"Simba, don't be silly," said Nala. "You know you can breathe. Now you're just trying to get sympathy from me."
Simba chuckled. "Was it that easy to figure it out? I thought you liked feeling sorry for me. Doesn't that make me all the more adorable?" He smiled warmly at Nala, causing her to stare into his eyes. She could never resist that smile. She'd be a fool not to.
Nala nodded, staring at him in some kind of love-induced trance. "Yeah... adorable is the word that springs to mind..." she said, a goofy smile widening on her face. She was completely under Simba's spell.
"I knew it!" Simba exclaimed, grinning. "You always love things like that! Got any more reasons why you find me cute?"
Nala just continued to stare, like she was in some kind of trance. Simba raised an eyebrow, a little confused by this. "Uh... Nala? You okay? You seem to be... not saying anything right now. Is there a reason for that?"
He waved a paw in front of her face, to no avail. Rolling his eyes, he shook her several times, finally snapping her out of it. She blinked a few times, looking around confusedly. "Did you say something, Simba?"
Simba laughed. "I'm so cute that I can hypnotise you with just my smile." He put a paw to his chin as a thought came to him. "I wonder if that trick would work on Mom and Dad when they try to ground me...?"
Tojo looked over the edge of the cliff, to see Tama dangling from a dead root. His eyes widened in shock momentarily, before a sneaky grin spread across his face. "How's it hanging, Tama?" he teased.
"Tojo, this is no time for joking around!" she cried, fear evident in her voice. "Just help me up! I can't hold on much longer!"
Tojo shrugged. "Not my problem. After all, if I let you drop then I won't have to be your slave ever again."
Tama looked extremely shocked. "What? Tojo, if you don't help me right now then I'll—"
"Do what?" Tojo interrupted. "Because, from where I'm standing, you're in no position to do anything at all to me. For once, I'm the one who's in control. That's kind of funny, isn't it?"
"Tojo, please let me up! I'll do anything! Anything at all! I don't want to die! I'm too young! And beautiful! Just help me!" she pleaded, on the verge of tears.
Tojo put a paw to his chin thoughtfully, thinking over what Tama had said. "Anything, eh? Well, there is just one thing I'd like you to do."
"Just name it!" Tama exclaimed. "But please hurry up about it! I'm slipping!"
"Oh, I only want you to admit that you need me," Tojo revealed.
"What?" Tama cried.
"You heard me. Admit it, Tama – you need me. More then you'll ever know. Say you need me, and I'll pull you up. Otherwise, it's goodbye to your life." Tojo grinned, knowing that Tama was caught between a rock and a hard place. She had to admit it, now! She had to!
"No way!" Tama shouted. "I don't need you! I can do everything all by myself! You are nothing to me! Have you got that? Nothing!"
"Doesn't look that way from here," Tojo remarked, as he casually observed Tama beginning to lose her grip on the root. Any second now she would plummet to her death. "Time's running out, Tama. A few more seconds and... splat!"
"All right! All right!" she squealed. "I... I..."
"Yes...?" said Tojo, gesturing for her to continue. She'd admit it – it was only a matter of time.
"I... I... don't need you for anything at all!" she blurted out, failing to admit that she needed Tojo – which she did.
Tojo tutted, closing his eyes and shaking his head. "Oh, dear, oh, dear, oh, dear, Tama. This isn't looking very good for you, is it?"
"You let me up now or—" Tama screamed at the top of her voice as the root snapped in two, and she dropped from the edge of the cliff. Tojo reached out and grabbed hold of her paw, saving her at the very last second.
Tojo rolled his eyes as he pulled her to safety. Tama collapsed onto her back, breathing heavily. She couldn't believe that had happened. That was one of the most terrifying experiences she'd ever had in her entire life!
She looked up at Tojo, who was staring down at the ground, not bothering to ask if Tama was okay or not. "Tojo?" she said, shock evident in her voice. "Why... Why did you save me?"
"Because, unlike you, I actually care about you, Tama," Tojo replied. "It may come as a surprise to you, but I do. I thought for once that you might admit that you needed me, but obviously I got it wrong." Tojo sighed deeply, and closed his eyes for a few seconds. "I'm going. Find Simba yourself." Tojo then slowly walked away, leaving a very shocked Tama on her own.
"Tojo, I..." Tama said in an upset voice, but a few seconds later, a look of anger crossed her face. "I hate you! Go away! Go away and die in a ditch somewhere! I hate you! I hate you!" she screamed at him, jumping up and down in fury as Tojo walked away. "What an idiot."
"You know when I said it was hot earlier?" Simba said to Nala as they lay on the edge of a cliff together, snuggled up close to each other. "Well, that was cold compared to this."
Nala shrugged. "It's better than rain, right?"
Simba nodded. "I guess so. You were right, though. It was pretty quiet today. We didn't have to fight any bad guys at all today."
