Chapter 6: Vision Quest

Zira's nights had become a battleground of vivid, haunting nightmares that tormented her mind with increasing ferocity. Each time she closed her eyes, the flashes of lightning split the skies in violent, jagged bolts, illuminating the terrifying images of her future self. The cackling—maniacal and wild—echoed in her ears, louder and more unrelenting with each dream. The visions were growing sharper, more unbearable, as though the shadows were seeping into her very soul.

In the nightmares, she saw herself, twisted and unrecognizable. The Zira in her dreams was a mad queen, drenched in darkness and fury, tearing down everything in her path. There was that young lioness again, desperate to save her, reaching out through the storm. But each time, Zira struck her down, her claws flashing through the rain as she laughed cruelly, the sound almost unhinged.

Then came the cub—the male cub with the brown tufts of mane, who so closely resembled Mufasa. Her future self stood over his small, limp body, her maw twisted into a grin of pure malice. Her claws were red, the life draining from the cub's eyes, and yet she felt no remorse. Only a deep, all-consuming hunger for power, for revenge. The words "LIONS OVER ALL" echoed in her mind as she saw herself, time and time again, corrupting the Lion Guard's fiercest into her dark schemes, twisting him toward bloodshed.

It was always the same: betrayal, murder, madness. And then, the final image, the one that terrified her most. A much older Zira, her eyes cold and void of compassion, stood holding a teenage lion. His fur was pale, his body gaunt, but his face—his face was unmistakable. It was Taka, but sickly, weak, on the verge of death. Her future self cradled him in her paws as he took his last breath. Her mouth whispered promises of vengeance, her voice a snake-like hiss. And then, with his lifeless body still warm in her arms, she would rise, her face a twisted mask of fury, standing atop a tall anthill pillar.

"REVENGE IS MY LULLABY!" she would roar, the sound tearing through the skies, drowning out the thunder and rain. Below her, the Pridelands burned. Everything she had once loved was set ablaze, her world consumed by the fires of her own making. And she reveled in it.

Every night, these visions clawed at her mind, pulling her deeper into despair. But now, they weren't just haunting her sleep. The visions had begun to bleed into her waking world. She saw flickers of the future in the corners of her eyes, brief but unsettling glimpses of what could be. Shadows moved unnaturally around her. Sometimes, when she looked at her reflection in the water, she saw not herself, but that monstrous version of Zira—cold, cruel, and consumed by revenge.

Tonight, it was worse than ever. As she lay beside Taka on their bed of straw and moss, her body twitched and trembled. The dream was taking hold once more. The lightning flashed. The cackling grew louder. And then, as before, she saw the teenage lion—Taka, sick and dying in her arms. She felt his last breath on her fur, saw his lifeless eyes staring up at her, accusing her of failing him.

Zira gasped and bolted upright, her heart hammering in her chest. Sweat dripped from her brow, her breath shallow and panicked. For a moment, she thought she was still in the nightmare, still trapped in that horrifying future. Her eyes darted around the cave, searching for some anchor to reality. But when she looked at Taka, still sleeping beside her, a horrifying image flashed before her eyes.

For just a split second, she saw him with a jagged, wicked scar running down his face. His eyes were no longer the soft, conflicted amber she knew—they were sharp, cold, and filled with malice. His mouth curled into a sinister grin, the same grin she had seen on herself in the nightmares.

She recoiled in terror, her body trembling uncontrollably. "No... no!" she whispered, her voice cracking with fear. Tears welled up in her eyes as she stumbled to her feet, backing away from the image of Taka. "I won't become that... I won't let you become that!"

Without another word, Zira fled from the cave, her paws pounding against the stone as she ran. She didn't know where she was going, only that she had to escape—to outrun the darkness that was closing in around her. The rain had started again, the downpour heavy and relentless as the rainy season reached its peak. The river nearby, swollen and dangerous, roared in the distance, but Zira didn't care. She ran toward it, her tears mixing with the rain as she cried out in anguish.

Back in the cave, Taka stirred at the sound of her panicked cries. He blinked groggily, his mind foggy with sleep, but when he realized Zira was gone, a sharp jolt of fear gripped his heart. He leapt to his feet, looking around wildly. "Zira!" he called out, his voice echoing through the cave. But there was no answer.

