Opening her eyes, Nala groaned. "Ow…" she said, putting a paw to the top of her head. She could feel a bump there, which throbbed with pain. She quickly took her paw away. It hurt too much. "Where am I?"

Nala got to her paws, surveying her surroundings. The land was barren, and it looked like no one had lived there in years. Dead branches lay on the ground; the trees – what was left of them – were all dead; and the only plants that remained were a few medium-sized bushes. The whole place looked completely devoid of life.

"Surprised, my dear?"

Nala turned around at the sound of Hago's voice. She growled at him angrily, extending her claws. "You…" she said sternly. "You take me back – you take me back right now!"

Hago simply chuckled in response. He wasn't affected by the threatening look Nala was giving him. She wouldn't do anything. She was far too intrigued. There were questions left unanswered. She wouldn't dare kill him if she wanted to learn some information. Plus, there were other things to be discussed.

"I'm not going to take you back, Nala," Hago told her. "That would just be foolish of me. I haven't come all this way just to take you back again. Have you ever heard of a kidnapper doing such a thing before? Of course you haven't – it's stupid!"

"So what do you want?" Nala demanded, taking a step towards him. "Well? Tell me!" she ordered. "You want to kill me, is that it?"

Hago laughed. "If I wanted you dead, Nala, then I would have done that when I came into the den last night. I would have smeared your blood all over the walls. But…" He turned around. "I'm not that cruel."

Nala scoffed. "'Not that cruel'?" she said with a laugh. "You've gotta be kidding me. You're nothing b ut cruel! Or is your ego too big for you to possibly understand that? It wouldn't surprise me – you jerk."

"You rely heavily on insults, don't you, my dear?" Hago retorted, turning back to her. "Now can we get on with more pressing matters? I've had quite enough of your complaining."

"And I've had quite enough of you!" Nala shot back. "Why can't you just die? Properly. No one wants you around. Haven't you realised that by now?"

Hago ignored her, and gestured to their surroundings. "Look around you, Nala. What do you see?"

Nala rolled her eyes and looked around. "Not much," she answered. "A few dead trees, some bushes." She shrugged.

"That's it, really." She narrowed her eyes at him. "And why are you asking me this?"

"This is what remains of your pride," Hago revealed, poking one of the dead branches on the ground with his staff. "You are staring at the remnants of what was once known as the Wild Lands." He raised his eyebrows at Nala. "Now you suddenly look interested."

Nala didn't understand – and this just fuelled her speculation as to what Hago wanted with her even more. Why had he brought her here? To where she was born? To her original home? Granted, she hadn't lived here for that long before she made the move to the Pride Lands, but it was still her original home. She knew she was here for a reason… But what was the reason?

"Why have you brought me here?" Nala asked wonderingly, circling around the area. What happened here? she wondered to herself. Where is everyone who used to live here? Did they all die?

"So many things happened here, Nala," Hago replied, looking left and right around the decaying land. "A war was fought; terrible bargains were struck; your b irth…" He shot her a sly look.

"What are you talking about?" Nala exclaimed, not understanding anything now. If he didn't want to kill her, then just what did Hago want? She was getting tired of this already… "If you don't start explaining within the next five seconds then I'm getting out of here."

"But you won't," Hago retorted, taking a step towards Nala. "I know you too well, Nala."

"No, you don't," Nala shot back, glaring at him. "You know nothing about me. Nothing."

"Oh, but I do, Nala," Hago insisted. "I know all too well about you. Tell me…" He joined Nala by her side. "Have you ever questioned your mother about the circumstances of you birth?"

"My birth?" Nala raised an eyebrow at him. "No," she replied with a shrug. "Not really. I've never really thought it."

"And what's your earliest memory?" Hago asked, as if he already knew the answer Nala was going to give him.

"Just… running about," Nala answered. "Here – I think. I can't remember too much before I came to the Pride Lands. I was a bit too young."

"Of course you were," said Hago, nodding, sounding almost sympathetic. "It wouldn't surprise me, really. After all – it is what you would call my fault."

Nala slowly looked up at Hago, her eyes widening. "What… What did you say?"

"It's my fault," Hago repeated, striding away from Nala, closing his eyes. "Tell me another thing, Nala – what about your mother? And her relationship with your father? What do you know about that?"

"They were in love with each other," Nala replied, glaring at Hago. "And we would have been a happy family – if you hadn't killed him."

Hago chuckled in response, turning to Nala, his eyes open. "But I didn't kill him, Nala," he revealed, a maniacal grin on his face. "Your father has been right in front of you all along."

Hago walked towards Nala, staring into her eyes. "I am your father."

Nala's eyes were wide with horror, as she slowly backed away. "No…" she said, shaking her head. "No… That's not true… It's not true!"

"It is, Nala," Hago said. "It is!"

"You're nothing like him!" Nala argued. "My mother told me all about my Dad. He was completely different!"

"That's just what I made her think," Hago told her. "With my magical powers, it's all too easy to alter someone's memory. You see – I don't particularly make a good mate, and your mother was just a little… fling I was having for a while. Really, I saw her nothing more as an object of pleasure. But then, as soon as she said she was pregnant, I changed her memory of me and ran off!"

"You're lying!" Nala cried, tears in her eyes. "You're lying! You're not my father! You're not! You're not!"

Hago laughed evilly, loving every second of this. To witness Nala's misery… It just made him so excited! "Yes, Nala! Yes! I am your father! The one you call Dad! Muerto isn't even a real name! It just means 'dead'. Clever, no?"

"No!" Nala screamed, sinking to the ground, sobbing and crying, unable to take the truth in. It was just too much…

"You're not my father! You're a monster! A monster!"

"I am a monster and your father," replied Hago, not caring one bit about his daughter's suffering and the intense sadness she was feeling. "Although, not that I have you here right in front of me, we can start with my plan. We're going to do wonderful things together. Such… wonderful things…"

Nala slowly lifted her head to look at Hago, her eyes red with tears. "No way," she said, shaking her head. "We're not doing anything. I want nothing to do with you."

"Too bad." Hago grabbed his daughter by the neck, and started roughly dragging her away. She screamed and cried in protest, but Hago didn't listen. "Don't worry about it, my dear. You'll adjust to the truth soon enough. After I've made a few… alterations of my own…"