Chapter 3

A/N: Hello everyone! Thank you so much for the kudos, favs and reviews! These motivate me to do better so I can create fun stories for you guys!

So Zoe got turned into a lioness. How did that happen? Is this permanent? Will she be able to turn back? Guess only time will tell.

Disclaimer: I don't own Lion King; I just own my characters.

Enjoy!

/

The sound of birds chirping and the sun hitting her face roused Zoe from her unconscious state. Feeling the throbbing pain in her head, she groaned as she slowly woke up some more.

What an odd dream she had last night. She thought she got turned into a lioness and was chased out of the hotel. Guess that's what happens when you fall asleep after fighting with your parents.

Blinking her eyes open, she was puzzled when she saw the open grasslands of the savanna. Did she sleep out on the balcony? Did the floor always feel like dirt? A pair of feet appeared in her sight as Dakari crouched down and looked at her. The older woman smiled sadly as she pressed a wet rag on her forehead.

"Looks like you had quite the rough night, dear" she laughed.

Zoe flinched when Dakari hit the bump on her head. Did she fall out of her chair while she slept out on the balcony or something? Everything hurt.

"You're not going to believe the kind of dream I had last night, Dakari. First I got into a fight with my dad again and when I went into my room I suddenly turned into a lioness and-"

"I'm sorry sweetie, but I can't speak to animals" Dakari said.

Zoe paused and looked at the woman strangely.

"Huh?"

Dakari held up a small mirror and showed Zoe her reflection. Instead of seeing a human face, she saw that of a lioness.

Zoe's eyes bugged out when she saw her reflection.

That wasn't a dream! She really turned into a lioness!

She screamed which sounded like a strangled roar. Jumping to her feet, she stumbled around as she looked at herself and tried to grab at the fur that was covering her body.

"What happened to me?!" she screamed.

She looked ridiculous as she tried walking on four legs instead of two. Dakari tried to speak but she was drowned out by all of Zoe's screaming and roaring. Narrowing her eyes, she pulled off her shoe and threw it at the girl to silence her.

"Will you stop that so I can explain what happened?" she quipped.

Zoe immediately shut up and looked at the woman.

Dakari put her shoe back on and sighed.

"You put a curse on yourself" she said.

Zoe looked alarmed.

"Curse?! What do you mean curse?!"

Even though Dakari couldn't understand what Zoe was saying, she had a feeling she knew what the girl was trying to say. She held up the broken lion statue that Zoe accidentally destroyed last night.

"This statue wasn't just for decoration. It was special. It's used to take away negative energy from the person it's always near. I sensed a lot of negative energy when you came to the hotel because of your family and I thought this would help" she explained.

"When you broke it, all that negative energy came pouring out and manifested back into you. Since that statue took on the form of a lion, that's what your negative energy made you. By breaking this powerful relic, you're cursed to take on the form of what you destroyed"

Zoe felt like she was going to throw up. She was going to stay stuck as a lion forever? That meant she wouldn't see her family and friends anymore. She couldn't go back home. Couldn't draw or paint. That last part scared her the most. Art was her life. If that was taken away from her then what was the point of still living?

Dakari scratched her behind the ear in comfort.

"There is a way to fix this" she said.

Zoe looked up at her hopefully. She could go back to being a human?!

"How?!" Zoe pleaded.

Dakari put the pieces of the broken statue together to make it look whole.

"In order to reverse this curse, you must create a new statue that will take back this negative energy" she said.

"Only then will you turn back into a human"

That's all she had to do? If she made a new lion statue then that meant she could turn back into a human. She wasn't skilled when it came to sculpting or carving but she would figure it out.

With her mission set, it was time to figure out how to accomplish this crazy task. She was about to ask Dakari what she had to do next but remembered she couldn't speak like a human. Looking at her claws, she used her long nails to write something out in the dirt.

What do I need to do exactly?

Dakari smiled at the girl's cleverness.

"You must make the statue out of the same wood of the one that you destroyed" she said.

"This wood was carved from a tree that resides far into the savanna. It sits on top of a mountain that is so high it almost touches the heavens. Once you get that, you must carve the statue to its original form. While you do that, you must transfer that negative energy from you into the statute. Only then will you turn back into a human"

That seemed simple enough. But there had to be a catch.

Is there a time limit I need to be aware of? Usually curses have a time limit

"There is no time limit when it comes to healing a broken heart" Dakari said gently.

Zoe rolled her eyes. She didn't have a broken heart. She was perfectly fine. The only thing that was wrong with her was that she got turned into a lion.

With her mission set, she was determined to find this mountain.

So where is this mountain?

Zoe was puzzled when she looked up to see that Dakari was gone.

"Dakari? Dakari?!"

She looked around for the woman but she just seemed to have disappeared. How did she do that?!

"Where am I supposed to find that mountain that reaches the heavens?! You can't just say a location and not give directions!" she called out.

When she got no response, she cursed under her breath.

"Well…I won't find this mountain by just sitting here"

Standing up, she wobbled a bit as she tried to get used to her new body. She took a few hesitant steps as she tried to focus on the fact that she was walking with four legs. After a few steps without tripping over, she felt like she was comfortable to start her adventure. She looked out across the great savanna in wonder. It was going to be crazy trying to find this mountain. But she wasn't going to give up. She would become a human again. She would return home. And most importantly: she would go back to her art and paint again.

"Don't worry my precious paintbrushes, momma's coming for you"

And so, Zoe's adventure of turning back into a human began.

/

Up in Rafiki's tree, the mandrill covered the walls with color as he drew scenes from the Pride Lands. He chanted a little song as he scribbled a drawing of Mufasa and Scar. Things had gotten a little tense since Mufasa was named heir to the Pride Lands while Scar was given the role as the leader of the lion guards. There was so much negative energy in the young lion's heart. If he continued to let this darkness fill his heart, he would fall down towards a very, very dark path.

Sadly such was the way with siblings sometimes. While one seemed to rise to the top, the other was cast in their siblings shadows, never given the chance to shine.

A warm breeze blew through the tree, causing the wind chimes he made from gourds to rattle. Pausing with his painting, Rafiki looked towards the gourds in curiosity.

"Hmmm?"

Grabbing his walking stick, he went over to the gourds and listened to the wind blowing through them. Closing his eyes, he listened to what the wind was trying to tell him. He smiled a little when he figured out the message.

"Ahhh. It seems the winds have changed"

He went back to his drawing and dipped his finger into some paint. Clearing off a smooth surface, he drew something on the tree's massive trunk.

"Wonder why type of change has come blowing through the Pride Lands? Is it good or bad?"

/

A/N: So Zoe's off on her mission! She just needs to find the same type of tree that the old statue was made from and create a new one. Shouldn't be too hard to find, right?

But it seems like she'll have to cut through the Pride Lands to get it. Wonder what she'll find there?

Please review and tell me what you think!

Take care!