FARRAH ROCHON

SCHOLASTIC
SYDNEY AUCKUMC MMmMK TONOKffO MMW «KMC» Off*
NtWMUH HONG KO*» «UtNgtMM» MierfOM»

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 Copyright © 2025 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved.
Published by Scholastic Australia in 2025.
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NATIONAL LIBRARY OF AUSTRALIA
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ISBN 978-1-76164-103-9

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Dedicated to Brandon Michael. Tee Farrah
loves you more than words can describe.

—F.R.
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 prologue

Worn, brittle elephant tusks jutted from the earth, their pitted tips scratching
at the sky like claws. A faint cloud of dust hovered in the air, adding to the
creepiness of the abandoned Elephant Graveyard Nala and her best friend,
Simba, had snuck off to, well outside the boundary of the land where their
pride of lions resided.
Trepidation rumbled in the pit of Nala’s stomach, but she did her best to
shield it from Simba. She was ahead in their ongoing game of one-
upmanship, and she refused to cede the top spot to him. She had to be
brave. Courageous. She could do this.
They inched closer to an enormous set of tusks, climbing up the
crumbly side. Then they peered over them.
‘Woah,’ Nala and Simba whispered at the same time.
Giant thick elephant bones stretched as far as her eyes could see. There
must have been a hundred of them—some piled on top of each other and
even more scattered about the dry, desolate land.
‘It’s really creepy,’ Nala admitted.
‘Yeah.,. isn’t it great?’ Simba said.
‘We could get in big trouble,’ she cautioned.
‘I know.’
They climbed down from the tusks and ventured closer to the elephant
skull, only to have Zazu, King Mufasa’s pesky majordomo, intercept them.
They should have expected this. Simba’s dad often sent Zazu to accompany
him, knowing that the king’s son would be a target. The annoying red-billed
hornbill prattled on about how far they were from the Pride Lands’
boundary and the danger it posed. Nala had secretly felt the same way, but
she had not wanted to say anything to Simba for fear he would scoff at her.
Or worse, call her a baby.
Simba was mocking Zazu in that brash, cocky way of

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his when maniacal cackling rang out from inside the elephant skull.
Hyenas!
How had she not smelled them coming? She could usually detect their
rank odour well in advance.
Nala’s bones quaked in fear as the mangy dogs slithered towards them,
their sharp yellowed fangs protruding from their mouths. For once she was
gratefill for Zazu, as he offered a layer of protection between her and Simba
and those hyenas.
Zazu tried to guide them out of the Elephant Graveyard, but the hyenas
blocked their escape at every turn. Nala’s alarm escalated as she realised the
threat they now faced. They had invaded the hyenas’ land, which meant the
hyenas could do whatever they wanted to them.
Simba tried to be brave, but Nala could sense his fear. He tried to use his
position as the future king, but the hyenas did not belong to their kingdom.
It meant nothing to them.
Luck must have been on their side though, because the hyenas started
telling silly jokes, their attention on one another instead of Nala and Simba.
Had they actually distracted themselves? What idiots.
Nala grabbed at the opportunity, catching Simba’s eye and motioning
behind them with her head. They took off,

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 BE PREPARED

dodging rocks and skeletons as they sprinted across the graveyard.

‘Did we lose them?’ Nala panted, glancing over her shoulder.
‘I think so,’ Simba said.
They paused for a moment and turned.
‘Where’s Zazu?’ Simba asked.
Realising the hyenas must have captured him, Simba and Nala raced
back to where they’d just left. They found the three mangy dogs standing
around one of the natural geysers that littered this area. They were trying to
stuff Zazu into the boiling water.
‘Hey, why don’t you pick on someone your own size?’ Simba shouted.
‘Like... you?’ the leader of the hyena pack asked.
Great. Simba and his big mouth. When would he learn?
Just then, all three hyenas attacked, sending both Nala and Simba on
another scramble. They dashed from one comer of the graveyard to another,
doing all they could to outrun the hyenas. The slippery skeletal remains
made it difficult to gain purchase as Nala tried to climb over them.
But their options ran out once they reached the towering wall of the
gorge. It was too tall for either of them to scale. There was nowhere else to
turn, no possible means of escape.

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 Simba blasted the hyenas with his mightiest growl, which Nala had to
admit needed some work. It did nothing to deter the slobbering predators,
who continued to advance.
Suddenly an earth-shattering roar shook the ground, and Mufasa
appeared from out of nowhere.
Saved by their king! Thank goodness.
Nala looked on in awe as Mufasa ravaged the hyenas. He took on all
three with barely any effort, sending them scurrying back to the holes
they’d crawled out of.
But when he finally faced Nala and Simba, Mufasa was the angriest
Nala had ever seen him.
She knew that she and Simba should never have come here; knew they
had tricked both of their mothers into believing they were going
someplace safe. She had also known that, if they were caught, there would
be a price to pay. From the look of Mufasa’s dark scowl, that price would
be higher than she had anticipated.
They left the Elephant Graveyard in silence, nothing but a thick layer of
tension pulsing in the air around them. They stopped when they were still
a ways from home, surrounded by the tall grasslands just inside the
perimeter of the kingdom.
At their king’s command, Zazu and Nala began the . journey back to
Pride Rock. An ache settled in her throat at

Zf •

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the thought of Simba having to face his father's wrath. She hated to leave
him but was also grateful that she would not be subjected to the “lesson”
the king vowed to teach his son.
Mufasa's barely contained anger was a thing of nightmares, but it was
the look of utter disappointment on his face that Nala knew she would never
forget.

Thru days later...

Nala huddled against her mother’s paw, not wanting to belkve the news
Simba’s uncle, Scar, had brought back to Pride Rock. He had just come
from the gorge on the southern edge of the Pride Lands where the
unthinkable had occurred. His words echoed around Nala’s head like a
jumbled mess that she could not process, no matter how much she tried.
A wildebeest stampede.
Mufasa. Dead.
Simba.
Dead.
Her friend—her best friend—was no longer here. Just the thought was
too painful for her mind to comprehend. How could he be gone?
Simba had asked her to join him when he’d set out this
I' A R «All R O <, HON

morning, but Nala had been‘too afraid of upsetting her mother after their
journey to the Elephant Graveyard a few days ago. She had begged him not
to leave Pride Rock.
Why had she not been more forceful and demanded he stay? What if she
could have saved him from this fate?
How could she have let her best friend down?
Nala looked around at the lionesses who. all crowded together,
comforting Sarabi. The sadness and shock on their faces mirrored what
Nala felt inside. Their queen had just lost both her mate and her son. Their
pride had lost their leader and the one who was to lead them into the future.
In a matter of moments, everything had changed.
And Nala knew, from this point on, her life would never be the same.
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Six Months Later...
The brisk wind blowing in from the north whipped the dry, gritty soil into a
dust cloud, providing the perfect cover for Nala as she scoped out a hiding
place. All was quiet except for the musical chirping of a family of magpies
that flew overhead. She was close enough to Pride Rock to see it, but far
enough to be barred from hearing the goings-on of the lionesses.

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 She took a step forwards, then quickly jerked hack her paw, flattening
herself against the boulder where she and Kamari, the lone boy cub of their
pride, had been holed up.
‘Nala,’ Kamari whispered anxiously. ‘What do you see?’
''Shhh? She silenced him. Then, in a low murmur, she said, ‘Follow me,
on the count of three.’
She tapped her paw against the packed earth. One. Two.
‘Now, Nala said before darting from behind the boulder and scampering
up the side of the barren rocks scattered at the base of the bluff. Kamari
quickly surpassed her, his slightly larger paws affording him a steadier grip.
‘Hurry, Nala,’ he called down to her. ‘Get up here before someone sees
you.’
‘I’m trying,’ she hissed between her teeth.
Maybe if the trees that used to bloom around die Pride Lands still had
leaves, it would be easier for Kamari and her to hide from the other cubs.
But ever since Scar had taken over as king of the Pride Lands, nothing
seemed to want to grow here. Their once-verdant lands were now arid,
lifeless.
Nala could not blame the vegetation for remaining buried within the
earth. Very little of this dry land appealed to her anymore either.
At least she still had her friends. Or at least one friend.
But could she really consider Kamari a friend? He was

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 the only cub who would agree to partner with her during their game of
“Tag, You’re It!” But she was pretty sure he only did so because his
mother made him.
Nala finally reached the flat top of the short bluff. She spotted
Kamari’s tail swishing on the other side of a crescent-shaped boulder and
settled in opposite him. She crept to the edge of the overhang and peered
out at the land. There weren’t many places to hide; the drought of the last
season had left much of the grasslands bare of their usual tall reeds.
‘Do you see them?’ Nala whispered to her partner.
‘I see you?
Nala gasped and twisted around, her heart sinking at the sight of Ola.
‘And now you’re it,’ the older cub said, tapping Nala’s hind leg with her
paw.
Nala looked around, searching for Kamari. She saw him hightailing it
across the parched ground, dust kicking up from underneath his paws.
So much for her trusty friend.
No fair. She shouldn’t be tagged if her partner had bailed on her.
■I don’t know why you even try to play this game,’ Ola said. ‘You’re so
bad at it.’
Why did she play? Maybe because this was one of the

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few games her mother allowed her to play? It was the one game the other
lion cubs engaged in that kept them close to Pride Rock and, thus, within
minutes of her mother’s reach.
‘How am I supposed to get better at it if I don’t practise?’ Nala asked.
Ola scoffed, ‘We would have to play night and day for you to get any
better. Come on, let’s get going. You’re it,’ Ola reminded her.
Nala trudged back down the side of the bluff and followed Ola to where
the other cubs had gathered at the base of a jackalberry tree. Now that
Kamari had run off, their numbers were uneven, leaving her without a
partner.
‘Uh . . . does anyone want to partner with me?’ Nala asked. She already
knew the answer even before several of the cubs stepped back. She
swallowed past the pain suddenly lodged in her throat. It was one thing to
sense you were a pariah among your pridemates, but another thing entirely
to see them physically move away from you like you had a rash from
having rolled around in asthma plant.
‘I’ll be your partner,’ a tinny voice squeaked. It was Abena, Ola’s
younger sister and the smallest cub of the entire pride. She raced up to
Nala’s side. ‘I can do it. I’m great at being invisible.’
‘Go back to the waterhole,’ Ola said. ‘Mum told you that you’re too
young to play with us.’

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 ‘Maybe Nala should join her,’ one of the other cubs said, ‘since her
mummy thinks the same thing.’
Several of the cubs snickered, and Nala felt the fur on the back of
her neck stand up, but she remained silent. She was used to their
teasing. Could she blame them? Her mother did treat her as if she
were Abena’s age, a young cub incapable of making even the tiniest
decision on her own.
‘Thanks,’ Nala said to Abena, ‘but I can’t play anymore.
I hurt my paw climbing down from the rock.’
‘Yeah, right,’ Ola said. ‘Will that be your excuse tonight when we
start the Hunting Games?’
That sinking feeling returned to Nala’s chest.
The Hunting Games.
She had been dreading the kick-off of this annual rite of passage
when the junior cubs of the pride were expected to showcase their skill
at seeking out and executing a proper kill. The other cubs were eager to
start; it was all any of them could talk about for the past week. But
that’s because they were prepared for it, unlike Nala.
For the last six months, most of the cubs in their pride had joined the
lionesses on their nightly hunts, but Nala’s mother, Sarafina, had
refused to allow her to take part. She’d insisted it was too dangerous
and that Nala would have time to learn how to hunt once she was older.

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 The thing her mother didn’t seem to grasp was that Nala was getting
older, and every day that passed without her practising how to hunt put
her further behind in learning the most important skill any young cub
needed to learn.
‘Do you think we’ll get to hunt an antelope?’ Kamari’s younger
sister, Lindiwe, asked. ‘My mother taught me the perfect way to sneak
up on them. First, you have to—’
„ ‘Don’t share it with everyone,’ Bontu told her. ‘Save it
for your team.’
‘What if you’re not on my team?’ Lindiwe asked.
‘Then she loses,’ said Kahina, another of the cubs.
‘No, the losers are whoever have Nala on their team,’ Ola said. All
the cubs fell over laughing.
Nala wished she were near a sinkhole. She would dive right into it;
anything to escape their unrelenting ridicule. She had forgotten that the
junior cubs would be required to hunt in teams for this first night of the
Hunting Games. It was bound to be another humiliating episode of
watching every cub—even the younger ones—get picked before she
did.
‘It’s not fair that a team has to get stuck with her,’ Kahina said,
speaking about Nala as if she weren’t standing right there.
‘Does she even know how to pounce?’ Lindiwe asked.

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 ‘Of course I know how to pounce,’ Nala said. It was the one skill
she had learnt before .. .
Well, before everything had changed.
‘The Hunting Games are about more than just pouncing,’ Ola said.
‘Have you ever caught an impala?’
Nala shook her head. Ola knew that Nala had never even had the
chance to hunt an impala.
‘A zebra? You have to have caught a zebra. They’re slow.’
‘No,’ Nala said through gritted teeth.
‘Huh.’ Ola stuck her nose in the air. ‘Well, I guess there’s a first
time for everything.’
‘I caught an impala and a zebra on our last hunt,’ Bontu said. ‘And I
almost caught a gazelle too, but so/neone scared it away.’ She swished
her tail at Lindiwe.
Nala stood back and listened as they regaled each other about the fun
they’d had on their previous hunts, her heart twisting with every teasing
laugh they shared. She’d tried to tell herself that she didn’t care she
didn’t belong to their group, but she did care. This was her pride. Soon
they would all grow into lionesses together, and she would be expected
to hunt alongside them, to provide for the family.
What would happen to her when she could not pull her own weight?
Would she be banished from the Pride Lands? How could she blame
them if that was what they chose to do?
FARRAH ROCHON

‘Nala!’ Nala’s eyes fell closed at the sound ofher mother’s shrill,
panicked voice. ‘Nala, where are you?’
The other cubs began to snicker again as they gave her a wide berth.
‘Uh-oh, sounds like someone’s in trouble for getting too far away
from mummy,’ one of the cubs said.
Nala was about to respond, but her mother came upon them before
she could utter another word.
‘There you are,’ Sarafina said, rounding the jackalberry tree. Her
breaths soughed in and out, as if she had been racing at breakneck
 speed. She placed her paw on Nala’s head, her eyes roaming over her
face as if looking for a blemish of some sort.
‘What have I told you about wandering away?’ Sarafina asked.
‘I didn’t wander away, Mum,’ Nala said. ‘And I’m with the other
cubs. You told me I could play “Tag, You’re It!”—remember?’
‘I also told you that you had to remain where I could see you,’
Sarafina said. ‘I thought one of those awful hyenas had made away with
you?
‘Mum?
‘Do not “Mum” me? She placed a paw around Nala’s shoulders. ‘The
savanna is a dangerous place, Nala.
Pride Rock isn’t as safe as it once was. Ever since . .
She paused. ‘Since«.. before?
She did not have to clarify what she meant by before.
Everyone knew.
Before Mufasa and Simba met their untimely deaths.
Sarafina pulled Nala closer to her. She glanced at the cubs gathered
around the tree, that haunted look Nala had come to know all too well
clouding her eyes.
‘The other lionesses may be okay with their cubs being out and
about, but I won’t have it,’ Sarafina said. ‘Now come with me. That’s
enough play time for today?
Nala was too embarrassed to look back at the other cubs as she
walked tucked alongside her mother. As they made their way towards
Pride Rock, Nala debated whether to broach the subject of the Hunting
Games but knew she couldn’t avoid it.
‘Um, Mum, do you know what tonight is?’
‘No, what?’ Sarafina asked.
‘It’s the start of the Hunting Games?
‘Oh, that,’ she said as if it were just any old night. ‘Yes, it is to begin
shortly after sundown?
‘What am I supposed to do?’ Nala asked.
‘What do you mean?’
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I A R K A H HOC HOB
‘I will be expected to take part?
‘Well, of course you will,’ Sarafina said. ‘Every young cub takes part
in the Hunting Games?
Nala didn’t think she should have to explain the obvious, but
apparently she did. ‘How am I supposed to take part in the games,
Mum? I don’t know the first thing about hunting?
‘Yes, you do. The first thing to hunting is knowing how to pounce,
and I have seen you pounce before. You’re very good at it?
‘I’ve pounced on crickets,’ Nala pointed out ‘And this isn’t the
Pouncing Games, it’s the Hunting Games. I will be expected to hunt?
‘You’ll do fine,’ Sarafina said. ‘Just do your best. You’re still a cub.
No-one expects you to take down a zebra?
But that was exactly what Nala and the other cubs would be expected
to do. Tonight was their initiation into the practice of stalking prey and
providing sustenance for their pride. There was not a lion in the entire
savanna who would be satisfied with a diet of crickets or other bugs.
‘Mum, you don’t seem to understand—
‘Nala, you will do just fine,’ her mother said, cutting her off. ‘Now
come. It’s time for a bath. You don’t want to show up to the Hunting
Games with dirty ears?

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 Yeah, because that was the important thine h»« c uei e.
As much as Nala wished it were not the case ther
no avoiding the heartbreaking truth: tonight would beB
disaster.

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 2
Nala

A sense of excitement saturated the air as the pride readied itself for this
much-anticipated celebration of its youth. Crisscrossed gazelle horns
marked the two spots where the opposing teams were to gather, but for now
the six cubs participating in tonight’s games stood in a wide circle in the
shadow of Pride Rock.
Dusk had just settled over the land, the melodious calls of the crickets,
cicadas and grasshoppers ringing through the clearing as the insects
ventured out. The full moon

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shone bright in the sky, illuminating the members of their pride assembled
for the evening.
Four of the twelve fully grown lionesses that made up their pride had
been dispatched to the southern edge of the Pride Lands, where a pack of
wild hogs had been seen earlier in the day. They would be doing the real
hunting tonight. At one time the lionesses could hunt every three or four
days and provide enough food for them all to subsist on, but ever since the
hyenas had moved onto their lands— at their new king’s invitation, no less
—lionesses were forced to hunt every single night to keep up with the
hyenas’ ravenous appetites.
It was yet another reason why this year’s Hunting Games felt so intense.
They needed hunters now more than ever.
And it was why Nala already felt like a failure to her pride.
Her stomach roiled as she waited for the ceremony to begin. She shivered
despite the warmth of the breeze that blew across the Pride Lands.
She looked up at the sky, towards the cluster of stars she had deemed
Simba’s.
Just before he perished, her friend had told her about a conversation he’d
had with Mufasa, about how the kings of the past looked down on them
from the stars. Nala had spent so many nights staring up at the sky over
these past

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six months, willing herself to feel something All she needed was a sign,
some indication that Simba was up there. That he was looking out for
her, cheering for her. If there was ever a time she needed a sign that her
friend had her back, it was tonight.
But it would take more than wishing on stars to save her from utter
humiliation. It would take a miracle.
Stop that! Nala mentally chastised.
She was probably putting too much pressure on herself. No-one
expected her to be perfect. Perfection wasn’t expected of any of the
cubs. Tonight’s kill—if they were lucky enough to make one—would
provide sustenance, but the pride was not counting on the cubs’ skills
for survival.
At least not yet.
They all waited for Sarabi to make her grand entrance, as was
tradition. Even though her life mate no longer ruled as king, no-one
disputed that Sarabi remained the queen of their kingdom. All the
lionesses deferred to her.
Nala’s breath caught in her throat as she watched Simba’s mother
make her way to them, her regal head held high. The lionesses and cubs
all bowed as she marched towards them with measured steps, her
journey ending in the centre of the circle.
‘Welcome to the time-honoured tradition of the Hunting Games,’
Sarabi began. She slowly walked around the circle,

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 staring each cub in the eye. ‘Our pride has ruled this kingdom for
generations, in large part thanks to our skilled lionesses. There is no
equal in all the savanna. Tonight the newest class of hunters will display
what they have learnt.’
Or not learnt.
Disaster. Disaster. Disaster.
The word rattled around in Nala’s head like a tumbleweed blowing
across the dusty savanna.
‘You have been preparing for this since shortly after your birth, and the
preparation will continue long after this night has passed. But you have
reached a point where it is time to assess where you stand in your
tutelage.’ Sarabi stepped to the side. ‘Thandi will now explain the rules of
tonight’s games.’
The lioness, who Nala learnt had participated in the games during the
same season her own mother had, entered the circle and began to lay out
instructions for tonight’s activities.
‘Cubs will be randomly selected to join one of two teams,’ Thandi said.
Randomly selected?
Nala was so relieved that she would be spared the embarrassment of
having to stand here while her fellow cubs picked everyone but her to be on
their team that she could have cried.

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 And yet, it turned out that it was just as humiliating to be randomly
placed on teams as it would have been if the cubs had picked themselves.
Her name was the fifth called, and her two teammates, Bontu and the
always quiet Puleng—who was even younger than Nala—both groaned
when Nala was ordered to stand with them in front of the gazelle horns.
Her heart sank even further into the pit of her stomach when she glanced
over and caught the look shared between Lindiwe’s and Kahina’s mothers.
The two lionesses seemed to be quietly celebrating the fact that their
daughters had not been saddled with Sarafina’s disappointing cub.
Ola, Lindiwe and Kahina now stood across from them with matching
grins as if they already knew they would be crowned victors.
Nala sent a silent prayer up to the ancestors asking to be instantly
blessed with hunting skills so that she could wipe the smug look off their
competitors’ faces.
‘Don’t mess this up,’ Bontu hissed at Nala.
She wanted to tell her that she wouldn’t, but the likelihood that she
would make a spectacular fool of herself in front of everyone was much too
high.
‘I’ll try not to,’ Nala answered. ‘I’m sorry.’
It wasn’t their fault she was not prepared for tonight. It wasn’t her fault
either.

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 She looked to her mother, who smiled and nodded. Nala could not
summon a return smile. It took all she had within her not to lash out.
This was her mother’s doing. She was the one who refused to let Nala
practise her hunting with the other cubs. She was the one who quickly
snatched Nala back whenever she got too far away from her side.
Ever since Simba’s death, her mother had become obsessed with keeping
Nala safe. She panicked if she went too long without putting her eyes on
Nala, and when it came to Nala’s doing anything she deemed dangerous—
which, these days, was as simple as Nala’s going to the waterhole with
fellow cubs—Sarafina was quick to shoot it down.
She was so afraid of something happening to Nala that she treated her as
if she were a brand-new baby cub, bom hours ago.
And tonight Nala would be made to suffer the consequences of her
mother’s irrational fear.
Thandi stepped back so that Sarabi, moving to the middle of the two
teams, could reclaim her spot.
‘The time has come for our junior cubs to make us proud,’ Sarabi said.
‘Let the Hunting Games begin!’
Bontu and Puleng darted for the brush that was just west of the
waterhole, where small fowl and rodents tended

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to lite, while the other team went in the opposite direction, towards the
embankment where Nala and Kamari had hidden during their game of “Tag,
You’re It!”
‘Come on, Nala, follow close behind,’ Puleng called in a loud whisper.
‘Remember, don’t make a sound«’
She was making a sound. She was making many sounds. And it wasn’t as
if she needed Puleng’s instructions. She may not have had much practice in
hunting, but she knew the basics.
‘I know that,’ Nala answered.
l
Shhh] Bontu chastised.
She wanted to point out that Puleng had made way more noise than she
had, but all she would gain from that was another rebuke. Instead Nala
concentrated on listening for prey.
She closed her eyes and slowed her breaths. Some things were taught, but
others were instinctual, like that sense you got when you weren’t alone. She
couldn't explain it; she could only feel it.
Nala heard the faint sound of rustling reeds near the edge of the water.
Something was there. A gazelle? An antelope? How amazing would it be if
she captured an antelope!
She glanced over at her teammates. They were looking in the opposite
direction.
This was her chance.
If she was going To prove to her fellow cubs that she was not a total
loser, this was the time to do it.
Nala called on the memories of the pouncing lessons she’d had with
Simba, staying low and stalking her prey in a slow and calculated
manner. Carefully, she crept towards the water, doing her best to keep
her tail motionless. One swish could send the grass rustling and her
potential catch scurrying.
She peered through the reeds and spotted a tiny bat- eared fox. It was
no antelope, but it would count as a kill. She took three delicate steps
forwards. Then, with a burst of speed, she took off for the fox. She
pounced on it, but before she could clamp down on its neck, it shrugged
loose of her grip and took off.
 ‘Nala!’
She whipped around to find Puleng and Bontu approaching.
‘How did you let that fox get away?’ Puleng asked.
! tried to catch it,’ Nala complained. She motioned to the cub’s empty
paws. ‘At least I had something in my sights. What did either ofyow catch?’
WhhlC Puleng said, dipping low.
Nala glanced around quickly before dropping to the ground. She watched
as Puleng glided through the weeds.
Before Nala could spot what she hunted, the cub shot forwards and in
seconds came back with the dame fox that had escaped from Nala’s grasp.
Puleng dropped its lifeless body on the ground in front of Nala and said,
'‘This is what I caught?
‘And we could have had a warthog if you hadn’t made So much noise
trying to catch this little baby fox,’ Bontu said. ‘We were going to double-
team him, but now he’s run off?
‘The first lesson in hunting is to not scare off the prey,’ Puleng said.
‘You’re useless,’ Bontu told her.
Nala wanted to argue, but how could she blame them for being upset?
She would be upset too if she were in their position. The other cubs had
worked hard preparing for this night, and she was letting them down.
‘I’m sorry’ was all she could say.
‘Yeah, you are,’ Bontu said. She rolled her eyes, ‘Let’s go further west.
Maybe we can spot a baby wildebeest that’s fallen behind in the migration?
Nala hesitated. Her mother would have a fit if she travelled much further
from Pride Rock. Just south of the 'waterhole was the farthest she had
journeyed in six months. If she couldn’t see the tip of Pride Rock, she knew
she had gone too far.
But tonight’s circumstances were different. There was no way her
mother ^expected her to stay within her usual boundaries during the
Hunting Games.
‘Nala, come on,’ Puleng called from several paces ahead of her.
Nala looked back over her shoulder before sprinting to catch up with
her team. They had just passed the thick baobab tree that marked where
the grasslands met the scrubland when Nala heard her name being called.
 Or, more accurately, shrieked.
Not again.
‘What is that?’ Puleng asked.
‘Nala! Nala, answer me now,’ she heard her mother yell.
‘Sarafina, she is fine. Let her be,’ a second voice called. It sounded like
Sefu, another of the lionesses. ‘It’s the Hunting Games, for goodness’
sake!’
‘I don’t care! Nala!’
Puleng and Bontu both stared at her with furious scowls. Nala was too
mortified to speak. She stood frozen, her limbs rigid with embarrassment.
‘Nala!’ Her mother’s cry sounded desperate.
‘We’re over here,’ Bontu called out, her eyes still trained on Nala.
‘I’m sorry,’ Nala whispered past the lump of humiliation lodged in her
throat.
‘You’re such a baby,’ Puleng spat. ‘I knew this would happen if you were
on our team?
Sarafina arrived, followed quickly by Sefu.
‘There you are. Thank goodness,’ her mother said.
She wrapped her paws around Nala and gave her head a deep lick. Then she
reared back and, in a stern voices said, ‘You know better than to wander this
far. What were you thinking?’
‘I wasn’t wandering,’ Nala argued. ‘And it’s not as if I was alone. I have
my team with me.’
‘You’re all cubs!’ Sarafina said. ‘What-if a cougar, or hyenas, or a lion
from another pride came around? Do you think you and your team would be
able to fend them off?’
‘Sarafina, you know there are lionesses stationed throughout the Pride
Lands tonight,’ Sefu said. ‘No harm is going to come to any of the cubs?
‘You don’t know that,’ her mother said.
: ‘We take special precautions during the Hunting Games. You know this.’
‘I don’t care. I’m pulling Nala out of the games. She can participate next
time.’
‘Mum, no,’ Nala said.
‘My decision is final,’ her mother said. ‘Follow me back to Pride Rock.’
A feeling of hopelessness washed over her. If her mother

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refused to allow her to participate in something as important to their pride
as the Hunting Games, when would Sarafina ever loosen this grip she had
on her?
Nala lowered her head. With a heavy sigh, she began walking behind her
mother.
‘So, what does this mean for the games?’ Nala heard Bontu ask.
‘I don’t know,’ Sefu answered. ‘It isn’t fair to have a team with just two
members. I shall ask Sarabi what she wants to do about the continuation of
the games.’
Several other lionesses met Nala and Sarafina when they were still some
distance from Pride Rock. They questioned what had happened, but
Sarafina refused to answer them. When Sarabi asked upon their return,
Sarafina simply said that Nala was not suited for the games this yean
Everyone knew that well before the start of tonight’s ceremony. Why had
her mother allowed her to participate at all? If she had told her no from the
beginning, then she would have at least spared Nala the embarrassment of
being chased down like a baby cub who had wandered too far from home.
Sefu, Bontu and Puleng arrived shortly after Nala and her mother had
returned, and Sefu provided the explanation that everyone sought.
Nala caught the frustrated glance Sarabi directed at
Sarafina, but her mother’s attention was on something in the distance. Nala
looked in the direction she was staring, and her stomach plummeted as she
saw the other team dragging a black-and-white-striped carcass towards
Pride Rock.
‘A zebra! They captured a zebra!’ cheered Fayola, Ola and Abena’s
mother.
 Bontu and Puleng both stared Nala down with matching infuriated looks
while a group of lionesses raced out to help the other team haul in their kill.
Ola, Lindiwe and Kahina were showered with praise as the pride celebrated
their victory.
This had turned out to be even worse than Nala had first imagined, and
she had imagined it would be pretty awful.
She slipped away, just outside the circle of lionesses. She could not
stomach seeing the success of the other team, knowing that she was the
reason her own hadn’t achieved the same.
Nala lay on her stomach and rested her chin on her paws. Even though
she had been in this same position- on the outside looking in, wishing she
could be part of the group—countless times since Simba left her, she had
never felt so disconnected from her own pride as she did in that very
moment. Disconnected and alone.
Nala scrambled up from the ground and narrowed her eyes as she tracked
Ola and Kahina sauntering towards her.

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 ‘Con-—congratulations,’ she told them. They were, after all, the
victors.
‘Thanks,’ Ola said. ‘So ... what did your team kill?’
‘We ...’ Nala swallowed. ‘Puleng killed a fox.’
‘One fox? That’s all? Not even an aardvark? Even Abena can catch
an aardvark.’
‘No aardvarks, only the fox,’ Bontu said as she stepped up to them.
‘Her mummy made her come back to Pride Rock before we even got to
the scrubland. All of us had to come back because of her.’
Ola and Kahina burst out laughing.
‘I am so glad you weren’t on our team,’ Ola said. She huffed and
stared down her nose at Nala. ‘You thought you were such hot stuff back
when you got to spend all day playing with the future king. Now look at
you.’
Nala flinched at her words.
‘She was only friends with Simba because Sarabi and Sarafina are best
friends,9 Kahina said.
‘That’s not true,’ Nala whispered. Every horrible thing they said felt
like sharp claws lashing her cheek.
‘Yes, it is,’ Ola said. ‘Face it, Nala. Without Simba, you’re nothing
around here.’
Nala felt the tears welling in her eyes but refused to let them fall while
the other cubs were around. She needed to get away before she made an
even bigger fool of herself.
Arld there was only one place she wanted to Only one place she could be.
She pulled past Ola and the others and raced to Pride
Rock-

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\

3
Scar

‘What is that ruckus?’

Scar draped his body across the smooth boulder in his sleeping quarters
and tried to tune out the noise coming from somewhere near Pride Rock.
Didn’t these lionesses realise he’d only had fifteen hours of sleep today?
How was he supposed to function as their king if he was too tired to even
think?
‘It is the Hunting Games, Sire,’ Zazu, his majordomo, answered.

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 Scar eyed the bird suspiciously. He was never sure if the annoying little
fowl was telling him the truth or not, so he never took anything Zazu said at
face value.
If there was one thing Scar wasn’t, it was an idiot. He knew Zazu was
still loyal to Mufasa. Which meant Zazu was not to be fully trusted, no
matter how much he tried to placate him.
Scar could feel his mane at the back of his neck standing at attention. It
happened whenever his brother crossed his mind, which was far too often.
How silly of him to think ridding this world of Mufasa would be the end of
his trouble. It seemed as if things had only become more dire since
Mufasa’s untimely demise.
Untimely, but still necessary.
‘Remind me again, what are the Hunting Games?’ Scar asked.
‘Oh, you know,’ Zazu said. ‘It is when the cubs get to show off their
hunting skills. It happens whenever a new class of lionesses comes of age.’
‘Well, do they have to be so loud? I thought the lionesses were supposed
to remain quiet when they stalked their prey.’
‘There must be a victor already, if the sounds of the celebration are
anything to go on,’ Zazu said. ‘I wonder which group of cubs won.’

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 As if that mattered.
Scar rolled off the boulder and slunk out of the cave. The dry season had
lasted much longer than it had in years past—something everyone had taken
note of—but there was a weight to the air tonight, an indication that the
torrential rains of their wet season would soon be upon them.
He walked to the ledge that protruded from Pride Rock so that he could
peer out onto the Pride Lands. He caught sight of the lionesses, and those
hairs on the back of his neck flexed again.
Half die pride—many of the fully grown lionesses and most of the cubs
—was gathered in the clearing between Pride Rock and die waterhole. He
couldn’t tell the little ones apart yet, not that he had ever tried. Who had
time to learn all those names?
Even from this distance, Scar could make out the zebra carcass that lay
on the ground. His mouth immediately began to water. A zebra leg would be
the most amazing bedtime snack.
Maybe he could put up with their noise if it meant the cubs would bring
in more food. An antelope lasted less than a day around these parts now that
the hyenas shared their home. Those greedy mutts ate everything in sight.
Scar emitted a growl at the thought of the hyenas.
They were a nuisance, but at least they showed him respect. Which was
more than he could say for his own pride.
The lionesses would eventually come around; He would find a way to
gain the respect of each and every one of them. He had no choice, and
neither did they
Although, as he had unfortunately discovered over these last six months,
there was no way to bully them into respecting him as their leader. Oh, they
deferred to him—he was their king, after all, and the laws of their kingdom
must be followed—but they did so with disgust in their eyes.
If they chose to look at him at all.
What made it so much harder to swallow was theknowl- edge that were
Mufasa still here, there would be no question of where their loyalty resided.
Scar knew what he needed to do; he just was unsure how to go about it.
How was he supposed to shed his rather questionable past if the lionesses
wouldn’t give him the chance?
Maybe if he showed more interest in them? Like learning the names of
their cubs?
He slouched against a rock.
Goodness, just the thought made him want to hud his dinner. But if
pretending that he cared about more than merely the food the lionesses
provided for him and his friends would gain him some respect, then that
was what he must do.

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 Well, at least he had his dodo bird to do his bidding. ‘Zazu,’ Scar
called.
He waited an entire minute before the bird finally heeded his call. It
irritated him. If it were Mufasa who had summoned him, this little sack of
feathers would have been at his side in seconds.
‘Yes, Sire,’ Zazu said.
Scar stared down his nose at him for several moments, letting him
know without words that he was unhappy with the lack of promptness.
‘Foigive my tardiness, Sire,’ Zazu said.
Scar acknowledged his apology with a curt nod, then he gestured with
his head towards the clearing.
‘I want you to go down there and gather information for me. Find out
which of the cubs won their little... game. Let them know that I applaud
their work.’
‘Well, Sire, if you don’t mind my saying, maybe it would be better if
you were to do it yourself. Then they can witness your approval firstpaw.’
Scar had thought of that but quickly dismissed it. He had served as the
pride leader long enough to know how the lionesses would react to his
presence. The tone of the festivities would change the moment he appeared.
Or they would end altogether, the same way the lionesses all stopped
talking whenever he came around.
FARRAH ROCHON

No, he would rather send Zazu. They trusted the little bird. He would go
so far as to say they liked him, though Scar had no idea why. Zazu was a
pain.
But he was useful.
‘No, you should go,’ Scar told him. ‘Sarabi, for one, will be happy to see
you?
Scar purposely limited the time Zazu spent with all the lionesses, but
especially with his brother’s widow. He didn’t want the two of them putting
their heads together and coming up with some sort of plan to oust him from
the throne.
 But happy lionesses made for better hunters, so it was best to keep them
as happy as possible. And maybe, if they were happy, then they would
finally start to come around.
He looked back at Zazu and said, ‘Go?

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 4
Nala

Nala gingerly made her way across the collection of gritty stones, on her
way to her favourite . . . no, she could not call it her favourite place. Not
anymore. But it was her most sacred place in the entire savanna, the place
she felt most at ease.
She continued to wind her way up the back side of Pride Rock, climbing
over rocks and boulders that had become easier to scale as she had grown
older. Maybe by the time she was a fully grown lioness she would be able
FARR AH ROC HON

to reach her special place in no time at ill. She came upon the crevice that
marked the midway point and gave herself a running start before leaping
across it.
She was halfway to her destination when she rounded another boulder .. .
and screamed.
‘Oh, oh! Miss Nala!’ Zazu cawed, flapping his colourful wings.
‘Zazu!’ Nala leaned back against the boulder, her heart beating within her
chest like antelope stomping across the Serengeti. ‘What are you doing
here?’
‘I should be asking the same of you,’ thebird sand. ‘It’s the Hunting
Games. Why aren’t you celebrating with the others?’
 She rolled her eyes. ‘Well, there isn’t much to celebrate when you’re on
the losing team,’ she said.
‘Oh, fiddle-faddle. Everyone knows there are no real losers when it
comes to the Hunting Games. All cubs will eventually learn to hunt, so you
will win, no matter what Come now, join me in the clearing.’
‘No,’ Nala said. ‘I just... I want to be alone?
Zazu peered down his beak at her, then nodded. ‘1 understand,’ he said.
‘1 guess tonight isn’t quite what it would have been if... well, if Simba were
here.’
Nala sniffed. She would not cry in front of Zazu—or in front of anyone.