Frantic, he rushed out into the storm, the rain immediately soaking through his fur. He couldn't see her through the sheets of rain, but he knew where she had gone. The river. It was the only place she went when her nightmares became too much.

Taka was at a loss. He didn't know how to help her anymore. The dreams were getting worse, and now they were invading her waking life. He had to find her, but he couldn't do it alone.

He ran as fast as he could, his paws slipping on the wet ground as he made his way toward Pride Rock. "Mufasa!" he shouted as he neared the royal den. "Sarabi! Mother! I need your help!" His voice cracked with desperation as he called for them utterly frantic.

Mufasa emerged first, his powerful frame silhouetted by the storm. Sarabi was right behind him, her eyes filled with concern, and Uru, regal as ever, appeared moments later. Even Zazu, the small hornbill, landed nearby, listening intently to Taka's frantic words.

their faces filled with concern. "Taka, what's going on?" Mufasa asked, his voice steady but tense.

"It's Zira," Taka gasped, his chest heaving from the run. "She's—she's seeing things. The nightmares… they're getting worse." Taka gasped, his voice trembling with desperation. "She's not... she's not herself. She's been having these—visions, maybe. They've taken over her mind. She's seeing things, things I don't understand, and now she's run off, and with the rain… I'm afraid she'll—"

Mufasa didn't need to hear any more, Mufasa's expression darkened with concern. "The river is dangerous with all this rain. We need to find her quickly!" he ordered. "We'll search for her, all of us. Taka, go to your Lion Guard. Mobilize them and meet us by the river." his gaze sharp and focused. "Sarabi, Uru, Zazu—gather the pride. We're bringing her home."

Taka nodded, his mind racing. He had to find her before it was too late. Before the nightmares claimed her for good.

As the lions raced into action, Taka's mind was filled with nothing but Zira. She was his confidant, his partner in every scheme and ambition. She had been by his side through everything, and now, she was slipping away into madness. He couldn't lose her—not like this.

---

The nightmares continued to twist Zira's mind with an ever-deepening sense of dread, their clarity and intensity leaving her shaken and lost. Every night, her dreams brought her face-to-face with a future she neither wanted nor understood—a future where she and the Pride Lands were drowned in darkness.

Now, the vision was far worse. Zira saw herself, older and far more broken, standing over a teenage lion—a lion that resembled a sickly, dying Taka. But in her heart, she knew this wasn't Taka. This was Nuka, the son she and Taka would one day bring into the world. His gaunt body shivered in her grasp, eyes hollow, as she cradled him in her paws, powerless to save him. She had failed him. Her heart ached as she watched his life slip away, yet she knew—deep down—that it was her own actions that had led to this moment.

The visions would not stop. Flashes of another lioness—a vibrant, golden lioness with eyes that blazed like fire—pierced her mind. Kiara. Zira didn't know who this lioness was, but she saw her standing atop Pride Rock, radiant and filled with hope. But instead of accepting her help, the Zira of the future rejected her, snarling in her madness as she chose death over peace.

And then there was the cub. The dead cub who haunted her dreams—the one with tufts of a dark brown mane, who looked so much like Mufasa. His lifeless eyes stared up at her from the savannah floor, his body broken, his potential cut short. Kopa. Zira could feel her claws twitching, still coated in blood from the attack. This cub's death would be her doing—her violence.

The visions blurred, showing her more horrifying futures. Kion, the Lion Guard's future leader, corrupted under her influence, his once bright, noble eyes dimming with her twisted teachings of "Lions Over All." She could see him standing beside her, his guard mark burning as he obeyed her every command, driven to darkness by her insidious words.

Zira's heart pounded faster as more images assaulted her. Her own future cub, Kovu, was no longer the innocent cub she dreamed of raising. In the visions, she raised him as a weapon—a killer molded in her own twisted image. She saw herself whispering poison into his ears, training him to be ruthless, to betray Simba, to tear the Pride Lands apart for the sake of revenge.

