Simba's eyes flickered open, his vision blurry and unfocused. Everything seemed so hazy. His head was spinning. He just couldn't concentrate. Couldn't focus on anything… The whole world seemed to be passing him by in slow motion.

His head was thumping. Throbbing with pain. He couldn't work anything out… He closed his eyes, but that didn't seem to help. His head was still pounding, but at least the dizziness seemed to have subsided – for the moment, anyway.

But the mystery of what had happened to him – and, Simba feared, his friends – still remained. That seemed to tease his brain the most of all. He didn't know what had happened. It had all gone by so quickly. One second he was talking to Nala and Haiba, but the next he felt the most horrible pain in the back of his head.

That was when everything went black. And right now, it still felt that way. Simba just lay there, his eyes closed. Doing nothing.

Some feeling began to creep back into his body, and he found himself feeling rather cold. Kind of… chilling, actually. He hadn't felt so cold since his encounter with the King of Dreams…

Opening his mouth, Simba tried to take a deep breath. He thought that would calm him down a bit. Ease his nerves.

Allow him to focus more.

But then no breath came. No air. None at all, in fact.

Immediately alarmed and confused, Simba's eyes snapped open. He looked around this newfound world of blurriness, and came to a startling realisation.

He was underwater.

His auburn eyes widening, Simba kicked frantically with his legs, sending them flailing about all over the place. His mind couldn't fully comprehend what was going on. He was underwater? How did that happen? Why did it happen? Who had caused it?

So many questions, all of them flying through his mind at an incredible pace, preventing him from answering them. His whole world – while seeming rather empty at the moment – was spinning around and around. Nothing seemed real. It was as if he were dreaming.

Emerging from the water, Simba gasped for air, savouring every intake of it. He'd never wanted air so badly in his life. He screamed. "What was…? How did…?" He still couldn't think properly. Lying unconscious under the water for a long period of time had obviously messed with his mind. He felt very lucky to be alive.

This left him seriously concerned about Nala and Haiba. Where were they? Had they been placed underwater, too?

Were they drowning while he sat there, thinking so fast that it made his headache worsen?

Simba decided to calm down, take things one step at a time, and survey his surroundings.

Circling around, he couldn't see much. He seemed to be stuck in some kind of extremely large river, but to Simba it seemed more like an ocean. An endless ocean, which would never ever stop. Maybe he was in an entire world that was filled with water...

He closed his eyes, sighing. He was going crazy. Seriously. His thoughts had become so muddled up that he was starting to go insane. Think the most outlandish thoughts possible. He couldn't tell left from right.

"I'm going to die," he realised aloud, looking around. There was nothing to assist him. No one to help him. Nothing was happening. He was literally stuck in a big river of… nothing. "Unless someone shows up and—"

"Ahem."

Thwack!

And then Simba was unconscious again.

With an even worse headache than before.

"Wake up, little cub…" a voice in Simba's ear commanded. "Wake up…"

Simba slowly opened his eyes, and concluded that he was no longer underwater. That was most likely a bonus. At least he wasn't in any immediate danger anymore. But there was still the problem of where he had ended up this time.

His vision returned to normal, and he found himself staring up at the evil mastermind who had caused all of this.

It was a lioness. A very attractive lioness, Simba had to admit. She had dark, tanned fur and bright, aquatic blue eyes.

Simba mentally smacked himself for admiring just how beautiful she was – especially because she was an evil villain. Well, that's what he assumed.

"I apologise for the haziness," the lioness said, in an alluring tone. "Plunging you headfirst into water can cloud your mind rather easily. But that doesn't matter. You're safe…" The lioness leaned in close, so Simba was staring right into her eyes. "For now."

"Who…" Simba couldn't believe how beautiful she was. "Who are you?"

The lioness laughed. "My name is Maji, you silly little thing." She placed a paw on Simba's chest, softly stroking it up and down. "Such a fine body – for a cub," she commented, sounding genuinely impressed. "This pleases me."

"It does?" Simba exclaimed, surprised. His breathing became ragged. This… Maji person, she was so beautiful. Every part of her was unbelievably attractive. She was drawing him in – but strangely, he didn't care.

"You're very interesting," Maji commented, eyeing Simba up and down. "Very interesting indeed. As soon as I spotted you, I knew I just had to have you – if you know what I mean."

Simba gulped. "What… what have you done with my friends?" he asked, eyes widening. He couldn't avert his gaze from her blue eyes. She was so alluring…

"Oh… them." Maji rolled her eyes. "Suspended in the water. Don't worry, they'll be just fine. But it's you I want first, Simba. It's you I need first. You have to understand that. You're just so…"

And then Maji kissed him.

Simba kissed her back, feeling nothing more than the deepest of affection for her. He didn't just like her. He loved her.

From head to toe. Every inch of her was amazing. He loved her more than anything else in the whole world. Even more than Nala…

Nala?

Simba pushed himself away from Maji, suddenly coming to his senses. What had he been thinking? How could he like this creepy lioness more than Nala? How could he love this lioness? The thought alone made him feel sick to his stomach.

"Wait, I… I can't do this," Simba told her. "It's wrong."

"That was just a warm-up," Maji said, staring at Simba with a hungry glint in her eyes. She looked as if she were ready to feast on a tasty meal. "To see what the wetness was like."

"Huh?" Simba didn't understand.

"You see, Simba, you have something that I crave," Maji explained. Simba tried to get up, but she held him back down.

"And I'm going to get it from you – whatever it takes."

Maji kissed Simba again.

And this time, there were no complaints from him.