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 ‘Go on, then,’ he said. ‘I shall not disturb you.’
With that, he took off, swooping around the boulder and continuing his
flight down to where the others still gathered, their gleeful cheers piercing
the quiet night.
Nala continued her climb up to her secret spot.
An instant sweeping sense of calm washed over her the moment she
reached the pinnacle and spotted the smooth stone where she and Simba
would watch the sunset. Nala moved cautiously towards it as if any sudden
movement would disturb the memories that were etched into every part
The sun had gone to bed hours ago, but the full moon cast its light over a
good amount of the Pride Lands. It had been a long time since she had
made it up to this secluded area of Pride Rock, but on a night like tonight
she needed the peace this particular space brought her.
She needed to feel close to Simba.
She closed her eyes and summoned the memory of her very best friend.
‘Oh, Simba,’ Nala whispered. ‘How I wish you were here.’
She tried not to think about him these days because it just hurt too much,
knowing he wouldn’t answer if she called for him. She imagined how
differently tonight would have played out had he been there. No way Ola or
Kahina would have said the things they had said to her.
Because they would not have had cause to say any of it. Because if her
best friend were here, Nala had no doubt that she would be able to hunt just
as well as any of the other cubs. Probably even better.
Everything that had gone wrong in her life—the hurt, the pain, her
mother’s overbearing behaviour—stemmed from Simba’s and Mufasa’s
deaths.
 If Simba were still alive, her mother would not have turned into the
overprotective lioness she had become. Nala would be allowed to scamper
off into the scrubland, pouncing on unsuspecting hares and foxes and doing
the things a normal cub her age was allowed to do.
Simba’s death had changed it all.
‘Why did you have to go?’ Nala whispered.
She looked around, recalling them playing games of hide-and-seek and
talking about all the things they would do when they were fully grown. She
grinned as she thought about Simba’s cocky answer to just about
everything.
I can do this, because Pm going to be king.
But he would never be king.
Unless ...
Nala shook her head, doing her best to toss out the

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 thoughts that had invaded her mind, unhidden yet persuasive. Tonight
was difficult enough; she did not need to start obsessing over the
unfounded rumours that crept up from time to time. Simba would never
be king because Simba was gone. Forever.
She knew this, yet a large part of her heart still held out hope.
The rumours that he wasn’t dead, that he instead had escaped the
stampede that had taken Mufasa from them, had started soon after Scar
had returned with the heartbreaking news of what had happened in the
gorge. Every so often they would hear whispers of a Simba sighting. He’d
been spotted with a family of giraffes in Mikumi or crossing the Great
Ruaha River near Dodoma. But Nala knew better than to believe that.
Simba would never head south.
Due to her mother’s insistence that she remain close to her at all times,
and her mother’s friendship with Sarabi, Nala knew of Sarabi’s network of
animals throughout the savanna that were tasked with looking for him. But
whenever one of them brought back a promising lead, another would soon
return with a report dispelling the news.
Because there was no news. He was gone. Maybe if she finally accepted
that—truly accepted it—life would get easier for her.

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 Nah looked around again. Everything her gaze fell upon was another
memory. Sometimes she wished she could leave Pride Rock so that she
didn’t have to deal with all these reminders. And yet, the memories were all
she had of Simba. If she left, she wouldn’t have anything.
Besides, this was her home. It was her mother’s home and had been the
home of her grandmother. She could not imagine living any place but Pride
Rock.
Even when she and Simba had bandied about their dreams of taking off
and seeing parts of the savanna and jungle that reached beyond the horizon,
there was the knowledge that this place would always be here to welcome
them back.
A thought occurred to her. What if she could live out some of those
dreams she’d shared with Simba? Maybe then she would not feel so out of
sorts.
‘How are you going to do that?’ Nala said with a snort ‘You can’t even
go past the waterhole.’
And that was where her problem lay.
Nothing would ever be okay if she was forced to continue living under
her mother’s oppressive paw. If tonight had not shown her mum just how
harmful her extreme overprotectiveness was to Nala’s development, then
nothing would.
Of course her mother didn’t see it. She had pulled Nala

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 from the Hunting Games without giving a thought to what such an act
would mean in the long run.
But Nala knew what it meant, and the thought terrified her.
Her mother would not be here forever. Nala would eventually have to
learn to hunt. If she didn’t...
She’d heard stories of what happened to lionesses who were not
willing or able to pull their own weight around the pride. They were
exiled. Or worse.
Nala wouldn’t have imagined her fellow cubs doing such a thing to her.
. Until tonight.
Bontu’s and Puleng’s frustration with her lack of hunting skills, and
their vitriol when Sarafina put a halt to the game, was an eye-opener. She
had been subjected to Ola’s and Kahina’s relentless teasing for months, but
they had taken it to another level after their win. Witnessing the way the
other cubs had treated her tonight, Nala feared she was at risk of being
banished from Pride Rock once they all reached full-grown status.
Someway, somehow, she would have to get through to her mother.
Sarafina needed to realise that the more she shielded Nala, the more she
was holding her back. And if things did not change soon, Nala would be the
one who would be forced to pay.

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 She stood up, an idea coming to her as if something—or someone—had
placed it directly into her mind.
Nala suddenly realised what she must do. She would get Sarabi to talk to
her mother on her behalf.
She had noticed the way Sarabi had looked at her mother tonight upon
their return from the scrubland. Nala was certain that a number of their
pridemates had taken note of her mother’s bizarre behaviour these last six
months. She was pretty sure Sefu had tried to bring it up with her, but
Sarabi was the only one her mother would truly listen to.
At least Nala hoped she would.
She climbed down from her and Simba’s rock and started for the path
back down Pride Rock, but then she halted her steps at the sight of a
shadow projected onto a boulder. A moment later, a cub emerged.
‘Puleng?’ Nala asked.
The cub took several more steps forwards, her entire body now
illuminated by the moonlight.
‘Yes, it’s me,’ Puleng answered. ‘I figured I would find you here when I
didn’t see you down in the clearing?
‘But. . . how did you know where to look?’
Puleng tilted her head to the side. ‘Really, Nala? Everyone knows you
come here when you want to be alone?
Nala wondered if everyone knew why she came here. Puleng answered
before she could voice the question.

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 ‘I understand why,’ the cub said. ‘You and Simba used to come here all
the time. We could sometimes see the tips of your heads from down
below?
Nala’s mouth fell open. She’d had no idea.
For some reason, the revelation disturbed her. She’d always thought of
this place as her secret getaway, the place where she could escape to feel
close to her friend. The only one who Nala thought had knowledge of it
was her mother, and only because she had forced Nala to tell her. Once
she’d realised that Nala’s little escape was on Pride Rock, she had no
problem with her venturing up here alone.
But knowing that others knew about it, that they could even see her,
tainted it.
‘Did you need something?’ Nala asked Puleng, still hurt from the cub’s
earlier treatment of her. She had at one time considered Puleng a friend.
’Yes,’ the cub said, averting her eyes. ‘I . . . umm . .. wanted to apologise
for the things I said earlier during the Hunting Games. I was insensitive.
Actually, I was pretty mean to you, and it was wrong?
Nala sucked in a swift breath. She had not been prepared for her own
reaction to Puleng’s words. She suddenly felt the same as when she lay
huddled against her mother’s side. Despite everything, there was still
nothing more comforting than her mother’s warmth.
I- A R R A H R 0 C H ON

‘I really am sorry,’ Puleng said. She closed the distance between them. ‘I
know that you want to learn how to hunt, ' Nala, and that it isn’t your fault
you’ve fallen so far behind the rest of us. I wish I could change it, or at least
help you in some way. It didn’t help that I was piling it on when Ola and the
others had already been so ugly to you.’
No, that had not helped, but hearing Puleng’s apology did.
‘Thank you for that,’ Nala said. It felt good to know that she still had
allies among the pride’s cubs. ‘Let’s go back to the celebration,’ Nala said.
‘I have something in mind that may encourage my mum to let me hunt?
‘Really?’ Puleng asked, her eyes bright with excitement ‘I hope so,’ Nala
said. ‘Let’s go?
And the two took off down the southern side of Pride Rock.

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 5
Sarabi

Sarahi placed a crown fashioned out of braided lemongrass over Ola’s

head.
She was not happy with the young cub’s brashness during tonight’s
Hunting Games—the way she’d lauded her team’s win over the losing
team’s head was unbecoming of a lioness of their pride. She would speak
with Fayola about her daughter’s lack of graciousness. Although the
commu- nal nature of their pride allowed for all the lionesses to have a say
in what went on with the cubs, there were some things that were the
responsibility of the mother. This was one of those instances.
Still, the young cub had led the winning team. She had earned her place
of honour in tonight’s festivities.?
‘Congratulations,’ Sarabi told her. She couldn’t help adding, ‘May you
humbly accept this token of your pride’s admiration.’
‘Next time I’ll catch an even bigger zebra. I won’t even need my
teammates’ help.’
‘Do you know what humbly means, Ola?’ Sarabi asked.
Just then, Ola’s younger sister, Abena, ran up to them.
‘Let me wear it! Let me wear it!’ she said, reaching for
Ola’s crown.
‘No. Get away,’ Ola said, shaking her off. She darted towards the area
where the other cubs had gathered, the much slower Abena trailing behind.
 Sarabi stared at the retreating cubs and had to fight the pang of longing
that nearly overwhelmed her.
She released an even deeper sigh when she spotted Nala standing
underneath the bare branches of a bush willow. Sarabi waited for the
familiar twinge to pierce her chest at the sight of the young cub. It was not
as pronounced, but it was still there.
She had become so used to seeing Nala and Simba together that, to this
day, she could not lay eyes on her son’s closest pridemate without thinking
of him. The fissure in Sarabi’s heart widened a little more as she caught the
sad* ness lurking in Nala’s eyes. And she was pretty sure she knew the
source of it.
Sarabi had yet to get the full story from Sefu, but she sensed she
already had a good idea of what had occurred after the two lionesses took
off for the waterhole. She could only imagine the scene Sarafina had
caused, racing after Nala, pulling her out of the games.
How could she have done such a thing? And in front of the cub’s
pridemates.
When Nala moved away from the bush willow, Sarabi figured the cub
was heading to the spot in the clearing where the other cubs who had
participated in tonight’s games had all gathered. She flicked her head hack
in surprise when she realised Nala was instead walking directly towards
her.
‘Well, hello, Nala,’ Sarabi greeted. ‘How are you?’
Nala shrugged.
‘If I’m being honest, I must say that you look a bit down.’ ‘A little,’ Nala
muttered.
‘I hope it isn’t because of the outcome of the Hunting Games. There is
always a winning team and a losing team. That’s just the way things are.’
‘I know,’ she said.

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 FARRAH ROCHON

Sarabi leaned in closer to her ear. ‘Do you want to hear a secret?’
Nala looked up at her and nodded, her eyes wide.
‘Well, it isn’t so much a secret. It’s just that there are few still residing on
Pride Rock who are old enough to remember. But back when I participated
in my first Hunting Games, not only was my team on the losing end, but we
failed to bring in a single kill.’
‘Not even a hare?’ Nala asked.
‘Not even a tiny little hare,’ Sarabi confirmed. ‘So, you see, you have
nothing to be ashamed of. You, Bontu and Puleng all did us very proud
tonight. And you will have the opportunity to participate in another Hunting
Games before you reach full-grown status.’
‘That’s just it,’ Nala said. She drew her paw in a slow circle on the
ground, making grooves in the loose dirt. ‘The same thing will probably
happen the next time.’
| ‘You don’t know that—’
‘Yes, I do,’ Nala said, a shade of desperation entering her voice. ‘How
will anything change if I don’t learn to hunt?’
‘You will eventually learn to hunt, Nala.’
She shook her head. ‘No, I won’t. Not with the way my mother has been
acting.’ Nala looked up at her, her eyes drowning in hurt. ‘She won’t let me
do anything, Sarabi.
She barely allows me to play games with the other cubs. If I take just a
few steps away from her, she’s screaming for me to get back.’
She did not have to explain. Sarabi had witnessed it with her own. eyes.
All the lionesses had seen it. A few of them had even met to discuss what to
do about Sarafina and her increasingly alarming overprotectiveness. The
other lionesses had been gracious enough not to bring up what had triggered
Sarafina’s behaviour, but they all knew the catalyst behind it. It was the one
reason why Sarabi had held off discussing it with her friend.
She had hoped it would get better in time, but the opposite had
happened. Sarafina’s smothering had become even more egregious.
'Will you talk to her?’ Nala now asked.
Sarabi reared back. ‘Oh, Nala, I don’t know.’
‘You have to,’ the cub pleaded. ‘You’re the only one here who she will
listen to. Sarabi, do you know what happens to full-grown lionesses who
never learn to hunt?’
‘Nothing will happen to you,’ Sarabi reassured her. ‘You belong to a
pride that takes care of its own, no matter what.’
‘Prides change,’ Nala said. ‘You, my mother, Sefu and the others—you
all will not live forever. It is something I
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did not think about very much before..She let her word« trail off’.
‘Oh, Nala,’ Sarabi whispered* reaching for her.
Nala jerked out of her reach. ‘But bad things happen,’ she continued. ‘It
is not always bad things, it is just... life. No lion lives forever. And when
you and my mother and the other senior lionesses are gone, Ola and Kahina
will be the lionesses running this pride. Something tells me they will not
feel the same way about taking care of their own as you do.’
Sarabi wanted to refute her words, to tell her she was worrying about
issues that would never come to pass, but Nala had a point. Sarabi did not
know what would become of this pride once she was no longer here. She
hated the thought of Fayola’s bossy cub controlling the Pride Lands but
even if Sarabi were to anoint the next leader of their pride, Ola could
always call for a challenge.
Sarabi closed her eyes, unable to bear the thought of the in-pride fighting
that could ensue. It was the type of thing that could lead to the downfall of
the Pride Lands.
‘I need to learn how to hunt,’ Nala said. ‘I don’t want to have to rely on
my pridemates to hunt for me. I want 'to be able to contribute. And there is
no reason that I should not -learn to hunt, except that my mother thinks it

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 is too dangerous. If it isn’t too dangerous for Puleng, who is younger
than I am, then it isn’t too dangerous for me. My mum is not being
reasonable?
Sarabi couldn’t argue with her. It was not a question that Sarafina’s
irrational fears were holding Nala back, but it wasn’t until the young cub
had laid it out so succinctly that Sarabi realised the true harm Sarafina
was inadvertently causing her cub. She was leaving her ill-prepared to
face the world, and in the end, it could put Nala in real danger.
‘Okay,’ Sarabi said.
Nala’s eyes widened. ‘Okay? You mean you’ll do it?
You’ll talk to her?’
‘Yes,’ Sarabi answered.
When?’
She released a weighty sigh. ‘I guess there is no better time to do it than
right now.’
If she had considered backing down on her promise, the excited
gratitude on Nala’s face sealed her fate.
She led the way, with Nala following closely behind. They found
Sarafina lounging near the trunk of a downed jackalberry tree with several
of the other lionesses.
‘Uh, Sarafina, can I speak with you? Over there?’ Sarabi asked, gesturing
towards Pride Rock with her head.
Sarafina tilted her head to the side, her eyebrows angling downwards
with her confused frown.
‘Is... is something wrong?’ she asked, looking at Sarabi and then at Nala.
‘Over there,’ Sarabi repeated. She motioned for Nala to stay back. This
would probably be easier if Sarafina did not have the cause for her
overprotective behaviour by her side.
‘What is it?’ her friend asked as soon as they’d arrived under the canopy
created by the rock formation’s protruding ledge.
‘Sefu told me what happened tonight down at the scrubland,’ Sarabi
opened.
‘What is there to tell?’ Sarafina asked, her tone becoming immediately
defensive. ‘That I saved my daughter from almost certain danger?’
 ‘Not a single cub was in any danger tonight. You have been around for
enough Hunting Games to know that?
She huffed. ‘You sound just like Sefu?
Because Sefu sees that you are getting out of paw with—’
‘I don’t care what any of you think,’ Sarafina shouted.
‘I have to protect Nala. She is all I have?
‘I know that,’ Sarabi said. ‘But there is a fine line between protecting her
and doing irreparable harm. Nala must learn to hunt?
‘She will learn to—’
‘When?’ Sarabi asked, cutting her off this time.
‘Whenever the lionesses take the junior cubs out on a hunting expedition,
you come up with an excuse for Nala to remain at Pride Rock. She will
never learn the skills she needs to survive if you won’t allow her to go past
the waterhole.’
‘Did she put you up to this?’ Sarafina asked, pointing a paw at Nala.
‘Did you arrange this?’ she called out to her daughter.
‘Sarafina, don’t,’ Sarabi said, reaching for her. But Sarafina shook her
off, pulling out of her grasp and marching back towards where the others
were gathered.
Sarabi ran after her. By the time she caught up with Sarafina, the
lioness was already questioning her cub.
‘What was the reason behind this, Nala?’ Sarafina asked. ‘Did you
think I would let you go frolicking around the savanna simply because
Sarabi told me to?’
‘No ... I... I just...’ Nala’s voice broke.
‘She wants to be like the other cubs,’ Sarabi answered for her.
Sarafina twisted around. ‘She is not like the other cubs. She is my cub.
And i will do whatever I can to keep her safe. I will not end up like you.’
Sarabi’s head jerked back as gasps rang out from the other lionesses who
stood around the clearing. It felt as if she had been slapped with sharp
claws. Though Sarafina’s claw would not have hurt her nearly as badly as
her words had^She never could have imagined her best friend saying such
an awful thing to her, but at least now she knew how Sarafina truly felt.
Sarabi lifted her chin in the air.
 ‘I believe I will turn in for the night?
Fayola rushed to her side, but Sarabi held her off.
‘No. I am okay,’ Sarabi said. ‘Continué celebrating with your cubs?
Projecting the strength she had been forced to display even on her darkest
days, she turned and staunchly^ made her way back to Pride Rock.

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 6

Nala

Nala stood at the water’s edge, quietly lapping at the communal waterhole
her pride shared with a number of other animals that resided in this area of
the savanna. A family of giraffes drank just to her right, while a pack of
okapis stood on the opposite bank across from her. There was an unspoken
peace alliance between those who used this water source; Nala had never
once witnessed a lioness attack another animal while here.
The waterhole had become a place of refuge these past

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months, its peacefulness providing much-needed comfort« She usually
enjoyed the feel of the moist earth beneath her paws, but she feared nothing
would be able to lift her spirits today. A heavy cloud had fallen over Pride
Rock after her mother and Sarabi’s argument last night. There were subdued
murmurs among the lionesses but none of the typical lighthearted chatter
she was accustomed to when visiting the waterhole.
Guilt sat in the pit of Nala’s stomach like spoiled gazelle meat.
She was the reason for the shroud of unease that blanketed their home. If
she had not asked Sarabi to intervene on her behalf, her mother would have
never lashed out at her.
Nala still could not believe her mother had spoken to their queen in such
a way. Sarabi was more than just her queen—she was her mother’s best
friend. And the hurtful words she had said . . . Nala wished she could go
back in time so that she could prevent her mother from ever saying such
ugly things.
But if she could go back in time, she would go back six months to when
all their troubles began. She would stop 'Simba and Mufasa from travelling
to the gorge. She Would stop the wildebeests from launching their deadly
stampede. She would change it all.

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 B e P R f p A R r, n

As she drank more water. Nala felt the fur on the back of her neck
rise with a sense of alarm. She whipped around to find Ola and Kahina
standing a few metres behind her. They stared at her with matching
looks of disgust.
‘What do you want?’ Nala asked.
‘First you ruin the Hunting' Gaines, and now you have ruined the
entire pride,’ Ola said. ‘We all know that Sarabi and Sarafina aren’t
talking because of you.’
‘It’s not my fault,’ Nala said, even though that was untrue. All of this
was her fault.
‘My mother said Sarabi has not been this sad since she lost Simba?
Kahina said.
Nala winced. The words cut deep because she knew how devastating
losing Simba had been for all of them, especially his mother.
T just wanted her to talk to my mother. I thought she Could help? Nala
whispered.
‘Well, they talked,’ Ola said. ‘A lot of good that did.’ ‘Leave her alone?
They all looked over to where the voice had come from. It was Puleng.
The younger cub walked over to stand at Nala’s side.
‘You taunted her because she does not know how to hunt, and now you
taunt her for trying to change things so

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 I' A R R A fl X O C H 0 N

she can learn to hunt? Nala thought Sarabi could make her mother see
reason?
‘Why are you defending her?5 Ola asked.
‘Yeah, she’s older than you. Older cubs are supposed to stick up for
younger cubs, not the other way around? Kahina said.
That is what they had all been taught from a young age. As each new cub
was born into their pride, it was the job of the older cubs to protect the
younglings. Nala appreciated Puleng’s willingness to stand up for her, but it
would only bring more ridicule on her head.
‘I don’t need you to defend me? she told her.
Confused hurt flashed in the younger cub’s eyes.
Just then, a lioness-shaped shadow fell over them. Nala looked up into
her mother’s piercing green eyes.
‘Come with me, Nala. It is time for your bath? her mother said. She
glanced at the other cubs. ‘Ola, Kahina, Puleng, go to your mothers. They
are ready to bathe you as well?
Nala walked closely behind Sarafina, following her to the patch of
lemongrass on the opposite side of the waterhole where the other lionesses
lounged in a loose circle. Her throat tightened when her mother settled well
away from where Sarabi sat with her sister, Kito.

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 Nala’s chest tightened with despair. The three lionesses always sat
together while at the waterhole. But now, because of her, her mother had
isolated herself from them.
‘Mum,’ Nala started, but then she stopped.
What could she say? That she was sorry?
Nala realised that, despite the fallout from last night’s argument, she
was not sorry she had asked Sarabi to intervene on her behalf. She had
been desperate, and now she was even more desperate to find a solution
to what had become an even more dire situation.
‘It is time for your bath,’ Sarafina repeated, then began licking Nala’s
fur.
Nala noticed the other cubs going off to play once they were done with
their baths, but she didn’t bother to ask. Even if her mother gave her
permission to join them, she would only be subjecting herself to more
ridicule. Maybe she and Kamari could play once he returned to Pride Rock.
His mother had taken him out for a pouncing lesson.
Just as Nala closed her eyes for a nap, she heard the rumbling of
increasingly loud whispers travelling among the gathered lionesses.
News. A sighting. Rafiki sent word.
Nala felt her mother stiffen at the mention of the beloved mandrill who
had served as the pride’s healer for years.

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Rafiki had departed Pride Rock shortly after they’d lost Simba and Mufasa,
and he had not been heard from since.
Nala strained to hear what was being said, but the lionesses were doing
that thing they did when they thought whatever was being discussed was
too much for the cubs to deal with. Speaking in hushed tones, several of
them glanced her way. Their furtive, concerned looks confirmed what Nala
had already suspected.
It was news. Big news. Important news.
When she saw the dwarf mongoose who was known to be one of the
scouting animals Sarabi had dispatched to gather information from around
the savanna and beyond, any doubts were erased. He stood on a boulder so
that he could look their queen directly in the eye as he imparted whatever
news he’d brought back. By the look of things, it was serious.
What could it be?’ Fayola asked loud enough for Nala to hear.
‘Do you really think there has been a sighting?' Sefu added.
Once again Nala felt her mother stiffen.
it has been quite some time since we have heard anything,’ Fayola
murmured. ‘At least four weeks.’
‘Longer,’ Sefu said. ‘The last time we got word of Simba

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 being seen, it was just after the swallows began their migration north.'
Thandi, who had been close enough to Sarabi to hear what the
mongoose was saying, approached them.
‘Thandi, what is going on?’ Sefu asked.
‘There is news of another sighting." she confirmed. ‘Of course, it is
difficult to say if it is Simba, but the mongoose also reports that Rafiki
had a vision?
All the lionesses, including Nala’s mother, stood at this. Rafiki's visions
were not to be disputed. They always confirmed or revealed something.
‘What did he see?’ Sarafina asked.
As far as Nala knew, this was the first time her mother had spoken to
any of the lionesses since last night. Sefu, Thandi and Fayola all stared at
her for several moments before Thandi spoke.
Tie had a vision of Simba with two others ... in a cave,’ she said. ‘One
figure was stout and the other was slim, but Rafiki could not make out who
or what they were?
A smattering of murmurs rattled among them as the lionesses dissected
this bit of information. Her mother had gone back to being silent, her ears
erect as she appeared to be listening intently to the shared theories of what
Rafiki must have seen.
AH of a sudden there was a commotion coming from

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Sarabi’s direction. Several of the lione^sen ran over there, but Nala’s
mother stayed back. Nala climbed up on a rock to see if she could discern
what was happening.
Sarabi was shaking her head while Kito and Sefu tried to talk to her.
‘I don’t want to hear about any more of these sightings!’ Sarabi
screamed.
Nala flinched at the raw emotion in her voice. Their queen was always so
calm, so stoic. It was rare to hear her raise her voice at all and even rarer to
hear such pain in it.
I ‘I cannot take any more of this,’ Sarabi said. ‘These sightings never lead to
anything. Only more fissures in my heart.’
Nala heard a strangled cry coming from her mother. She looked over and
saw the distress on her face. She could tell she wanted to go comfort Sarabi.
Go! Nala wanted to say, but she couldn’t say anything. She was the
reason her mother didn’t feel comfortable being near her very best friend
right now.
After several tension-filled moments had passed, their queen stood up
straight and lifted her face in that dignified, regal way of hers. She returned
to where the dwarf mongoose still stood atop the boulder.
‘Thank you for the information you have shared,’ Sarabi told him. ‘I will
not require you to bring back any more

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 information about Simba from this day forwards. It is time I accept that
my son is gone?
‘Sarabi, you don’t know that,’ Kito said.
‘He is gone,’ she stated in a voice that brooked no argument.
A hush fell over the lionesses who had gathered around.
When Scar had come back from the gorge with the horrible news of
Mufasa’s and Simba’s deaths, the despair had been instant and intense.
But when members of the pride had gone to retrieve their bodies and had
only come upon Mufasa’s, the hope that Simba had miraculously
survived the stampede clung to their pride the way catchweed clung to
fur. Even as the days dragged on into weeks and into months, no-one
wanted to give up on that hope.
But now Sarabi had done just that.
With their queen’s pronouncement, they would all have to accept that
the search for Simba was over. There was no longer any hope that he had
survived, no hope that he was ever coming back to Pride Rock.
Nala’s heart felt as if it would break apart into thousands of pieces.
She caught sight of Sarabi making her way towards them, her steps slow
and deliberate, her eyes straight ahead. Nala glanced over at her mother and
saw the way she tracked
HOCH ON

her best friend’s movements, her eyes following her as she walked back to
Pride Rock. Her sadness was too deep to disguise. „
Sarafina rose and started to follow Sarabi, but two of the other lionesses
stopped her.
‘Not now, Sarafina,’ Kito said.
‘I just... I want to—’ 1
 ‘Not now,’ the lionesses repeated. ‘She wants to be
alone. Let her have her space.’
Nala could sense how badly her mother wanted to offer comfort to Sarabi
and how much it hurt her that she couldn’t. Nala was unsure if Sarabi would
even accept any gesture her mother made towards her, and that saddened
her more than anything. The two were usually inseparable, but Nala had
found a way to separate them.
‘Why did she call off the search?’ Fayola asked Kito. ‘There’s always a
chance that Simba will be found? I
‘Do you really think that?’ Kito asked. ‘Do any of us really think that?
We have all been holding on to hope because it is what Sarabi needed, but if
we are being honest, we know how improbable it is that Simba has been
able to survive out there on his own for such a long time. He was but a cub
when he was taken from us. It is over?
I agree,’ Thandi said. ‘Especially after learning where

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he was supposedly spotted this time. There is no way Simba made it all
the way there.’
‘Where?’ Sefu asked.
And then Nala heard the one word everything.
Garamba.

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 7 Nala

The mood around Pride Rock was even more sombre than, it had been
earlier in the day, before the dwarf mongoose had come bearing news about
Rafiki’s vision and another Simba sighting. There were whispers among the
other cubs, who had all been away during Sarabi’s outburst. For once,
Nala’s opinion was in demand among them as she was the only cub who
had witnessed it all firstpaw.
‘So she just won’t look for Simba anymore?’ Puleng . asked.
Nala shook her head. ‘She told the mongoose that she doesn’t want to
receive any further reports.’
The other cubs remained quiet—even Ola, whom Nala had been
expecting to make some kind of nasty remark.
‘Does this mean that Scar will be the king of Pride Rock forever?’ Bontu
asked.
‘No, eventually Kamari will take his place as king,’ Kahina said. ‘At
least I think that is what will happen, since Kamari is Kito’s son and Kito is
Sarabi’s sister.’
They continued with their discussion about the line of succession, but
Nala didn’t participate. For one, she hated when there was talk of anyone
other than Simba leading their pride. More important, Nala wasn’t ready to
give up hope just yet. Not after hearing the location of this latest sighting.
Ever since they’d first heard zebras at the waterhole recounting all the
glorious things they had seen on their migration, Nala and Simba had talked
about leaving Pride Rock and going on a grand adventure. They wanted to
experience the rushing waterfalls of Rusumo and run across the sand dunes
in Napeget.
But of all the places they dreamed of going, Garamba was the one they
talked about the most. Its lush tropical forests, rushing rivers and massive
grasslands sounded like the best playground a cub could ever want to live
in.

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 1a hr ah Rochon

It was the reason Nala had always dismissed news of other

sightings that had been brought back to them these last six months.
Because she knew that if Simba had somehow survived the violent
wildebeest stampede that day in the gorge, and for some reason had
not returned to Pride Rock, the only other place he would have
travelled was Garamba.
Hearing that the mongoose had mentioned Garamba, the place she and
Simba had promised to visit, had more than piqued her interest. Together
with the other tidbit that had been reported just a few minutes prior—that
Rafiki had “seen” Simba not merely in the jungle but in a cave—it was all
but confirmed for her.
It had to be the Blue Grotto.
Once they’d heard about Garamba, she and Simba had set out to learn
everything they could about the forest. The one place all the animals talked
about most enthusiastically was the Blue Grotto. By all accounts, it was one
of the most beautiful places in all Africa.
It had to be more than just a coincidence that Rafiki’s vision and this
latest sighting both pointed to the same place.
Could Simba really be there?
Nervous excitement made the fur on the back of Nala’s neck stand on
end. Just the thought of what it would mean if

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 Simba was truly alive was enough to make her want to run around in
a circle and shout for joy.
Instead, Nala kept her expression as sombre as the others’. She
could not share her thoughts with any of the other cubs—not yet. No-
one knew of her and Simba’s secret dreams of visiting Garamba. They
would accuse her of trying to get Sarabi’s hopes up when their queen
had already stated that she no longer wanted to pursue clues about
Simba.
It was the last thing Nala wanted to do. Sarabi had suffered enough.

Later that night, Nala lay in the crook of her mother’s foreleg. Several
of the other lionesses had once again gone on a hunt, and this time
Kahina and Ola had been allowed to go with them as part of their
reward for winning the Hunting Games. They had now graduated to
another level in their training.
Nala had been upset, but only for a moment. She had more important
things to think about than hunting. Like what, if anything, she should do
about this latest Simba sighting.
That was the first question. Should she do anything about it? Should
she say anything at all?

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 She had considered going to Sefu or Kito, but she was just too unsure
of what their reaction would be. Now that Sarabi had made her desires
known, Nala was almost certain that the lionesses would shut down any
talk about further pursuing what the dwarf mongoose had brought back to
them. There had been too many false leads already, and just because she
and Simba had talked about visiting Garamba one day, it wouldn’t be
enough of a reason for the lionesses to believe it would lead to anything at
this time.
Maybe she shouldn’t believe it either.
This was probably just like all the other sightings—some lion cub who
was Simba’s age and who had been separated or banished from his own
pride. That’s what all the other reports of news had turned out to be.
She was already looked upon with scorn by many in her pride; how
much worse would it be if she were to give them false hope, only for it to
turn out that Simba wasn’t in I Garamba after all...
But what if she went to find him on her own?
A jolt of eager excitement shot through her, shaking her entire body.
fe ‘Nala, go to sleep,’ her mother admonished in a drowsy s’voice.
Nala settled back into the crook of her mother’s leg, but she could not
settle her suddenly racing thoughts.

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 What if she went in search of Simba and was able to bring their
pride’s* true king back to Pride Rock? She would be seen as a hero
instead of Sarafina’s sheltered little baby cub.
But this was so much bigger than just her. This would impact their
entire pride. How different would life around here be if Simba ruled
Pride Rock instead of Scar?
The first thing he would do would be to run the hyenas off. The Pride
Lands would go back to being the verdant home they had all enjoyed
before everything changed. Her mother and Sarabi would go back to
being the friends they had once been as they would have no cause to fight
anymore, because Sarafina would have no reason to be so protective of
Nala, not with their rightfid king’s safe return. If Nala could somehow
travel to Garamba and find Simba alive,
it could change everything.
Naia shook her head.
It was foolish for her to even think such thoughts. She wasn’t allowed to
travel past the waterhole; how could she possibly think that she could make
it all the way to Garamba? She didn’t know the first thing about how to get
there.
Except... she did.
During many of their jaunts around the Pride Lands, she and Simba had
mapped out the path to Garamba. Based

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on information they had gathered from animals who had been there, they
had determined that they were to follow the grouping of stars that looked
like the mighty Abigar cattle that grazed around the savanna. As long as
those stars remained straight ahead, they would take them directly to that
lush jungle they had dreamed of visiting.
But that didn’t mean she could get there on her own. Even if she
managed to sneak away without her mother’s realising it and then make it
to Garamba, how would she find Simba there? By all accounts, Garamba
was massive. It would be difficult for a fully grown lioness to get there and
survive on her own; a lion cub who didn’t know how to hunt would face
certain death.
Nala settled more securely against her mother and stared at the walls of
the cave where they slept.
She was safe here at Pride Rock. And if Simba was actually spotted in
Garamba, there was no guarantee that he would still be there if she were to
go in search of him. She could spend her life combing the entire savanna
and never find him.
Yes, it was best she stay right here where she was safe. They had all
adjusted to this new life on Pride Rock so far, and they would continue to
do so.

8 Nala

‘Quick, gather the cubs!’

 The panic-stricken voice startled Nala out of an already fitful night’s
sleep, driving her heart to beat fast against her chest. She tried to stand, but
her wobbly legs wouldn’t cooperate. The sudden chaos surrounding her
made it even more difficult to find her bearings as lionesses dashed fren-
ziedly around the cavernous space.
t ‘Sarafina, bring the cubs deeper into the cave. Keep them hidden!’ Sefu
ordered.
‘What’s going on?’ Nala asked.
Her mother didn’t answer but clamped her mouth on the back of Nala’s
neck and hauled her into the innermost part of the cave. Nala watched with
a growing sense of dread as Sarafina then did the same with the rest of the
cubs.
‘What’s going on?’ she asked Kamari, who had just been deposited next
to her.
‘It’s the hyenas,’ he whispered. ‘They’re on the attack.’ The hyenas. She
should have known.
Their pride had no natural predators in this kingdom- other than the lion
prides that prowled in search of new shelters—but none of them would be
so bold as to attack Pride Rock. Only the hyenas would do such a thing, and
they were now part of the kingdom.
When Scar took over as king and pronounced that their kingdom would
be merged with that of those awful hyenas, the entire pride had protested.
How could mortal enemies be expected to coexist? They hunted the same
prey, and worse, the hyenas often targeted lion cubs when in search of food.
Those flea-infested dogs were the pride’s fiercest competition in nearly
every aspect of their lives.
But Scar would not listen to the lionesses’ concerns. He had welcomed
the hyenas into the kingdom and had banished the two remaining lions who
had been part of their pride following the deaths of Mufasa and Simba,
leaving

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 Kamari as the only male. No-one talked about it, but Nala knew they
all feared that Scar would send him away once he came of age.
What Scar had promised would be a great and glorious future
between the lions and hyenas had proved to be as horrific as the
lionesses had predicted. Pride Rock’s new, unwelcome residents had
brought nothing but destruction to their home.
Nala could hear the racket of riotous peals and howls even from
deep within the cave. Sefu, Sarabi, Kito, Fayola and Thandi rushed
over to where they all were huddled.
‘Are the cubs all safe?’ Thandi asked Sarafina.
‘Yes. Is it the hyenas?’ Nala’s mother asked.
Sefii nodded. ‘They are raiding last night’s kill. They are going to
take it all if we don’t put a stop to it.’
Nala ran over to her mother and buried her face against her fur. She
twisted around far enough to watch through the comer of her eye as
Sarabi assumed her place in the centre of the lionesses.
‘The hyenas are on the attack.’ She looked around at the lionesses.
‘We all know what this means, and that there is a possibility all will not
return. Sarafina and Fayola will remain with the cubs. The rest of us
will defend the kill.’

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 r A RRA H RO CHON

You should stay here with the others’ Kito said to Sarabi.
‘No,’ Sarabi said. ‘I will defend the kill?
‘Sarabi—’
‘I will not argue with you,’ the queen said. ij
The lionesses all fell in line behind her; then, as a group, they sprinted
out of the cave. Sarafina pulled Puleng and Kamari in close, protecting
them while their mothers went out to protect the pride. r ■
Nala once again buried her face against her mother’s chest. She could
hear the hideous sound of ripping flesh as the lionesses battled with the
hyenas. There was aloud, awful cry that Nala was certain came from one
of the lionesses. Moments later, Sefu returned to the cave, dragging a
limping Thandi behind her.
‘Tend to her leg,’ Sefu said before darting back out.
Sarafina went to her side, but Thandi held her off. ‘I am okay. Stay
with the cubs?
‘How many hyenas are there?’ Fayola asked.
‘Two dozen, at least?
‘This cannot continue,’ the other lioness said. ‘Vihy does he allow
them to stay?’
There was another scream. This one sounded like Sarabi.