And now, standing on the edge of the rushing river, Zira saw it all with horrifying clarity. The dreams weren't just nightmares anymore. They were visions—prophecies of the future. Her Dream Weaver heritage had awakened, combined with the power of her guard mark to reveal to her everything she would become, everything she would destroy. The future stretched out before her like an unending storm, decades of pain and bloodshed, all because of her.

But worst of all, was what she saw when she looked at Taka now. He was no longer the kind-hearted lion she had fallen in love with, the one who shared her ambition to improve the Pride Lands. In her eyes, Taka had become Scar—a twisted version of himself, surrounded by an aura of flame, his gaze darkened with hatred.

She could see it all now, playing out in front of her as though it had already happened. Scar killing Mufasa, the great lion's body lying lifeless in a ravine. Scar standing atop Pride Rock, his sinister laughter echoing through the desolate lands. She saw Sarabi, once so strong and proud, now reduced to a shadow of herself, mistreated and abused by Scar as the Pride Lands withered under his rule.

And then came the fire. Zira could see it burning everything she loved—the Pride Lands consumed by flames, the grass turning to ash as the skies darkened. But it didn't end there. The fire was followed by floods, the rivers overflowing, washing away what little remained of the once-great kingdom. The Pride Lands, left barren and broken, would never recover.

Zira's paws trembled as she looked down at the rushing river—the very river where she had been found as a cub. The water was high and dangerous, swollen by the rain. It reminded her of that fateful night, the night she had been rescued.

What if... she stepped into the river now? Would it wash away these terrible visions? Would she be reborn, free of this future that loomed over her like a curse?

Silent tears streamed down her face, flowing like her own personal rivers of sorrow. All she had ever wanted was to help the Pride Lands as a member of the Lion Guard. She had dreamed of a life where she could stand proudly beside Taka, as his mate, as Sarabi's sister-in-law, as Uru's daughter-in-law. She had wanted to be part of the royal family, to bring peace and strength to the Pride Lands.

But that future—the one she so desperately wanted—was impossible. The visions had shown her that. There was no path to that life anymore, only darkness and destruction.

Zira stood at the edge of the river, her body shaking, her mind drowning in despair. The rain poured down on her, the sound of the rushing water roaring in her ears. The future she saw was too much to bear, too terrible to live through. If stepping into the river meant washing it all away, perhaps it was the only way to escape.

The storm raged on as the search began, but Taka's heart remained focused on one thing: finding Zira and pulling her back from the edge of the dark future she saw. He wouldn't let her fall into it. Not while he still had the strength to fight for her.

Taka ran through the dense undergrowth, the wet grass and mud clinging to his paws. His heart raced faster than the downpour, his mind consumed by thoughts of Zira—his mate, his oldest friend, the one he had shared his dreams with. He couldn't lose her, not like this.

As he sprinted toward the river, the visions Zira had spoken of echoed in his mind. She had been rambling about lions he didn't know—Kiara, Kopa, Kovu, Kion, and the most haunting one of all, Nuka. Her eyes, normally sharp and calculating, had been filled with terror when she had mentioned that name, as if she had already lost someone that didn't even exist yet. Her cries had cut him deeper than any physical wound, the sound of her despair unlike anything he had ever heard from her.

What did it all mean?

The wind howled through the trees, carrying with it the scent of the river. Taka's paws slipped on the muddy ground, but he kept running. He had to reach Zira before the river took her. In the distance, he could see the familiar figures of Mufasa, Sarabi, and Uru—his family, all of them searching for Zira as well. Even Zazu was circling above, squawking in the downpour, but the storm made it impossible to hear him clearly.

"Zira!" Taka's voice cracked as he called her name into the storm. "Zira, please!"

---

Meanwhile, Zira stood at the river's edge, her eyes glazed over, lost in the flood of visions crashing through her mind. The rain soaked her fur, but she hardly felt it. Her body was numb, her soul trapped between two worlds—the present, where Taka was calling her, and the future, where everything she had ever known was falling apart.

In the visions, she saw herself standing atop a barren anthill, her eyes wild with madness as she screamed to the heavens, "Revenge is my lullaby!" The Pride Lands around her were burning, the flames licking at her paws, but she didn't care. All she could feel was the hatred inside her—the fury at what had been taken from her, the desire to make the world pay for her suffering.