"I think you're wrong," said a voice from behind the two cubs. Suspicious already, Simba and Nala turned around to find themselves looking at the familiar face of Mtumwa. He looked a little bit worse for wear, though. His fur was very messy, and his claws were jagged. He looked a lot deadlier than the last time they met.
"It's... It's you!" Simba exclaimed in surprise. So much for today b eing quiet, he thought to himself. I was right to b e suspicious all along!
"You seem surprised to see me," Mtumwa said. "You should have expected this. After all, I was – and still am, for that matter – Scar's biggest fan. Did you think you could actually get away with murdering the greatest lion that ever lived? Did you think there were going to be no consequences? There are always consequences."
"What are you talking about?" Simba asked, confused. "I didn't murder anyone!"
"Don't lie to me!" Mtumwa roared furiously. "I know what you did! You're something of a legend in other lion prides. They go on and on all day about you and your heroic fight at Pride Rock. You killed Scar and all of his hyenas! You stole the life of my idol!"
"What?" Simba exclaimed. "I wasn't the one who killed Scar! That was someone else, called—"
"I've heard enough!" Mtumwa interrupted. "It's about time you paid for your crimes! I'll give you a very slow and painful death indeed. But first, I think I might kill your little friend there," he said, pointing a jagged claw at Nala.
Simba jumped defensively in front of her. "Don't even think about it," he warned. "I'm not going to let you hurt her. I won't."
"How are you going to stop me?" Mtumwa said as he took a step towards Simba. "I know you didn't kill Scar because of your strength. It was just luck that allowed you to do it. You got lucky, that's all. But that just angers me even more."
"Simba?" Nala whispered in Simba's ear, looking fearfully at Mtumwa as he got closer and closer. "What are we going to do?"
"I'll... I'll think of something," Simba whispered back, his eyes locked on Mtumwa, who continued to approach them menacingly. Simba looked down at his paws, and extended his claws, ready to use them if need be.
"Don't bother trying to fight me," Mtumwa said as he raised a paw, ready to attack Simba. "You'll only make things worse."
Mtumwa swiped with his paw, hitting Simba on his side, and sending him skidding across the ground. "I've learnt a lot since our last encounter. I think you'll find it that little bit harder to defeat me."
Nala looked at Simba, and realised that Mtumwa had knocked him out. His eyes were closed, and his body was utterly motionless. She was all on her own.
Mtumwa glared at Nala, a murderous glint in his eyes. "I hope you don't mind pain, because you're gonna get a lot of it."
Nala's eyes widened as Mtumwa swiped at her with his claws. She rolled out of the way, avoiding getting slashed by him. She managed to stumble to her paws, ready to defend herself against any other attacks Mtumwa might try to use against her.
Mtumwa growled. "Stay still," he said, before leaping at her, his jaws wide open. It was as if he was going to try and swallow her whole.
Nala jumped out of the way, and Mtumwa slid across the ground, crying out in pain. "What's your problem?" he roared. "Can't you just accept that you're meant to die?"
Nala backed herself against the edge of the cliff, as Mtumwa readied himself to pounce at her. He knew that he would get her this time. He was sure of it. "Time to die!"
Mtumwa let out an angry roar, and pounced at Nala, his jagged, sharp claws extended. She was dead!
Nala ducked as low as she could, and just about managed to see the look of pure fear in Mtumwa's eyes as he sailed over the edge of the cliff. She swiftly turned around and looked over the edge to see Mtumwa fall to his death. He didn't scream or cry out as he fell; he just dropped silently, his eyes closed.
Here I come, Scar, Mtumwa thought as he hurtled to the ground below.
Nala closed her eyes and turned away as she heard the unmistakeable crunch! of Mtumwa's bones breaking as his body smacked against the ground far below her.
She opened her eyes and ran over to Simba. "Simba! Simba, are you all right?" she asked worriedly, collapsing to the side of his unconscious body.
A few seconds passed, and Simba grunted groggily, his eyes flickering open. "N-Nala?" he said, looking up at her. "Wwhat happened?"
She smiled. "I'll tell you later. Just go back to sleep."
Simba nodded wearily. "Okay. I guess I am kind of sleepy..." Simba closed his eyes and slipped back into unconsciousness again, snoring lightly. Nala giggled, knowing that Simba was fine.
"I guess I'd better take you back home," she said, as she gathered up Simba's body and slumped him over her back, before making her way back to Pride Rock. She looked up at the sky. It would be night soon, and Nala figured they could both do with an early night.
It wasn't until late at night when Tama returned to the den at Pride Rock. She'd sat on the edge of that cliff for a few hours, doing nothing in particular. When she got back, she discovered that everyone had fallen asleep. The King and Queen; Simba and Nala; and...
Tojo. He was curled up in the corner, snoozing away. Tama noticed that he looked rather miserable while he slept.
Tama padded over to Tojo, and stared at him for a few seconds, before doing something that she never thought she'd do.
She kissed Tojo on the cheek, and smiled.
I suppose I do need you, Tojo, she admitted. More than I'll ever know.