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 Sarafina shot up. ‘Take care of the cubs. I’m going to help?
‘Mama, no!’ Nala screamed and ran to her, grabbing on to her
leg.
‘Stay where you are,’ Thandi said to Sarafina. ‘Sarabi gave you
your orders?
‘My pride needs me!’
‘To protect our cubs so that our pride lives on!’ Thandi shouted.
‘Do as your queen ordered!’
Suddenly a loud roar echoed against the walls of the cave,
putting a halt to Sarafina and Thandi’s dispute and bringing the
outside fighting to an abrupt end. Nala could hear the scramble of
feet racing away, no doubt the hyenas retreating to the holes they’d
crawled out of. They were as cowardly as they were destructive.
‘Where are the others?’ came Scar’s angry voice. ‘Come out of
that cave at once!’
Nala’s legs trembled. She looked to the other cubs and saw they
were just as frightened as she was.
‘Come,’ her mother said to her. ‘All of you.’
‘But—’ Nala started.
‘Come,’ Sarafina repeated. ‘Scar will not harm you. I will not let
him.’
And Nala knew in that moment that her mother would fight Scar to
the death before she allowed him to harm her
farrxh rochow

or any of the other cubs. All the lionesses would do so, even
those who did not have cubs of their own.
They filed out of the cave. Nala had to blink, several
times to adjust her eyes to the brightening sun. She hated
to admit the fear she felt as she watched Scar pace slowly in front of the
lionesses lined up against the wall of stone. His tail swished back and forth
behind him, its lazy cadence a stark contrast to the furore in his eyes.
 ‘Now,’ Scar said. ‘What is the meaning of all this fighting? Didn’t I
proclaim that there would be peace here on Pride Rock?’
Sarabi took several steps forwards, a clear indication of her role as their
queen. When she spoke, it was with an air of authority.
‘The lionesses spent much of the night replenishing the food stores, and
those hyenas came in this morning and tried to steal it all.’
‘Sarabi, Sarabi, Sarabi,’ Scar sang in a deceptively sweet voice. ‘How
can the hyenas steal something that also belongs to them? We are all
family, remember?’
‘They are not our family,’ Sarabi said. ‘And we cannot continue to exert
this much effort to find food, only to have the hyenas consume the entire
kill. The lionesses are . exhausted. They are having to go further and further
out I to hunt.’

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 ‘The Pride Lands are filled with prey. They are simply searching in
the wrong places. I would not be surprised if they are doing so
purposely.’
‘The lionesses are doing all they can to secure food. There is none,’
Sarabi said. ‘The dry season has lasted much longer than it has in years
past. Do you not see what this drought has done to the grasslands? There
is hardly anything left for the animals to graze on. Many have left in
search of water. Couple that with the hyenas’ ferocious appetites and the
lionesses cannot keep up.’
‘What about the cubs?’ Scar asked. ‘Make them hunt.’
‘They are not ready.’
‘Well, make them ready!’ he bellowed. ‘I want every cub in this pride
to go out and hunt, starting tonight.’
Sarafina gasped and wrapped a paw around Nala.
‘You are putting them in danger,’ Sarabi said. She shut her eyes fin*
several moments, then said, ‘It is possible that three of the cubs are
ready to take on a more active role in hunting, but I refuse to send out
the younger cubs. I will not allow it.’
Nala’s breath caught in her throat as Scar closed the distance between
himself and Sarabi. She heard low growls coming from several of the
lionesses.
“You will not allow it?’ Scar asked. ‘You are forgetting who rules
this kingdom, Sarabi. I do. Now, go out there

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and hunt. You lionesses had no problem hunting for food when Mufasa was
here.’
‘We hunted the same amount/ Thandi said. ‘The difference is that
Mufasa would never have allowed hyenas to live at Pride Rock.’
Scar raced over to her, his face close to hers.
‘Hunt more,’ he said with a low growl. ‘Because the hyenas are here to
stay.’
He took several steps back and tried to take on an apologetic tone.
‘My dear lionesses, why are we fighting? I thought we had come to an
understanding. I have explained that the hyenas are our friends. It is time
the rest of you accepted it.’
‘Friends do not raid the food of their friends, or threaten their young,’
Sarabi pointed out.
‘It was one time,’ Scar said. ‘No cubs were hurt.’ He released a dramatic
sigh and rolled his eyes. ‘Look, we all want what is best for Pride Rock. We
have to learn to live together. It should not be this difficult.’
‘The food sources will be depleted if the hyenas remain, Scar,’ Sarabi
said. ‘That is a fact. This is not sustainable.’
‘Make it sustainable,’ he said, all traces of his previous ’contriteness
gone. ‘You have no other choice.’ He ambled slowly along the line of
lionesses, looking each in the eye, including the cubs. ‘Now,’ Scar said once
he’d reached the

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 end of the line, ‘why don’t we all get some rest? You lion' esses have a
long night of hunting ahead of you.’
The tension in the air was thick as they all stood silently and watched
Scar saunter hack towards his cave on the other end of Pride Rock. The
lionesses took a collective breath once he was gone.
Thandi limped over to Sarabi and nudged her with her nose. ‘Are you
okay?’
‘Are any of us okay?’ was Sarabi’s reply. ‘The hyenas are making
Pride Rock uninhabitable. How much longer will we be able to survive
here?’
No-one refuted her statement because they all knew it was the truth. It
had become more apparent with each day that passed.
‘Mufasa would be so disappointed in me if he knew what I had allowed
our home to become,’ Sarabi continued.
‘No, he would not,’ Thandi argued.
‘He would never,’ Sefu added, running up to her side. ‘Mufasa was
always proud of you. You are doing your best.’
‘You cannot blame yourself for the pain Scar has caused,’ Kito said.
‘This is his doing, not yours.’
Several of the other lionesses joined them, all assuring Sarabi that she
was not at fault for what had become of Pride Rock. Nala looked to her
mother, who stared at her fellow pridemates with a forlorn expression. But
she did not

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join them. Instead, she circled back around the cubs, bringing them all
together against her.
‘What are we going to do about last night’s kill?’ Thandi asked. ‘The
hyenas made away with most of it.’
‘We have more pressing matters to contend with,’ Sarabi said. She closed
her eyes and sucked in a deep breath. When she opened them again, she
took the time to look at all the lionesses surrounding her. ‘There is
something that we have all been avoiding, but it cannot go unsaid any
longer. We will have to leave Pride Rock.’
A collective gasp sounded throughout the group.
‘No,’ Nala whispered.
‘We cannot leave,’ Sefu argued.
‘We cannot stay. Not for much longer,’ Sarabi said. ‘I do not want to
leave either, but we cannot go on this way. Look at how long it took to
secure last night’s kill. And within seconds, those hyenas made away with
it. We cannot live this way much longer.’
‘But this is our home,’ Kito said. ‘We cannot relinquish it to the hyenas.’
‘We will have no choice. Unless Scar steps up and becomes the type of
king we need him to be, we will have to go in search of another home.’
l Unease, wove its way through the pack of lionesses as the reality of their

dire situation began to settle in. It felt as

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 if a raging windstorm had blown through, devastating the entire pride.
Fear sank into Nala’s heart like a mighty claw sinking into its prey.
She had considered life beyond Pride Rock a number of times in the past,
but with the knowledge that she would always be able to return. Never
once had she thought they would be forced to leave. It was unthinkable.
This was their home. It was their source of protection and corn fort. They
could not allow those awful hyenas to run them away.
There was only one way to stop that from happening: she must find
Simba and bring him back to Pride Rock. Simba was the rightful king; it
was his by birthright. And he was the only one who could rightfully remove
Scar from the throne.
If Simba was dead, Scar’s rule would have to continue. But if there was
any truth to Rafiki’s vision—if Simba was out there somewhere—then he
would be able to save them all.
She just had to find him first.
9
Nala

Nala lay with her chin on her paws, feigning sleep as Kito stood watch at
the opening of the cave that served as the lionesses’ sleeping quarters. The
drip, drip, drip of droplets from a thunderstorm that had taken them all by
surprise produced an eerie song as they fell onto Pride Rock’s slick stone.
It had been a long, sombre day, one of the darkest since the day they lost
Mufasa and Simba—and not only because of the rain shower. Sarabi’s
pronouncement had shrouded the entire pride in sadness, and the looming
threat of the hyenas had them all on edge.
 Nala’s mother had been even more overprotective than usual
following the early morning raid. She demanded Nala remain at her side
as she tended to the injuries of several of the lionesses who had been hurt
while fighting the hyenas. If Nala moved just a few steps away, her
mother was tugging her back to her side.
More than half of the lionesses had gone out to hunt tonight, along
with all the cubs except for Nala, Puleng and Abena. Despite the large
number of hunters, they had only managed to capture a couple of hares
and a small kudu. It wasn’t enough to feed on for a day.
Sarabi had been right in her assessment. Their resources were
becoming more and more scarce, and the lionesses were having to travel
much too far in order to secure food. They could not continue this way.
Nala tilted her head to the side as though trying to find a more
^comfortable sleeping position. She squinted at her mother through
narrowed eyes. Taking care of her injured pridemates must have tired her
out even more than Nala had first suspected. She slept so soundly that she
had not noticed when Nala had gingerly wiggled out from underneath her
paw.

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 Nala’s next feat would be to wiggle her way out of this cave.
She had made the decision to leave just after the cubs had been brought
in for the night. Given the circumstances her pride now found itself in, it
was the only choice she could make. If there was any chance at all that
Simba was still alive, she had to do whatever she could to find him and
bring him back to Pride Rock.
She had taken note of the cloudless sky while they were all still in the
clearing earlier that evening. The thunderstorm had pushed out just as
quickly as it had rushed in, leaving the ground nourished and the sky crystal
clear.
Nala saw it as a sign that she was doing the right thing. The bull-shaped
cluster of stars shone brightly, ready to guide her towards Garamba.
If she managed to slip past Thandi and Kito.
Sarabi had ordered the two lionesses to keep watch over the food that
had been captured during tonight’s hunt; Though instead of concentrating
solely on the cave where the food was stored, Thandi and Kito took turns
roaming between the smaller cave and the larger one where the lionesses
slept with their cubs. Nala understood why they were ‘hesitant to leave the
sleeping quarters unguarded, but it only made things trickier for her.

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 But Nala had noticed a pattern. Thandi always took a bit longer to return
to her post at the mouth of the cave. If Nala made her move the moment
Kito went to fetch Thandi from the other cave, she could sneak out without
either of the lionesses seeing her.
She tracked Kito’s steps as Kito marched from one end of the opening of
the cave to the other. Nala’s heart pounded like zebra hooves slapping
against the dirt, but she made sure to keep her body as still as possible,
impatiently waiting for her opportunity to flee. Although no lionesses were
officially tasked with watching over the pride tonight, all the lionesses were
likely on alert after the earlier encounter with the hyenas. If she made even
the tiniest wrong move, she would probably awaken the entire pride. Her
plan would be quashed before she had the chance to make it off Pride Rock.
Nala heard whispers at the front of the cave. She slightly lifted one eyelid
so she could get a better look at what was happening. Kito and Thandi stood
with their heads close together, their attention on something to the right of
Pride Rock.
One of the cubs whimpered in their sleep, and Kito twisted around to
stare into the cave. She seemed to look directly at Nala.
No.No. No.
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 Nala shut her eyes tight and listened, waiting far the moment when Kito
would jostle Sarafina awake to inquire why Nala was not sleeping.
But the other lioness never came for her.
She opened her eyes to find both Kito and Thandi gone from the mouth
of the cave.
This was it.
This was her best chance to leave Pride Rock without any of the
lionesses or cubs noticing. They would all realise she was missing in the
morning, of course, but she would be well on her way to Garamba by then.
If she was going to do this, she had to do it right now.
Nala looked over at her mother’s sleeping form once again and had to
hold in the sob that nearly escaped. Her mother would be upset, but even
more than that, she would be terrified at the thought of Nala gone. As much
as she disagreed with the way her mother had been treating her lately, Nala
didn’t want to cause her more worry. She could picture her going on a
frantic search the moment she discovered Nala was missing.
That was why she would have to move as quickly as possible. She would
also have to make sure she didn’t leave a trail that could be easily followed.
Closing her eyes, Nala pulled in another deep breath. She needed to calm
the nerves fluttering around in her belly.

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 If she didn’t, her legs would wobble too much for her to make it off
Pride Rock.
She slid further away from her mother, staying on her stomach and
moving as quietly as possible. Kahina mewled as Nala slid past her. She
stopped, making sure the other cub was still sleeping before continuing
towards the mouth of the cave.
Nala's eyes darted back and forth between the sleeping lionesses and
cubs and the opening of the cave. She had no idea where Thandi and Kito
had run off to, but she had no doubt they would be back soon. They had
been ordered by Sarabi to keep watch, and no matter what had grabbed
their attention, neither would deliberately defy their queen by staying
away from their post for too long.
She inched along the floor like a stealth cheetah, not making a sound.
Once she reached the opening of the cave, Nala peeked out.
It was clear.
She took a second to glance back at her mother, but she knew she did
not have time to dwell on what would happen when they all realised Nala
was gone. They would forgive her once she returned to Pride Rock with
their right- ful king.
¥ Heartened by the image of Sarabi reuniting with Simba and what Simba’s
return would mean to their pride’s

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existence-—they would be able to remain in their home!— Nala took off.
She travelled in the opposite direction from where Thandi and Kito had
been looking, squeezing past boulders that had shifted because of the
drought as she made her way down the side of Pride Rock.
Nala could hardly believe it when she reached the base of the rock
formation. She looked up at the imposing facade; it took her breath away.
She’d done it. She had actually done it! She’d managed to slip away.
Now all she had to do was make it to the grasslands, where it would be
harder for anyone to spot her if they were to wake up and look out over the
Pride Lands. She glanced back at Pride Rock several times as she traversed
the muddy clearing, keeping her head low.
She hoped she didn’t encounter any animals at the waterhole. She’d
considered travelling a different route, but it would take too much time. She
also was certain Thandi and Kito had gone off in the opposite direction. The
last thing she wanted to do was run into either of them.
Nala kept her eye out for movement as she approached the waterhole, but
there wasn’t a single animal around. She took it as yet another sign that she
was doing the right thing: even the obstacles she had anticipated had been
cleared from her path.
She hastened her steps, moving swiftly past the waterhole. The tension in
her shoulders began to ease as she caught sight of the taller grasses straight
ahead. Yet the closer she got to the grasslands, the more her apprehension
grew.
She was really doing this. She was leaving the only home she knew,
leaving the safety of her pride, and venturing out into the vastness of Africa.
All on her own.
What are you doing?
 What if those stories she and Simba had heard about the stars were
wrong and they didn’t lead to Garamba? What if Rafiki’s vision had been
cloudy? What if she made it off the Pride Lands and got lost going through
that creepy Elephant Graveyard? There were so many things that could go
wrong.
But what if things went right?
Nala sat up on her hind legs and stared straight ahead at the tall grass.
She was the only one who knew of Simba’s plans to visit Garamba. It
was up to her to find him and bring him home. It was up to her to save her
pride.
‘You’re doing this,’ she said in a fierce whisper. For the last six months,
her mother’s fears had wreaked havoc in

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her life, but Nala refused to Allow fear to hold her back.
Determined to see this through, she charged forwards.
‘Nala?’
Nala froze.
No way had she been seen. She had been too careful.
‘Nala! Wait for me!’
She turned and nearly screamed at the sight of Abena scampering across
the clearing towards her.
‘Abena, what are you doing here?’ Nala asked as the younger cub
approached.
‘You couldn’t sleep either, huh?’ Abena asked. ‘Neither could I. Every
time I close my eyes, I see the hyenas coming after me with their bloody
fangs and drool dripping from their mouths.’ She shivered. ‘And their eyes
are yellow like cassia flowers. They’re scary. Don’t you think they’re
scary?’
‘How did you find me?’
, ‘I told you I couldn’t sleep. I saw when you left the cave. Then I saw your
footsteps in the mud, so I just followed them.’
I So much for being a stealthy cheetah.
She also hadn’t anticipated her footsteps leaving a muddy trail that would
point the lionesses in her direction in the morning. For a moment, Nala
considered going back and creating some kind of divergence, but she didn’t
have time. It was better to keep moving forwards. The sooner she could put
more distance between herself and Pride Rock, the harder it would be for
them to catch up with her.
‘I want to go for a walk with you,’ Abena said.
‘I’m not—’ Nala stopped herself before she spilled all her plans. ‘I
want to walk alone. I don’t want any company.’
‘Please, Nala. I’m too afraid to walk by myself.’
Just then, Nala heard what sounded like a shout coming from Pride
Rock.
‘Get down,’ she said to Abena, crouching low to the ground. A moment
later, a bird flew overheard, cawing as it swooped around their heads.
 ‘It’s just a bird,’ Nala said with a sigh of relief.
‘Ola’s right. You really are afraid of everything,’ Abena said.
Nala growled at her. It was bad enough she had to take this stuff from
the older cubs. She wasn’t going to put up with it from the runt of their
pride.
‘Go hack to the cave,’ Nala ordered her.
‘Not until after our walk,’ Abena said. ‘I won’t sleep anyway, so it’s just
as well if I join you.’
‘No!’ Ugh! Why was she so stubborn?
Nala looked back at Pride Rock to make sure no-one had heard her
before turning her attention back to Abena.

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In her most forceful voice, she said, ‘You can’t come with me, so just go
back.’
The cub tilted her head to the side and narrowed her eyes. ‘You weren’t
going on a walk, were you? Where are you going?’
Nala gritted her teeth at Abena’s reaction to her forceful voice. It was
entirely wrong: where was the cowering and shivering in fear? Though to
say that she was the youngest of the pride overlooked that the cub was way
too smart.
‘Come on, Nala. Tell me!’
What was she supposed to do now? If she sent Abena back, the cub
would probably wake up the other lionesses. Or, even worse, what if Thandi
and Kito had returned to their posts? They would question why Abena was
out and about and would learn that Nala was gone too.
She had no choice but to tell her something.
But she could not reveal she was going in search of Simba or that she
suspected she knew where he might be. No-one could know any of that.
Nala didn’t want to get any of the lionesses’ hopes up, just in case the latest
sighting turned out to be like all the others. And even if Simba was in
Garamba, she wasn’t sure she was heading in the right direction. Please let
the stars lead me the right way.
‘I’m going on an adventure,’ Nala told Abena. ‘Alone.’ ‘An adventure!’
Abena squealed.

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 BE PREPARED

'Shhhh^ Nala hissed. ‘Keep it down.’

‘I’ve always wanted to go on an adventure. Can we see Lake Victoria?
I heard it is bigger than all the Pride Lands?
‘No lake is as big as the Pride Lands? Nala said. ‘And no, I’m not
going to Lake Victoria. And no, you cannot follow me. I told you I am
going on this adventure alone. Go back to Pride Rock, and do not tell
anyone you saw me, Abena. I mean it.’
Nala turned and continued towards the grasslands. She’d taken only a
couple of steps when a ¡soft plea stopped her.
‘Please?
Nala spun around to find Abena standing in the spot where she had left
her, head hung low.
‘Please? the younger cub repeated. ‘Let me come on the adventure with
you. I never get to do anything?
Nala wanted to point out that Abena had been allowed to do even more
than she had. Yet, because she had been held back at Pride Rock while the
other cubs went off for pouncing lessons or playing in the scrubland past
the waterhole, Nala understood how the young cub felt.
She looked out towards the wide expanse that stretched before her and
acknowledged that the thought of travelling across it alone made her
stomach queasy. Would it be so bad to have a companion?
FARRAH ROCH.ON

‘Okay, you can join me on my adventure,’ Nah said.

‘But there are rules you have to follow.’
Abena’s head bobbed with enthusiasm.
‘You have to do what 1 say,’ Nala told her.
She frowned. ‘If you’re gonna boss me around like all the others, then
I’m not going.’ She turned and started stomping back towards Pride Rock.
Nala reached out with her paw and clamped down on her tail, pinning it
to the ground.
 ‘Stop,’ she said. She jogged around to face the younger cub. ‘It’s not
bossing you around; I’m not the queen like Sarabi. I just want to make
sure we’re both safe.’
‘What if I see something dangerous?’
‘Then I’ll listen to you,’ Nala said.
Abena’s eyes widened. ‘You will?’
Nala nodded. ‘It will be a partnership. But no running ahead of me. We
must stick together.’
‘What about fireflies?’
Nala frowned. ‘What about them?’
‘If we see a cloud of fireflies, we have to stop and play with them.
That’s my rule.’
Some rule, Nala wanted to say. But she only nodded.
‘Fine, we’ll stop for fireflies,’ Nala said.
‘Okay, let’s go!’ Abena said. She took off, running ahead

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of Nala although Nala had specifically told her not to do tl very
thing.
Nala looked up at the stars and let out a sigh.
She was going to regret this. She was sure of it.

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 10
Nala

The tall reeds bent forwards like giraffes bowing before their king as
Nala and Abena hiked through the grasslands.
Tonight’s rain had not had the same effect on this area as it had on the
clearing. The grass had acted as a barrier, preventing the rain from
completely saturating the ground, so there was less mud, which meant
fewer tracks.
Still, Nala continued to glance behind them every few . steps to make
sure the taller grass bounced back into place
. . as they travelled through it. She had been both excited and

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relieved when she’d realised they would be able to slink through the
grasslands without leaving a trail.
The moonlight beamed down, illuminating their path forwards but also
casting shadows whenever they passed a tree. Nala did her best not to get
too creeped out by it. The shadows made the trees seem even more
ominous.
It’s just a tree.
No wonder the other cubs thought she was afraid of everything. She
was! When had she become such a scaredy-cat?
What happened to that brave cub who would go up against the future
king of their pride with all the confidence in the world? Back when Simba
was here, there was never a challenge she would not face, never a dare she
would back down from. How had she allowed herself to become such a
coward?
But she knew how it had happened. Her mother’s fears had become her
own without her even realising it. Nala had rolled her eyes every time her
mother cautioned her against doing the simplest thing for fear that it was
too dangerous, but somehow she had started to believe it all.
Well, she was done being a coward. A coward would not make it past
the scrubland. If she was going to reach Garamba, she would have to look
deep inside and find the fearless cub she used to be.

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 FARRAH ROCHON

And she would have to find her quickly, because if her memory
served her correctly, she and Abena were nearing the Elephant
Graveyard.
Nala glanced up at the sky to confirm that the bull* shaped cluster of
stars was still directly in front of her. She was unsure what she would do
once the sun came up. They could not spend the entire day sheltered,
waiting for the y stars to come out again, but she also did not want to get
too far off track during daylight hours.
Maybe there was a river she could follow. Rivers moved in relatively
straight lines, didn’t they?
‘This adventure is boring,’ Abena said. ‘I thought you were supposed
to do fun things on an adventure. So far all we’ve done is walk.’
‘You asked to come along,’ Nala said. ‘You don’t get to I complain
just because you’re not having fun.’
‘But that doesn’t make sense. When else would I com- i I plain? I
wouldn’t have to complain if I was having fun.’
‘You don’t get to complain at all,’ Nala told her.
‘That’s not one of the rules,’ Abena complained.
‘I’m making it a rule.’
‘Well, I’m making it a rule that we have to sing while we walk,
because this is boring.’
‘No!’ Nala said, lowering her voice to a whisper, even though they were
well beyond where any of the lionesses on

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 Pride Rock could hear them. They were so far away now that the peak
of the rook formation they called home could barely he seen. Still, she
wasn’t taking any chances.
‘No singing,’ she said to Abena. ‘Believe me, it won’t be boring for
much longer.’
Not that it would be much fun either.
Nala knew they were nearing the edge of the Pride Lands, which
meant they were close to the end of the easy portion of their journey to
Garamba. And the first difficult task lay just beyond the rise at the
northern edge of the Pride Lands. She could still remember the cold, dark
shadowy land. It made her shiver just thinking about it.
Please be alive, Simba. Don’t let me go through this for nothing.
They reached the Elephant Graveyard not long after they cleared the
scrubland.
‘Woah. What is this place?’ Abena asked, her voice shaking as she
stared out at die decaying skeletons.
‘They call it the Shadowlands,’ Nala said. And it looked a thousand
times creepier at night than it had the afternoon she and Simba had snuck
away to see it.
Smoke rose from the natural geysers that dotted the landscape. In the
quiet of the late night, Nala could hear the steaming water percolating just
below the earth’s surface. Even those geysers were scary.
‘It’s an Elephant Graveyard,’ she explained to Abena. B ‘This is where
the hyenas lived before King Scar brought them to Pride Rock.’
Abena took several steps back. ‘Are there any hyenas iStill living here?’
‘I don’t think so,’ Nala said. Although, to be honest, she didn’t know
what lived here. Maybe some of the hyenas had been left behind. Maybe
something else had moved here in their place, like snakes. She hated
snakes.
I’m not afraid of anything.
She heard Simba’s voice in her head, so cocky and clear that Nala could
have sworn he was standing right next to her. She hadn’t been afraid of
anything when Simba was around. Or if she was afraid of something, she
would never let it show. She had been more afraid of her best friend
thinking she was a coward than anything she would encounter Bum in that
dusty basin.
Why did you want to come here for an adventure?’ Abena asked. ‘The lake
would have been better?
‘This isn’t the adventure,’ Nala said. Well, 1 guess it’s part of it. But
there’s more to my adventure than the Elephant Graveyard.’
Nala looked up at the stars.
Maybe she could figure out a way to go beyond these Shadowlands without
going through them.

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 But she knew she couldn’t. She didn’t have time. Daylight would be
upon them soon, and if she found herself off course without the guidance of
the stars, it could cause her to lose even more time. They would have to go
this way.
‘You said you were bored. I’ll bet you won’t say that again,’ she told
Abena. ‘Come on.’ They started down the sloping embankment. ‘Careful
where you step,’ Nala called over her shoulder. ‘One wrong move and you
can go sliding all the way down.’
She knew that from experience.
The air grew warmer the closer they got to the floor of the basin. And
just as she remembered, a blanketing mist hovered in the air above them. It
was thin enough for Nala to make out the stars, but the way the moon’s soft
glow illuminated it made this graveyard even creepier.
‘I’m scared,’ Abena said, putting voice to the feeling Nala hadn’t wanted
to acknowledge.
For the span of a single heartbeat, she considered calling off this little
adventure. But just as quickly, she pitched that idea out of her head. She
was done with being a coward. These were bones. They could do nothing to
her.
Unless there were hyenas lingering around.
She tossed away that thought too. It was too late to worry about hyenas.
If they encountered any, she and

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Abena would outsmart them, the same way she and Simba had before they
had been forced to go back to rescue Zazu.
She had to keep moving forwards, no matter what.
Nala straightened her spine and stuck her chin in the air, determination
settling into her bones.
She turned to Abena. ‘Don’t be afraid. I’m right here.’
‘But. . . aren’t you afraid?’
‘No. What do we have to be afraid of? We’re lionesses.
We’re at the top of the food chain.’
Abena stood up straight. ‘You’re right,’ she said with a firm nod.
‘Lionesses are the bravest there are. My mum says we’re even braver than
the lions but 1 should never tell them that.’
‘She’s right,’ Nala said. ‘So let us be brave and make it across these
Shadowlands.’
‘Race you to the end,’ Abena said. And then she took off.
Nala groaned. Why did she keep doing that?

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 11
Sarabi

For the second day in a row, Sarabi was awakened by an ear-piercing

scream that echoed throughout their sleeping quarters, the sound
reverberating against the cave walls. She leapt to attention, her muscles
constricting with the instinct to attack. She would not allow those
mangy hyenas
to ravage their food stores again. She didn’t care what Scar
thought of them.
Sarabi started for the cave opening but stopped when
she realised the commotion was coming from the innermost
part of the cave.
Oh no! The cubs!
An instinct of a different kind—the one to protect their young—took
over. She rushed deeper into the cave, preparing to give her life for the sake
of her pride’s cubs. But her steps came to a halt at the sight of the other
lionesses scrambling around the sleeping quarters. There didn’t appear to be
a hyena in sight.
The pride wasn’t under attack?
‘What is going on?’ Sarabi asked.
‘She’s gone!’ Fayola screamed. ‘My Abena. She’s missing!’
Sarabi’s stomach dropped. This was even worse than if the hyenas were
attacking them. Had they slunk in under the cover of darkness and snatched
the young cub?
‘So is Nala,’ Sefu said.
Nala?No!
 She loved all the cubs of their pride, but Nala . . . Nala was special. Nala
was the closest link she had to her Simba, the one cub who had known him
better than any other. Sarabi instantly sought out Sarafina, who, along with
the other lionesses, had her nose to the floor, searching for a whiff of the
two cubs.

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 Sarabi stiffened her spine. She could not allow her emotions to get the
better of her. She needed to take charge of the situation so that they
could find their cubs and bring them safely home.
‘‘Where are Thandi and Kito?’ Sarabi asked. ‘They were tasked with
keeping watch over the food last night. They must have seen something.’
‘Ola and Kamari went to fetch them,’ Sefu said. ‘But if they had seen
something, they would have told us.’
Unless they were in pursuit of whatever had made away with the two
cubs and didn’t have time to come back and alert the rest of the pride.
But Sarabi knew that wasn’t the case when the two lionesses appeared
a moment later, both panting from the exertion of their rim and looking as
confused as everyone else.
‘Kamari said that Abena and Nala are missing,’ Thandi said. ‘When was
this discovered?’
‘I woke at daybreak, as usual,’ Fayola said. ‘Abena wasn’t where she
usually sleeps.’
‘Neither was Nala,’ Sarafina said, her voice hoarse with worry.
Sarabi caught the barest glimpse of the panic in her eyes, but it was all
she needed to glean how frightened she was. A few hours ago she could not
bear even looking at

#■

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her friend; just the thought of Sarafina brought forth a rage unlike any
Sarabi had experienced in months.
But right now her heart ached for her. She knew better than any of the
lionesses the sheer terror that came with learning that your cub was in
danger.
Sarabi pushed aside both her hurt for Sarafina and the pain of losing
Simba. She had to keep her focus on the missing cubs. Abena’s and Nala’s
safety was all that mattered.
‘We are sure both were in the cave last night?’ Sarabi asked, but then she
realised how foolish it was to even present such a question. Sarafina barely
let Nala out of her sight these days; of course she was sure her daughter was
in the cave last night.
Which made the cubs’ disappearance all the more puzzling. There had to
be an explanation.
‘Could the hyenas have made away with them without any of us
knowing?’ Sefu asked, voicing what none of the others seemed to want to
ask.
Although the hyenas were not known for their self-discipline, they could
be stealthy when the occasion warranted. It was yet another reason Sarabi
did not trust them and wanted them off her land.
‘No,’ Thandi and Kito said at the same time. ‘We patrolled Pride Rock
throughout the night. We would have spotted a hyena.’

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 ‘Well, they .could not have simply vanished!’ Fayola screamed.
‘«Something happened to them. You and Kito should have done a better
job of keeping watch.’
Thandi ran up to Fayola and growled at her. ‘We did our job.’
‘Not if the hyenas snatched my girl! ’
Fayola had become hysterical, while Sarafina seemed to be just the
opposite. She stood against the wall of the cave, staring unseeingly at the
floor.
‘Enough of this!’ Sarabi shouted. ‘None of this back- and-forth will
help us find the cubs. We must go in search of them.’ She looked to
Thandi. ‘You and Sefu, go to the waterhole.’
‘Someone needs to question the hyenas.’
‘No,’ Sarahi said. ‘That is against the king’s rule. We are not to question
the hyenas.’ The words tasted foul on her tongue, but Scar had established a
set of laws when it came to life between the lionesses and the hyenas. The
interlopers he’d allowed to inhabit Pride Rock were not to be approached
by any of the lionesses.
‘Kito, you and I will go to Scar,’ Sarabi said. ‘He is the reason the hyenas
are here, so he should be the one to answer for them.’
‘I will—* Fayola began, but Sarabi cut her off.

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 ‘You will stay here with the other cubs?
‘I cannot, Sarabi. Do not order me to remain here while my Abena is out
there somewhere?
‘Fayola, you are in no condition to search for her. You will do more harm
than good. Stay here and watch over the other cubs? Sarabi looked to
Sarafina. ‘And her,’ she said, nodding towards her friend, who continued to
stare at the floor.
It was then that Sarabi realised that spot was likely where Nala had been
sleeping. The tightness returned to her chest. She wasn’t sure which was
worse—to lose a cub the way she had lost Simba, when she’d had no ability
to save him, or to have a cub snatched right from under your nose. She
ached to comfort her friend.
But right now Sarafina needed her action more than she needed her
comfort.
‘Let’s go,’ Sarabi said to her sister. Thandi and Sefu had already taken off
for the waterhole, so Sarabi led Kito out of the cave and raced up to the top
of Pride Rock to Scar’s sleeping quarters.
‘ ‘Come out, Scar? Sarabi called. Her summons was met with silence. She
would give him only a few seconds more before she went into the cave to
get him.
“Scar!’

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 Zazu flew out of the cave and landed in Front of her. ‘Queen Sarabi!
Well, this is a pleasant surprise. What are you doing up here?’
‘Zazu, where is Scar?’
The bird tipped his head to the side. ‘I believe he went for his morning
exercise. His . . . uh . . . Majesty—’ Zazu spat on the ground after saying the
word ‘—likes to run along the southern edge of the Pride Lands?
Sarabi looked to Kito. ‘That’s where we will go?
‘What is going on, Your Majesty?’ Zazu asked.
‘Zazu, I need you to do a sweep of the area. Two of the cubs are missing.
Maybe you can spot them from above?
‘Missing?’ he gasped.
‘Yes. Go,’ Sarabi said. ‘We do not know if they were taken or if they left
on their own. All we know is that it happened sometime during the night?
‘They wouldn’t have left on their own,’ Kito said. ‘Especially not
Sarafina’s girl?
Sarabi wasn’t so sure about that. It seemed much of the pride had
forgotten how independent Nala used to be, back before her mother had
begun to smother her.
‘We cannot rule out anything,’ Sarabi said.
‘The hyenas have posed a threat to the cubs from the moment they
arrived at Pride Rock. They are responsible for this,’ Kito said.

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 Sarabi feared her sister was right, which was why she needed to confront
Scar as soon as possible.
She and Kito started for the southern edge of the Pride Lands, keeping
their eyes open for Nala and Abena as they searched for Scar. They did not
catch a whiff of the cubs or their king.
Scar. Not her king, but Scar.
She referred to him as king when speaking to the other lionesses, because
that was the law by which they lived. But she had vowed never to think of
him as her king. She had but one king.
How she wished she could talk to him. She needed Mufasa’s wisdom and
his steady paw. Their entire pride needed his leadership right now.
But Mufasa was not here, so she would need to step into his paw prints.
You can do this. You’re strong.
‘Is it possible Scar already made his way back to Pride Rock?’ Kito
asked, huffing from the exertion of their exhausting run. The sun had risen
high enough in the sky to spread its heat across the savanna. It made their
search even more difficult.
‘It’s possible,’ Sarabi answered. ‘Let’s go back, I also want to check on
Sarafina, Fayola and the other cubs.’
They retraced their steps, heading back to Pride Rock.
BE PREPARED

But they were intercepted by Thandi before they reached their home.
''Come to the waterhole. We found something,’ Thandi said.
Sarabi made quick work of getting to the waterhole, where she
found Sefu waiting next to a muddy puddle.
‘Here,’ Sefu said. ‘We found two sets of paw prints that can only be
the cubs, but the trail stops here.’
She pointed her nose at the blend of prints.
From what Sarabi could make out, there were zebras, elephants,
hogs and some other animals that had likely shown up at the waterhole
sometime during the night or early morning. She put her nose to the
ground, trying to pick up the cubs’ scent. Nothing.
‘We tried to sniff them out,’ Sefu said. ‘Between the other animals
and the muddy ground, I cannot pick up a scent. Maybe Fayola or
Sarafina would have better luck.’
‘What did Scar say?’ Thandi asked.
‘We haven’t talked to him yet,’ Sarabi said. She started to explain
further but stopped as she caught a whiff of something in the air.
Sarabi held up a paw and walked towards the short shrubs at the
perimeter of the clearing. She sniffed the wet earth.
Was it Nala she smelled or just her memory playing tricks on her? It
was something she’d had to contend with

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for months after losing Simba*. She would smell his scent, hear his voice,
feel his soft head underneath her chin. She could not be certain whether any
thing was real or just her imagination.
But Sarabi was sure of one thing. She sniffed at the sky.
‘There is more rain on the way,’ she said. She looked
» to the east, where thunderous clouds loomed high above them. They
would roll in soon enough, and when they unburdened themselves, it
would wreak havoc on whatever happened to be underneath them.
She looked to her fellow lionesses. ‘If Nala and Abena are out there
somewhere, I hope they are safe from the storm that is brewing.’
12 Nala

‘Are we almost there yet?’

Nala did her best not to growl as they continued to claw their way up the
steep embankment. If Abena asked her one more time, she just might
scream.
‘No,’ she answered. ‘I warned you this wouldn’t be easy when you
begged to follow me.’
‘You didn’t warn me enough,’ Abena said. ‘So its your fault.

