"Come on, move!" Simba ordered, as he kept walking across the dusty land at a brisk pace, determined to get to his destination before it was too late. It was going to take a long time, but in the end, it would all be worth it. Time was of the essence. This was a matter of life and death!

"I want my break!"

"A break? If this is a break, then I want to know what work feels like," Haiba remarked, struggling to keep up with Simba and the frantic speed at which he was walking. "Isn't the point of a break to feel all relaxed and refreshed? 'Cause right now, I feel like the complete opposite. Has it occurred to you that maybe we're doing something wrong?"

"What was wrong with relaxing by the water hole all day?" Nala asked, her whole body aching after walking around for two hours non-stop. "It's, like, right next to Pride Rock. We would have only had to walk for two minutes!"

"I'm tired of hanging around the same place all the time," replied Simba, his pace not slowing down even a little bit. "We need a change of scenery. Aren't you sick of it, too?"

"No," answered Haiba. "I've only lived here for a few weeks. It's all still pretty new to me. So I'm not really bored. I'm not sure about Nala, though." He glanced at her. "Are you tired of the Pride Lands?"

"No!" Nala exclaimed. "Not when I have to walk hundreds of miles to get away for one day! And I also have to walk hundreds of miles to get b ack!" She sighed. "Simba, let's just turn around and go home. There's no point to this. Let's just take a long nap or something."

Simba stared at her with wide eyes. "What?" he exclaimed. "You've gotta be kidding me. Where's your sense of adventure?"

"I think I left it at home today," replied Haiba. "After all that business with the King of Dreams, I'm ready to sleep… for a month."

"But it wasn't even real," Simba argued. "It was all just a dream – remember? None of it actually happened. And that means you can't get tired from it!" He narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "Wait a minute, you're just lying to me, aren't you?"

Haiba had a nervous grin on his face. "Nope," he replied, an innocent look in his eyes. "What would give you a silly idea like that? I must say I'm offended. In all my years—"

"Months," Nala corrected him.

"—I've never heard such a ridiculous accusation," he finished. "How could say that to one of your best friends?"

"Are you finished?" Simba asked, hardly paying any attention to what Haiba had just said.

"Yes, I am," Haiba replied.

Simba smiled. "Good. And come on – it's not that bad. You'll thank me in the end. I'm taking you to a place that you won't even believe is real!"

"Is that because it isn't real?" Nala asked. "Are you sure you haven't dreamed of the most beautiful place in the world?"

"I haven't dreamed in a long while," was Simba's answer. "Not since… Well, you know what happened. Let's just say I'm not exactly a fan of dreams anymore. Unless they involve a lot of hugs – and in some cases, kisses. But never mind that. This is going to be fun!"

"If it's fun then I'll claw out my eyes," Haiba told him. "Which would actually spoil my enjoyment of the place, but whatever."

He shrugged. "A deal's a deal."

Much to Nala and Haiba's surprise, Simba stopped and turned around to face them. "Hey, have I ever let you down before?" he asked.

Haiba opened his mouth to answer. "Well—"

Simba covered Haiba's mouth with a paw "Don't answer that," he interrupted. "It was a rhetorical question."

Haiba spoke again, his voice sounding muffled. "But that doesn't make any—" Simba pressed his paw against Haiba's mouth, sealing it shut.

"Simba, let go of him," said Nala, giving him a disapproving look. "Otherwise we're not going to come with you."

Simba smiled, rolled his eyes and removed his paw from Haiba's mouth.

"Thank you," Haiba said flatly. "Now just where the heck is this 'totally awesome' place you keep talking about? 'Cause right now, all I see is dirt and a lot of bones. Plus the occasional hole in the ground. Other than that, it looks like the inside of a stupid person's mind."

"And how would you know that?" Nala asked, looking slightly confused. "How can you see inside other people's minds?"

"I met a girl once," Haiba explained. "Psychic powers. Surprisingly creative. But then she was able to know everything I was going to say to her. I realised that life would have gotten pretty boring that way, so I had her killed."

"What?" Simba and Nala both exclaimed instantaneously, their eyes wide with horror.

Haiba chuckled. "I'm kidding. Relax, guys," he said, waving a paw in the air. "I just dumped her. To be honest, I wasn't that attractive to her, either." He stroked his cheek. "Maybe I should have been a bit nicer, though. I hate it when they slap me in the face. I think I got lucky when I met you, Nala."

"I only slap Simba," she informed Haiba. "And that's only when he completely loses his mind – which happens quite a lot, when you think about it." She shrugged. "Oh, well."

"Would it make you happy if I told you we were close to the most amazing, cool, totally awesome place ever?" Simba asked, an eager and excited tone in his voice. He sounded like he really was going to show them the greatest place on earth!

Haiba's eyes widened, a bit of excitement flaring up inside of him. "Are we really?" he asked, a grin spreading across his face.

"No," Simba responded. "But don't worry – a few more hours and we'll be right there."

"A few more hours?" Haiba cried at the top of his voice. "You can't expect me to walk for a few more hours!"

"This is insane!" Nala exclaimed, staring at her boyfriend with disbelief.

Simba laughed. "Relax, I'm kidding," he told him. "It's actually only ten minutes away." He pointed across the barren land.

"You see that kind of… grassy place all the way over there?"

Nala and Haiba had to squint pretty hard to see it. It was far out in the distance, but they could just about make it out. It looked like some kind of small forest placed in the middle of nowhere.

Nala shot a look at Simba. "Are you sure that place is real, Simba?" she asked him. "Looks like a mirage or something to me."

"It's not a mirage," Simba insisted.

"So have you actually been here before?" said Haiba.

"Um… no," Simba replied, looking sheepishly down at the ground. "I just kinda… heard about it, you know?"

"Well… who'd you hear about it from?" Nala asked, looking towards the hazy outline in the distance.

"Uh… Zazu," came the shy reply.

"Zazu?" Nala exclaimed, her eyes wide. "And how do you know you can trust him? Remember, Simba, he is the bird who managed to get you into a deadly challenge for control of the Pride Lands."

"Don't remind me," Simba replied, frowning. "But you can see it right there! If it isn't real, then you're free to break all of my legs. Deal?"

"Well, I wouldn't go that far—"

"Deal!" Haiba interrupted, grinning.