Mtumwa was angry already, but the lack of assistance from the rest of the pride only managed to make him even angrier. He didn't even bother with the adult lions and lionesses – they would snuff him out instantly, and would chase him out of the Pride Lands before he could even say a single word. He noticed the pride was a lot more protective these days, and weren't likely to accept an intruder as one of them until they were absolutely sure that person could be trusted. Mtumwa didn't look very trustworthy, and fitted into the 'psycho murderer' category. Maybe that's what he was…

Yep, he was psychotic. Mtumwa found himself forced to admit that. He… wasn't stable, and would much rather partake in murderous actions instead of living out the rest of his life with a heart full of grief. What person would want to live like that? What was the point? If you lost someone who was close to you, then wouldn't you want to make all the other ignorant, happy people pay for their insolence?

Everyone was insolent. Did no one care that Scar was dead? He was a god! A god of all that was evil in the universe! Such a brilliant lion had died, and those who had murdered him would pay for it. Mainly, Prince Simba. The little arrogant brat had finally succeeded in wearing Scar down so much that it cost him his life. He knew of the torment Scar had to endure with that cub, and Scar despised him with all of his heart. He was the obstacle that prevented him from becoming King of the Pride Lands. Scar would have been better off if Simba was never born, not to mention he also would have been alive…

But Mtumwa would avenge Scar's death, and he was going to make sure it hurt. That cub deserved to gag and choke, thrashing on the edge of life until the darkness consumed him. He deserved all of that pain, and it just about amounted to the suffering that both Mtumwa and Scar had endured.

Mtumwa would kill Simba's friend first, though. He'd make the cub watch as his friend's legs were broken, one by one, before he slit her throat as slowly as he possibly could, giving her the most painful death imaginable. It would feel like her soul itself was being torn apart. Since Simba cared about her so much, it would break his heart in two, and he might even surrender himself to Mtumwa, because he wouldn't want to go on living after seeing such a horrible thing.

Mtumwa personally didn't want to live much longer, either. After Simba was dead, Mtumwa was going to kill himself. He'd slowly bring his jagged claws to his throat, take a deep breath and slash the life out of him. And as he collapsed to the ground, he knew he'd be doing exactly the right thing.

Was it morbid? Yes, but that's what death does to people. Death sometimes could be the only answer to… death. Mtumwa was so insane that he believed Scar was the greatest being that inhabited the planet, when in reality Scar was one of the greatest monsters that inhabited the planet. Everything he did always resulted in pain, misery, and the worst thing of all: death.

Right now, all Mtumwa could think about was finding Simba and punishing him for all the trouble he had caused. These lands belonged to Scar, and Simba had ruined the chances Scar had of ever claiming what he so rightfully deserved.

Simba was dead, and there was no way the cub could keep that from happening.

"Simba, there's no way you can keep that from happening," Nala told Simba, as he prepared to leap from the branch of a tree he had just spent five minutes trying to climb. The reason he wanted to climb up it surprised Nala, and she began to wonder if the heat was driving him mad. "Gravity will stop you."

"You just wait," Simba told her, as he positioned himself on the edge of the branch, making sure he was jumping off from the branch at a perfect angle. "You won't stop being surprised for weeks when I pull this off!"

"Simba, you can't fly," Nala informed him, rolling her eyes at what he was trying to accomplish. "That has to be one of the stupidest ideas I've ever heard you come up with! Next to that time you told me you could breathe underwater."

"I did breathe underwater!" Simba insisted. "I was under there for at least five minutes!"

"Simba, you passed out," said Nala, smiling. "I had to dive back under and save you before you killed yourself. I don't think that counts as breathing underwater."

"I do. I just got a little sleepy, that's all," he told her. "Is there a problem with taking a nap underwater?"

"And now you think you can fly, too?" Nala said with a raised eyebrow. "Simba, birds fly. Lions don't. Now get back down here before you hurt yourself."

"Who are you, my mother?" Simba teased. "I'll be fine. All I need to do is flap my paws as hard and fast as I can and I'll fly. It'll be easy!"

"Good luck with that." Nala flopped down onto her back, casually looking up at him as he got ready to jump. "I'll just be lying here to watch as you hurt your back."

"Fine! You'll see! If you're lucky, I might even take you on a flight with me," he told her, trying to sound generous.

"Yeah, sure," Nala said quickly. "Just jump so we can get this over with."

"Okay." Simba narrowed his eyes in concentration. "One… two… three!" Simba leapt from the branch, flapping his paws as fast and as hard as he could, just like a bird would. But Simba, of course, wasn't a bird, and plummeted straight to the ground, landing hard on his stomach with a loud crunch!

"I take it the flight didn't go as planned," Nala joked, smiling at Simba as he lay there on the ground.

"I think I landed on a rock," Simba said, wincing as tears of pain fell from his eyes. "A really hard, sharp rock. Actually, I think I'm dying. Help me out, here."

"Fine." Nala sighed and got to her paws, walking over to Simba. He really should have b een more careful when he did that, she thought to herself as she helped Simba to get up. I don't think he'll ever stop b eing so silly. Not that I would want him to, anyway. This is actually pretty entertaining!

"Thanks," Simba grunted, as he looked down at the ground to see where he had landed. There was a hard, but little rock on the ground. He'd landed right on top of it. How in the world didn't he see that before he jumped off? Maybe he should have listened to Nala on this one…

Nala could see the pain he was in, and decided they should do something a little less adventurous. "Do you want to go find somewhere to lie down?" she offered.

Simba nodded. "That'd be great."

"Come on, then," Nala said as she led Simba away. "You really need to be more careful. It could have been a lot worse if that rock was bigger."

Simba nodded, and a few seconds of silence passed before he spoke up again. "Nala?"

"What?"

"Is it normal if I can't breathe?"