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 Nala glared back at her, then had to scramble to reclaim her grip on the
crumbly rock.
‘Just keep climbing,’ she told Abena. She looked up at the sky. It was
dark even though daylight had arrived some time ago. She had not seen
such ominous clouds rolling in over the savanna since she was a tiny cub.
‘Once we reach the top, we’ll need to find shelter and rest for a bit.’
‘And eat?’ Abena asked.
Nala pretended she hadn’t heard her. She was hungry too, but she still
had not figured out that part of her plan. She knew enough about pouncing
to catch a small rodent, but that wouldn’t be enough for both her and Abena.
Why had she allowed the cub to follow her?
She knew why, even if she didn’t want to admit it.
Abena was annoying and could not go more than a few minutes without
asking a question, but Nala had been grateful to have her by her side as
she’d made her way through this Elephant Graveyard. If she was being
honest, she could admit that the cub’s incessant talking had been useful at
times. Answering her many, many, many questions had given Nala
something else to focus on instead of the creepiness of the Shadowlands.
Not for the first time, Nala questioned the wisdom of making this journey
without the aid of an older, more

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 experienced lioness. This was no place for two cubs, especially a cub as
young as Abena. Why hadn’t she thought to share het suspicions with
Sefii? The lioness would have probably joined Nala on her quest to find
Simba.
No. If she had told Sefu, then the lioness would have felt compelled to
share Nala’s knowledge about Garamba with Sarabi. Their queen would
have dispatched a cadre of lionesses, but Nala would not have been part
of their group. She would have been stuck at Pride Rock, under her
mother’s paw. As usual.
This was her journey, no-one else’s. She had to show her pride that she
could do this. Until she proved to her mother and all the others what she
was truly capable of, they would continue to treat her like a baby. She
could not allow that to happen.
‘I think we’re almost there,’ Nala said. ‘I can see grass.’
She grasped at another rock and started to heave herself up.
Suddenly the rock gave way.
‘Not again!’ Nala screeched as she went sliding. She grimaced as
something ripped into her skin, the searing pain making her see stars. Nala
shuddered at the thought of having to make this treacherous climb again,
but then something solid stopped her downwards slide.
F ft R. R Mi ROCHON

‘I’ve got you!1 i

It was Abena. Well, it was Abena’s head. The cub had bent her head in a
way that provided a ledge for Nala to balance on.
‘Wait. Let me grab hold of this rock,’ Nala said. She stretched as far as
she could, using her claws to grip the rough surface. With another heave,
she was off Abena’s head and back on track.
Nala clawed her way up until she reached the grassy ledge. She turned
and immediately dropped to her belly, reaching down so that she could grab
on to Abena and help her up. Her side still burned, but she did her best to
ignore the pain.
‘Come on,’ Nala said. She repeated the cub’s words back to her. ‘I’ve got
you.’
 Nala grasped her paw and, with a mighty roar, heaved the smaller cub up
and onto the ledge.
‘We did it!’ Abena cheered. ‘We made it!’
‘Yes, we did,’ Nala said. She looked back towards the murky bowl of
skeletons and geysers they’d just traversed. She and Simba hadn’t made it
nearly this far before Mufasa had rescued them from a fate that was so
scary it made her 'shiver even to this day.
Nala looked at Abena and smiled. ‘We made it! We really
made it through the Elephant Graveyard! There’s nothing to stop me now.
I'm going to get to Garamba?
Abena frowned. ‘What’s a garamba?’
Nala's muscles tensed. How could she have been so careless?
‘Wait. isn't that the jungle?’ Abena asked. ‘I heard Ola talk about it. She
said it’s supposed to be very pretty? Abena’s eyes brightened. ‘Is that
where we’re going?’
Nala didn’t know what to say. No-one was supposed to know her true
destination. But, then again, Abena had just possibly saved her life, or at
least saved her from rolling to the pit of the Elephant Graveyard. And she
had proved to be a trusty companion—when she wasn’t talking Nala’s head
off. The least she could do was let her know where they were going. It
didn’t mean she had to tell her the reason they were going there.
‘Yes, we’re going to Garamba,’ Nala said.
The cub had not mentioned Simba, which meant she had not heard the
chatter swirling around the waterhole about the sighting.
‘Why didn’t you say that from the very beginning!’ Abena said. ‘That
sounds like the perfect adventure! Let’s go!’
She took off again, but not before Nala stopped her, catching her by the
tail.

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 »A K KA H KOC HO N

‘Not so fast,’ Nala said. ‘First you have to stop running off. We’re beyond
the Pride Lands now. The closer we get to the jungle, the easier it will be for
me to lose sight of you. We have to stick near each other?
‘And second?’ Abena asked.
‘We have to find a river or a waterhole,’ Nala said.
‘And food. I’m hungry?
Nala had paid attention to the position of the bull-shaped cluster of stars
before the sun had made them impossible to see. She was pretty sure if they
continued straight, they would remain on the right path. But to be safe, she
planned to slow their forward progress just a bit. It was smarter to pick up
the pace at night, while they had the stars to guide them, and eat and rest
during the day.
Now to find food.
Abena gasped. ‘What happened to you?’
Nala looked down at where the cub stared and finally saw the cause of
the stinging. A gash stretched down her side. The fur around it was caked
with blood and dirt.
‘I think it was a rock,’ Nala said. ‘It happened when I lost my footing and
started sliding?
Seeing the cut made her aware of how much it actually hurt. She thought
about how much worse it could have been if Abena had not halted her
tumble, and she felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude towards the cub.

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 ‘Thanks for stopping my fall,’ Nala told her. Who knows what would
have happened if she had been out here alone? She could have very well
perished in the pit of that abandoned graveyard. ‘And, if I haven’t said it
already, I’m . . .well. . . I’m sort of happy you’re here.’
Abena beamed. ‘I’m happy I’m here too.’
The vegetation thickened now that they’d passed through the desolate
Shadowlands. Nala knew they had not yet hit the jungle—based on the
stories she’d heard, the jungles nearing Garamba were so thick and lush that
the sun could 'barely make it through the dense trees. But compared to the
savanna, the transitional area they now found themselves in was as close to
the jungle as she had ever seen.
Thick ropy vines hung from tall trees, and the grass, though sparse in
some places, was twice as high as both her and Abena.
‘Nala, look!’ Abena said. ‘A waterhole.’
They raced over to the waterhole. It was tiny compared to the one near
Pride Rock, but Nala wasn’t going to complain. She lapped at the water,
savouring its coolness as it slid down her throat.
She took a tentative step forwards into it, being careful not to slip. Then
she submerged herself up to her chin,

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 FARRAH ROCH.ON

hissing when the water made contact with the scrape on her side. But then
the stinging dulled, replaced by a throb that was still unpleasant but better
than before.
‘Psst . . . Nala,’ Abena whispered. ‘Over there.’ Nala looked to where the
young cub gestured. Two dik-diks were grazing on a patch of grass, their
tiny horns and ears pointing upwards. ‘We can corner them,’ Abena said.
A wave of panic crashed over her, but Nala did her best to kerb it. She
could do this. The dik-diks were small; they should be easy enough to
capture.
‘Okay,’ Nala whispered back, climbing out of the water.
A nervous energy swelled in her bloodstream as she dropped low to the
ground and crept towards the two dwarf antelope. Slow and steady. She
might riot know much when it came to hunting, but she knew a slow-and-
steady approach was key to gaining the upper paw on her prey. She also
knew that one wrong move—even a slight one—could ruin an entire hunt,
which was why her heart pounded in her chest.
Stay calm, Nala chastised.
She peered over at Abena and noticed the look of concentration on the
young cub’s face. All her focus was directed at the dik-diks. How could she
remain so composed and in control? It made Nala even more unsure of
herself.

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 be Prepared

As they approached the dik-diks, Abena motioned with her head. Nala
followed her cue and pounced . . .
And sent the dik-diks scampering away.
‘Nala!’ Abena shouted. ‘Why did you do that?’
‘You said to go!’
‘This—’ she nudged her head the way she had a moment ago ‘—
means to go around the other side. Not pounce. You’re supposed to
approach the dik-diks from the back. You can’t just jump right in front of
them. They’re too quick for that.’
‘Well, I didn’t know!’ Nala said. She shook her head and in a defeated
whisper, repeated, ‘I didn’t know.’
Abena tilted her head to the side, her brow furrowed. ‘You really didn’t
know what to do, did you?’
‘No,’ Nala said. ‘All I’ve learnt so far about hunting is how to pounce,
and I don’t know everything there is to know about that either. I don’t know
when to pounce, or when I should hold back. And hunting is about more
than just pouncing. I don’t know the best angle to approach prey, and if I
ever catch one, what should I do to subdue it? I haven’t learnt any of that.’
‘I can teach you,’ Abena said in a soft voice.
Nala was taken aback by the offer, and the pity she saw on the young
cub’s face made her feel even worse. Abena
FARRAH ROCHON

should have been coming to her for advice, not the other way around.
But she knew when to shut up and swallow her pride.
‘Are you sure?’ Nala asked.
‘I don’t know everything, but my ma let me join her and Ola on a couple
of hunts. I can teach you what 1 learnt from them.’
Her first instinct was to feel resentful, but it was quickly followed by
gratitude.
Nala nodded. ‘I’d like that.’
They found a shrub that, if she tilted her head to the side and squinted,
Nala could almost imagine was a yellow mongoose. For the next hour,
Abena shared tips on how to stalk and capture prey. She was not the most
patient teacher, dramatically falling to the ground and wailing at the tiniest
mistake, but she didn’t give up on her student.
And Nala refused to quit on herself. She could feel her confidence
growing.
‘Shhh . . Abena said, crouching low. Nala did the same and took aim at
the shrub.
‘No, no,’ Abena whispered. ‘Over there?
Nala whipped around. She spotted a hare standing near the waterhole,
nibbling on a piece of fruit.
‘Do you think you’re ready to catch it?’ Abena asked.

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 Instant panic filled Nala's chest, but she tamped it down and nodded.
She could do this. She just had to do all the things Abena had taught her.
She took a step forwards, and the hare stood up straight. Nala paused
with her paw suspended above the ground, waiting for the hare’s next
move. She watched as it sniffed the air and looked around. She held
herself rigid, pulling in slow, quiet breaths.
When the hare went back to eating its fruit, Nala made her move. She
crept closer, using the taller grass for cover. She stopped at the end of the
grassy barrier, the hare mere yards away. Nala hunched low, her hind legs
bent and in position to spring her forwards. She shot out, aiming for the
hare.
It escaped before she could grab hold of it.
Nala didn’t know if she wanted to growl or cry. She had done
everything right. How had the hare managed to get away? Had it heard
her? Was she breathing too hard? Had
she pounced too slowly?
‘It isn’t your fault, you know,’ Abena said, coming up beside her. ‘It
takes practice.’
Nala tried not to feel defeated. Abena was right; it did take practice.
This was why the lionesses started taking cubs on hunts when they were
still very young. If that
I* A H K A H K O C H O N

wildebeest stampede had never happened—if Simba were still at Pride

Rock and things were as they should be- Nala would be hunting baby
antelope, aardvarks and maybe even caracals.
 She had to find Simba and bring him back.
If he was still alive, that is.
Nala had known even before she set out on this mission that it was
very likely the lion spotted in Garamba was not Simba, but the tiny
chance that it was him kept her going.
‘I’m sorry I couldn’t catch the hare,’ Nala said to Abena.
‘I know you’re hungry.’
‘That’s okay. I saw another one on the other side of the waterhole,’
she said. She headed off in that direction. When Nala started to follow,
Abena put her paw on her shoulder and said, ‘Let me do this.’
Nala jerked her head back, beyond offended that the young cub didn’t
think she could provide at least some help. But when Abena returned just
a short time later carrying a dead hare between her teeth, Nala was hard-
pressed to hold on to her outrage.
The hare wasn’t very big, but it was enough to provide sustenance for
both of them.
‘Thanks for this,’ Nala said as she finished up the last bites of food.

131

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 ‘It’s no problem,’ Abena said. ‘I like hunting. I can’t wait until
I’m big enough to go on hunts with Ola, Lindiwe and all the others.
They always come back with the best stories.’ ‘Yeah, I know,’ Nala
said.
She had suffered through enough of their stories to know exactly
what she was missing out on. Not only was she not learning basic skills
she desperately needed to survive, but she was also missing out on
developing the close friendships it took to feel as if one were truly a
member of the pride. Her own mother shared that sisterhood with the I
older lionesses, yet it didn’t seem to matter to her that Nala was quickly
becoming an outcast among her peers.
‘It’s too bad your mum thinks you’re still a baby,’ Abena said.
‘She does not,’ Nala lied.
‘That’s what Ola and Kahina both say. It’s okay. My mum thinks
I’m still a baby too.’
‘But you are a baby.’
‘I am not!’ Abena said.
‘You’re younger than I am,’ Nala pointed out.
‘It doesn’t mean I’m a baby. I hunt better than you do.’ She had her
there. But just because the younger cub was a better hunter, it didn’t
mean she and Nala were equals.
‘You’re still a baby compared to me,’ Nala said with a shrug. As a
junior cub, I have to answer to the older

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lionesses like Sefu and Kito, and they have to answer to the lionesses who
have been around even longer than they have, like Thandi and your mother.
And they all have to answer to Sarabi. As the youngest member of the
pride, you have to answer to ... well... everyone. That’s just the way things
are.’
‘Well, I don’t like it,’ Abena said. ‘It’s not my fault that I’m the youngest
member of the pride. It’s not fair.’ Abena huffed and turned. She began
marching back towards the small waterhole.
‘Don’t get mad,’ Nala called. ‘You won’t be the youngest for long. Olee
will have her cub soon.’
‘It’s not fair!’ was Abena’s reply. She continued her march, indignantly
stomping... right into a mud pit.
Nala raced to the puddle. It was the size of a hippo. The grass
surrounding it was so high that she had not seen this muddy hazard lurking
either.
Nala giggled as Abena flailed around, slipping and sliding as she tried to
gain purchase. She reached out a paw, but the young cub turned her nose up
at it.
‘No,’ Abena said. ‘I don’t need your help. I’ll get out on my own.’
‘Fine.’ Nala shrugged and sat back on her hind legs, preparing to enjoy
the show. But then she heard a low rumble, and a moment later she felt a
tremor underfoot.

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 ‘What is that?’ Abena asked.
‘Shhh…’ Nala said.
The sound grew louder and the earth began to shake in earnest. Nala
looked to Abena, whose eyes were wide. It seemed to register with the
cub at the same time it did with Nala.
They both screamed, ‘Elephant stampede!’

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 13
Nala

Terror pumped through Nala’s heart as she dove into the water-filled pit and
scrambled after Abena. She skidded on the slippery sludge, tumbling face-
first into the mud.
‘Nala, help me!’ Abena screamed.
Panic surged within Nala as the violent thumping of heavy footfalls
pounding the ground grew louder.
They had to get out. Now. If they didn’t, it would mean certain death, for
both her and Abena.
Nala pushed herself up and immediately sank back down
into the mud. The pounding grew louder. The mud rippled like the
surface of the waterhole when a bird dropped a rock in its centre. She
could feel the ground vibrating, the rumble becoming more intense
with every second that passed.
Nala peered over her shoulder. It would only take two steps to make
it back to dry ground, but she refused to leave without Abena. Even if
it meant her own demise.
But that wasn’t going to happen either. She would get them out of
this. She refused to allow a stampede to rob their pride of two more
 members.
By sheer force of will, Nala steadied herself on all fours and crawled
through the thick mud until she reached Abena.
She clamped the cub’s scruff between her teeth and pulled.
Come on. Come on. Come on.
With one last pull, Nala heaved Abena out of the muck and onto
more stable land.
She’d done it. She’d actually done it.
‘We have to get out of here!’ Abena screamed, knocking Nala out of her
shocked daze.
‘This way!’ Nala yelled, and ushered Abena ahead of her, nudging the
cub’s hindquarters with her head before they both took off for the closest
tree. Nala glanced to her right. Her eyes widened at the pack of elephants
charging towards them at full speed.
‘Climb! Climb! Climb!’ she yelled. ‘Get to that thick branch and
hold on tight.’
Nala made it to the branch just after Abena, right as the first
elephant stormed past the tree. She wrapped her forelegs around
Abena, who was firmly holding on to the branch.
‘I’ve got you,’ Nala shouted into her ear. ‘Just keep holding it tight.’
The tree canted from side to side, leaning so far towards the ground
that Nala feared they had not climbed high enough. As if the swaying
wasn’t bad enough, the tree shook like the elephants were trying to
wiggle marula fruit free from the branches. If either of them let go for
even a second, they would go tumbling to the ground.
The stampede seemed to go on forever though it lasted only a few
minutes. As far as Nala could tell, there were only about two dozen
elephants in total.
Unbidden, Scar’s description of the wildebeest stampede that had
killed Mufasa popped up in her mind. She could scarcely imagine the
devastation thousands and thousands of animal hooves left behind.
Overwhelming anguish ripped through her at the thought of what their
king had faced that horrible day.
And Simba.
Please, please, let him be alive. Let him have not gone through such
terrible pain.

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 ‘Do you think it’s safe to climb down?’ Abena asked from underneath
her.
‘What?’ Nala blinked several times, Abena’s inquiry knocking her out of
her uncomfortable memories of the past and back into the present. ‘We
should be safe now that they’ve passed, but let me make sure everything is
okay.’
She lifted her head and surveyed the land around them to ensure there
were no stragglers that had fallen behind the stampede. She saw no
elephants and only a few other animals off in the distance. Based on the
shape of their horns, it looked like a family of kudus.
‘All appears to be safe,’ Nala said.
She led the way down the tree, taking in the difference in the texture of
the ground following the stampede. The elephants had kicked up mud and
pulverised rocks into dust. Another chill ran through her when she thought
of what would have happened had she and Abena been too far away from
the tree or if they had stayed stuck in that mud for just a minute longer.
They would have been crushed, never to be heard from again.
But that hadn’t happened. Because she had saved them both! She had
really done it!
Sure, she had panicked for a moment, but then she’d pushed her fear
aside and got the job done. How she wished her mother had been here to
witness it all.

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 ‘That was scary,’ Abena said. ‘I didn’t know elephants could run so fast.’
‘Anything can run fast if you give it a good reason to,’ Nala said.
‘Even hippopotamuses?’
She nodded. ‘Some hippos can run as fast as elephants.’
The dust the elephants had stirred up with their stampede began to settle,
but something eerie still hung in the air. Nala looked up at the sky. The
white clouds that had hovered above them had turned dark grey. They were
also much closer, so close it felt as if she would be able to reach up and
grab one if she were but a little taller.
A fat raindrop landed on her nose.
She blinked several times in confusion. She had missed yesterday’s brief
storm, only seeing the results of it as she and Abena travelled across the
clearing and grasslands during their escape from Pride Rock. The dry
season had lasted so long that she had forgotten what rain felt like, but as
the thick raindrops began to tumble with fierce speed from the heavy
clouds, Nala could tell this was different from a typical rainstorm. She had
heard the elder lionesses speak of the wet seasons of the past and how
unpredictable the weather had become in more recent years.
The rain began to fall harder, and a loud crack o£ thunder rent the air.
‘We need to find shelter,’ Nala called to Abena. ‘I noticed a kopje while
we were up in the tree. Hopefully, we can reach it before the storm gets too
bad?
Nala led the way, heading for the small hill she’d spotted. This part of the
savanna remained flat but it was speckled with kopjes, rock formations that
were smaller than Pride Rock but still sufficient for shelter. The kopje she
had seen appeared to have trees they could hide under, but she was hoping
there was an overhang that could provide even better protection.
 By the time she and Abena arrived at the kopje, the rain was coming
down so hard Nala could barely make out the hill. She slipped several times
as she scaled its rocks, made slicker by the pummelling rain.
‘Over there,’ she called, pointing to a large boulder with a flat surface.
Another rock hung over it, offering a shield from the relentless rain.
Nala noticed something scurry from the area. She figured it was a rodent,
or a pygmy fox, or some other creature that could possibly have been a
meal, but food was not apriority at the moment. Staying safely out of this
fierce storm was the only thing she cared about right now.
. Once she and Abena reached the tiny alcove, they moved as far away
from the opening as they could.
A bright light flashed in the sky, followed by frighteningly

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loud thunder that seemed to roll on and on for the longest time.
i’m scared,’ Abena said, burying her face against Nala’s chest. Nala
rocked gently back and forth, remembering how good that always made her
feel when her mother would do the same with her.
Despite the strain that had stretched between Nala and her mother lately,
a fierce longing for her mother’s embrace slammed into Nala. Nothing felt
safer than being surrounded by her solid strength, her tongue issuing
comforting licks to the top of Nala’s head.
The moments she’d experienced with Abena today had given her a
glimpse into the responsibility her mother must have felt to keep Nala safe.
The fear she’d suffered while trying desperately to tug Abena out of the
mud pit before the elephants arrived, to protect her while up in that tree,
was all-consuming. In those moments, making sure the young cub was safe
was the only thing that mattered.
Guilt rushed through Nala with the fierceness of an overflowing river at
the realisation of how worried her mother must be right now.
I'm okay, Mama.
Maybe if she concentrated on the words hard enough, her mother would
somehow feel them.
The rain and thunder continued to batter them. Nala held on to Abena, for
both the cub’s sake and her own. Until finally, after what seemed like a
lifetime, the rain began to taper off and the heavy grey clouds drifted past
them, ushering in the bright sun.
Abena’s tiny body still shook.
‘Nala?’ The cub said.
‘Hmm?’
 ‘I don’t want to go on an adventure anymore.’
Nala jerked her head back. ‘What?’
‘This is too scary. I want to go back home.’
‘We can’t go back,’ she argued.
‘Yes, we can,’ Abena said. ‘We just have to walk through that Elephant
Graveyard and the scrubland, and then we’re back at Pride Rock. Please,
Nala. I don’t want to go to Garamba.’
Nala wanted to scream. She knew she never should have allowed the cub
to follow her. She should have predicted this. Abena was nothing but a
baby. She wasn’t ready for a journey of this magnitude.
‘I’m going to Garamba. You can return to Pride Rock if you want to,’
Nala said.
Abena looked up at her with frightened wide eyes. ‘By myself?’
‘I will lose an entire day if I have to take you back,’ Nala said.

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 Abena’s eyes filled with tears.
Nala threw her head back and growled, because she knew there was no
way she could allow the cub to return to Pride Rock on her own. Chances
were high that Abena would get lost before she ever made it through the
Shadowlands. If she made it through the Shadowlands. She would probably
get eaten by a cheetah or a hyena or any number of animals just waiting to
sink their teeth into a plump lion cub.
‘I’m sorry,’ Abena said. ‘I just want to go home. Please, just take me
home.’
Nala released a frustrated sigh. She knew what she had to do.

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 14 Scar

Scar frowned as he felt the warmth of the sun fade 11 om his face.
He twisted atop his favourite rock, the smooth, flat one near the
pinnacle of Pride Rock. He’d coveted this exact rock for years. It
was perfect for the long naps lie preferred to take; he could bathe
in the sun and while away the hours until the lionesses brought
him his food.
But there was no whiling away in the sun because the sun was
no longer shining.

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 •' a u k a H Rochon

Scar lifted one lazy eyelid and peered up at the sky. Those clouds
looked ominous. They Would ruin his day.
‘Oh, phooey,’ he said. ‘I ask for one simple nap in the sun, and I
cannot even get that. What’s good about being king if the universe will
not cooperate in granting my every wish?’
Although he should not complain. The dry season had lasted much too
long. He would never admit it to her, but Sarabi had been right when she
spoke of it playing a part in the scarcity of food. Maybe the impending
rain would be enough to encourage vegetation to start growing again and
bring back some of those plant eaters that served as such wonderful
meals for him and his ilk.
Scar’s frown deepened as the faint sounds of a commotion rose up
from somewhere below. Apparently, no-one wanted him to get any rest
today.
He dragged himself from his lounging rock and walked over to the
ledge so that he could peer down at the clearing. The lionesses were
frantic in their movements, running around like his hyena friends were
chasing their young again.
Please, say it wasn’t so. He’d warned the hyenas to stay away. He
didn’t need the headache. But he didn’t see any of the hyenas, so it
couldn’t be that.

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 Scar narrowed his eyes, zeroing in on Sarabi, who seemed to
have taken charge, as usual.
Were they plotting a takeover?
He had spent the last six months anticipating the hour they
would turn on him. Their bitterness hung over Pride Rock,
permeating the air with the stench of resentment. Scar knew
without a doubt that if given the chance, they would banish him
from this throne that was rightfully his.
He bared his teeth, unable to withhold his angry growl as he
watched them plotting his demise.
It wasn’t supposed to be this way. The lionesses should have
fallen in line; it was what happened when a new leader stepped in
to command a pride.
Maybe he was jumping to conclusions. Sarabi and her
lionesses had never outright defied him; it’s just that they didn’t
show enough... enthusiasm. He wanted their adoration, or at the
very least, their respect.
He would have his little stooge find out what had caused the
ruckus among them.
‘Zazu?’Scar called.
He waited for the bird to respond. When he didn’t, Scar turned
and peered around the landing. It only now occurred to him that
he had not seen Zazu since he returned from his morning exercise.
Where was that dodo bird?

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 ‘.Zazu?’ Scar called again, his anger rising.
He put up with more disrespect from that bird than he should, but
this was beyond the pale. Scar knew for a fact that Mufasa had never
had to call for the little pea-brained fowl more than once. The moment
his brother opened his mouth, Zazu was there, ready to grant his every
wish. Scar expected the same deference.
‘ZAZU!’
A moment later, the bird swooped in from the north, landing at
Scar’s feet.
‘Yes, Sire?’ he asked. He was winded, and his feathers looked
ruffled as if he were agitated.
‘Where were you?’ Scar asked.
‘I... I was ordered by Queen Sarabi—|
‘Z am your king,’ Scar hissed. ‘You do not take orders from Sarabi.’ He
pressed his nose to the bird’s beak and growled. ‘We have been over this
before, Zazu. You are my ’majordomo. Not Sarabi’s, but mine?
U ‘Yes, Sire,’ Zazu said.
r Scar backed away, satisfied by the abject fright he saw in the bird’s eyes.
‘Now that we have that taken care of, I want you to fly down to the
clearing and find out what has the lionesses in an uproar. I can hear them
from all the way up here?

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 ‘Oh, oh, Sire, I do not have to fly down to the clearing to figure that out. I
already know. That is why Queen ... uh...’
‘Out with it,’ Scar said between clenched teeth.
‘Two of the cubs have gone missing,’ Zazu said. ‘The lionesses have been
searching for them all morning. I, myself, flew above half of the Pride
Lands, but I found no trace of them.’
‘Is that so?’ Scar said.
He began a slow stroll around the landing. Now that he knew the
lionesses were not down there conspiring to get rid of him, he wasn’t as
interested in their little palaver.
‘Sire, did you hear me? Two of the cubs are missing. Are you not
concerned?’
Hmm... now that he thought about it, maybe he should show some
concern. Even if he wasn’t. It was what Mufasa Would do.
Not that he wanted to emulate his brother in any way. This was his pride
and he ruled it the way he saw fit. But Scar had to admit that it would be
nice if he could finally win over the lionesses. Maybe showing that he cared
about their little smelly cubs would gain points in his favour.
‘Of course I am concerned,’ Scar said. ‘I must go down there at once.’
Scar started down Pride Rock. He quickly realised that

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a truly concerned king would make haste, so he picked up I the pace,
reaching the clearing in record time.
The lionesses all stopped what they were doing when he entered their
space.
‘What is this I hear about missing cubs?’ Scar asked.
Sarabi started to speak, but it was Fayola who ran up to him, getting in
his face.
‘They took my Abena!’ the lioness shouted, at him. ‘It’s those hyenas'. I
know it is! You brought themhere’?
Scar growled at the lioness. He should have her banished from the pride
for her outburst.
‘Fayola, please,’ Sarabi said.
Two of the other lionesses closed in on her, dragging her away. Scar
stared her down.
‘I will not accept such disrespect,’ Scar said. He turned his attention to
Mufasa’s widow. ‘Tell me what has happened?’
‘When Fayola awakened this morning, she discovered her daughter
Abena and Sarafina’s daughter, Mala, were missing. We have been
searching all day and have covered a large swath of the Pride Lands, but we
cannot find them.’ Sarabi stuck her nose in the air. 4I am starting to suspect
that the hyenas have taken them.’
Twin cries rang out from the lionesses gathered dose by. Scar glanced
over and saw the two who were being

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comforted, Fayola and Sarafina. It occurred to him that Sarafina’s girl was
the one who had always been with Simba.
‘The hyenas know that they are not to disturb the lionesses,’ Scar said. ‘I
have warned them?
‘Maybe they decided not to heed your warning,’ Sarabi said.
His eyes shot back to her, but he managed not to lash out. He must
maintain control. He should be showing concern, not irritation at these
insolent members of his pride.
‘The hyenas obey my command. They know that it is a condition of their
remaining here at Pride Rock,’ Scar said. ‘However, I shall question them
about it. Maybe they heard something during the night?
Gratitude flashed across Sarabi’s face.
Well, that was interesting. Scar wondered what it would take to turn that
gratitude into admiration. Or, better yet, reverence.
That is what he wanted from the members of his pride. He wanted the
same respect and devotion they’d shown to Mufasa for so many years, and
this was the first time he had seen even a hint of it. Maybe he had been
wrong in his approach these last six months.
‘Leave this to me,’ Scar said. ‘I promise, if those hyenas had anything to
do with this, they will pay a high price?
Sarabi nodded. ‘Thank you, Scar?
He left them in the clearing and made his way to the area of Pride Rock
where the hyenas resided, in the shadow of the rock formation.
‘That is very good of you, Sire. Surely, the lionesses appreciate your
taking command in this way,’ Zazu said, flying to the right of him.
‘Reminds me of Mufasa.’
Scar whipped his tail at the bird. ‘Go back to the lionesses,’ he said.
 He didn’t need anyone comparing him to his brother. And he didn’t need
that bird sticking his beak into his business with the hyenas.
Scar grunted.
He detested that he even had any business with the hyenas. What he
wouldn’t give to be done with those mangy bottom feeders. But they had
shown loyalty to him when his own pride had not, so he would continue to
tolerate them. He and the hyenas, they had an . . . understanding. He would
continue to honour it until it no longer suited him. For now, those hyenas
still served a purpose.
| Scar rounded a boulder and spotted Banzai. At least it wasn’t Ed, who
irritated Scar to no end. They all irritated him, if he was being honest, but
none more than Ed.
Banzai would be of no use to him today. He needed the one who
considered herself their leader.
t ‘Shenzi,’ Scar called. ‘Come here at once!’
The hyena sauntered out from between the two large rocks she fancied
a» her headquarters.
‘Oh, hey there, Scar,’ she said. ‘What brings you down here to hang out
with the riffraff?’
The other hyenas chuckled. Their incessant laughter grated on his
nerves. The only thing they seemed to take seriously was their next meal.
‘What do you know about missing lion cubs?’ Scar asked Shenzi.
Her eyes widened. 4 We killed that little lion cub, Scar. I told you that
months ago. You’re the rightful king because Mufasa and his runt are dead.’
‘I’m not talking about Simba, you fool. I know he is dead. I’m talking
about the two lion cubs that went missing last night.’
Shenzi’s head snapped back. ‘Last night?’
‘Yes, two of the cubs are missing, and Sarabi believes you hyenas may
have had something to do with it.’
‘She’s lying on us, Scar,’ Banzai said. ‘Don’t believe a word she says.’
 ‘He’s right,’ Shenzi said. ‘We stay away from those lionesses.’ She
looked around at the other hyenas and grinned. ‘Now, the kills they bring in
are another matter. That zebra they brought home the other night looked so
good, we couldn’t stay away.’

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 They all fell over laughing, rolling around on the ground like the
idiots they were.
‘We will discuss your pillaging the food stores too,’ Scar said. ‘But
not today. There are more important matters to be 'concerned about.’
Besides, he wasn’t up for arguing with these deplorable» over their
raiding the food. It was the job of the lionesses to hunt. They needed to
do a better job of it.
‘So, no-one here had anything to do with the disappearance of those
cubs?’ he asked. ‘I can take your word for it?’
‘Absolutely, Scar. It wasn’t us. I swear,’ Shenzi confirmed.
He shrugged.
That was that. He’d done what he’d promised Sarabi and the others
he would do. Let them figure out what happened to their cubs. It was
no longer his problem.
Besides, it’s what they deserved for treating him the way they had
since he took over as their leader.

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15
Nala

Nala swatted at a beetle that buzzed near her ear as she lay at the edge of
the grasslands, crouched low. She was trying to be covert here. All she
needed was a pesky insect giving away their location.
Although Nala was pretty sure there was no-one around to alert. All was
calm.
Still, even though they were back on her pride’s lands, she was keeping
her eyes open for potential predators. This past day of having to be the
grown-up had given her a new

154

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appreciation for the security the older lionesses provided. She’d never
considered the heavy responsibility those watching out for her felt while she
had played around carefree, but she would from now on.
‘Let’s go,’ Nala whispered to Abena. ‘Remember, be quiet.’
After the rain had finally let up, she and Abena had left the shelter of the
kopje. They’d come upon a family of gazelles grazing near the mud pit
where Abena had got stuck. Once Nala assured them that they were not
there to hunt, the mama gazelle shared with her a quicker way to the Pride
Lands, one that bypassed the Elephant Graveyard.
She and Abena had begun the trek back to Pride Rock, making it to the
grasslands on the outskirts of their kingdom just as the sun was beginning to
set. Now all she had to do was get Abena halfway to the waterhole. Nala
trusted that the cub would be okay to travel the rest of the way home, and it
would give her time to put some distance between herself and Pride Rock.
Even though she had made Abena swear that she would not give away her
location or where she was headed, Nala was taking no chances.
And now that the sun was inching closer to the horizon, the cluster of bull
stars would be out again, ready to lead the way to Simba.

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 It was difficult for Nala to hold in her excitement. When
she’d mentioned Garamba to the gazelle, the slim antelope said
she and her family had just returned from the Zemongo Faunal
region and had passed through Garamba. She had assured Nala
that she was on the right track. And, even better, that she should be
able to reach Garamba in less than two days.
Knowing she was so close to potentially finding her best friend
had renewed her resolve to see this through. She was eager to get
back to her journey.
But first, she had to return Abena home safely.
‘Come on,’ Nala said. ‘Let’s get a bit closer.’
She looked overhead, searching for Zazu. It would be just her
luck that the bird would choose to fly around this area just as she
and Abena were returning. But thankfully, the coast remained
clear. They didn’t encounter Zazu, any of the lionesses from their
pride, or any other animal, for that matter. It almost seemed too
good to be true.
They reached the smallest of the baobab trees that grew near the
perimeter of the grasslands, where they met up with the open
savanna. The vegetation was sparse here, with far fewer places to
take cover. Nala stopped and turned to Abena.
‘Okay, you have to travel the rest of the way on your own,’ she
said.

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 Panic shot into Ahena’s eyes, but it was quickly replaced with
confidence. She stood up straight and nodded. ‘I can do it,’ she said.
Nala begrudgingly admitted to herself that she was i - going to miss
having the cub by her side. Thanks to her mum, she and Abena had more in
common than Nala had first thought—not only did they both resent being
treated like babies, but they both hated violent thunderstorms too.
What had shocked Nala most about Abena was just how strong-
willed she was. and smart. She was so smart. It wasn’t until she'd taken
the time to really listen to the cub that Nala realised just how much their
pride underestimated their youngest member.
The cub had opened Nala’s eyes in multiple ways in the short amount
of time since they had taken off together. The brief hunting lesson was
the most important thing Nala had learnt, of course, but she’d also
learnt how to stand up for herself. Even though Abena was smaller and
younger, she had refused to back down when Nala tried to pressure her
into following Nala’s rules.
Nala used to have that kind of confidence in herself It had taken this
brave little cub to remind her that it was still there, lurking inside of her.
She just had to believe she could do this.
Are you readv?’ Nala asked.

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 Abena nodded.
‘Now, you remember what I said, right?’
Another nod. ‘I will tell the lionesses that I followed you when you
snuck out of the sleeping quarters, but I got lost before I ever made it off the
Pride Lands. And then I fell asleep under a jackalberry tree.’
‘Good,’ Nala said. Abena had remembered their story. ‘And don’t forget
to mention that I am long gone and you don’t remember the direction I was
heading, so there is no use in anyone looking for me.’
‘Oh, I forgot the part about the rain,’ Abena said. ‘I’ll tell them that the
rain came and I was too afraid to move, which is why it took so long to
make it back to Pride Rock. At least that part is true, so it doesn’t feel as if
I’m telling a tale to my mama,’ Abena finished.
Nala hated to lie as well, but she had no choice.
Although what she hated even more than lying was envisioning how
worried her mother would be to know that Nala was out here somewhere.
‘On second thought, why don’t we stick closer to the truth?’ Nala said.
She started warming up to the idea. ‘Yeah, you can tell them that we did
leave the Pride Lands together, but you don’t remember how to get back to
where we were. However, they shouldn’t worry because I am okay.

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Tell .my mother I just wanted to go on an adventure and I will be back
home soon. But whatever you do, do not mention Garamba,’ Nala said.
‘No-one can know that I’m going there.’
Abena tipped her head to the side. ‘But I don’t understand why. You told
the gazelle that you were going to Garamba.’
‘That was different,’ Nala said. ‘No-one, from Pride Rock can know.
Promise me, Abena. Do not say the word Garamba. If you do, you will ruin
everything.’
‘I won’t,’ Abena said. She frowned. ‘Are you sure you will be okay on
your own? How will you eat?’
‘I don’t have to eat for another day, at least. And, when it’s time to find
food again, I’ll hunt.’ She playfully bumped Abena with her shoulder. ‘I had
a pretty good teacher give me some tips.’
‘Are you sure you still want to go on your adventure?’ Abena asked. ‘It
was scary out there. What if there is another storm?’
‘I’ll find shelter,’ Nala said. ‘Don’t worry about me.’
‘Okay,’ she said. ‘And I won’t tell anyone where you are going. I
promise.’ She nudged her head against Nala’s neck. ‘‘Be careful out there,
Nala. I hope you have a lot of fun on your adventure.’ She looked up at her
and smiled. ‘The next time Ola and Kahina call you a coward, I’m going to
tell them they don’t know what they’re talking about. You’re one of the
bravest cubs I know.’
‘Thanks,1 Nala said, her chest growing warm at the young cub’s praise.
‘I’ll be back soon. And I may just bring you a surprise. A good one.’
A really good one. That was her entire reason for doing this, to bring her
pride the best surprise they all could ever hope for.
 ‘It’s time for you to go.’ Nala nudged her. ‘Go on?
Abena nodded, then turned and took off across the grasslands. Nala
huddled next to the baobab tree’s thick trunk and watched the cub as she
travelled across the open plateau. She had decided she would remain here
until she could no longer see Abena and then stay just a bit longer, until the
last of the sunlight dipped below the horizon. She calculated that Abena
should reach the waterhole around that same time.
She could make out the very tip of Pride Rock from where she stood, but
Nala pushed back the feelings of melancholy. She would not allow her
mission to succumb to homesickness. Sure, she missed her pride, and she
would give anything to alleviate the worry she knew her mum must be
feeling, but getting word of her safety from Abena would take care of her
mother’s distress.
As for her longing for home? Well, she would let thoughts of what
the Pride Lands would feel like once Simba returned and took his
rightfol place as leader of Pride Rock assuage any wistfulness she felt.
She took one final look in the direction Abena had gone, then turned
and raced towards the bull-shaped stars.
And, hopefully, towards Simba.

