simba thought suspiciously. She's just looking for another chance to pin me. Yeah… Well I'll pin you first, Nala!

Walking over to the den opening, Simba could see his father, his mother and Nala's mother huddled around each other, talking to each other about something that made his blood run cold.

"… We've looked everywhere!" Sarafina exclaimed. "I don't know where she could be!"

Sarabi had a comforting paw around Sarafina's shoulder. "Don't worry. I'm sure we can find her."

Mufasa nodded in agreement. "She can't have gone too far. Do you know why Nala would just run away?"

Sarafina shook her head. "Nala would never run away from anything. I think…" She hesitated for a moment, before deciding to blurt out her worst fear. "I think someone might have taken her."

"Why would someone want to take her?" Sarabi asked, curious.

Sarafina shrugged. "I–I don't know," she replied. "I just have… I just have this feeling, that's all. I don't understand it."

"She'll have to turn up somewhere," Mufasa assured the worried mother. "I'll make sure the whole pride searches for her."

"What's going on?" Simba asked, causing the three lions to turn around and stare directly at Simba. Now Simba had a very good idea about what had happened, but he decided to get a decent explanation first.

Mufasa sighed at his son. He had to handle this carefully. Mufasa knew how attached Simba was to Nala. This was going to be difficult…

"Son…" Mufasa began. "I'm afraid Nala has gone missing."

Simba let out a little gasp. His worst fears had come true. He knew something was up as soon as he saw Nala had gone without waking him up first.

"How?" Simba asked, wanting to know as much as possible.

Mufasa shook his head. "I don't know, Simba. But we're looking for her. I'm sure we'll find her soon enough."

And then Simba suddenly felt a little something tug at his heart. Was that… loneliness? He suddenly had the biggest sense of loss he'd had in a long time. Nala was… gone? How? Why? Who? So many questions with no answers. This was bad. This was really, really bad.

Since Simba knew Nala so well, being the best of friends and all, he knew that Nala hadn't run away. She would never do that. It wasn't in her personality. The only other logical reason was that someone had taken her. Kidnapped her! But who would do that? Who…?

"I have to go look for her," Simba declared, making his way out of the den, before Mufasa stopped him.

"No, Simba," he told his son firmly. "I don't want you going missing, too."

"Dad, you have to let me—"

"No," Mufasa interrupted. "If someone has taken Nala, then they might start taking other cubs, too. Do you want to go missing, too?"

"I would if it'd help me find Nala," Simba replied honestly.

He knew deep inside that he just had to find her. He promised he'd take care of her! He promised! What would Nala think of him if she knew Simba was just sitting inside the den while she was tortured mercilessly by whoever had kidnapped her? She'd loathe him!

He felt it was his duty to protect her. He wasn't going to let her get hurt. Not now, not ever. He'd do whatever it took to make sure she was safe, even if it meant him dying instead of her! That's what best friends did for each other, wasn't it?

They took care of each other. They wouldn't let each other get hurt.

"Simba, you need to let us take care of this," Mufasa told Simba. "You're too young to go off by yourself."

"But I need to find her!" Simba argued angrily. "Don't you understand?"

"Simba, you're staying here. And that's that."

Simba growled angrily, storming off back into the den. He decided to turn to say one more thing. "If it turns out Nala's dead tomorrow, then I know whose fault it is." And with that, he disappeared, leaving Mufasa, Sarabi and Sarafina all stunned. They just stood there, silent, not even moving a muscle.

Sarabi finally managed to break the silence. "I've… I've never seen Simba act like that before," she said, pretty shocked.

She just didn't expect a reaction like that from someone like him.

"He cares a lot about Nala," Sarafina explained. "Maybe more than we know. Maybe more than we'll ever know."

Mufasa thought for a moment. "Maybe he'll come to his senses soon enough. If it turns out someone has taken Nala then I don't want him out alone."

"I'm still trying to think who could have taken her," said Sarafina worriedly. "What monster would possibly want to kidnap a defenceless little cub?"

"Yes!" Hago exclaimed. "I am such a monster for taking a defenceless little cub!"

Nala lay on the ground in the middle of the Pride Lands, surrounded in a circle by Scar, Hago and several hyenas, all of whom looked very hungry. She'd woken up here, and found herself terrified instantly. She had no idea the Outlands were this scary. But now she knew, and she wasn't soon to forget it.

"Looks like your plan worked, Hago," Scar told the villainous lion. "I must say I'm impressed. I'm actually surprised I've never heard of you before."

"I like to keep a low profile," Hago informed him.

"What do you want?" Nala demanded from the two villains.

"Oh, only the complete annihilation of the Prince, King and Queen," Hago replied. "And the way things are going, it seems like me and my new buddy Scar here will accomplish that goal with ease."

Nala gasped when she realised that Simba's Uncle was in on this. She knew he was a creepy, distant guy, but she never thought he'd be capable of evil on this scale. So this was what he had been doing all the time. Coming up with new schemes to try and take over the Pride Lands. It was shocking, to say the least.

"So why do you need me?" Nala asked, always the inquisitive one.

"My dear girl, I don't think you quite realise the gravity of your situation," Scar replied. "We're holding you hostage."

"So?" Nala spat. "Simba will come for me."

Scar and Hago looked at each other, evil grins spreading across their faces. Hago whispered in Nala's ear.

"I'm counting on it," he whispered menacingly. Hago rose, an evil grin on his face. "Ooh, I'm so evil! I just gave myself chills! Even my goose bumps have goose bumps!" Hago laughed evilly. "I'm a bad boy!"

The evil laughter continued, and Nala began to wonder if she would live through this.