But then, the vision shifted again, and she was holding Nuka—her son—his body limp and lifeless in her arms. His eyes, once filled with desperate longing for her approval, were now dim and clouded, the light gone from them forever. Zira's heart broke as she realized what she had done. She had pushed him too far, demanded too much, and now he was gone.

And then there was Kovu. In the vision, he was no longer the cub she saw before, but a young lion, his muscles taut and his expression hardened. He was a killer—her killer. She had raised him to hate, to destroy, and now he stood before her, his eyes cold and empty, ready to fulfill the mission she had set him on. The mission that would destroy the Pride Lands.

"I don't want this!" Zira sobbed, her voice barely a whisper against the roar of the river. "I didn't ask for this! Why won't they stop?!"

In the distance, she could hear Taka calling for her, but when she turned to look, she didn't see the Taka she loved. Instead, she saw Scar—his face twisted with that familiar, sinister grin, a jagged scar running down his left eye. His laughter echoed in her mind, blending with the cackling she heard in her nightmares, the same cruel laughter she herself would one day take up.

The visions wouldn't stop. They consumed her, drowning her in a sea of madness. She saw herself standing over Kiara, the golden lioness who had tried to save her, but instead of accepting the help, Zira had swiped at her, choosing death over salvation.

Why? Why did it have to be this way? All she had ever wanted was to help the Pride Lands, to protect them, to stand beside Taka and make things right. But the future—this dark, twisted future—told her it was all impossible. She couldn't escape the fate laid out for her.

As the river roared in front of her, Zira felt the overwhelming urge to step in, to let the water wash her away, just as it had tried to when she was a cub. Maybe this time, it would be different. Maybe this time, she could be reborn into a life free from the curse of these visions, free from the terrible things she saw herself becoming.

But before she could take another step, a voice broke through the madness. "Zira!"

It was Taka's voice—soaked in desperation, filled with an emotion she hadn't heard in a long time. Love. Pure, unfiltered love. Zira blinked, the visions faltering for a moment as she turned to see him standing at the edge of the clearing. The rain poured down on him, his mane drenched, his chest heaving with exhaustion, but his eyes—those familiar, kind eyes—were locked on her.

"Zira, please!" he called out, his voice cracking with emotion. "Come back to me. Don't let this take you away. I need you."

For a moment, the world around Zira stilled. The roaring river, the storm, the visions—they all seemed to fade as she looked at Taka. Not Scar, but Taka—the lion she had loved for so long. His eyes were filled with fear, but more than that, they were filled with hope. He believed in her. He still believed in the future they had dreamed of together, even when she didn't.

Zira's legs trembled as she stepped back from the river's edge. She wanted to run to him, to throw herself into his embrace and forget about everything. But the visions—they were still there, lurking just beneath the surface, whispering to her about the darkness that awaited them both.

"I... I don't know if I can," she whispered, her voice barely audible. "I've seen things, Taka. Terrible things. I don't want to become that monster, but I don't know how to stop it."

Taka took a step forward, his eyes never leaving hers. "You won't become that. I won't let you. We'll fight this together, Zira. We always have."

Behind him, the rest of the Pride had arrived—Mufasa, Sarabi, Uru, even Zazu perched on a nearby branch, all of them watching with worried expressions. But Taka's focus was entirely on Zira. He didn't care about anyone else right now. He only cared about her.

Slowly, cautiously, Zira took a step toward him. Then another. The pull of the river lessened as she felt the warmth of Taka's gaze, his love anchoring her in the present. The future was uncertain, and the visions still haunted her, but for now, Taka was here. He was real. And he wasn't going to let her fall.

As she reached him, Taka wrapped his paws around her, pulling her close. Zira collapsed against him, sobbing into his mane, her body shaking with the weight of everything she had seen. But for the first time in what felt like an eternity, she felt a glimmer of hope. Maybe—just maybe—the future wasn't set in stone. Maybe, together, they could change it.

"I'm here," Taka whispered softly into her ear. "I've got you, Zira. I won't let you go."

And as the rain poured down around them, Zira held onto him, clinging to the promise that, no matter what the future held, they would face it together.

To be continued…

(if you or anyone you know is dealing with suicidal thoughts please find help, there are people around you that care, help exists please seek it!)