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 16 Sarabi

Sarabi slowly paced the length of the landing that jutted out from their
sleeping quarters. This walk usually summoned feelings of joy as memories
of the many times she and Mufasa had stood at the very tip of the landing,
looking out over the land he ruled, would often play in her mind.
But there was no joy today, only an agonising worry that escalated with
every moment that passed without word from Nala and Ahena.
Farrah rochon

The lionesses had come up here to rest after a long day of searching for
the cubs, but Sarabi knew rest was not in her future. There were too many
hazards out there. It wasn’t safe even for a grown lioness to travel those
lands; to know that those two young cubs were possibly out there on their
own sickened her.
And that was the more positive of the two scenarios. Sarabi did not want
to contemplate the other thing that may have happened to the girls. Scar had
assured her that the hyenas had nothing to do with their disappearance.
Sarabi could do nothing but take him—and therefore the hyenas— at his
word.
It was a difficult task. Scar had never given her reason to distrust him in
the past, but ever since he took over as the leader of their pride, Sarabi had
seen a side of him that he’d previously hidden from her—from all of them.
She found herself questioning every decision he made. It was as if he
intentionally made choices that went against all that Mufasa stood for,
starting with welcoming the hyenas into their kingdom.
Her head told her that Scar would not knowingly stand with the hyenas if
he believed they had brought harm to two cubs of his own pride, but her gut
cautioned her to keep a Wary eye on her brother-in-law.

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 B K P K E PA MF. 0

Sarabi agitated h swished her tail along the landing. Her misgivings
about Scar should be of lit tie concern right now. AH that mattered was
getting to the bottom of what had become ofNaia and Aliena.
She glanced over at Fayola and Sarafina. and her heart twisted in
empathising pain. The two lionesses lay with their forelegs entwined,
one's head resting against the other's. Fayolas oldest. Ola. lay tucked
under her mother’s paw. Sadness hung in the air over all of Pride Rock,
but it seemed to emanate from the two lionesses and cub in the corner.
'Sarabi?'
She turned to find Thandi standing just behind her. ‘What is it?' Sarabi
asked.
‘We need to do something.' Thandi said. ‘I cannot just sit around. I know
we shou Id be resting, but who can rest knowing Nah and Abena are out
there? Anything could be happening to them. You have to let us continue
our search. We'll rest better once we know the cubs are safe?
Sarai» turned and looked at the others. They all seemed anxious to get
going. She knew they wanted to be out there searching the savanna, but she
also knew if they did not rest and recuperate, their bodies would give out on
them. They wouldn't be of help to Abena, Nala or anyone else if that were
to happen.
Her lionesses would not go unless she gave them

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 ft O’. HOM

permission; it was a call she hated to make. She sdtoihto »elf, What would
Mufa w do? But if «he was hoping far a quick answer, she was in for a rude
»wakening.
She would have to make this decision on her own.
‘Did you question the other cubs?’ Sarabi asked. Did they not see
anything?7
Thandi shook her head.
‘Are they sure Nala did not mention leaving U*l night? Sarabi asked.
‘Nala did not share anything with any of the cubs, she said. ‘They said
they do not really talk to Nah because she glanced towards Sarafina and
whispered — it*» because she keeps her so sheltered. They said it isn’t fun
to play with Nala because Sarafina is always hovering.’
And that was the source of their problem, Sarabi was sure of it.
Since returning to Pride Rock to rest and discus« their next steps, the
lionesses had come to the conclusion that if the hyenas had not snatched the
cubs, they must have left of their own volition. And it was more likely that
Nah was the one who left, with Abena following. Unless Nah had witnessed
Abena taking off and had gone in search of het. but Fayola was adamant
that Abena would never do such a thing. She had no reason to want to run.
Nala, on the other paw, did. Sarabi knew how frustrated the cub had
become with her mother’s overprotectiveness. Asking Sarabi to intervene
on her hehaIf had possibly been Nala’s last straw.
But she wouldn’t be so careless as to leave the Pride Lands, would she?
'Sarabi. can we continue our search?’ Thandi asked.
‘Please.’
 Sarabi sighed. She turned and walked back to the edge of the landing,
hoping for a sign from Mufasa about what to do.
just as she was about to turn back to Thandi, she caught something out of
the comer of her eye. Sarabi squinted, trying to make out the figure running
towards Pride Rock. At first she thought it was a fox or a meerkat. But then
the cloud that had passed in front of the moon cleared and illuminated the
figure.
Realisation dawned.
‘Oh my goodness,’ Sarabi breathed.
She took off, racing down the side of Pride Rock with a vigor she had not
felt in months. She heard Thandi calling her name but did not stop to
explain. She immediately heard the pounding of multiple paws behind her
as the other lionesses fell in line. Sarabi covered the distance between
herself and the cub in record time.
F A n R A II R 0 C II <) N

But before she could reach Abena, Fayola Hew past her. The mother
lioness scooped her cub into her forelegs and went tumbling forwards.
Excited gasps rang out as the other lionesses who had followed came
upon them. Sarabi took a step back and ordered the others to do the same.
Fayola deserved this time with her daughter.
She surveyed the land, searching for Nala. Surely the other cub could not
be far behind.
Sarafina charged into the clearing, screaming her daughter’s name.
Excitement and panic made her voice sound shrill.
k ‘Nala! Where’s Nala! Nala, come here at once!’ Sarafina ■ screamed.
‘Where is she? Nala!’
? That was Sarabi’s question. It appeared Abena had returned alone.
| Dread churned in the pit of Sarabi’s stomach. Some- ' thing was wrong.
The girls had to have left Pride Rock together—there was no way both had
decided to leave on the same night but had done so separately. So why was
Abena the only one to return?
‘Where’s Nala?’ Sarafina screeched. She ran up to Abena and Fayola and
screamed in the younger cub’s face. ‘Where is my girl?’
Sarabi looked to Kito and Sefu. They understood her command without
her having to voice it. But when the lionesses tried to pull her away,
Sarafina wrenched out of their grasp.
‘No! She needs to tell me where Nala is!’ she cried.
Sarabi motioned for Thandi to help Kito and Sefu. Together they
gathered a wailing Sarafina and moved several metres away, far enough to
prevent Sarafina’s hysterical cries from scaring Abena, but close enough to
hear what was being said by the cub.
Sarabi spoke quietly. ‘Fayola, I will need to question her. This is
important?
Fayola nodded. She turned Abena so that she faced Sarabi, but she did
not let go. Sarabi could not fault her for wanting to hold her baby tight.
-Abena, did you leave here with Nala?’ Sarabi asked the cub.
She looked away and nodded.
‘When?’ Sarabi asked.
‘Last night,’ she answered.
‘Did the two of you plan this? Did you know you were going to leave
before last night?’
 She shook her head. ‘I couldn’t sleep. And I saw Nala leave the cave, so I
followed her?

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 A R R A II R o c h O N

‘Where is she?!’ Sarafina screamed. 1

Sarabi’s eyes darted to where die lionesses held her i
back, but then she returned her attention to Abena.
‘Why didn’t Nala return with you? Did you two lose each other?’
She nodded enthusiastically. ‘Yes. I followed her, but then I got lost and
never made it off the Pride Lands. But then—’ She stopped. ‘Wait,’ Abena
said, her forehead scrunching. ‘That’s wrong. We decided to tell the truth.’
Sarabi’s pulse quickened. ‘What is the truth?’ she asked.
‘Where is Nala?’
‘I don’t know,’ Abena said. ‘1... 1 got scared because of the storm?’ She
shook her head. ‘No, I didn’t get scared.
Yes, I did get scared. That’s the truth. But... I can’t remem- . her,’ she said.
« She buried her face against her mothers neck. It was obvious Nala and
the younger cub had cobbled together some story for the girl to report back
to them.
‘It is very important that you tell me the truth, Abena,’ Sarabi said. ‘The
real truth. Nala is in grave danger?
‘No, she just wanted to go on an adventure. She told me to tell her mama
that she is safe. She just... she was toed of being treated like a baby. And me
too,’ Abena said. ‘That’s
. why I went with her. But 1 really did get scared when die

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 Be prepared

storm came. And the elephants too. There were so many of them. They
made the ground rumble?
My goodness. A stampede. They had faced a stampede.
‘Nala just wanted to go on an adventure,’ Abena said. She called out to
where the lionesses held Sarafina. ‘She was mad because you wouldn’t let
her hunt. But she’s not mad anymore because I taught her how to hunt.
She’s okay.’
Sarabi cautioned a glance at her friend. She saw the devastation in
Sarafina’s eyes, and for the first time, it seemed as if she was finally
recognising the part her actions of the last six months had played in this.
She had smothered Nala, so the cub had chosen to break free.
‘Where is Nala?’ Sarabi asked Abena.
She shook her head. ‘I can’t tell you?
‘Abena!’ Sarabi, Fayola and several of the other lionesses yelled
simultaneously.
The cub gasped and buried her face against her mother, but Fayola
would not allow her to stay hidden. The time for coddling was over.
‘Where did Nala go?’ Fayola asked her daughter. ‘Tell us now, Abena.
This is not the time to play around?
‘Nala will be so mad at me,’ she said.
‘That does not matter. We need to make sure Nala is safe! We must find
her and bring her back to Pride Rock

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before something horrible happens to her. Now tell us
where she was headed?
The cub bowed her head and muttered something
unintelligible.
‘What was that?’ Sarabi asked. 1
Abena looked up at her and said in a stronger voice, ‘Garamba?
‘Garamba?’ Sarafina asked.
‘What does she know of Garamba?’ Thandi added.
But Sarabi knew.
‘She is going after Simba? She closed her eyes and released a deep
breath. ‘She must have overhead when the mongoose reported the sighting
there. Which way did you travel?’ Sarabi asked Abena. She looked towards
the Shadowlands. ‘Were there skeletons there? And water that shot up from
the ground?’
‘The Elephant Graveyard,’ Abena said. She lifted her chin, an air of
cockiness in her voice. ‘I wasn’t afraid of that part, even in the dark.
Although by the time we made it to the other side of it, the sun had come
up?
So they’d made it through the Shadowlands. Sarabi tried to calculate how
far Nala would have travelled in the time it took Abena to make a return trip
to Pride Rock.
. She was likely halfway to Garamba by now. Their problem

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 lay in the vastness of the savanna. There were multiple routes to
Garamba, and it would be difficult to know which Nala took.
Unless...
‘Abena, do you remember a gorge?’ Sarabi asked.
The cub frowned. ‘No.’
‘What about a mountain?’ Sarabi asked. ‘It would have been very tall,
with a smaller one right next to it.’
‘Yes.’ She nodded. ‘I remember seeing it while we were in the free,
waiting for the elephants to run past us. It was still far away, though.’
‘That’s okay,’ Sarabi said. ‘This is good.’ It narrowed their search.
If they had gone the way of the mountain and not the gorge, it meant
Nala was travelling northwest, through the pass most of the migrating
animals took. It was a shorter route to Garamba, but also more dangerous
for a cub to travel alone.
‘The skeletons and the mountains are all you remember?’ Sarabi
asked. The more information the cub could provide, the better their
chances of tracking Nala down.
‘Yeah, that’s it,’ Abena said. ‘I wasn’t scared of the skeletons, but I’m
glad we didn’t have to go through the Elephant Graveyard on our way
back.’

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ARRAU
ROCHON
Sarabi stood erect. Our way back? 1
‘So, Nala followed you back to Pride Rock?"1 Sarabi asked.
The cub’s eyes widened as if she knew she’d just said something she
wasn’t supposed to share.
‘Tell me, Abena,’ Sarabi ordered. If Nala had accompanied her, there was
still a chance they could catch her before she got too far. ‘Did Nala bring
you back to Pride Rock?’
Abena nodded. ‘She brought me to the edge of the grasslands and said
she would stay until 1 reached the waterhole.’
That was all Sarabi needed to hear.
‘Lionesses! Assemble!’ she called. In an instant, they were all huddled
around her. ‘There is a chance that Nala is still dose by. She followed Abena
as far as the perimeter of the grasslands and remained there until Abena
reached the waterhole. She could not have got far. We will fan out and
search for her. Get into pairs.
I ‘I will go with Thandi,’ Sarafina said.
‘No,’ Sarabi told her.
It hurt her to say the word, but certainly not as much as it hurt Sarafina to
hear it. Sarabi knew this would only deepen the rift between them, but the
lioness was too excitable to join the search. It was just as it had been when
they’d first discovered the cubs were missing and Fayola had demanded to
go looking for Abena.
‘You will be more of a hindrance than a help,’ Sarabi said.
‘You cannot stop me from searching!’ Sarafina cried.
‘I have made my decision,’ Sarabi said. ‘You will not go.’
She almost flinched at the spark of hatred that flashed in her best
friend’s eyes. That hate was directed solely at Sarabi, and it made her
heart shatter, the jagged pieces stabbing her with every breath.
‘No-one is going.’
Sarabi whipped around at the pronouncement.
Scar.

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 17
Scar

I Scar took in the shocked fades of the lionesses and could I 'barely contain
his delight. It was deliciously invigorating, this power he wielded over
them. They could not take a
l single step without his say-so. It was something they needed to be

reminded of on occasion.
F And what better occasion was there than this one, when „ "the fate of
one of their own hung in the balance? Yet, they L:. could do nothing about
it unless he granted his blessing.
As usual, it was his sister-in-law who spoke up.
17S
‘You cannot do this, Scar. We must go! Nala is out there. The longer
we’re standing here, the more distance she will put between herself and
home. Do not stop us from going after her?
He donned his most superior look as he stared at her.
‘I have spoken. None of you are allowed to go after Nala,’ he reiterated.
Horrified gasps rang out among the lionesses. Sarafina wailed while
several of the others stared at him with a mixture of dismay and rage.
will do it,’ Scar said.
More gasps, these filled more with shock than horror.
‘You?’ Sarabi asked.
 Yes, him. He was as surprised as they were, if he was being honest. But
Nala’s little disappearing act had provided Scar with the opportunity he had
been seeking. This was his chance to prove his worth to his pride.
Sarabi had been quick to accuse the hyenas of snatching the cub, which
meant she ultimately blamed him. They still viewed him as being more on
the side of the hyenas’ kingdom than of his own kind. As if anyone could
blame him if that were the case. It wasn’t, of course. He was on his own j
side, no-one else’s.
If he had to choose the ideal existence, it would be one where he ruled
Pride Rock better than any of those who had

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come before him. He’d choose an existence where he had the esteem of the
entire animal kingdom. Why did these imbeciles not realise this was all
about him?
Once again, their commotion that evening had awakened him from a
pleasant sleep. He had come down to the clearing ready to chastise the
rowdy lionesses over their noise, but when he saw Fayola scoop up the
grimy-faced cub, he understood what was happening—that there was a
reunion—and he instead began preparing to demand an apology from the
lionesses on behalf of the hyenas.
As he’d stood in the shadows, listening to Sarabi’s questioning of the
little one who had made her way back to Pride Rock (the runt could use a
lesson in lying; she was appallingly bad at it), he realised that only one of
the two missing cubs had returned.
But as the cub stammered through her translucent lies, apian had begun
to take shape in Scar’s mind.
If he could bring Nala safely back to Pride Rock, then it would solidify
him as a leader worthy of his pride’s respect and fealty. It was more than he
should have to do—the highest regard should be granted to him simply by
virtue of his position—but he guessed nothing came without a small price.
He would have to earn the lionesses’ respect, and finding Nala was how
he would do it.

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 ‘As the leader of this pride, it is only right that I go ¡n search of Nala. It
is my duty and responsibility to keep the pride safe?
‘But—’
‘The lionesses have their own duties; they should be attending to
those? He looked over at the group of lionesses. ‘Shouldn’t most of you
be hunting right now?’ He turned hack to Sarabi. ‘Is this how you lead
your lionesses? How do you expect them to sustain a search without any
sustenance?’
‘We wouldn’t have to hunt if those hyenas had not raided our kill?
Scar whipped around. ‘Who said that?’
No-one spoke, but irritation radiated from the insolent, disrespectful
bunch.
Their discomfort was as satisfying as a loud burp after a good meal. He
should not take such pleasure in this, but alas, it would seem being treated
as a scoundrel by his own kind had this effect on him. Who would have
thought?
‘I have made my decision,’ Scar said. ‘Zazu and I will fetch Nala?
He turned to Fayola, who still held her cub. What was this one’s name
again? There were too many of them for him to keep track.
‘Now, little one, where did Nala leave you?’

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 She repeated the story Scar had heard her tell Sarabi before he’d made
his presence known.
‘If that is the case, I should be able to reach her before she makes it to the
Shadowlands,’ Scar said after she was done.
‘But Abena said they took a different route on their way back to Pride
Rock,’ Sarabi said. ‘Scar, why don’t you let Kito and Sefu go one way and
you and Zazu can go another. It just makes—’
‘No,’ he said. With the way his luck had played out lately, the two
lionesses would find Nala and be back at Pride Rock before he and Zazu
reached the north side of the Elephant Graveyard. He had to be the one to
bring Nala back. No-one else.
‘Now I will gather Zazu, and we will be on our way.’
‘Right here, Sire,’ Zazu said, flying in and landing at Scar’s side. ‘Let’s
go get that cub. Don’t you worry about a thing, Sarabi. We’ll get her back.
All will be just fine?
Scar blew out an annoyed breath. Maybe he should go alone.
He managed to swallow the words before he could speak them. Besides,
Zazu could prove to be useful.
‘Let us go,’ Scar said to the bird.
They took off in the direction of the cut-around that would allow them to
bypass the Shadowlands altogether.

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 ‘Once we reach the grasslands, I want you to fly ahead to see if you
can spot the cub,’ Scar instructed. ‘She could not have got much further
than the scrubland.’
‘No problem, Sire. I’m here to be your eyes and ears. We will find
Nala. I don’t know what that little one was thinking, running off in such a
way. Doesn’t she know the fright she caused among the pride? Sarafina
will have to give her a stern talking to when she returns.’
‘Tone it down,’ Scar muttered under his breath. If he had to listen to this
bird’s ceaseless drivel all night, he would not be responsible for what he
did next. Red-billed hornbill stew had a tasty ring to it.
‘Uh, where exactly are we going, Sire?’ Zazu asked.
Scar realised the bird had not been around when the cub explained
where she and Nala had run off to.
‘According to Fayola’s littlest—’
‘Abena,’ Zazu provided.
Whatever.
‘According to her, Nala wanted a grand adventure in
Garamba, but Sarabi believes this has something to do with Simba.’
Zazu sighed. ‘Ah, yes. One of the queen’s scouts reported a sighting in
Garamba just the other day. But just between you and me, I do not think
there is any merit

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 behind it. It seems Queen Sarabi doesn’t either; she told the scouts to
suspend all searches?
This was the first Scar was hearing of this. He knew Sarabi had
dispatched animals throughout the Pride Lands and beyond to look for
Simba. She had convinced herself that because his body had not been
recovered alongside Mufasa’s, it meant he must still be alive. Scar didn’t
have the heart to tell her how foolishly wrong she was to believe such a
thing.
Zazu was still yammering on about poor little Simba.
‘Unfortunately, as much as we all hope that Simba survived that
stampede, it is time we accept that he is never coming back?
If only they knew that their precious Simba had indeed survived that
stampede. But Zazu was right on one front: Thanks to Shenzi and her crew,
Simba was never coming back. Ever.
tn Scar let out a chuckle before he could stop himself. He quickly coughed
and sniffed in an attempt to cover his gaffe.
‘I know, I know,’ Zazu said. ‘I still find myself tearing up over the loss
too. I guess poor Nala is holding on to one last bit of hope?
‘By putting herself at risk? It’s foolish,’ Scar said.
‘Well, she is just a cub,’ Zazu said. ‘And she did lose her best friend.
Grief can sometimes lead to poor judgement. You know, Sire, one thing I
admire about you is how well you handled the loss of both Mufasa and
Simba. You were able to step in and take over the reign of Pride Rock
despite your obvious grief?
Scar averted his face so the bird couldn’t see him roll his eyes.
‘Yes, well, I did what I had to do,’ Scar said. ‘I knew my pride was
depending on me. I could not spend my days wallowing in the sorrow of
losing my dear brother and nephew?
‘I think Mufasa would be proud of you,’ Zazu said.
His words rankled.
Why should he care what Mufasa would have thought of him? He did
not need approval from a dead king.
Scar was very close to ordering his majordomo to refrain from bringing
up his brother to him. Except that he couldn’t figure out how to do it
without revealing how he really felt about Mufasa. Zazu was irritating, but
he was also smart. He would pick up on any animosity Scar revealed.
Instead, he would have to continue playing the role of the bereaved
brother and uncle who bravely stepped in to fulfill his duty as king.
‘I live to make my brother proud,’ Scar said.
A brisk wind blew in from the west, bringing with it a faint yet eerily
familiar scent.
‘Wait,’ Scar said. He closed his eyes and sniffed the air. It had to be the
cub.
‘That way,’ he whispered. In a louder voice, he said, - ‘Zazu, there is a
place at the edge of the forest that has a gathering of kopje and other rock
formations. I believe she is that way. It would corroborate what that other
cub said about the elephant stampede. The elephants making their way to
the Masai Mara would have taken that route to avoid the Shadowlands.’
Thank goodness he had picked up on that foolish little cub’s scent. If
Zazu could spot her and direct him where to find her, Scar predicted they
would be home before sun-up. He hoped those lionesses had procured more
food, because this walk had made him famished. It felt as if he would wilt
way before he made it back to Pride Rock.
Yet, what Scar thought would be an easy search turned out to be more
difficult than he’d anticipated. Zazu returned to say that he’d found traces
of Nala’s footsteps hut could not find the cub anywhere.
‘If she was near the waterhole when she brought that other cub back—’
‘Abena, Sire. You should really learn the cubs’ names.’ k ‘That is not my
priority at the moment,’ Scar said between clenched teeth.
k ‘Very true. As you were saying,’ Zazu said.
BE PREPARED

‘Nala should not have been able to make it very far » §c said.
‘Especially in the dark. Wouldn’t she be frightened?^
‘Oh, I doubt it,’, Zazu said. ‘She is braver than he mother gives her
credit for. She and Simba would often take off on their own. They gave
Sarafina, Sarabi and Mufasaquite a time trying to rein them in.’
If this dodo mentioned Mufasa one more time, Scar was going to
snatch each of his feathers out one by one.
‘Well, her bravery may get her more than just a repri- mand,’ Scar
said. It might cost the little fool her life and ruin his chances of winning
favour with the lionesses.
Scar was hit with a stunning realisation, something he had not
considered when he’d come up with this hasty plan to play the hero. If he
did not return with Nala, or if she was harmed in any way before he could
get her back to Pride Rock, his pride wouldn’t just turn on him—they
would likely do him harm. They might even kill him.
He had seen it before. Members of a pride swore their allegiance to their
pride leader, but if given the grounds to revolt, they would, He’d got the
sense that his pride had/ been seeking a reason to revolt from the moment
he took1 over as leader.
It wasn’t just Nala’s survival on the line here—it was his own.
‘Come, Zazu,’ Scar said. ‘Nala is out her alone. We must find her and
bring her home safely.’
Or it could be deadly for both of them.
 18
Nala

The brisk wind blew so hard it cut through Nala’s fur, reaching her skin and
making her shiver. She didn’t know what to make of the strange turn in the
weather. It seemed as if the hot and dry days they had experienced for
months had suddenly disappeared, replaced by a shift in the weather,
starting with the violent storm she and Abena had suffered through. It was
chilly, with a heavy dampness that continued to saturate the air.

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 Nala reminded herself that the chill she couldn’t seem to shake from her
bones was a small price to pay to get Simba back.
Thank goodness that gazelle had told her how to bypass the Elephant
Graveyard. It had saved her time in getting back to the spot where she and
Abena had been caught up in that stampede. But just as she attempted to
surge ahead in her quest to find Simba, another dilemma reared its head in
the form of thick clouds.
They had rolled in just as she’d reached the kopje where she had ridden
out the earlier storm, obscuring the moon and stars and slowing her
progress. Nala supposed she could try to guess where the bull-shaped
cluster of stars was located in the sky, but it was the thought of pressing on
with her journey only to discover that she was moving in the wrong
direction once the sky cleared that persuaded her to wait for the clouds to
move on.
Hopefully, it wouldn’t take much longer. She had already lost so much time
having to take Abena back to Pride Rock.
She trusted Abena would not reveal where she was heading, but that
wasn’t her only concern. She also had to think about what she would—or
worse, would not—find once she arrived in Garamba. Even if Simba was
seen there as the
mongoose had reported, it wasn’t a guarantee that he would stay there. The
longer it took her to make it to Garamba, the greater the risk that she would
miss out on finding Simba.
She stared up at the sky. Even more clouds had moved in.
At least she knew of a good place to rest. The kopje had been
comfortable enough.
Just as she started for the small cluster of boulders, Nala stopped at the
sound of rustling in the patch of reedy grasses to her right. She hunched
down, unsure if she was about to become the predator or the prey. More
rustling. Suddenly a plump hare scrambled out of the grasses.
She grinned. ‘Predator.’
She was still full after eating the hare Abena had hunted for them, but
she knew it would not sustain her forever. She would have to hunt before
she reached Garamba.
She hadn’t thought about how much harder it would be to procure food
on her own. There was a reason the lionesses hunted in pairs—and often
groups of three or four—and why it took years of practice.
Of course! That’s what she could do while she waited for the clouds to
move. She could practise hunting!
What if she returned to Pride Rock with both Simba and a. new ability to
hunt? What would her pride think of her then?

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 Excited by the thought, Nala set out in the direction the hare had escaped,
her steps measured and methodical. She crouched low to the ground and
kept her eyes open for even the slightest movement. The bustling wind
made it difficult to distinguish sounds, but the more she concentrated, the
better she was able to tell the difference between the rustling leaves and the
humming insects.
Her ears perked up at the sound of feet pattering on the rain-softened
earth. The plop, plop, plop of the mud was unmistakable. Nala held her
body as still as a steady baobab trunk, biding her time until the hare
revealed its hiding place.
Her patience paid off; she caught a glimpse of the brown-and-white fur
out of the corner of her eye. Applying the techniques Abena had shared,
Nala slowly backtracked so that she could approach the hare from the rear.
Taking cover behind a bush that had just begun sprouting new leaves, she
zeroed in on her prey.
Nala pounced ...
And caught the hare!
She sat on her hind legs and clenched the hare between her paws before
releasing it from her teeth. She stared at the creature in wonderment, hardly
able to believe that had just happened.
‘I did it,’ she said in an awed whisper.

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 Be prepared

It was a small one, but she wouldn’t let that take away from her
victory. She had never caught a hare before. They were quick, so quick
they sometimes proved to be a challenge for grown lionesses who had
been hunting for years. Yet, she had caught one by herself! With no
other lioness there to help her!
‘I did it!’ Nala shouted. She held the hare high above her head like the
grand prize it was. ‘I did ... it.’
Nala looked around and her spirits deflated. What was the use in
celebrating her successful hunt if she didn’t have the rest of her
pridemates to celebrate it with?
She looked at the squirming little hare.
‘I caught* you,’ she said excitedly. Her shoulders slumped. ‘But I
guess you wouldn’t want to celebrate with me.’ She tipped her head to the
side. ‘Don’t worry, little one. I’m not very hungry. Besides, you need
time to get bigger before you’re of use to any lion.’
She set the hare on the ground and released it from her grip. It dashed
into the tall grass.
Nala walked over to the small waterhole and lapped the water, her body
still tingling from the thrill of having captured the hare.
‘Take that, Ola and Kahina,’ she said.
If only they were around to see it.

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 But the more she thought about it, the less she wanted to rub her victory
in Ola’s and Kahina’s faces. She wanted them to see that they could rely
on her to provide for the pride, as they all would be expected to do one
day.
She just wanted to feel like one of them, like she belonged.
Her mother’s insistence that she not leave the area near Pride Rock had
made her such an outcast, but if Nala was being honest with herself, she
could admit that her mother’s overprotectiveness was not the only cause
for her isolation from the other cubs in the pride. It had started well before
Simba left them. Actually, it was because of Simba.
Her close relationship with their pride’s future king had created a
certain amount of distance between herself and the other cubs. It’s why
Ola and Lindiwe and the others had accused Nala of thinking she was
better than the rest of them.
Nala dropped her head to her chest as she accepted an uncomfortable
truth about herself.
She had thought she was better than the others. Not better, but more
important. Not everyone could call themselves the future king’s very best
friend; how could she not feel special?
She wouldn’t allow herself to fall into that way of
8 E PREPARED

thinking if die brought Simba back to Pride Rock. When she brought him
back to Pride Rock. She would make an effort to grow hear friendship with
all the cubs. A close-knit pride was a strong pride, and Nala vowed to make
sure her pride remained strong.
She looked up at the sky again, but she knew she would not find any
stars. She could barely make out the moon. The clouds had grown even
thicker, and the air had the same kind of weightiness she had felt just before
that rainstorm.
It wouldn’t rain so soon again, would it?
Three drops pelted her head in quick succession.
‘Oh no,’ Nala said. ‘Not again.’
But yes, here it was. Those three fat drops quickly numbered too many
for her to count. The rain bombarded her, pounding the ground in a deluge
that seemed to have come from out of nowhere. Nala raced for the kopje,
finding the same alcove she had used as shelter earlier.
She rested her chin on her paws and stared out at the torrential
downpour. The more she stared, the heavier her eyelids became.
Maybe she should take a short nap. If tonight’s storm was anything like
the previous one, it would not last long. She could rest lor a bit and then she
would be even more ready to continue on her journey to Garamba.
‘That's what I'll do,’ Nala said around a yawn. "I'll take just a short nap?
She lolled her head to the side and closed her eyes, let- ting the melodic
pounding of the rain carry her to sleep.

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 19
Nala

Nala stretched her front legs out ahead of her and twisted around in the
small alcove. She thought about opening her eyes but then decided against
it. The feel of the sun on her face felt too good. Besides, her mother wasn’t
here to nag her about waking up.
Wait! The sun?
‘Well, are you going to wake up?’ Her mother?
Nala’s eyes popped open. She quickly closed them; the

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 Farrah rochon

bright sun that had felt so good a moment ago now blinded her. Had she
slept through the night? She was only supposed to take a short nap to wait
out the rain.
Nala groaned.
‘That is enough of that, Miss Nala.’
She slowly lifted one eye open and frowned, blinking several times. She
couldn’t be sure if what she was seeing was real or just her mind playing a
cruel joke on her.
‘Zazu?’ Nala croaked.
‘You have a lot of explaining to do, missy!’
‘What . . •’ She looked around. ‘What are you doing here?’
‘That is my question to you. Do you have any idea what you have put
your mother and the rest of the pride through? Poor Sarafina has been
beside herself with worry,’ Zazu clucked at her. ‘Very bad of you, indeed.’
Nala closed her eyes tight and shook her head, hoping that when she
opened them, she would find that this was just a bad dream. She opened her
eyes. Nope, Zazu was still there.
But how was he here? How had he found her?
She rolled her eyes, feeling like a fool for asking such a ridiculous
question when the answer was obvious. This
. land was far too vast for Zazu to have just happened upon her by chance.
No-one from their pride had business being

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Foolish, foolish, foolish. ‘Over here, Sire!’ Zazu called. Sire?
around these parts. There was only one logical conclusion: Abena had
ratted her out.
Disappointment wedged itself right next to the anger that immediately
bubbled up in her. After all that talk about how much they had in
common, and how she understood Nala’s plight, Abena had done just
what she’d promised she wouldn’t do.
But had she really expected anything better from a baby cub? Did she
think Abena would stare down that wall of angry lionesses and openly defy
them? Nala imagined how it all must have played out, with tiny Abena
facing an interrogation from the likes of Sarabi, Fayola and Nala’s mother.
She shivered. She probably would have caved under such pressure too.
No, she couldn’t place the blame squarely on Abena. She should have
anticipated that this would happen. Maybe if she had, she wouldn’t have
made the foolish, critical mistake of returning to this exact spot. She should
have pushed on for a bit longer, or taken a detour at the start of the gorge. It
would have been easy enough to follow the stars from there.

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 Nala scrambled up on all fours and stared in dismay as
Scar climbed up onto the kopje.
Scar? He’d come with Scar?
Nala would have bet anything that her mother would have been the one
searching high and low for her, along with the other lionesses. She never
would have expected Scar to have come down from his perch high above
Pride Rock to search for her. Their king had left the Pride Lands? For her?
It seemed unreal.
‘Nala,’ Scar said with a relieved breath. ‘Thank heavens you are safe.
You have given everyone such a fright.’
‘That is what I told her, Sire. This was very, very bad of you, Nala. You
know the pride is still hurting after the loss of Mu—’
Scar cut him off. ‘Zazu, leave me with the cub. I would like to have a
word with her?
‘Yes, yes,’ Zazu said. ‘She deserves a stern talking to. Although, Sire, I’m
sure Sarafina would rather we bring her back to Pride Rock as soon as
possible. Maybe you can wait—’
‘Zazu,’ Scar said in a voice that brooked no argument.
‘Of course, Sire,’ Zazu said.
Nala watched as he flitted away. She looked off into the

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 BE PREPARED

distance, towards the Shadowlands. She sure could use a nice, disruptive
elephant stampede right about now.
‘Nala.’
She finally returned her attention to Scar. Censure coated his
expression.
It would have been bad enough to have her mother reprimand her for
running away, or even Sarabi. But to have the leader of their pride be the
one to find her? How embarrassing!
At least Scar appeared to be alone, which meant she would be spared
having to face this humiliation in front of the entire pride. Ola and the
others would have teased her relentlessly if they were to witness this. They
probably still would.
‘Nala, Nala, Nala,’ Scar began. ‘What were you thinking, going off on
some grand adventure at your age? And taking Abena with you?’
‘She asked to come along,’ Nala said. ‘I tried to get her to stay at Pride
Rock, but she wouldn’t listen.’
Scar looked down his long nose at her. ‘It would appear as if Abena isn’t
the only cub who has trouble listening to Ker elders. You have caused your
mother much worry,’ he said.
Nala swallowed and looked down at her paws. ‘I know.’ ‘You should be
ashamed of yourself, Nala. This little

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stunt was not funny. It was reckless. You must never do such a thing again.’
‘I won’t,’ Nala said.
She wasn’t sure which was worse, having to sit there and listen to Scar’s
lecture, or thinking about the one she knew she would get from her mother
when she returned home. Would it stop at those two, or would she be
subjected to reprimands from the other lionesses as well?
She grimaced at the thought of sitting in the middle of the clearing while
Sarabi, Kito and all the others took turns scolding her. She could just
imagine the cubs peeking down from the landing on Pride Rock, snickering
while Nala suffered through her punishment.
She still wasn’t sure why Scar was the one who had been tasked with
searching for her. It had been her hope that Sarabi would buy the story she
and Abena had come up with—that Nala was safe and would return to Pride
Rock soon. She had assumed if Sarabi did choose to send out a search party,
it would consist of fellow lionesses. Hunters like Sefu and Kito, who were
some of the best in their pride at tracking down prey.
Nala grimaced. In a way, she had turned herself into prey, hadn’t she?
Still, Scar’s presence confused her. He didn’t do anything around camp.
She regularly heard the lionesses whispering while at the waterhole that
Scar was a poor substitute for Mufasa. She even heard Thandi say that
Simba would have been more effective as a leader, even with him still being
a young cub. Yet, Scar was the one they had sent?
Did this mean the others had not wanted to search for her? Were they so
angry that she had snuck away, and had put Abena in danger by doing so,
that they hadn’t even cared to come looking?
A painful tightness constricted Nala’s throat.
 She’d heard stories of prides abandoning their young and had wondered
what a cub could possibly do to make their entire pride turn their back on
them. Was it something like this? Had her running away been the last
straw?
While Scar continued to drone on about why she should be ashamed of
the worry she had caused everyone, Nala tried to figure out what her next
steps should be. This was only a setback; it was not the end of her hunt for
Simba. She couldn’t give up. Not now. Not when it was possibly the only
thing that would earn her forgiveness from the rest of her pride.
And not when she had proved that she could do this!
She’d hunted down a hare. A small one, but that didn’t matter. And look
how quickly she had navigated her way back to this spot. If those clouds
and the rain had not

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appeared last night, who knows how far she would be right now. She could
possibly have made it to Garamba.
One thing Nala did know was that she could not return to Pride Rock
with Scar.
She had been lucky to slip away the first time. She would have zero
chance of escaping again. Her mother would keep watch over her like one
of those massive birds that circled high above the waterhole, only to dive
into the water and come up with a fish between their teeth.
She knew she was risking the same fate were she to get to Garamba and
discover that Simba wasn’t there and then return without him, but at least
she would have tried. To go back now would mean she’d done all this for
nothing.
No, not for nothing. If she had never left Pride Rock, she wouldn’t have
got that hunting lesson from Abena and she never would have had the
opportunity to prove to herself that she could catch that hare.
But it wasn’t enough. She wanted more. She wanted— needed—to find
her best friend.
‘Have I made myself clear, Nala?’
She looked up at Scar and blinked several times. ‘Umm . . . yes?’ Nala
answered. She had no idea what he’d said, but Scar didn’t seem to care.
‘Very well. We shall be on our way.’ He hitched the brow

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 with the huge gash above it and grinned. ‘Sarafina is going to be thrilled
to have you back. All the lionesses will be. Who knows, maybe they will
be so inspired by your return that they’ll hunt us down a couple of okapis.
We can have a feast to celebrate.’
‘That sounds delightful, Sire,’ Zazu said as he swooped
in. ‘This is, indeed, a cause for celebration. However, I doubt you will be
allowed to celebrate much, Miss Nala. I know for certain that your mother
will give you a serious talking to.’
Nala rolled her eyes. As if she needed Zazu to tell her that.
‘Let us get going,’ Scar said. ‘I need a nap.’ He looked down at Nala
and, in a stern voice, said, ‘You stick close to me, do you hear me?’
‘Yes,’ Nala lied.
They began the trek back to Pride Rock, with Scar leading the way and
Zazu flying just above his right shoulder. Nala walked several paces behind
him, waiting for the
best moment to make her move.
They arrived at the edge of the forest, where the area thick with trees
began to thin into the scrubland that would lead them into their Pride Lands.
Nala sucked in a deep breath, turned and ran.
She cut through the trees. Had Scar noticed she wasn’t

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 behind him yet? She was too afraid to look back. It would slow her
down. Instead, she surged forwards, sprinting over downed tree trunks
and moss-covered rocks.
Until, suddenly, her feet were no longer on the ground.
Nala let out a loud squeal as she was scooped up into bony arms. The
next thing she knew, she was dangling by her back leg. She lo oked up into
the face of the monkey who had captured her.
Then they took off, swinging from, one tree to the next.

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 20
Scar

Hartebeest or eland?
Scar couldn’t decide what he was in the mood for tonight. He wanted
something he had not eaten in a while. Something good.
Oh, maybe an Ankole cow!
Yes, that was it. He would demand the lionesses bring him a nice and
meaty Ankole cow. He wanted two: one just for him and one for Shenzi and
her crew to share. The hyenas deserved it for the undue blame that had been
cast upon

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them by the pride. Sarabi and her lot of judgemental lionesses had been so
sure that the hyenas were behind Nala’s disappearance, when it was the cub
who had run away on her own. He would order that insolent one, Thandi, to
present the offering to the hyenas. Wouldn’t that be delightful?
Scar realised he was having too much fun coming up with ways to make
the lionesses thank him for bringing Nala home safely, but was there really
such a thing as too much fun? Besides, he was only commanding they grant
him what he was already due.
‘All those back at Pride Rock will be so very happy to welcome Miss
Nala home, and they have you to thank for it,’ Zazu said. ‘Well, you and
me. / am the one who actually found her, but it wasjyow who convinced her
to come back.’
The bird had not taken a moment to catch his breath, but because he was
mostly praising Scar this time, Scar let him continue.
‘And I think holding a grand feast is a remarkable idea,’ Zazu said. ‘It
has been such a long time since we have had reason to celebrate. Not since
—Did you hear that, Sire?’ Zazu asked. ‘It sounded like a shriek.’
Scar was about to ask Zazu what he was yammering on about this time
but decided it wasn’t worth the effort it would take to pretend he cared.

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 ‘There it goes again,’ Zazu said. ‘Miss Nala, did you— Miss Nala!
Where did she go?’
Scar stopped and whipped around. Nala was no longer following them.
He growled. Why hadn’t he ordered the little troublemaker to walk in
front of him? He should have expected she would pull something like
this.
Scar started to retrace their steps, but then he thought better of it. Why
should he expend the effort to go running after Nala? So the lionesses
back at Pride Rock could groom her to be as defiant and disrespectful of
him as they all were? If the little scamp wanted to go on her adventure so
badly, who was he to deny her? She could run all the way to Morocco for
all he cared.
‘Sire, what are you doing? Are you not going to go after Nala?’ Zazu
asked in a firantic voice.
‘No,’ Scar answered.
‘No? But. . . but. . the bird sputtered, flapping his wings as if he were
trying to put out a fire. ‘But you promised Sarabi you would find her.’
‘I did find her, did I not? I fulfilled my promise.’
‘But... it does not count if you do not bring her back to Pride Rock’
‘Sure it does,’ Scar said. ‘If I say it counts, it counts. I’m the king. I make
the rules.’

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 Zazu zigzagged through the air, going hack and forth as he ranted about
the dangers Nala faced and how it was Scar’s duty to retrieve her.
‘Maybe Nala should have thought about that before running off a second
time,’ Scar said. ‘No, make that a third time. She could have returned when
Abena did but chose not to. Sometimes in life, one must learn their lesson
the hard way.’
He had been reluctant to return without Nala in tow, but even the
lionesses would have to give him credit for doing what he said he would do.
Nala had made her choice. He would wash his paws of this entire matter.
‘She is just a cub! She does not know any better,’ Zazu said. ‘Sire, we
cannot leave her out here!’
It seemed his majordomo was forgetting his place. He was not the one
who called the shots here—that was Scar’s job, and his alone.
‘I have made my decision,’ Scar said. Then, with a shrug, he added, ‘If
you want to bring her back to her mother so badly, you go after her. As for
me? I’m going home to take a nap.’
‘These are not the actions befitting a king!’ Zazu 'squawked and took off.
Scar started to call him on his insolence, but what could he say? Zazu
was right.

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 You’re no Mufasa.
He batted away the voice in his head. He did not care to be like his
brother in any way. Scar knew without a doubt what Mufasa would have
done in this situation. He had witnessed it firstpaw, the way he’d charged
into that gorge when he learnt Simba was there. He hadn’t given a thought
to his own life. It didn’t matter that Nala was not his cub; Mufasa would
have done the same for her. For any of the cubs in their pride.
Scar hunched his shoulders. He guessed he still had some growing to do.
He just didn’t have that instinct, to put another’s life above his own.
‘Sire! Sire!’ Zazu zipped past him and then quickly turned to hover in
front of Sear’s face. ‘You must come quickly!’
Scar rolled his eyes. ‘Back so soon?’
‘Macaques,’ Zazu screeched. ‘A whole pack of them.
They’ve cub-napped, Nala!’
Scar was actually surprised by the hint of alarm that emerged within
him. The macaques around these parts were known for their aggressiveness.
The cub was truly in grave danger if a pack of them had snatched her.
‘Sire, please! Think of Sarafina. It will devastate her if those primates
hurt Nala. They could kill her, Sire!’
Scar couldn’t help thinking of how losing Simba had

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broken Sarabi. Sarafina wasn’t nearly as strong as his sister- in-law. The
lioness would, in all likelihood, go mad if a pack of violent macaques were
to tear her cub apart limb by limb.
Wait a minute ...
How much more would the pride revere him if he returned to Pride Rock
with Nala safe and sound, but with the added story of saving her from a
pack of murdering macaques? He could count on Zazu to regale them all
with the harrowing tale; his majordomo did have quite a flair for the
dramatic.
The lionesses would have no choice but to reward his bravery with the
one thing he sought from them: unconditional respect and allegiance.
‘Where have the macaques taken her, Zazu?’ Scar asked.
‘Point me in the direction.’
‘This way!’ Zazu shouted.
They took off towards the thicket of wild bushland that initiated the
gradual transition from tame savanna to unruly jungle.
‘I knew you would do the right thing, Sire. I never doubted you for a
moment.’
Scar ignored the bird as he trudged across a turbid creek bed, the recent
rains creating a thick sludge at the bottom of it. He would have to submerge
himself in the nearest waterhole as soon as he rescued that little
troublemaker.

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 Nala was smart to have come this way; Scar had to give her that.
Looking at the denseness of the bushland up ahead, there were countless
places to hide. Of course, that now worked against her. Scar assumed she
hadn’t antici* pated getting snatched by a band of savage macaques when
she'd made her sneaky escape.
Life lessons. They were all around.
‘Zazu. go ahead. See if you can spot where they’ve taken her,’ Scar
called.
He did not have fighting off macaques as part of today’s agenda.
However, if this is what it took to show Sarabi and the others that he
should be the one to lead them, so be it. Good oF Scar to the rescue.
He approached the entrance to the bushland and immediately
encountered sticker bushes. Scar yelped as the painful burrs clamped onto
his paws and legs.
He would demand those lionesses feed him Ankole cattle for the next
month as repayment for having to go through this. Stopping to remove burrs
was out of the question, so
Scar did his best to ignore the ache in his paws. The sooner he got to Nala,
the sooner they could leave this dense forest and all its deadly trappings.
She had better hope he got to her before those macaques decided to tear
her apart.
As he travelled through the labyrinth of jackalberry,
F A R R A H R O C II O N

marula and bush willows, something Scar had not considered began to run
through his mind. Would the. lionesses grow suspicious if he returned to
Pride Rock as the sole witness to yet another of his pride’s cubs meeting an
untimely demise? It wasn’t even of his doing this time, unlike Simba’s little
accident.
But that wouldn’t matter to them. All they would see was a second cub
gone, with him as the one who had to break the bad news. So many of the
lionesses already did not trust him. If Nala perished at the hands of those
macaques, bis pride may start to question his involvement.
He had to get her back. If he didn’t, he would never get those lionesses to
accept him as their leader, especially after he had ordered them to remain at
Pride Rock so that he could prove his worth as their king by retrieving Nala
on his own.
Scar’s chest tightened with his anxious, accelerated breaths.
i ‘I’ll save you, Nala,’ he whispered. ‘But only because those lionesses will
have my hide if I don’t.’
21
Nala

Intense, violent throbbing pulsated from the spots where Nala’s head
banged against the thick tree limbs. She tried to shield it as best she could,
but with the way she dangled from the monkey’s tight grip, it was difficult
for her to control her own body.
Her stomach roiled with the up-and-down motion as they swung from
tree to tree. Not to mention the heart- stopping fear that the monkey would
lose his tight grip and she would go plummeting to the ground. Her mind
was a jumbled mess—with her wanting him to free her yet afraid that he
would do just that.
Their ear-piercing screeches were the worst sound she had ever heard,
even worse than the cackle of the hyenas; It made screaming for help
impossible—not that she would even try at this point. She was certain the
monkeys had taken her too far into the jungle for Scar or Zazu to hear her.
She would rather conserve what little energy she had left, though she wasn’t
sure why.
She had no idea where they were headed, she just knew with a gut-
wrenching certainty that she would never see her home again.
Nala began sobbing, whether for herself or her mother, she wasn’t sure.
She imagined the heartache her mother would feel when Scar and Zazu
returned without her. She had considered the possibility of getting injured
or worse before she’d left Pride Rock, but Nala had thought it would surely
be worth it when she brought Simba back to reign asking.
But getting captured by these monkeys changed everything. There would
be no return to Pride Rock with Simba. And now it seemed she would not
be returning either. Nala doubted she would survive the rest of the day in
the company of these monkeys.
Of all the ways she could have met her death, this was quite a letdown.
She would have preferred battling a leopard or a white rhinoceros. To be
killed by a pack of monkey was pathetic
Her head bounced on another thick branch, and for a moment, she only
saw black. She started to screech. then realised it was because she had
closed her eves. Pathetic.
The monkev swung to another tree, and Nala shut her eves again as a
bunch of leaves slapped her in the face.
After what seemed like a lifetime, their journey through the dense forest
came to an abrupt stop. She grew even dizzier as she continued to hang
upside down from where the monkey held her by her back right leg. From
what she could make out. they were in an acacia tree. Its feather-like leaves
shaded them from the sun, while the tangle of smooth underbranches
created the perfect resting spot for the dozens of squalling monkeys.
The noise was relentless. Part of her wanted them to just do whatever
they were planning to do to her so that she would be freed from this awful
racket.
The monkey that held her started to jump up and down on the branch,
and Nala immediately took back her previ* ous thought. She wasn’t ready
to die.
She wanted her mummy more than she ever had before.
Before Nala knew what was happening, another monkey swung to the
branch where she was being held and grabbed
Mt* a#

her left foreleg. He jerked her towards him, but the monkey that had
captured her wouldn’t let go of her backed leg. It jerked even harder.
Oh no. No,please.
It went on like this for several minute. a literal tug-of-war with her as the
rope. They were going to rip her to pieces. Nala heard an awful cracking
sound a secoud before the blinding pain registered in her from leg. Was it
broken?
Did it matter? Her entire body would soon be splintered and tossed
about this forest like the bones of a freshly eaten gazelle.
Just when Nala was certain that the Ide-endmg tog was about to happen,
she heard the welcome sound <d a feme lion roar. The monkeys stopped
their st rt sting andjtowp- ing, all becoming instantly, perfectly will She
wouldn’t have believed it if she had not just witnessed it with her own eyes.
The lion roared again. Then she heard. ‘Nala? Where are you?
Scar! That roar belonged to Scad
‘Up here! Scar, I’m up here!’ Nala yelled.
Her shouts sent the monkey* into a frensv. .Nah was afraid they would
take off before Scar could reach her. but a moment later she heard his
wondrous roaragain. She touted down to sec him climbing the tree and bad
never felt more

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relieved than when she felt Scar clamp down on her scruff. He batted away
the monkey that had held her captive.
Chaos ensued.
Scar dashed down the acacia tree. Instead of retreating, as Nala assumed
the monkeys would do, they followed. At least a dozen of them converged
on her and Scar.
He set her on the ground and motioned for her to get behind him.
Nala’s heart slammed against her chest in the same way her head had
slammed against those branches. She looked on in horror as Scar crouched
low. His deep, rumbling growl was so menacing even she was scared,
despite knowing that he was on her side.
The monkeys encircled them. The biggest of the crew, the one that had
snatched her, lifted his arms in a show of aggression. The others followed,
howling and flapping their arms.
Nala held her breath.
She had never heard of a pack of monkeys defeating a lion, but there was
a first time for everything.
The head monkey charged at Scar. Nala looked on in astonishment as
Scar leapt forwards, catching the monkey midair in his mouth. He clamped
his teeth on its right leg, then pulled the monkey from his mouth with both
paws.
Scar slammed the monkey on the ground so hard it made Nala wince.
That was all it took The others gathered their wounded friend and took
off, shrieking their displeasure.
Nala stared in disbelief at the spot where Scar had thrown the monkey.
She was bloodied and bruised, and her leg felt as if it would fall off, hut
she was alive! She had been certain that she would not live to see another
day, yet here she was. Alive!
Thanks to Scar.
 He turned, and for a moment, Nala thought that maybe she wouldn’t
live to see another day after all. His expression was murderous, that ugly
scar that slashed across his eyebrow puckered.
‘What were you thinking, you little fool?’ he snapped. ‘Do you know
what those macaques could have done to you?’
Nala bobbed her head in a frantic nod.
She had spent the past half hour picturing all the awful ways those
monkeys could have killed her. They could have ripped her body apart or
stomped on her head until she ceased to exist. But they didn’t get the chance
to do any of that because of Scar.
All ofa sudden, she was overcome by a rush of emotions:

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 relief, gratitude, anguish. They overwhelmed her, robbing the breath from
her lungs.
Before she could comprehend what she was doing, Nala rushed over to
Scar and collapsed against his chest.
‘Thank you, thank you, thank you.’
She knew this wasn’t the response Scar had expected to his question.
She should apologise for putting herself in a position that forced him to
have to rescue her, but she couldn’t help it. She was so grateful to be alive.
All she could think about was how close she had come to being a
collection of cub limbs sprinkled around the forest.
‘Thank you, thank you, thank you,’ she repeated over and over again.
Scar stiffened. A moment later, she felt him lightly patting her back with
his big paw as if he thought he would hurt her. Or maybe as if he didn’t
necessarily want to touch her. She couldn’t blame him; she was sure she
looked a fright.
‘Oh, Miss Nala!’ Zazu flew up to them. He was in full- on hysterics. ‘Are
you injured? Should I find raw wood plants? How do we dress a wound,
Sire? We should dress her wounds and check for broken bones! And, oh my,
what about a head injury! I did not consider a head injury! Oh, Nala, why
do you insist on putting me through this agony!’

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 ‘ZAZU!’ Scar bellowed so loud he sent his majordomo sailing back into
the trunk of the acacia tree. ‘Pull yourself together!’
‘But look at her, Sire! She is at death’s door!’
Scar peered down at her, and Nala had to fight not to squirm.
‘You have taken a beating, haven’t you?’ he said.
She nodded. The motion caused her to sway.
‘Oh, for heaven’s sake,’ Scar said, scooping her up just before she hit the
ground. ‘So now I have to literally carry you back to Pride Rock. Lucky
me.’
‘No,’ Nala said. Then she moaned.
‘Well, you certainly cannot walk,’ Zazu said. ‘Not in the state you’re in.’
‘I can’t go back,’ she said. ‘Not yet.’
If only she could rest for a few minutes, she would be fine. The
wooziness would subside, and she could think more clearly.
‘Let us be gone from this jungle,’ Zazu said. ‘If we leave now, we can
make it back to Pride Rock before the sun sets.’
The sunset. The stars. She needed the stars.
‘No!’ Nala said, suddenly alert. She could not return to Pride Rock yet
again. She had to keep moving forwards.
‘Nala, this little adventure of yours is over,’ Scar said.

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 It... it can't be,’ Nala said ‘Not yet. I have to make it to... to somewhere
important?
A weight settled in the pit of her stomach.
Should she tell Scar where she was heading? She’d vowed to keep the
reason for her trek to Garamba a secret from everyone, and especially from
the adult members of their pride, but Nala did not see any other way out of
this. If she didn’t tell Scar, he would cart her back to Pride Rock. He might
still demand that they return even if she did tell him, but she had to take that
chance. She could not risk returning home.
But could she trust Scar?
She knew the lionesses did not, for reasons she didn’t fully understand.
Even though they deferred to him as their pride’s leader, there had been
numerous times over the last six months when Nala had sensed tension
when Scar’s name was mentioned. And she had a feeling that it was about
more than just his insistence that their pride accept the hyenas as part of
their family. Their distrust went deeper.
However, Scar had never given her a reason not to trust him. And he had
just saved her from certain death.
She had to take this chance.
‘I am not on an adventure,’ Nala said. ‘Well, I guess I am, but an
adventure is not the reason I left Pride Rock. I am on an important mission?

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 Scar released an exasperated sigh and rolled his eyes. ‘I know all about
your plans to go to Garamba, Nala?
Her breath caught in her throat.
Had that cub shared every single thing about their time together?
‘You overheard the mongoose telling Sarabi that Simba was seen there,
but you are on a fool’s mission,’ Scar continued. ‘How many places have
there been Simba sightings since the wildebeest stampede? He was seen
near Lake Malawi, and then in Dodoma. Where will he show up next?
Zanzibar?’
‘But this is different,’ Nala said.
‘Of course it is.’ He rolled his eyes. ‘Tellme, what makes Garamba any
different from all the others?’
Nala bit the inside of her cheek, uncertainty about trusting Scar warring
with the awareness of what she knew she must do. This had always been
her and Simba’s secret, but it could no longer be. Not if she wanted to save
him.
‘Because Simba and I talked about going there,’ Nala said. ‘We always
said that if we ever left Pride Rock, we would go straight to Garamba.’
She thought she saw a flash of interest in his expression, hut then he
shook his head and said, ‘Who doesn’t dream of going to Garamba? It’s
wonderful there. I’ve been there a time or two myself. It means nothing?

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 ‘But Rafiki saw him there too.’
‘Rafiki?’ Scar asked. She had definitely caught his interest this time.
Nala nodded Excitedly. ‘The mongoose reported that Rafiki had a
vision of Simba in a cave. I believe it is the Blue Grotto in Garamba;
that’s the one place we talked of visiting the most.’
‘I don’t know about this,’ Zazu said. ‘That still seems like a bit of a
stretch to me, Miss Nala.’
Nala seared him with a scathing stare. She did not need Zazu chiming in
with his doubts. She was close to convincing Scar; she could feel it.
‘Think about it, Scar,’ Nala said. ‘Simba’s body was never found.*!
believe he survived that stampede in the gorge that day, and for some
reason, he chose to leave Pride Rock and go to Garamba. Simba is alive,’
she said. ‘I have to bring him home.’
She set her paw on Scar’s much larger one.
‘Please,’ Nala begged. ‘Help me bring Simba home.’

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 22
Scar

Scar did his best to keep his expression neutral, but inside he was
roiling. He could not possibly have heard Nala correctly. It was
incomprehensible.
‘You say that you and Simba spoke of going to Garamba?’ Scar
asked her.
She nodded, her eyes sparkling with a mixture of excitement and
apprehension. ‘We talked about it all the time. We .would listen to the
animals around the waterhole that had just returned from there, and
they always made it seem so

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magical, especially the Blue Grotto. It sounded so different from Pride
Rock. We wanted to see what made it so special. We promised each other
that we would go there one day.’
‘But it does not make sense, Miss Nala,’ Zazu said. ‘If Simba survived
that stampede, why would he not return to Pride Rock? I do not care how
much he wanted to see this grotto, he would have known that everyone
would be worried about him, especially Queen Sarabi.’
Scar gritted his teeth. He had warned Zazu about referring to Sarabi as
their queen
‘I don’t know why,’ Nala said. ‘There must be a reason he didn’t return;
something important.’
Yes, something like his uncle telling Simba that his pride would blame
him for their king’s death if he ever showed his face at Pride Rock again.
Scar found himself in an unfamiliar state, feeling both worried and
confused. He didn’t like it. He much preferred being in control of what was
happening around him. But
Nala’s revelations made him feel the opposite of in control.
Could he trust what the cub was saying?
And what was this about Rafiki? Scar had not heard a word from that
one since his brother’s death. Mufasa’s trusted advisor had not even
pretended that he would stick around and serve Scar once he took over as
leader of the pride.
But Scar could not deny that there was something
I'* A R R A 11 R 0 C. HON

remarkably uncanny about the mandrill’s visions. Rafiki had predicted

Simba's birth before Sarabi even knew she was carrying Mufasa’s heir in
 her womb. The warnings he had given the pride over the years had saved
them from enemy invasions, devastating storms and more. If something
about Simba had recently appeared to Rafiki, Scar could not dismiss it out
of paw. He may not like the mandrill, but he respected his abilities.
But Rafiki had to be wrong this time. Simba could not be alive. Yes, the
cub had somehow managed to escape the hooves of those wildebeests, but
Scar had sicced his hyenas on him with specific instructions to kill the
brat. Shenzi had assured him that Simba was dead.
Unless ...
Scar stood up straight. Something prickled at the back of his neck. It
was the same feeling he got whenever Simba was mentioned around the
hyenas. They would get nervous, and Shenzi would always find a way to
change the subject. I Scar saw red. Blood red.
H Heat pulsed through his body as his heart began to pound within his
chest. Those mangy fools had lied to him about taking care of Simba all
those months ago. That was the only explanation.
‘Uh, Sire, are you okay?’ Zazu asked. ‘You are looking somewhat unwell.

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Scar sucked in a deep breath. He needed to calm down; it was the only way
he would be able to think clearly.
‘I am just trying to make sense of all this,’ Scar said as he began to pace
back and forth along the spongy jungle floor. ‘This is a lot to take in.’
Or maybe it wasn’t.
He could not be too hasty here. There was a high probability that Nala was
mistaken. She was nothing but a cub. one who missed her best friend. She
wanted all these puzzle pieces to fit together because she wanted to believe
that Simba was still alive. But that didn’t mean it was true.
As for Rafiki. Well, who knew if that old monkey even had all his marbles,
or if the mongoose who delivered news of Rafiki’s vision was accurate in
his reporting?
If his nephew was still alive, there was no way he would have stayed away
from his mother all these months. Simba would have made his way back to
Pride Rock, one way or another.
Scar recalled the words he’d spoken to him outside the gorge.
Run away, Simba. Run. Run away, and never return.
Would Simba have truly taken that warning to heart if he had survived? It
was possible, but unlikely. And if he did, he would not stay away forever.
‘Nala, I am sure you want to believe that Simba is still
farrah Rochon
alive,’ Scar said. ‘But do you really think he would have made it to
Garamba on his own?’
made it partway there on my own,’ she pointed out.
Scar was amused by her pluckiness. Should he remind her that those
macaques had nearly ripped her apart?
Remembering how close Nala had come to meeting her demise made
Scar even more doubtful that Simba would have reached that jungle on his
own. He was getting himself worked up over nothing.
‘Well, Nala, perhaps my nephew was not as brave as you are,’ Scar told
her. ‘He was still a young cub when that stampede happened.’
She shook her head. ‘No. You’re wrong. Simba is the bravest cub I know.
I know he made it to Garamba.’
‘But, Miss Nala, if you suspected Simba was in Garamba, why did you
not share this news with Queen Sarabi?’ Zazu asked. ‘She deserves to
know.’
| ‘Because iff told her, she would have stopped me from going to search for
Simba myself, / want to be the one who finds him,’ she said.
hi- ‘You want to be the hero,’ Scar surmised. Of course she did. Didn’t
everyone?
‘No, that’s not it,’ Nala said. ‘I want to find him so that I can make up for
letting him go to the gorge on his own that day.’ Her voice broke as she
choked out the words;

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 She sniffed and dropped her head, then in a small voice Nala continued,
‘Simba asked me to join him the day he went to the gorge, but we had just
got in trouble for sneaking away to the Elephant Graveyard, and I was
afraid we would get caught again. Or that Zazu would rat us out,’ she said,
shooting the bird a mean look.
‘I was only doing my job,1 Zazu protested.
Nala didn’t address Zazu. Instead, she continued, ‘I just keep thinking
that maybe if I had gone with Simba like he’d asked me to, I could have
talked him out of going down to the gorge, and then King Mufasa wouldn’t
have had to rescue him. And they would both still be here.’
She hiccuped on the last word, her head hanging so low it nearly touched
the ground.
‘Oh, Miss Nala,’ Zazu said. ‘Have you been blaming yourself for what
happened this entire time?’
She had. It was more than obvious to Scar. Poor little fool. Taking the
blame for something he had done.
Scar suddenly realised that his heart was not made completely of stone.
He actually felt sorry for Nala. Well, he almost felt sorry for her.
Nala’s misplaced blame was not his concern at the moment. His concern
was his nephew and the possibility that he was not, in fact, dead. The
nephew that, if he was alive, would threaten Scar’s place as ruler of their
pride.
Scar was stymied by a perplexing bout of indecisiveness.
Could he trust the word of a guilt-ridden cub who had just spent the last
ten minutes dangling from the arm of a wild macaque? Could he afford not
to?
 He immediately knew the answer to that question. He could not leave
anything to chance, especially something as important as Simba possibly
returning to Pride Rock.
Just the thought of what would happen, if Mufasa’s spawn ever came
near their home again sent a shiver down Scar’s spine. He would tell the
pride everything about that day at the gorge. Scar knew his sister-in-law
well enough to know that it would not take much for Sarabi to put the
pieces of the puzzle together. She just had to think about who had the most
to gain if both Mufasa and Simba were no longer here.
‘Are you sure about this, Nala?’ Scar asked.
She nodded. ‘Yes. Simba is in Garamba. I can fed it.’ ‘And if he is not?’
Scar asked.
She dropped her head again and pushed at a pebble with her grimy paw.
‘If he is not there, that means he isn’t anywhere. But I have to be sure,’ she
quickly added. ‘That is why I must continue my journey. If I don’t, then I
will always wonder.’
So would he.
Scar knew he wouldn’t rest easy until he went to

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Garamba and saw for himself that Simba was not there and that he had
never been there.
‘Okay,’ Scar said.
Nala’s head shot up. She looked at him, her little eyes filled with
hope. ‘Okay?’
‘Okay?!’ Zazu screeched. ‘Sire, you cannot be serious.’
He was deadly serious.
If he only had Nala’s word to go on, Scar probably wouldn’t bother,
but he could not discount Rafiki’s vision. It changed everything. If
there was even the slightest possibility that Simba was still alive, he
must find him.
And eliminate him.
‘Of course I am serious,’ Scar said to his majordomo. ‘You heard
what Nala said: Simba has always had plans to go to Garamba.’
‘But, Sire, you cannot think—’
‘Silence, Zazu,’ Scar warned. ‘If you do not think it is worth
searching for Simba, you can go back home.’
‘How could you say such a thing,’ Zazu sputtered, flapping his wings
indignantly. ‘There is nothing I want more than to find young Simba
alive and well.’
And that, Scar realised, was exactly why Scar would have to kill
him, along with Simba and Nala.
The way he saw it, there was only one solution to securing his
position as the one true king of Pride Rock. He would

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have to make certain there was no possible way Mufasa’s heir could ever
usurp what Scar had already claimed as his . own, and guarantee that any
witnesses would not bring word back to his pride of what he had done.
He should have taken care of this himself from the very beginning,
instead of entrusting such an important job to those hyenas. He would have
to rethink their place in his kingdom when he returned home as well.
But he would worry about the hyenas later. Right now, his sole focus was
to uncover if there was any truth to Nala’s assertions.
i Scar assessed her. She was pretty banged up, but at least she no longer
appeared to be near fainting. He wondered if he should just get rid of both
Nala and Zazu now.
No, no. Nala would be the perfect distraction for Simba. His nephew would
be so preoccupied with his best friend that he wouldn’t see Scar’s attack.
Once he found and eliminated Simba, Scar knew he would have to come up
with a plausible story that would explain how all in their party had perished
but for him. It would be a hard sell, but he would figure out a way to do it.
He must.
He lowered his head so that he could look Nala in the eyes.
‘This will be a treacherous journey to find Simba. Are you sure about
this, Nala?’
‘Yes,’ she said.
‘Then it is settled,’ Scar said. ‘We are continuing on to Garamba.’
‘And I shall go back to Pride Rock to inform Sarabi of these new
developments,’ Zazu said.
‘You shall do no such thing,’ Scar said. He reached up and snatched
the bird before he could fly off. He would take pleasure in finally
ridding himself of his majordomo.
 ‘But, Sire, why not?’ Zazu asked.
‘Because Sarabi does not need to know.’
‘But he is her son. Surely—’
‘I don’t care what he is!’ he snapped.
Scar caught Nala’s reaction out of the corner of his eye. She jerked
back and her eyes narrowed with a hint of distrust.
He quickly regained his composure. He could not allow Nala to
suspect that he had anything but Simba’s best interest at heart.
‘Think of what it would do to Sarabi if it turns out the mongoose
provided faulty information,’ he said, his demeanor more composed.
‘Do you really want to put her through such agony a second time?’
‘Oh, no. I would never want to cause Queen Sarabi more pain.’
‘I didn’t think so,’ Scar said. ‘You will continue on withus. I need
you to fly ahead and assess the path for any dangers.’
Scar looked back at Nala. ‘There are a multitude of ways to reach
Garamba. Why did you decide to take this particular route?’
‘Because Simba and I were told to follow the bull-shaped stars,’ she
answered.
Ah, she was following Taurus. She was certainly a smart one, wasn’t
she? He would have to remember that as they made their way through
this land.
Fortunately, he did not have to rely on the stars to guide him to
Garamba. A quick jaunt through the Otze Forest and around Mount Kei
should get them there by nightfall.
‘I know an even shorter route. Come, Nala. Let us go find my dear
nephew.’

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 23
Sarabi

Sarabi stood within the shadow of the ancient baobab tree, away from
the rest of the lionesses and other animals that grazed or availed
themselves of a cool drink at the waterhole. She liked to come here
from time to time. There was something comforting about observing
the day-to-day life of the pride from this vantage point.
Unfortunately, the tranquil scene did little to bring her comfort
today. Sarabi feared that if Scar was unsuccessful in

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retrieving Nala, her pride would never know peace or comfort again.
They had all tried to keep up a brave front in the face of the'tragedy
playing out within their pride in real time. There had been a steady stream
of lionesses coming to her all day, seeking guidance about what they should
do, hinting at defying Scar’s edict and putting together a search for Nala.
With every hour that passed without word from Scar, Sarabi was tempted
to do that very thing. But she was keenly aware of the consequences that
could result from defying the leader of their pride. If she were to go against
Scar’s orders, it would lead to chaos.
She had heard of such things happening before. The next time Scar issued
a directive the lionesses disagreed with, they would push for Sarabi to defy
it again. Or, worse, they would start to openly rebel against Scar on their
own, without waiting to get her guidance on the matter.
What was to stop them from refusing to obey her commands when they
disagreed with her?
Sarabi could not risk it. There must be order and a hierarchy for a pride to
remain successful. One crack in the chain of command and the entire pride
would crumble.
1 She would wait this out for as long as she could, though

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 BE PREPARE»

she knew it would not be easy. Putting her trust in her brother-in-law
at a time like this was, by far, one of the most difficult things Sarabi
could imagine doing. Scar was not a leader, no matter what the line of
succession had decreed. It took more than just the blood running
through one’s veins to be a leader.
Please, let him be better at tracking down cubs than he is
at running this pride.
Sarabi made her way to the waterhole but kept to the western edge
of it, some distance away from where several of the lionesses had
clustered together with their cubs. She could not handle their
questioning her right now.
But it would seem she would not be granted the peace she so
desperately sought. The moment she lowered her head to lap at the
water, Sarabi noticed Kito walking with purpose, her eyes set on her.
She loved her sister, but she did not want to speak to her right now.
Kito did not bother with a greeting. She simply said, ‘They should
be back by now?
Sarabi could not argue with her. She had thought the same. If what
Abena had told them was true, then Nala should not have got very far
after bringing the younger cub back to Pride Rock. It should not be
taking Scar this long to

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retrieve her. Unless he had gotten turned around, or if Nala had taken a
different route.
Sarabi told this to Kito, but it didn’t satisfy her sister.
‘It is yet another reason why we should spread out in teams to look for
her,’ Kito argued. ‘Nala is smart. I’m sure she considered that we would set
out to search for her. It only makes sense that she wouldn’t take the same
route. It increases her chances of not being found.’
Sarabi shut her eyes tight. Kito was not saying anything she had not
already thought herself. A constant stream of various scenarios continued to
run through her mind. Things that could have happened to Nala already.
Things that could be happening to her at this very moment None ofit was
good.
* ‘I just do not understand: why would Scar insist on going after Nala alone
when we all could be out looking for her?’ Kito asked. ‘We are all better
hunters than he is.’
‘It is not our job to question our ki—our leader’s actions,’ Sarabi said.
‘Maybe it is time someone starts questioning him,’ Kito said. ‘Because
something is not right about this?
‘We cannot,’ Sarabi said. ‘The last thing this pride needs right now is an
insurrection? She lowered her voice. ‘We may not like it, but Scar is the
leader of our pride. If it

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is his wish to retrieve Nala on his own, without the help of anyone but his
majordomo, then that is how it must be.’
She could tell Kito wanted to argue further but held back out of respect
for Sarahi’s position within their pride. It was precisely why Sarabi refused
to question or openly defy Scar. She had to set an example; being
insubordinate would encourage the other lionesses to behave the same way,
which would lead to chaos. It was her job to remain calm. Her
levelheadedness was the only thing keeping this pride together.
Yet, as a leader, Sarabi could also tell that things could not go on this
way. The lionesses were becoming too agitated waiting here without word
from Scar. She had to do something.
‘Come,’ Sarabi told Kito. ‘It is time I make a decision.’
‘Finally,’ her sister said.
Sarabi shot her a scathing look.
‘I’m sorry,’ Kito quickly added.
She and Kito made their way over to where the others were all sitting
with their cubs. Fayola had not allowed Abena or Ola to move more than a
few metres from her since the younger cub’s return. To think of how much
they had all secretly derided Sarafina over her overprotectiveness of Nah
these past six months ... Fayola had quickly begun to mirror her behaviour.
It occurred to Sarabi that she had not seen Sarafina in quite some time.
She scanned those gathered here hut did not see her among the lionesses.
Goodness, she hoped she had not taken off on her own.
‘Where is Scar?’ Sefu asked the moment Sarabi reached them. ‘He
should be back with Nala by now.’
‘I know we are all very concerned,’ Sarabi said. ‘I am too, of course. But
we all heard what Scar said.’
 ‘He-’
‘But—’
Sarabi put up a paw, silencing them.
‘However,’ she continued, ‘sitting by and doing nothing while Nala
continues to get further and further away is more than any of us can bear.
Therefore, I have come to a decision.’
. A hum of expectation began to rumble through the lionesses.
‘The new moon arrives in two days’ time,’ Sarabi said. ‘If Scar is not back
with Nala by then, I will dispatch teams to go in search of both of them.’
‘We have to wait two days?’ Thandi asked. ‘Anything can happen in that
time.’
‘It is an act of outright defiance to go at all,’ Sarabi reminded her. ‘If Scar
questions my motives, I will tell him that I feared there was an accident.’
Sarabi released

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 BE PREPARED

an uneasy breath. ‘I would hope that Zazu would come back with word if
Scar did indeed have an accident before he found Nala, but anything can
happen out there in the jungle?
‘Especially when our so-called leader is completely unqualified to do the
job?
‘Thandi,’ Sarabi said in a warning tone.
‘She is right and you know it,’ Sefu said. ‘We never should have
entrusted Nala’s safety to Scar?
‘Did you have a choice?’ Sarabi asked. ‘Did any of us? I do not have to
remind any of you that there are laws in this kingdom. If you do not wish to
abide by them, then you do not want to be part of this pride?
There was a collective gasp.
Her words were harsh, but necessary. She had to maintain order among
them.
‘Have I made myself clear?’ Sarabi asked.
Their displeasure was tangible, but they all nodded their agreement.
The lionesses dispersed, returning to their cubs.
Thandi and Kito walked over to the outcropping so they equid lie in the sun
and nap. Olee, ever the one to want to ease tension around Pride Rock,
asked some of the cubs to join her in a game of hiderand-seek.
But there was one lioness missing.

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 Sarabi looked around until her eyes finally landed on Sarafina. She sat
clear across the waterhole, on the side where the zebras and gazelles usually
gathered. She sat with her back to the water, staring out towards the
Shadowlands.
Sarabi closed her eyes against the deep hurt that slashed through her. She
knew what it was like to stare out into the distance, wondering if your cub
was out there somewhere. To wonder if they were safe, if they would ever
return to you.
Sarabi knew what it was like to grab hold of every single crumb of hope
one could find and cling to it like nothing else mattered in life. Because
nothing else did.
She ached to go to her, but for the first time in her life, Sarabi wasn’t sure
if her friend would welcome her. Her pain deepened. This rift between
herself and Sarafina was something she could never have predicted. They
had been inseparable their entire lives, but at this very moment, they
seemed very far apart.
k She thought back to the argument and Sarafina’s horrible, hurtful words.
Sarabi waited for the anger to reappear, but it never emerged. Instead, she
felt. . . understanding. Now that the shocking ache had worn off, she was
able to put herself in Sarafina’s paw prints. Because she had walked in them
herself. She understood why her friend had said the things she’d said. She
had been so overprotective of Nala

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 because she didn’t want to go through the heartache of losing a cub, the
way Sarabi had. Who would?
Yet, here Sarafina was, going through the one thing she had done her
best to avoid all these months.
Sarabi took a tentative step forwards, then another. She continued,
moving slowly, giving herself time to think through what she wanted to
say.
But when she arrived at Sarafina’s side, she could not think of a single
word that would ease her friend’s pain. Everything seemed inadequate.
Sarabi quietly settled alongside Sarafina. She stared straight ahead,
looking in the same direction her friend did. Then she reached over and
tentatively set her paw upon Sarafina’s.
She felt the other lioness stiffen and was sure she would jerk her paw
away. But then Sarafina settled her chin against Sarabi’s neck and began to
weep.
Sarabi held herself up as strong and firm as possible, bearing Sarafina’s
weight.
Words were never spoken, because words were unnecessary.

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 24
Nala

Nala never saw it coming.

One minute she was wending her way along the spongy forest floor,
taking in the extraordinary sights around her, and the next she was tumbling
like a rock down the side of a mountain, felled by a thick tree root that
jutted from the ground. She yelped, barrelling headlong until she came to a
stop. It wasn’t until she opened her eyes that she realised what had stopped
her.
Scar’s paw.
B E P R E p A R E t>

He peered down at her, that scar above his eye arching with his
cynical stare.
‘Do you think rolling will get you to Garamba faster than walking?’
'I tripped on a tree root,’ Nala said, embarrassment heating her face.
Zazu swooped in, his wings flapping. ‘Miss Nala, are you okay? That
was an awful fell.’
 ‘Pm fine,’ Nala said, pushing herself up on all fours. She gingerly
shook her head to clear it. An ache from where a branch had struck her
during her unfortunate excursion with those monkeys still throbbed
just above her eye. At least her leg wasn’t hurting as much anymore.
And the cut she’d suffered during her trek through the Elephant
Graveyard with Abena hadn’t reopened. She sure was racking up the
battle wounds on this adventure.
‘I warned you that the jungle can be a dangerous place,’ Zazu said in
that annoyingly superior voice of his. ‘You must be more careful?
What she needed to do was keep her eyes focused on moving
forwards, but she was too mesmerised by the lush forest to pay
attention to potential hazards. She couldn’t take three steps without
looking up at the trees stretching h igh into the sky.
The land was ornamented with thousands of brightly coloured
flowers, the yellow and pink and violet blooms emitting a sweet-smelling
aroma that wrapped itself around her. It was unlike anything she had ever
seen around Pride Rock, where a few lilies would pop up from time to time
near the waterhole, and during the wet season, if they wete lucky, they
might see a daisy here and there. But nothing like this.
Zazu had explained that the closer they got to Garamba, the denser the
vegetation would become. After months and months of drought at home, the
rich, abundant blooms here were more than Nala could have ever hoped for.
If Simba really had been in Garamba all this time, Nala would be hard-
pressed to forgive him for not returning to Pride Rock, but she would
understand. She wouldn’t want to leave this either.
And they hadn’t even made it to Garamba yet. How much more beautiful
could it be there?
‘Are you able to walk, or will I have to carry you the rest of the way?’
Scar now asked her.
‘No, no, I can walk,’ Nala said hastily. She refused to become a burden,
especially to Scar. Nala couldn’t shake the sense that something was off
with him.
It had taken a little convincing on her part, but Scar had seemed receptive
to her reasoning as to why she thought Simba was in Garamba. Maybe it
was the mention of
Rafiki’s vision that persuaded him. He appeared to be as eager to find
Simba as she was.
Yet, something in her gut told her to keep her guard up and her eyes and
ears open. Nala wasn’t sure if the distrust the other lionesses felt towards
their leader had somehow rubbed off on her or what, but she knew that she
shouldn’t ignore her instincts.
Guilt prickled at the back of her neck. Maybe she was being unfair to
Scar. He was, after all, helping her continue her search for Simba when he
could have demanded they head back to Pride Rock after he had saved her
from the monkeys.
Nala glanced up at him. That uneasy feeling refused to go away. She
couldn’t brush it aside even if she wanted to.
They continued their trek through the jungle, and as Zazu had predicted,
the further they walked, the thicker the vegetation became. Branches
slapped at her head as Nala tried to navigate the narrow gaps between trees.
It was a good thing Scar knew where he was going, because even ifk the
stars were out tonight, Nala would not have been able to see them through
the canopy of dense leaves overhead.
‘Do you know how many different animal species there are in this part of
Africa?’ Zazu asked.
Nala suppressed a sigh. This journey would be a lot more enjoyable if
Zazu would stop with all the questions.
‘Miss Nala? Miss Nala!’ Recalled.,
‘Yes, Zazu?’ Nala replied.
‘I asked if you know how many different animal species
• there are in this part of Africa,’ he repeated.
‘Five hundred million,’ she said.
i ‘Oh, come now. That was not a serious answer. How many—’
| ‘Speaking of animal species,’ Scar interrupted. ‘I am famished after that
tussle with those macaques. I think we should take a short break while you
hunt, Nala.’
Nala gulped. ‘You want me to hunt down food? For all of us?’ she asked.
‘I wasn’t talking to the wind, child.’
Maybe he hadn’t heard the news around Pride Rock regarding her skills
in that arena.
‘I’m not very good at hunting,’ Nala said, then quickly added, ‘but I am
getting better at it. I caught a baby hare earlier today.’
‘A baby hare is a snack, Nala. I need a gazelle, at the very least.’
‘A gazelle?’
Was he serious?
‘How hard can it be?’ Scar asked.
fc If it was so easy, why didn’t he do it?
Hmm . . . that wasn’t such a bad idea. If she and Scar

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 teamed up, the two of them could corner their prey the way she and Abena
had.
‘Would you be willing to help me hunt?’
‘Oh, Nala. Hunting is for lionesses?
‘Well, I’m only a lion cub,’ she pointed out. ‘But maybe if we put
together one grown lion and one lion cub, it will equal a lioness. Maybe?
‘Clever,’ Scar said.
‘Come on, Scar,’ Nala said. ‘This should be fun?
‘Fun is taking a nap with the sun beaming down on me after I’ve eaten a
nice meal provided by my pride’s lionesses,’ Scar said. He rolled his eyes
and released an exaggeratedly irritated breath. ‘But I guess I have to work
for my food, in addition to rescuing you. Come on?
For all his complaining, Scar turned out to be a better hunter than Nala
had first imagined. He still didn’t measure up to the lionesses in their pride.
Neither of them did, which was why they’d had to settle for a small
aardwolf as their dinner.
Zazu had thankfully gone off to forage for his own dinner, so Nala was
spared from having to listen to him blabber on about how many species of
insects existed in the world, or other such nonsense. She and Scar ate in
relative silence, and then Scar sprawled out along a fallen tree trunk and
yawned.
‘Although the meal was rather paltry, I still need time to

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digest it before we continue,’ he said. He seared her with a withering stare.
‘There will be no repeats of your previous foolishness, because I will not
chase down a pack of raging monkeys to save you again.’
‘Okay, okay,’ Nala said. It wasn’t as if she had set out to get cub-napped.
But the moment Scar shut his eyes, an idea began to take root in Nala’s
mind.
This was supposed to be her big adventure, but she had yet to hunt a meal
on her own. Abena had tracked down the hare they’d eaten the first night,
and she couldn’t really count the one she had caught on her own. It was too
small to feed a two-day-old cub. She’d joined up with Scar on their hunt,
but he had done most of the work.
V She wanted to finally be the one to bring in the kill, all on her own. And
she was determined to capture something that was bigger than herself this
time.
r Nala checked to make sure Scar was asleep. Not only was he sleeping, his
rumbling snore was loud enough to scare away any potential prey. She
would have to head a little further into the jungle.
- She’d only taken two steps when Zazu appeared in front of her.
‘Ah, ah, ah, young lady. Just where do you think you’re going?’

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 Shhh, Nala said, nodding towards Scar. 'I'ni not run* ning away this
time. 1 promise?
‘I’m not so sure your promises mean anything anymore, missy?
Nala gritted her teeth. Zazu and his loud mouth were going to ruin this
for her.
Psst.' She jerked her head towards a sugarbush. Once behind it, she told
him, ‘I’m not leaving. I’m going to hunt?
‘Didn’t you just eat? Granted, the little aardwolf wasn’t very big, but it
looked sufficient enough to me. Of course, I’m not like you carnivores?
Nala rolled her eyes. ‘Zazu, can I go now?’
‘Hmm, let me get His Majesty to accompany you?
‘Nol* she said louder than she had anticipated. Nala looked back at the
log where Scar slept, then returned her attention to Zazu. ‘I don’t want
Scar’s help. All the cubs hack at Pride Rock have hunted on their own,
except for me. I want to prove that I can do this by myself. Just let me do
this, Zazu?
He studied her with that assessing stare for so long that Nala feared he
would reject her plea. But then his expression softened and he nodded.
‘Okay, Miss Nala. But be careful?
‘I will,’ Nala said, excitement rushing through her.
She took a moment to survey the area, cataloguing the landmarks so that
she could find her way back, then she set

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out for the most obvious place to find prey; a waterhole. But she had only
travelled a few yards when she caught movement out of the corner of her
eye. Nala whipped her head around.
An impala.
It stood about six paces away, munching on grass shoots. It wasn’t a
gazelle, but it would do just fine. Nala took a step towards it and the
animal’s ears perked up. She froze.
The impala looked from side to side, sniffing the air. Nala held her
breath, afraid to make even the slightest sound. A wave of relief rushed over
her when the animal returned to its meal.
Unbidden, the taunts of the other cubs began to play in her head. She
could hear their teasing and jeering as if they were right here with her. She
could hear her mother yelling for her to return to her side.
Nala pushed it all out of her mind. She wouldn’t allow the doubts to hold
her back this time.
She slowed her breathing and concentrated, keeping the impala in her
sights. She squatted, using the tall shoots and reeds for cover, then she
pounced. She clamped her teeth on the impala’s neck just as Abena had
instructed her, and in a matter of minutes, she had the animal completely
subdued. Nala smiled even as she continued to hold down the impala.
She’d done it!

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 She was so giddy she became light-headed. Excitement and relief
expanded in her chest, the emotion overwhelming her. She had done it!
She’d proved she could be an asset to her pride, that they could rely on
her, despite how much her mum’s overprotectiveness had held her back.
She dropped the carcass and spun around in a circle.
‘I did it!’ Nala yelped. ‘I did it! I did it! I did it!’
She damped her jaw on her kill’s hind leg and tugged. The impala
barely moved.
She’d managed to capture it, but dragging it back to where Scar slept
wouldn’t be so easy. Nala hoped he didn’t mind her waking him, because
there was no way she was leaving her first big kill here for others to
enjoy.
She ran back to where Scar was still stretched out along the tree.
‘Scar! Zazu! Come quick!’ she called. She pushed at Scar with her
paws.
He lifted one eyelid and snarled at her. ‘This had better be—’ He
stopped. ‘What is that on your face? Is that—’
Nala wiped at her face and came away with blood. ‘I killed an impala,’
she said with a grin.
Scar jerked his head back in surprise and rose from the downed tree.
‘Very impressive, young Nala. Show me. I’ve been ready to feast on
some real food.’

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 She guided Scar to the spot and was relieved to find her kill right where
she’d left it.
‘Very impressive indeed,’ Scar said as they came upon the carcass. ‘And
you thought you weren’t a hunter. It looks to me like you’ll make a fine
hunter for the pride.’
Nala beamed at his praise. She couldn’t help it.
They enjoyed their dinner, leaving what they could not finish for other
animals that might be around and in need of a meal.
Now that he had napped, Scar decided he was ready to continue on their
journey. He asked Nala if she needed to rest, but she was still too excited
about her successful hunt to even think about sleep.
| ‘Good,’ Scar told her. ‘If we push through the rest of the plight we should
arrive in Garamba by midday.’
I Midday. She was less than a day from possibly seeing Simba again.
Between that realisation and the exhilaration of her kill, Nala felt as if she
were floating.
L She looked up at Scar. Maybe she had misjudged him. When she thought
about their time together, she had to admit that he had done nothing to
warrant any misgivings. Could it be that the lionesses back at Pride Rock
just hadn’t given Scar a fair chance?
[ ‘You know, Scar, you’re not as bad as the other lionesses make you out to
be,’ Nala said. ‘Maybe if you came down to the waterhole when the rest of
us are there, they would get to know you better.’
‘Oh, really?’ Scar drawled.
‘Young Nala is right, Sire,’ Zazu said. ‘We could use less tension around
Pride Rock.’
‘Well,’ Scar said, ‘maybe when we return, you can put in a good word for
me.’
The scar above his eye contracted with his knowing wink.

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 25
Nala

The thunder started soon after they passed the huge downed tree where Scar
had first stopped. The low rumble had become a familiar sound over the last
three days. Nala knew Pride Rock desperately needed the rain—she’d heard
her mother, Sarabi and the other lionesses discussing it enough—but she
certainly didn’t need any more of it slowing her down.
\ ‘Another storm?’ Zazu asked. ‘My, I guess the drought is over.’
‘I would say so,’ Scar said. He squinted up at the sky as if trying to look
between the tree branches. ‘We should still continue on, at least until we get
to Mount Kei. Once there, we can rest until the storm passes.’ Scar peered
down at her. ‘I could use some sleep.’
He was probably right. She hadn’t felt tired when they’d first started out
again, but after the excitement of hunting the impala began to wear off, the
fatigue had slammed into her. She hoped this Mount Kei wasn’t too far. If
she slowed them down too much, she feared she would start to look like a
baby again in Scar’s and Zazu’s eyes. She’d come too far to let that happen.
Even as the wind picked up, a heaviness settled in the air. Nala had
experienced this before.
 ‘I don’t think we’ll make it to that mountain before the—’ a fat raindrop
plopped on her nose ‘—rain,’ she finished. A few more drops pitter-pattered
around them, but it was nothing compared to the previous storm she and
Abena had faced.
‘This isn’t so bad,’ Zazu said. ‘Maybe we can—’
Before he could get the rest of the words out, the skies cracked open and
the rain became blinding, pounding the earth with a violence Nala had
never seen before.
‘Oh myl’ Zazu said. ‘We must find shelter.’
A streak of lightning struck the ground just a few metres from them. Nala
screamed.
‘Over there,’ Scar said. He caught Nala by her scruff and took off at full
speed towards a rock formation that was bigger than the kopje where she
and Abena had taken shelter, but not as big as Pride Rock. They huddled
underneath a slab that jutted out from the rock. It shook with every clap of
thunder, showering them with rocky pebbles and dust.
‘In all my years I have never witnessed such storms before,’ Zazu said.
‘It is at times like this that I wish Rafiki were around. He would have
answers to what is going on with this peculiar weather.’
‘If it is anything like the last storm, it will not last long,’ Scar said. ‘Let
us be grateful we found a place to wait it out.’
Nala was grateful for both the shelter and the companionship. A shudder
raced through her as she imagined what it would have been like to be out
here in this jungle alone while this storm raged.
Zazu continued to prattle on about the change in the intensity of the
storms compared to when he was a young bird. Nala tuned him out when he
moved on to the severity of the drought. Fatigue was setting in, and as
much as she tried to fight it, her exhaustion was winning.

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 BE PREPARED

Her head lolled to the side and she stumbled against Scar’s leg. ‘Sorry,’
Nala said, quickly righting herself. She stood up straight, but only seconds
later felt herself listing again.
‘Go to sleep, Nala,’ Scar said.
| No... I—’
‘Go to sleep,’ Scar said again.
Nala didn’t object a second time. She nestled against the side of the
rock and rested her chin on her paws. Thunder rontinned to roar in the
distance, but it was now far enough away not to scare her. The rain still
poured, but it lacked the fervour of a few minutes ago. It was actually
pleasant, lulling her to sleep with its melodic thump, thump, thump.
She wasn’t sure how long she’d napped when her sleep was interrupted
by a sneering voice.
‘What do we have here?’
Nala’s head popped up. She whipped around.
Three lions, all with full bouffant manes, stood a few yards back, just at
the edge of the overhang. Nala saw Scar stiffen. Clouds obscured the moon,
which made it even more difficult to see the lions’ faces, but Nala could
already tell by the tone of the one who’d spoken that this welcome wouldn’t
be a warm one.
‘Well, if it isn’t Scar,’ the lion in the middle said.

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 ‘Hello, Akeem,’ Scar replied, his voice as calm and cool as ever.
‘Never thought I’d see you again,’ the lion said. ‘Oh, wait. It’s not that I
never thought I’d see you again, it’s that I never wanted to see you again. In
fact, I warned you never to show your face around here, Scar.’
Nala could hear her heartbeat pounding in her ears. She scooted to the
side until she stood underneath Scar.
‘We don’t want any trouble,’ Scar said.
‘Oh no? So why are you in Hatari territory? You know you’re not
welcome here.’
Who were the Hatari? And what could Scar have possibly done to get
banished from their territory?
‘Gentlemen, please,’ Scar said. ‘Any past disagreements ¡ have no place
here. We are only passing through on our way to Garamba. As you see, I
have a young cub with me.’ k ‘So, is that what you do now? Bring a cub on
your little outings so that you can hide behind him?’ asked the one Scar had
called Akeem.
‘She looks like a girl cub to me,’ the burly bon on the right said. ‘You
getting little girl cubs to fight your battles, Scar?’
to ‘There will be no fighting,’ Scar said. He sounded calm, but Nala could
feel his heart beating from where she stood underneath him. It pounded as
frantically as her own.
If Scar was afraid, they were in trouble.
The lions advanced. Scar took a step back. Nala did the same.
‘Gentlemen, stand down,’ Scar said in the authoritative voice that usually
got the lionesses’ attention. It had no effect on the three Hons stalking
towards them.
 She surreptitiously glanced around for Zazu, but he was nowhere. He
must have flown off while she had been napping.
‘The last time you were here, we told you if you ever set foot on Hatari
land again, you were a goner. Mufasa isn’t here to save you this time. And it
looks like your little bodyguard isn’t up for the job either.’
The lion that had not spoken yet looked at Nala.
‘Go,’ he said to her.
Nala huddled closer to Scar.
‘You better listen to him, little cubby,’ the other lion said. ‘He usually
eats cubs like you for a snack.’
‘Gentlemen, please,’ Scar said, taking yet another step back. ‘This has
been blown out of proportion. We made an honest mistake. It has been such
a long time since I have been around these parts; I didn’t remember the
boundary of your territory. Surely, you have made such mistakes your« self,
Akeem.’
‘Your mistake was not sending this little cub away, because now you’re
both going to be dinner,’ Akeem said.
Nala gasped. Were they really preparing to kill them?
‘You don’t want to feed on an old lion like me,’ Scar said. ‘I’ve been
around for far too long. I’m probably rancid ' underneath all this fur.’
Nala looked up at him. What about her? Why wasn’t he telling them all
the reasons they wouldn’t want to eat her?
‘There’s only one way to find out,’ the burly lion said to Scar. He shot
Nala a terrifying scowl. ‘Go, before I make a cub sandwich out of you.’
I She heard Scar sigh. ‘Leave, Nala,’ he said.
I ‘No!’Nala said.
She couldn’t leave him. If she did, these lions would tear him apart.
 i-. What was she thinking? They would tear him apart even if she stayed.
The only difference is that they would tear her apart too. She was no match
for these lions.
r ‘Nala, I said leave,’ Scar told her.
No!
!
This was not how her adventure would end. Scar’s death would not be the
reason their pride gained a new

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king. She, Simba and Scar were all going to return to Pride Rock safely.
They had to.
The three lions moved in.
‘You’d better get out of here, cub,’ Akeem said. ‘This has nothing to do
with you.’
They were aiming to kill her king. This had everything to do with her!
But she was one small cub, and all three of the lions appeared to be
younger and stronger than Scar. The odds were not in his favour.
‘Nala, leave. I won’t say it again.’
‘Yeah, leave,’ the burly lion said.
She turned to Scar and recoiled at the lack of concern she saw in his
eyes. He seemed to have given up. He knew he was cornered. It would take
a miracle to save him, but he didn’t have a miracle; all he had was her.
And she ...
She wasn’t giving up. Not yet. The old Nala would have cowered in fear,
but she had gone through too much in her quest to find Simha. She would
not allow these ruffians to ruin it all.
She couldn’t fight them, but she could do something. She had to figure
out some way to get them out of this mess.
Nala turned and pleaded with the three lions. ‘Please,

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let him go. You don’t understand. We’re on an important mis—’
‘Nala!’ Scar yelled. ‘Get out of here right now!’
‘You better listen to him, Nala,’ Akeem said.
She started moving away from the advancing lions. 'They were done
listening to her. And if she didn’t get out of here soon, she might become
their next meal.
She turned to Scar. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said. Then she turned to the trio.
‘Fine. I’ll leave.’
But she was not giving up.

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 26 Scar
Scar affected an air of indifference, nonchalantly picking at the dirt
underneath his claws. Internally, his entire being quaked with fear. The rain
must have altered both his sight and his thinking, because he never would
have knowingly wandered into Hatari territory. He had learnt his lesson the
last time he’d found himself here.
Back then, he’d had Mufasa’s brawn to assist in getting him out of the
pickle he’d got himself into with the Hatari

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 farrah Rochon

pride, but thanks to him, his brother wasn’t at his side this time.
Here were those unforeseen consequences of his actions fearing their
ugly heads again. It could not have come at a 'more inopportune time.
Think! Scar chastised himself.
He was a talker. Surely, he could talk his way out of this.
‘Okay, gentlemen,’ Scar said. He held up. both paws. ‘Now that you’ve
scared off the cub with your menacing scowls—those scowls have got
better, by the way—can we handle this like adults?’
‘Oh, you think that was a show for the cub?’ Akeem asked, closing the
distance between them. ‘Do we look like travelling troubadours to you?’
Should he tell him that troubadours were songwriters and not actors?
Probably not.
Scar also decided against telling Akeem that they looked like they could
all use a good bath. Voicing his opinion on that subject would only lead to
an earlier death. Hakim appeared to be on the brink of charging at him right
this moment. The meathead lion had never liked him, and that was even
before Scar had tried to exert dominance over their little pride back when
Hakim was its sole ruler. Now that his two brothers had returned to<the
fold, they were even bigger bullies.

Maybe if Scar’s brother had allowed him to share the leadership

duties in their pride, Scar would not have gone out looking for another
pride to rule. So it was Mufasa’s fault. Mufasa may have got him out of
trouble with the Hatari all those years ago, but it had been because of
Mufasa that Scar had got into that trouble in the first place.
And this time his trouble was all due to Mufasa’s son. It was so
ironic, he would laugh if his current situation weren’t so dire.
He should have returned to Pride Rock when he’d found Nala
sleeping in that first kopje. Instead, his bloodlust for Simba was going
to get him killed.
 Maybe he was the troubadour here. Scar could not think of anything
more tragically poetic than the tale of his impending demise.
‘Hope that little cub knows the way back home,’ Akeem said as he
and Hakim broke away from their brother, approaching Scar from
opposite sides. ‘Because you won’t be able to show her how to get
there.’
‘Gentlemen,’ Scar said. He retreated until his back slammed against
the wall at the base of the rock formation. ‘This is quite unnecessary. I
did not invade your territory on purpose. Like I told you, it was an
honest mistake. I had to get the cub out of the rain.’
They continued advancing. The third brother—Scar
couldn’t even remember his name—snarled, baring teeth so sharp that he
could already feel them sinking into his flesh.
‘There must be something I can do to make this up to you three,’ he said.
‘There’s no need for bloodshed.’
Just then, several pebbles fell from the sky, landing behind Akeem. Scar
covertly peered up and noticed two tiny white cub paws curled over the
edge of the overhang.
Nala poked her head out and pointed to the right.
Scar glanced out of the corner of his eye. That’s when he saw it: a sliver
of an opening between two boulders. It had been behind him before the
lions had backed him against the wall. Combined with the clouds obscuring
the moonlight, it was no wonder he’d missed it.
But how was he supposed to make it to that opening?
Suddenly a loud caw sounded from high above. Scar’s eyes bulged in
astonishment as Zazu charged in from the ledge where Nala had been a
moment ago and clipped Akeem on the head. Chaos erupted among the
three lions as Zazu zigzagged through the air, taking aim at each of them.
Scar used the distraction just as that smart Nala had intended. He inched
to the right, then raced past the trio of lions who were still fighting with
Zazu. He squeezed through the opening and into the clearing that
surrounded the rock formation.
‘Scar! This way!’
‘That was genius, Nala,’ Scar said as he ran up alongside her.
‘We can talk about my genius later. We need to get to the other
side of that river. That’s where the Hatari territory ends. They can’t
touch you once you cross the river.’
‘I knew that, but how did you?’
‘Zebras,’ she called over her shoulder. ‘I asked a few who were
running past here on their way to the Pemba Forest.’
She really was a genius.
Scar captured her by the scruff of her neck and sprinted towards
the narrow river that lay ahead.
‘Run, Sire!’ Zazu appeared at his side, coursing through the air
like lightning. ‘Run! Run! Run!’
Scar didn’t even pause at the bank of the river; he dove in,
carrying Nala with him. He knew it to be both narrow and shallow
from the times he’d come to this region in
the past.
One thing he had not expected was the swiftness of the current.
The heavy rains had caused the river to swell more than usual,
sending him and Nala sailing south.
It was to their advantage; Scar looked back and saw the three
male Hatari lions running along the bank of the river, but they
couldn’t keep up with the speed that he and Nala travelled. The rock
formation where they’d taken shelter grew smaller and smaller. Zazu
continued flying just above

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 them. He yelled out warnings,'instructing Scar about what to look out for
in the water.
Once they reached a spot Scar was certain was no longer in Hatari
territory, he sought out a branch that he could grab to lift them out of the
river. He saw a thick one hanging over the bank just up ahead.
Scar waited until they were just below it and then reached up. Hauling
them out of the river, he scooted along the underside of the heavy low-
hanging branch. Once they’d made it to safety, he dropped Nala from his
jaws then promptly collapsed on the bank of the river, giving in to the
exhaustion his escape had wrought.
Scar sucked in deep breaths, filling his lungs with »much-needed air. He
could not believe he was alive.
‘My word, Sire. That was treacherous,’ Zazu said, landing next to Scar’s
head.
k‘Where... Nala?’ Scar asked.
‘I’m here,’ he heard her call.
Scar found the strength to turn so that he could see for himself. Her
drenched fur was slick against her face, but she looked no worse for the
wear.
‘Nala, that... that was . . . that was very stupid,’ Scar said. ‘Brave, but
stupid.’
Ik She grimaced. ‘Thanks. I think.’
. ‘It was more brave than stupid, in my opinion,
Miss Nala,’ Zazu said. ‘How very smart to come up with that
distraction. Of course, it helped that those lions were not the brightest
fireflies in the forest, if you know what I mean.’ The bird tapped the side of
his head. ‘But I must give credit where credit is due. You formed a brilliant
plan, and it worked out perfectly. The pride would be so proud of you.’
Nala beamed. ‘Thanks, Zazu! I’m proud of me too.’
 ‘I didn’t say I wasn’t proud of you,’ Scar said. ‘But you put yourself in
grave danger.’
For him.
Sear wasn’t sure how to feel. Nala could have left him—she should have
left him. The minute Akeem and his brothers had allowed her to leave, she
should have taken off for home, or continued on to Garamba if that was
what she wanted. No matter what, she should not have stayed to help him.
Yet, she had. No-one had ever made such a sacrifice for him. it to have
been made by one so young . . . her bravery took away what little breath he
still had.
‘Why didn’t you just leave?’ Scar asked her.
‘Well. . .’ She hesitated for a moment, dipping her head. When she
looked up at him, there was gratitude in her eyes.
‘You.saved my life. I thought it was only fair I do whatever I could to save
yours.’
It suddenly became painful to swallow. Scar didn’t recognise the
emotions this bedraggled little cub had stirred within him, and he wasn’t
sure he wanted to recognise them. He steered clear of emotion, especially
those that made him feel indebted to anyone.
Indebted?
He stuck his nose in the air.
He wasn’t indebted to Nala. He hadn’t asked her to rescue him; she had
decided to do so on her own.
‘Oh, bother,’ Scar muttered.
That attitude usually worked for him, but it would appear that his
dormant conscience had decided to make its presence known. He simply
could not downplay Nala’s courageous act.
‘In case I did not say it before ...’ He knew he had not said it before.
‘Thank you,’ he finished with a begrudged huff.
She turned her smile to him. ‘Anytime, Scar. Anytime.’

27 Nala

Nala’s eyes popped open.

A wide smile broke out across her face as excitement hummed
from the ends of her paws to the tips of her ears.
She didn’t need Zazu to wake her up this time. The anticipation
zipping through her veins was more than enough to do the job. She
pushed herself up and stretched her front legs out in front of her,
feeling refreshed and ready after much-needed rest.

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 FARRAH H0 C HON

The plan had been to make it past Mount Kei, but according to Scar,
their sail down the river after their run-in ! with the Hatari pride had taken
them too far away from the mountain to get there before they would need
to sleep. Nala hadn’t wanted to say anything at the time, but she’d nearly
cried with relief when he suggested they hunker down for a I few hours in
a cave not far from the river. She had been so exhausted that she could
barely stay upright.
But now she was wide awake and ready for what today promised to
bring: Simba! She was going to see Simba! I Not so fast!
She had to tamp down her excitement. She had warned herself from
the very outset of this mission that finding 1 Simba was not a guarantee.
The reported sighting could turn out to be nothing more than a
disappointing case of mistaken identity, just as all the others had been up
to this | point. She could not lose sight of that.
Yet, Nala also could not ignore the feeling tingling in her gut that told
her this was real, that Simba was alive, and L that she was going to bring
him home.
But she had to find him first.
She dashed over to where Scar lay against the wall, his k snores
echoing around the entire cave.
‘Wake up!’ Nala said, pushing at him with both paws.

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Scar had told her before they settled in for the night that if they left at
dawn, they should arrive in Garamba well before the sunset.
‘The sun is coming up,’ Nala said. ‘It’s time to go.’
Scar let out a loud yawn and smacked his lips. He lifted one eyelid,
growled, and sighed. ‘Why are cubs always so noisy?’
‘Come on, Scar. We have to get going.’
Another sigh. ‘My body is not used to all this activity.
Hunting for my own food, escaping a trio of numbskulls; it’s all too
much.’
. ‘Scar,’ Nala said with an exasperated sigh of her own. ‘We’re
almost to Garamba. You said it yourself. Let’s go! It’s time to find
Simba and bring him back to Pride Rock!’
He opened both eyes at the mention of Simba. ‘You’re right,’ Scar
said. ‘That’s the reason for all this, isn’t it? To find my nephew.’
‘And bring him home!’ Nala said. ‘Now, where is Zazu?
It’s time for us to go.’
He must have heard his name, because the majordomo flew into the
cave at that precise moment, a worm dangling from his beak.
‘Well, good morning!’ Zazu exclaimed after swallowing down the
worm. Yuck. ‘I am happy to report that the weather looks wonderful.
Not a cloud in the sky. It should

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be smooth sailing to Garamba. But, hopefully, no sailing down rivers this
time. I think we have had enough of that.’
‘Might I suggest a game,’ Scar said as he executed the same stretch Nala
had. ‘No talking until we reach Garamba. /Doesn’t that sound like fun?’
‘No,’ Nala and Zazu said at the same time.
Scar rolled his eyes. ‘Fine. Let us be on our way.’
Nala didn’t need any further prompting. She dashed out of the cave,
ecstatic to see that Zazu had not exaggerated about the weather. There
would be no storms slowing them down today.
The sunny skies did nothing to brighten Scar’s mood, but Nala was
coming to accept that this was just how he was. She had to admit that she
was grateful to have him by . her side as they set off for this last leg of their
trip. She was even grateful for Zazu, although she wished he would play
Scar’s “no talking” game for a while.
It was funny when she thought about it. When she first came up with the
idea of searching for Simba, she was determined to do it all on her own,
which was why she had been reluctant to let Abena follow her the night
she’d snuck away from Pride Rock. Yet, the younger cub had proved to be a
great asset. Not only had Nala appreciated her companionship—she had
relied on Abena for her hunting skills.
And here she was experiencing that same appreciation for Scar.
As she’d managed to get kidnapped by a pack of macaques during
the only portion of her journey that she had travelled alone, she was
lucky to have had Abena, Scar and Zazu by her side.
It got her to thinking: maybe she should have told others about her
plans from the very beginning. It wasn’t the first time this thought had
popped into her head since setting out on this journey. If she had shared
what she knew with Sarabi, their queen would have dispatched the
senior lionesses and they probably would have reached Caramba by
now.
They probably would have been on their way back to Pride Rock
with Simba already!
And that’s what this was all about, wasn’t it? Finding Simba.
Nala pressed her lips together as an unsettling realisation forced her
to face an upsetting truth. She had been thinking more about herself
when she first set out on this journey, and less about her friend. She’d
wanted to prove to her pride—and especially to her mother—that she
could do this on her own.
But at what cost?

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 I '' A K R A II II 0 C H 0 H

She had nearly got herself killed. Worse, she had almost got Scar killed
as well.
This was supposed to be about Simba. It was about her pride’s future.
Instead, she had selfishly made it all !about her.
She owed everyone in her pride a huge apology. Nala knew where she
could start.
‘Scar?’ She waited for him to look at her. ‘I’m sorry.’ ‘It’s fine, Nala. I
had to wake up eventually,’ he said.
‘No, I mean I’m sorry that you had to come out here to find me, and I’m
sorry for making the pride worry. Even though it was for a good reason,’
she quickly added. ‘But it was also selfish. I especially should have told
Sarabi about Simba’s plans to visit Garamba after the mongoose said that he
had been spotted there.’
i ‘Oh, don’t worry about Sarabi,’ Scar said. ‘She will be so happy to see
Simba that it won’t matter that you kept such an enormous secret from her
all this time.’
When he put it that way...
। Nala ran up ahead of him and started to walk backwards so that she could
face him. ‘At least my intentions were honourable,’ she tried.
‘Of course,’ Scar said. ‘We all have good intentions, dear. We just
sometimes make stupid choices.’

'Like Saving your fife?’ she reminded him. She shouldn’t really
throw that in*his face since she was the reason he’d been put in that
position in the first place. Before he could bring up that fact, she
quickly added, ‘Also, my mum says it isn’t nice to call anyone
 stupid. And I wouldn’t say I made a stupid choice. It was just...
unwise. But I’ve learnt from it’
‘And that is what is important, that you learn from your mistakes,’
Zazu piped in. ‘I say it all the time. One can make a mistake, but one
must learn from it.’
Nala had never heard him say anything like that before.
‘Well, I would suggest that you make even better choices in the
future,’ Scar said. ‘Like making sure you don’t walk into a tree.’
Nala turned around just before bumping into one of the biggest
trees she had ever seen in her life. She followed Scar around it and
then stopped short.
‘Wow,’ Nala whispered.
They stood at the edge of what could only be described as paradise.
Scar stuck his chest out as if he had created what lay before them
and said, ‘Welcome to Garamba.’
28
Nala

‘We made it!’ Nala said in an awed voice, unable to take her eyes off the
wondrous sights that lay before her.
Everything was so green and lush. Trees of every size and height grew so
close together that it was hard to tell where one stopped and the next one
started. Thick, ropy vines connected them, draping from one to another.
A waterfall cascaded down the grass-covered slope of a mountain,
spilling into a basin with the bluest water she
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 had ever seen. A rainbow—a real rainbow—arced over the basin.
Garamba was everything she and Simba had imagined it would
be and more.
Simba.
Was he here? Had he been living in t his dreamland all this time?
She had to find out.
‘We need to find Simba,’ Nala said. But before she could take
off, Scar stopped her, pinning her tail under his paw.
‘Not so fest. Garamba is vast. And you have no idea where Simba
is. He could be anywhere.’
‘If he’s here, he is at the Blue Grotto,’ Nala said confidently. ‘We
just have to find it.’ She tried to move forwards,
but Scar still held her.
‘Of the three of us, only one has been to Garamba,’ he said. ‘You
will follow my lead. This jungle is beautiful, but it is still a jungle
and there are pitfalls everywhere. Now, follow me.’
Nala ached to break away from him and go in search of the Blue
Grotto on her own, but Scar was right. There were probably dangers
lurking all around this amazing place. She hadn’t come this far only to
fall into quicksand or Mumble upon a snake pit. It was better to let
him lead.
As she followed Scar, Nala soon realised that she would not have
got very far on her own anyway because

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she couldn’t walk five steps without stopping to take in the incredible sights
of the jungle. They travelled along a narrow trail of trampled leaves. On
either side stood those massive trees that seemed tall enough to touch the
sky. But she couldn’t see the sky because the leaves and vines were so
abundant that they created a canopy over their heads.
The foliage covering the ground was as thick as the leaves above. And it
was everywhere! Even on the trees!
‘I’ve never seen grass growing on the sides of trees before,’ Nala said.
p ‘It’s moss. We have moss on the trees back in the savanna,’ Scar said.
h* ‘Not like this,’ Nala replied. The moss that grew on the trees and rocks
near Pride Rock was brown and stubby. This moss was as dense as the grass
growing in the scrubland. Everything here was lush and verdant. She could
tell ‘in just the short time they had been here that Garamba was as
remarkable as she and Simba had hoped it would be.
But where was Simba? Now that they were here, the need to find him
thumped within her bones like a heartbeat. L ‘Scar, are you sure this is the
way to the Blue Grotto?’ she asked as she walked in step with him. She
paused. ‘Wait. Is that water?’
She immediately took off, veering left of the path and

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 heading towards the sound of gurgling water. She climbed over the
protruding roots of the trees and underneath the wide, flat leaves of the
foliage that grew everywhere.
‘Nala, get back here!’ she heard Scar yell, but she kept going, not
stopping until she reached the edge of a short cliff.
‘Wow,’ Nala said as she released a low breath. Scar and Zazu
quickly made it to her side, but Nala didn’t acknowledge them. She
couldn’t tear her eyes away from the beauty on display.
At the base of the cliff was a stream with water so clear she could
see the bed of smooth rocks that lay across the bottom of it. Fish of all
sizes zipped through the stream, their myriad colours creating an
underwater rainbow. It was all so vibrant—like nothing she had ever
seen before.
Nala peered in the direction the fish swam. It suddenly occurred to
her that this stream must lead to something. Maybe...
‘Do you think this stream leads to the Blue Grotto?’ she asked. She
looked over at Scar. ‘Do you?’
‘I can’t be certain,’ Scar said. ‘It has been a long time since I’ve
visited Garamba.’
‘But you said we had to follow you because you’re the only one who’s
been here,’ she reminded him.
‘Yes, well, it has changed. ‘There were a lot fewer trees the last time I
was here.’
Nala barely managed to hold in her frustrated growl.
4
We should follow this stream,’ Nala said.
‘Not so fast.’
‘But Scar!’ she said.
He gave her one of those superior looks that challenged her to say
another word. This time Nala did growl in frustration.
 r. Scar scowled, but then he finally said, ‘We’ll ask if any of the residents

have seen Simba.’

The moment they turned to go back to the trail, the sound of leaves
rustling caught Nala’s attention. She looked up at the trees just in front of
them and saw a long-legged | monkey swinging from one of the vines.
‘Don’t ask him,’ Nala said.
‘That’s a bonobo, Nala. They’re harmless.’
k ‘He is right,’ Zazu said. ‘Do not let what happened with those macaques
change the way you view all primates, Nala. They are not all out for blood.’
I Scar walked up to the tree where the monkey hung upside down,
chomping on fruit of some sort.
‘Excuse me,’ Scar said. ‘We’re looking for a lion cub, about yay tall.
Funny-shaped head.’
BE PREPARED

Nala frowned up at him.

‘Are you asking about Simba?’ the bonobo asked.
Nala’s heart stopped. ‘He’s here?’
‘Yeah.’ The Bonobo took another bite of his fruit and chewed
slowly. ‘Check the Blue Grotto,’ he finally continued. ‘He hangs out
around there with Timon and Pumbaa.’ He pointed in the direction
the fish were swimming in the stream. ‘It’s right that way, just past
the waterfall.’
He’s here! Her pride’s rightful king was here!
As tightly as she had held on to the hope of finding Simba alive, it
wasn’t until this very moment that Nala realised that deep within she
had been secretly preparing herself for the opposite news. But she
didn’t have to fear awful news anymore, because Simba was here.
He was alive!
She looked over at Scar. His mouth hung open. He looked as
shocked as she felt.
 ‘He’s alive, Scar! Simba is alive! Let’s go!’
She took off running towards the waterfall. Towards her best friend.

29
Scar

Scar followed Nala on shaky legs. His brain refused to comprehend the
information that the bonobo had so casually shared.
Simba was alive.
Despite Rafiki’s vision and Nala’s insistence that, if alive, Simba
would have travelled to Garamba, up until this point Scar never truly
expected it to be true. He thought they would arrive and discover that
this sighting had been like all the others reported over the last six
months.

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 Zazu flew beside him, yammering excitedly about the miraculous news.
Scar tuned him out, along with everything else. He could only focus on one
thing: the fact that Mufasa’s son still lived.
They walked past the waterfall before arriving at the opening of the sea
cave, just as the monkey had instructed. Scar hung back, standing next to a
rock pillar, while Nala continued forwards, taking slow, tentative steps as if
afraid of what she would find. An air of anticipation swirled around them.
Yet, it was eerily quiet, with only the sounds of the occasional primate
squawking or bird cawing. Even Zazu was silent for once.
Nala crept closer to the opening of the grotto. Its rocky ledge appeared
dangerously slick. It took every bit of restraint Scar had not to shove her in
the water.
But he couldn’t rid himself of Nala just yet, and especially not with Zazu
as a witness. It was imperative that he be patient. Unlike those hyenas he’d
first sent to do the job, Scar would make sure it was done the right way this
time.
‘Simba?’ Nala called. His name echoed off the walls of the cave, but
there was no response.
A spark of hope flickered in Scar’s chest. Was it possible that the bonobo
had been mistaken and Simba wasn’t here after all?
But just as quickly as it had risen, his hope disintegrated witfra single
word, spoken in a voice that Scar had not heard in six months and one that
he had been assured he would never hear again.
‘Nala?’
Nala and Scar both turned at the same time.
There he was. Mufasa’s spawn.
 He stood with two others, a skinny meerkat and a plump warthog. It was
exactly what Nala had recalled about Rafiki’s vision.
Nala remained motionless for a moment, then she took off, screaming,
‘Simba!’
Scar watched with barely concealed contempt as the two embraced,
jumping around in a circle. Zazu joined in the fray, hovering around the
cubs with his wings flapping t excitedly.
He should do it right now. Take them out one by one ; and be done with
this for good.
But he couldn’t. Not yet. He must get information from Simba; Scar had to
know if the cub had discussed what happened to Mufasa with anyone else.
Even Simba’s incorrect version of events was too dangerous to leave out in
the .world. Anyone who had any knowledge of that day would heed to be
eliminated. It was the only way to secure his place as the leader of their
kingdom.
‘These are my friends, Timon and Pumbaa,’ Simba

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 was saying to Nala. ‘They took me in when I got here to Garamba. I guess
you can say they’ve become my family.’
‘Your family is back at Pride Rock,’ Nala said. ‘Your mother will be so
relieved to see you.’
Simba’s expression sobered at the mention of Sarabi. ‘How is she?’ he
asked.
‘She misses you. Everyone misses you,’ Nala said.
‘I can’t believe this, Simba. You’re really here.’
‘I can’t believe it either,’ Scar said, coming out from behind the pillar.
‘Un—Uncle Scar,’ Simba said. Scar caught the way his body stiffened,
and the apprehension he heard in the cub’s voice was undeniable.
‘Well, Simba,’ Scar said. ‘This is quite the surprise. How amazing to find
you here in Garamba, just as that mongoose said you would be.’
Scar had to hold in his smile. He could tell by the shocked terror in his
nephew’s eyes that his thoughts went directly to the day at the gorge. Had
he figured out Scar’s role in Mufasa’s demise? Learning this was essential.
‘You’ve been gone a long time, Simba,’ Scar said. ‘We all thought you
had met some awful fate.’
‘Uh . . . no,’ Simba said. He dropped his head and stared at the ground.

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 ‘Simba, do you know about your father?’ Nala asked in a cautious tone.
‘About what happened to him?’
His head shot up, his eyes going wide as he quickly glanced at Scar. ‘I
know there was a stam-a stampede. But I don’t know what happened once
the wildebeests left the -gorge.’
This time, Scar couldn’t suppress his grin.
It was a lie. He knew exactly what had happened to his father. When Scar
had discovered Simba, he had been huddled next to Mufasa’s lifeless body.
There was only one reason Simba would share such a lie with Nala.
He still believed he had caused his father’s death.
Scar should have known this was the case. It was why Simba’s expression
had gone from delighted to panic- stricken the moment he saw Scar.
Because Scar knew his secret.
And Simba was terrified that this deep, dark, horrible secret would be
revealed now that he had been found.
‘So, uh, you came with Uncle Scar?’ Simba asked Nala.
‘Yes. Well, first it was me and Abena, but then there was an elephant
stampede and this raging storm, and both scared her so much that I had to
take her back to Pride Rock. And she wasn’t supposed to tell anyone where
I was going,

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but you know she’s just a cub so she couldn’t keep her mouth shut. The
next thing I knew, Scar and Zazu where there!’
On and on Nala went, recounting every part of her journey to
Simba. As she prattled on about how she’d swung through the trees
with the macaques, Scar set out to devise a plan to rid himself of his
nephew for good.
Now that he knew Simba had not figured out that Scar was the one
behind Mufasa’s death, he wondered if he could possibly use it to his
advantage. He scratched at his jaw, trying to come up with a scenario
that would lead to an accident for Simba, Nala and Zazu.
The most convenient way to go about this was to drown them, of
course, but it would be too difficult to do it simultaneously. He would
need to break them apart and take care of them one by one.
He had to start with Zazu.
Even though Scar felt as if he would explode if he did not get rid of
his nephew first, Zazu was the one with the capability to ruin
everything. If Zazu witnessed Scar harming Simba or Nala, Scar had
no doubt the bird would fly back to Pride Rock and tell Sarabi
everything. He had to be eliminated.
And then it was Simba’s turn. Convincing his nephew to remain
here in Garamba and not return to Pride Rock would not be good
enough. He had to kill him.
But how? Simba would beoverly cautious around Scar, knowing that
Scar knew his secret. His nephew would Baprobably watch him like a
hawk, afraid Scar would let i something slip in front of Nala or Zazu.
Which would make it impossible to catch him unawares.
Unless . ..
Scar chuckled to himself. Why hadn’t he thought of this earlier? He
knew exactly how to catch Simba while his guard was down.
He walked up to where Simba, Nala and the others stood.
‘Well, this little reunion is quite something, isn’t it?’ Scar said. ‘But,
Nala, don’t you want to see a bit of Garamba?’
Her eyes lit up. ‘Oh, yes! Show me around, Simba.’
 ‘Actually,’ Scar said. ‘Why not have Simba’s new friends show you
around?’
‘His friends?’
‘This is, after all, their home. And, meanwhile, my p nephew and I can have
a nice chat.’
. Scar noticed Simba’s shoulders stiffen.
Yes. He had him exactly where he wanted him. Panicked and afraid.
‘That’s okay with you, isn’t it, Simba?’ Scar asked.
‘Uh . . . yeah, Uncle Scar,’ he said, his eyes darting between Nala and the
others.
‘But, Simba, we’ve barely had a chance to talk,’ Nala said. ‘It’s
been six months since I’ve seen you. I have so much to tell you.’
‘You will have a lifetime to catch up now that we’ve found
Simba,’ Scar said. ‘And I’m sure he has so much to tell you.’
Simba’s gaze immediately dropped to the ground.
Oh, yes. He was terrified of what Scar would bring up. This would
be easier than he’d first thought.

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 30
Nala

Excited. Confused. Relieved. Joyous.

Nala couldn’t find the right word for what she was feeling right now.
Shocked. Shocked was a good one.
Seeing Simba in the flesh, healthy and alive, seemed to have triggered
every emotion she had ever experienced, setting them into motion within
her all at once. Her mind kept going back to the moment when she had
turned around and set her eyes on him for the first time in six months.
This friend who she thought was gone forever, right here in front of
her.
Well, he wasn’t right here just now. He was back at the grotto with
Scar, which was where she wanted to be. After being away from him
for so long, it was difficult to leave Simba’s side for even a minute.
Nala figured that was why she was having such a hard time focusing
on the breathtaking beauty surrounding her.
 It felt as if she had been waiting her whole life to see this place;
she needed to take advantage of this opportunity before they set out
on the journey home. As she passed through a draping moss that hung
from large trees, her breath caught. It truly was paradise, its lush
valleys and overflowing rivers as different from the parched land
surrounding Pride Rock as one could get.
Timon and Pumbaa pointed out different spots along their walk
that related to Simba in some way: the log where he’d fallen and
bumped his head. His favourite tree to sleep under.
Nala had a hard time processing it all. He had started a new life
here without her and his pride, and based on what she could gather
from his new friends, it didn’t seem as if Simba had been making
plans to leave anytime soon.
New emotions began to emerge: hurt, bewilderment and just a
touch of anger. They had always hoped to come here , together; had
he really been prepared to disregard their friendship, to leave her at
Pride Rock waiting and wondering?
Timon picked a plump worm from the bark of a downed tree and popped
it into his mouth.
r ‘Yeah, the kid was a mess when he first came here,’ he said around his
noisy chewing. ‘But I told Pumbaa that we couldn’t just leave him to his
own devices, you know what I mean?’
h: ‘Uh, sure,’ Nala said. ‘Actually, no, I don’t,’ she corrected. ‘What do
you mean when you say he was a mess? Was he sick?’
‘I guess you can say that,’ Timon said. ‘He was sick with worry about
something terrible that happened just before he , came here, but I could
never get the kid to talk about it. So, I told him to put the past behind him
and move on.’
Something terrible that happened...
v Nala wondered if Simba had seen what happened to his father after all.
Witnessing such a horrible event would be devastating for anyone, but
especially for Simba, who had been so close to their king.
But it still didn’t explain why he hadn’t returned to Pride Rock.
She wouldn’t get any answers walking around with Timon and Pumbaa.
She wanted to get back to Simba.

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 ‘Maybe we should go back to the grotto,’ Nala said.
‘What? We haven’t even seen the big waterfall yet,’ Timon
said. ‘Now, that’s the kid’s favourite place in the entire forest.
He floats on his back like a fish. Come on, we’ll show ya!’
It would be rude to leave them, and Scar had asked for
some alone time with Simba. She could only imagine the
emotions Scar was experiencing, discovering that the nephew
he’d thought had died with his brother was actually alive.
They deserved a few minutes to catch up.
But Nala didn’t care. She had put too much into this
quest to find her best friend. She would give Scar and Simba
space on their return journey to Pride Rock.
Nala glanced over at her guides.
Timon was rambling on about the time Simba had rolled
into an ant pile, with Pumbaa blithely adding commentary.
Zazu had joined them. He continued to pepper them with questions
about the weather, the predator-to-prey ratio and other stuff she wasn’t
interested in.
She was betting that they were all too distracted to notice her
slipping away. She slowed her pace, then stopped walking altogether.
None of them seemed to notice she was
no longer travelling alongside them.
Nala turned and quickly backtracked, making her way to the
grotto. She had not yet turned the corner of the slick

206
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stone wall that led to the sea cave, but she could hear Scar speaking to
Simba.
‘I know this is difficult to hear, but Pride Rock has truly thrived under
my leadership, Simba. The lions and hyenas live together in perfect
harmony. There’s more food than we can eat.’
What?
Nala was certain she had heard wrong. The current state of Pride Rock
was the opposite of what he was describing to Simba. She rounded the
stone wall and found the two huddled together, with Scar’s left front leg
draped over Simba’s shoulders.
‘If you were to return, not only would it break your mother’s heart to
learn what you did to Mufasa, but it would not be good for the pride,’ Scar
said.
Nala was about to speak when she saw Scar reaching for a rock with his
hind leg. He scooted it towards his front paw.
Everything started to click into place. She recalled how Scar’s interest in
coming to Garamba had grown when he’d learnt of Rafiki’s vision, and how
he had lashed out at Zazu when the bird mentioned going back to Pride
Rock to inform Sarabi once Nala had told them about her and Simba’s plans
to visit.
She’d wondered why Scar wouldn’t want Sarabi to know about Simba . . .

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 Nala suddenly realised what was happening.
‘Simba, watch ¡®ut!’ Nala screamed just as Scar lifted the
rock.
Her scream must have shocked them both because Simba and
Scar both turned at her call.
Nala saw the moment Simba noticed the rock in his uncle’s
paw. He froze, his eyes bulging. But then he ran, scrambling on
the slick rock bed surrounding the cave. Scar took off after him,
his face wearing a look of pure evil.
For a few seconds, Nala was too shocked to move. Scar had just
tried to kill Simba right in front of her very eyes.
He was still trying. The two darted past her, charging towards the
area from where she had just returned.
Nala’s heart jumped into her throat; the terror of everything
that was happening threatened to overwhelm her. But she didn’t
have time to be scared. She had just found her friend again; she
wasn’t about to lose him.
‘Zazu! Timon! Pumbaa!’
She sprinted after Scar and Simba, yelling for the others to join
her. She found Simba and Scar engaged in an uneven battle.
Simba tried to hold Scar off, but his uncle was more than twice his
size. He was quickly overpowering Simba.
‘No!’ Nala screamed when Scar pinned Simba to a tree by his
neck. Simba’s short legs kicked chaotically, but it was obvious
that he was losing the ability to breathe.

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 ‘JVhat’s going on here?’ Timon asked.
Nala turned to them and nearly collapsed in relief. But this was no time
for collapsing. This was the time to fight.
‘Come on,’ she screamed, and charged after Scar.
Nala attacked with everything she had within her, sinking her claws into
Scar’s back and biting so hard on his ^shoulder that she felt her teeth pierce
his skin. He loosed his hold on Simba, dropping him, then he reared back,
releasing an awful roar. He twisted and turned, trying to shake her.
Nala heard the patter of hooves pounding the dirt seconds before Scar
thrust forwards and howled. She took a moment to glance over her shoulder
and saw Pumbaa backing up, only to ram Scar again with his pointy tusks.
Timon had clamped on to his right leg and Simba had his left; both were
tearing into him.
Zazu had landed on Scar’s head and was pecking it with his beak so hard
that Nala could hear him hitting bone. She ■ continued her attack,
scratching at his flesh, tearing his skin with her teeth. She used the
techniques Abena had taught her to hunt her most unexpected prey: the
leader of their pride.
Make that the former leader.
» The rightful leader of their pride was currently taking a piece out of Scar’s
leg.
They were unrelenting in their assault, keeping it going until Scar
went limp.
‘Is he dead?’ Simba asked.
‘I don’t think so,’ Nala said. She looked over at her best friend.
‘We’re not like him. We don’t have to kill him.’
‘But we need to get away from him,’ Zazu said.
He was right.
‘Come on,’ Nala said. And they all took off running.
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 31 Nala

This wasn’t exactly how Nala had pictured seeing Garamba back when
she and Simba had made those long-ago plans to visit. She only caught
glimpses of the rest of the beautiful landscape as they sprinted through
the dense jungle at top speed, determined to put as much distance
between themselves and Scar as they could.
They had left him in a bad state. Nala wouldn’t be surprised if Scar
could not walk for at least a day or two. But they could leave nothing to
chance. She had seen more

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 bizarre things happen, and she knew firstpaw how shrewd Scar
could be. Battered and broken, he could still figure out a way to get
to them.
They ran until they reached the less dense area of the forest, the
place that established Garamba’s border. It wasn’t until then that she
finally felt safe enough to slow down.
‘I think we can stop for a minute,’ Nala puffed between deep
breaths. ‘Scar was too injured to make it very far.’
‘I believe you are right, Miss Nala,’ Zazu said. ‘Whew, these wings
have got quite a workout today. I still cannot believe what just
happened with Sire . . . Scar,’ Zazu amended. ‘What could have come
over him?’
Nala had a theory about that.
‘He wanted to keep power,’ she said.
It was so obvious. It was why he had decided they should continue
their journey to Garamba instead of demanding they return to Pride
Rock when he’d found her. And she had been clueless. She’d thought
Scar was on her side. Yet, this entire time . . .
‘I feel like such a fool,’ Nala said. ‘I led him right to you. I’m so
sorry, Simba.’
He covered her right paw with his own. ‘It’s okay, Nala.’
‘I’m sorry I led Scar to you, but I’m not sorry I came,’ she
continued. ‘Because you’re here. You’re really here, Simba.’

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 She threw her forelegs around him in a fierce embrace. It felt as if it was
finally sinking in that she had Simba back.
‘Okay, okay, can we break up the lovefest? It’s giving me indigestion,’
Timon said. The skinny meerkat plopped his paws on his hips. ‘So, what do
we do now that we’ve left the Ugly one back at the grotto?’
‘I say we have a look around,’ Pumbaa suggested.
‘I haven’t been this far outside of the jungle in a long time.’ ‘None of us
have,’ Timon said. He frowned. ‘Just look at it. Who would want to come
here?’
Nala glanced around. The leaves on the sparsely populated trees were
not as green, and there wasn’t a waterfell to be seen.
‘It’s not as beautiful as Garamba, but what is?’ Nala asked.
She looked up at the sky. The sun hadn’t set yet and there were a few
clouds, but Nala realised that she didn’t need to rely on the stars to guide
them back to Pride Rock. She felt confident that between her and Zazu, they
could figure out the way home.
She looked to Timon and Pumbaa. ‘You two need to decide if you’re
coming with us, because we’ll need to get going. Scar may be down, but he
isn’t out. I don’t trust sticking around for much longer.’

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 Timon hooked a thumb at her. ‘What’s she talking ’bout?’ he
asked Pumbaa. ‘Going where? And who is us?’
Nala became more antsy the longer they stood there. She knew
there was no possible way that Scar was strong enough to get
through the jungle right then, but she would not rest easy until she
had put much more distance between them.
‘We can’t stay here,’ Nala said. ‘It’s time for us to start our
journey back home.’ She looked to Zazu. ‘You know the way,
right?’
‘Yes, I do, Miss Nala.’
‘Good.’ She nodded and then to Simba she said, ‘LetVgo.’
She’d already started walking when she heard, ‘I can’t.’
Nala stopped and turned. She tilted her head to the side and stared
at Simba in confusion. ‘What do you mean “you can’t”?’ Nala asked.
‘We need to get going. If we leave now, we can be back at Pride
Rock in less than two days.’ Simba took a step back. ‘I can’t come
with you.’ Nala’s head reared back as if he’d slapped her with an
open paw. ‘What? Why not?’
Simba dropped his head; his shoulders slumped. ‘I just... I can’t?
‘Simba, I came here for you! Do you know what I’ve been
through? What the entire pride has been through?’
‘The pride will be better off without me,’ he said.

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 ‘Why would you even think such a thing?’ she asked, but then she
remembered where she’d heard something similar: it was from Scar
before he’d attempted to kill Simba.
‘Don’t believe what Scar told you about life back at Pride Rock. It
was all lies. Life has been awful there, Simba.’ He looked up at her, his
eyes widening in shock. Nala went on. ‘The hyenas raid the food. The
lionesses can barely keep up with how much they eat. They deplete
everything and leave us with nothing. And your mother—’

j ‘No,’ he said. He shook his head and turned away. ‘Please, I can’t hear

any more.’
‘You will listen to me,’ Nala said. She had come too far and withstood
too much to have him disregard her.
‘You don’t understand, Nala! I can’t go back to Pride Rock!’
‘Why not?’
‘Because it was my fault!’ Simba yelled. He dropped his I head again
and shook it. In a soft, broken voice, he whis- pered, ‘It was my fault.’
Nala walked up to him. She nudged him with her nose, encouraging
him to look up.
‘What are you talking about, Simba? What was your fault?’
When he finally lifted his eyes to meet her, the guilt and £ , fear
staring back at her stole her breath.
‘That my dad died,’ he answered.
Nala froze.
She couldn’t possibly have heard him correctly. ‘A stampede killed
King Mufasa,’ Nala said.
 ‘I’m the reason he was there,’ Simba said. ‘If I had not been down in
the gorge, he never would have gone there. He wouldn’t have been
trampled by those wildebeests. It was my fault.’
‘Simba,’ Nala whispered. The emotion welling in her throat made it
difficult to speak. ‘Is this really the reason you’ve stayed away all this
time?’
Like a bolt of lightning striking her from the sky, it occurred to her that
she had been carrying the same guilt. She had blamed herself for not going
with Simba that day. Nala didn’t realise just how foolish it was until she
heard the same coming from Simba.
‘That wasn’t your fault,’ she told him.
‘But Scar said—’
‘He told you lies!’ Nala said.
‘He told me that everyone would blame me for it,’ Simba said. ‘He
told me to run away and never return, that it was the only thing I could
do. I can’t go back, Nala.’
The compassion Nala had felt for Simba quickly turned to anger
towards him. He was choosing to allow Scar and his lies to dictate his
life, and she simply would not have it.
‘No-one at Pride Rock will blame you for Mufasa’s death,’ Nala said.
‘Your mother loves you and your pride needs you. If you refuse to return
with me, no-one will believe it’s because of what Scar told you; they will
believe it’s because you’re a coward!’
He jerked his head up. ‘I’m not a coward,’ he said.
‘Prove it!’ Nala taunted. She stepped up to him until she was only
centimetres from his face. ‘I left my home and defied my mother. I battled
thunderstorms, was kidnapped by violent monkeys and was nearly killed by
a rival pride of lions. I did all that without knowing if you were even alive.
It was just a hunch, but that was all I needed. I was willing to do anything to
bring you back home where you belong. What are you willing to do,
Simba?’
 Please. Please. Please, Nala silently pleaded.
She thought the word over and over again, but she refused to say it. She
would not beg him again. As painful as it would be after everything she’d
gone through to get here, if Simba decided to stay in Garamba, then she
would leave him here.
‘What are you going to do?’ Nala asked one last time.
Several lengthy, uncomfortably silent moments stretched between them.
Then that slow grin Nala had not seen in six long months stretched across
her best friend’s face.
‘I’m going home,’ he said.
Nala went weak with relief, and then she jumped in the air. 'Finally!’
‘Well. Pumbaa. I guess we’re going to Pride Rock. Wherever that is,*
Timon said.
‘Right we are!* Zazu said. ‘And not a moment too soon?
 32
sarabi

Sarabi had waited as long as she could, but she could no ■ longer hold off
on making this decision. Scar, Nala and Zazu should be back by now, even
if they had continued to K Garamba.
As promised, Sarabi had assembled a search party I when Scar and the
others hadn’t returned along with the new moon. But just as the lionesses
were preparing to leave, a family of zebras that had stopped for rest at the
waterhole 1.1 while on their way to the Pemba Forest reported seeing a L

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 cub and red-billed hornbill near Mount Kei. Sarabi had figured if
Nala was with Zazu, it meant Scar had indeed found her.
She’d wondered why Scar would continue in the opposite
direction of Pride Rock instead of returning home with Nala, but she
did not want the other lionesses to witness her questioning their
leader. All that mattered was that they were safe. She had called off
the search.
But that was two days ago, which meant Nala had now been away
from home for six days. Scar wasn’t the most empathetic leader, but he
had to know that keeping Sarafina and her cub apart for this long was
unacceptable. The fact that he had not returned with Nala could only
mean one thing: they were both hurt. Or worse.
She closed her eyes and silently spoke to Mufasa, asking her
soulmate to infuse her with the wisdom and strength he once employed
as leader of this pride. She knew what she needed to do. She just had
to make the decision to do it.
The other lionesses were spread around Pride Rock- most in the
sleeping quarters, but others patrolling the perimeter and keeping
watch over the eland that was procured last night. It was time for her
to gather them together so that she could dispatch a search party out
into the jungle.
Sarabi slowly made her way from deep in the cave where she had
been sequestered. She kept her eyes straight ahead as she passed the
lionesses and cubs restlessly hovering about the sleeping quarters. She
could feel the others following her out onto the landing. By the time she
turned around, all but the lionesses who were out patrolling were with her.
Expectation hummed in the air.
‘I told you all that I would come to a decision if Scar and Nala had not
returned by now.’ She sucked in a deep breath and slowly released it. ‘I
have decided that we—’
Just then, something caught her attention out of the corner of her eye.
Sarabi turned and squinted, trying to decide if what she was seeing was real
or just a figment of her imagination. Four figures were running towards the
clearing from the direction of the waterhole.
I»' It couldn’t be ...
b ‘Simba?’ Sarabi whispered.
k She pushed through the circle of lionesses and sprinted down the side of
Pride Rock. Sarabi ran so fast that her lungs burned within her chest. She
ran with everything she had within her.
By the time she reached the figures, she could barely breathe. But Sarabi
couldn’t tell if it was from exertion or the stunning sight before her.
L: ‘Simba?’
Was it-really him?

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BE PREPARED

‘Mama.’’
It was! It was Simba!
Her boy was alive! And he was here!
‘Oh, Simba.’’ Sarabi cried. She wrapped her son in a powerful
embrace and wondered how she would ever be able to let go. ‘Oh,
Simba. You’re alive. You’re alive!’
She registered the other lionesses gathering around them, shock
and jubilance mixing in a joyful reunion. She looked up long
enough to see Sarafina capturing Nala in the same embrace that
Sarabi gave her own cub.
Unwilling to let him go, Sarabi reared back just enough to look
down at her son.
‘Simba, where? How?’ She didn’t even know what she wanted to
ask first.
But before she could ask anything, her son disengaged from her
embrace and took several steps back. Sarabi instantly felt the loss.
‘Simba, what are you doing? Come back here.’
‘Not yet,’ he said. ‘Mother, I have to tell you something.’ Her heart
skipped a beat. ‘Whatever it is, it can wait;’ Sarabi said. She needed
to hold him, to make sure he was really here.
‘It can’t wait,’ Simba said. In a louder voice he said, ‘The entire
pride needs to hear this.’

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 ‘Simba, I already told you—’ Nala said, but he cut her off.
‘No, Nala. I have to do this.’
Afi uneasy sensation quivered in the pit of Sarabi’s stomach. There was
nothing more important than holding her son, but whatever Simba had to
tell her, it seemed serious. At least to him.
‘Mother, it was my fault that we lost father,’ he stated. ‘I am the reason he
went down into the gorge. I knew better than to venture there, but Scar...’
He paused. Sarabi studied him as his brow furrowed. Then, after several
moments, his eyes widened. ‘Scar,’ he said again.
‘What about Scar?’ Sarabi asked.
Understanding dawned in Simba’s eyes. Slowly, he said, ‘Scar told me to
go down to the gorge. He did this. He must have planned it all along. He
sent me to the gorge that day. The next thing I knew, the stampede started,
and then father came from out of nowhere to rescue me. He was swept up
by the wildebeests.’
| Sarabi’s blood ran cold. Mufasa’s own brother was the one who had
plotted against him. He had killed her mate and had tried to kill her son.
‘Where is he?’ Sarabi gritted through clenched teeth. ‘We don’t have to
worry about Scar anymore,’ Nala said.

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 ‘Nala, did you . . .’ Sarafina asked.
Nala shook her head. ‘We didn’t kill him, but he did try to kill
Simba.’
Sarabi listened in escalating horror as Nala recounted their harrowing
battle against Scar. Her gratitude towards Nala, Zazu and Simba’s new
friends, Timon and Pumbaa, could only be matched by the rage she felt
towards Scar.
‘We don’t have to worry about Scar anymore,’ Nala said. ‘Even if
another predator did not attack him before he healed from his injuries, I
don’t think he would return to Pride Rock.’
‘Not when he learns that you all have returned. He will know then
that he has been exposed as a murderer,’ Sarabi said. She walked up to
Simba and cradled his jaw in her paw. ‘You have nothing to explain or
confess to anyone in this pride, Simba. But even if Scar had not been
the one behind your father’s . .. accident,’ she said, ‘it was no reason for
you to leave.’
‘Scar told me I had to. He said that you would . . . that everyone
would . . .’ Simba choked on the words.
‘Enough.’ Sarabi gathered him into an embrace again.
She hoped her murderous brother-in-law was not foolish enough to
show his face here again. If he did, she would take great pleasure in
tearing his body apart, limb by limb.
Sarabi stared into his eyes. ‘There is nothing you can

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do that I would not forgive. This is your home, Simba. You are always
welcome here.’
Sarabi heard someone clearing their throat just behind her. She turned to
find Kito, Sefu, Fayola, Thandi and the others standing side by side. Her
sister spoke up.
‘If you don’t mind, dear sister, the members of this pride would like to
salute our king,’ Kito said.
As one, the lionesses and their cubs all bowed before them. Then, one by
one, they took turns welcoming Simba back into the pride.
‘Look who’s back! Never thought we’d see you again.’
Sarabi whipped around. It was the leader of the hyena pack, the one they
called Shenzi.
‘Yeah,’ the other, Banzai, said. ‘I was sure you would be dead within a
day after we chased you off the Pride Lands.’ I Thandi ran up to him and
tackled him to the ground. She pinned him down with both paws and bared
her teeth. L. ‘Not yet, Thandi,’ Sarabi ordered. Truth be told, she didn’t care
what Thandi did to the hyenas, but she wanted to confirm something before
the lioness unleashed her destruction on them.
She walked up to the mangy dogs. '‘You ran my son away from his
home?’ Sarabi asked.
Shenzi held up her paws. ‘We were only following Scar’s orders. He
wanted us to kill him, but we just ran him
off instead. So, you see, if it weren’t for us, the little fur ball would be
dead. We saved him.’
A collective growl emerged from the lionesses, but Sarabi held up
her paw, staving off their attack. She’d wanted the hyena to confirm that
Scar was the one behind this, and Shenzi had. For that, she would spare
their lives. But that was as far as her generosity stretched.
‘Leave,’ Sarabi told the hyenas. ‘I want you and the rest of your kind
gone from this land. And never, ever return.’

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 33
Nala

The celebration honouring Simba’s return had lasted well into the
night. Sarabi had formally welcomed Timon and Pumbaa into the
pride, pledging lifelong protection and special treatment by the
lionesses for them both. Timon had immediately taken advantage
of his new status, requesting that Sefu accompany him to the
nearest fallen tree so that he could feast on bugs.
Sarabi had also issued an order freeing Zazu from his duties as
majordomo, which Zazu had promptly declined,
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 be prepared

declaring that it. would be his honour to sit at the side of Mufasa’s son.
The «entire pride had bowed before Zazu, thanking him for his years of
service.
Despite the Cheery atmosphere, Nala knew the joyfol mood suffusing
the air was only temporary. At least for her. Simba’s return marked a new
beginning for their pride, but there was still much that would have to be
discussed between her and her mother before they could embark on their
own journey of healing.
Nala decided that she would rather face this conversation tonight than
put it off any longer. She approached her mother, who sat with several of
the other lionesses cheer-
fully discussing what they saw for the pride’s future now that their true
leader had returned.
‘Mother, can I speak to you?’ Nala asked.
Sarafina looked at her with a smile. ‘Of course, Nala,’ she said. She
gathered Nala in another hug. ‘Have I mentioned how proud I am of you?’
‘Yes,’ Nala said. She couldn’t deny how good it felt to hear her mother
say those words. But Nala also knew they could not just pretend that the last
six months had never happened.
Nala waited until they were out of earshot of the rest of the lionesses
before she began.

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 ‘Mother, I know it was wrong to run away as I did,’ she said.
‘Yes, it was wrong. But you brought Simba back to us,’ Sarafina told her.
‘I know. But what if I hadn’t?’ Nala asked. ‘We’re all overjoyed that
Simba has returned, but it doesn’t change what happened between us. You
thought you were protecting me, but all you did was hurt my chances of
survival in the future,’ Nala pointed out.
Now that she had got started, she couldn’t seem to stop. All the anger
over how her mother had treated her began to pour out.
‘Do you realise what you have done?’ Nala continued, her voice rising
with each word. ‘I am so far behind where the other cubs are in their
lessons that it will take twice as much work for me to catch up with them. If
not for Abena teaching me how to hunt, I would have starved out there, '
Mother! A cub younger than I am had to teach me to hunt! Not only is that
embarrassing, but it could have been deadly. This can’t go on!’
‘I know,’ her mother said in a quiet voice.
Nala jerked back, unsure if she had heard her correctly. ‘What was that?’
she asked.
‘I said I know,’ Sarafina repeated. ‘I know and I am sorry.1
She shook her head. ‘I was so afraid, Nala. I was just. . She looked up at
her, her eyes filled with tears. ‘I was so afraid of losing you. I saw what
Sarabi had gone through after losing Simba and I just... I could not stand to
face the same tiling.’ She walked up to Nala. ‘But I should not have placed
my own fears above your needs. It was selfish.’
A lump of emotion caught in Nala’s throat.
‘I’ve been selfish too,’ Nala said.
‘No. You have been wonderful,’ her mother told her.
Nala was the one to shake her head this time. ‘I should have told you and
Sarabi about Garamba from the very beginning,’ she said. ‘Not just when
the dwarf mongoose reported this latest sighting, but six months ago, when
Simba’s body wasn’t recovered with Mufasa’s and the talk of him possibly
surviving the stampede first started.
‘There is no excuse for me to have kept quiet about it, especially after the
mongoose shared Rafiki’s vision. Simba didn’t need me out there trying to
play the hero. He needed the entire pride out looking for him. We could
have found him a lot sooner.’
‘None of that matters anymore,’ Sarafina said. ‘All that matters is that
you are both here and you’re both safe.’
‘Are you sure that’s all that matters?’ Nala asked. She gestured to where
Sarabi and Simba still sat. The two were inseparable, even though Nala
could tell that Sirnba wanted to hang out with the other cubs.
Sarafina dipped her head, then slowly walked towards where the mother
and son sat. Nala followed closely behind her.
Sarabi spotted them when they were still several yards away. She sat up
straighter, but she did not remove her front paw from where it rested atop
Simba’s head.
The two lionesses stared at each other, best friends who had shared both
laughter and tears.
‘I owe you an apology,’ Sarafina started.
‘Sa-’
‘Sarabi, no,’ her mother said, cutting off the other lioness. ‘I need to say
this. What I did to you—the words I said about you—were unconscionable
and unforgivable. But I hope that you can one day find it in your heart to
forgive me.’
She broke away from Simba for the first time since he had returned and
gathered Sarafina in a hug.
‘I already have,’ Sarabi said. ‘When it comes to something done out of
the love a mother has for her cub, anything can be forgiven.’

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 Epilogue
Nala

Nala looked around the sleeping quarters, searching every nook and
crevice. She had been to the waterhole where the other cubs had
gathered and had looked around the clearing, but had not seen Simba
anywhere.
If he had run away after everything she had gone through to find
him, she was going to find him again and strangle him.
Nala stopped short. A smile blossomed on her face. She knew exactly
where to find him.
She raced out of the cave and up to Pride Rock’s second
landing. Her smile broadened when she rounded the boulder
and caught sight of Simba sitting near the ledge, looking out
over the vast land spread out before him.
Emotion welled in her chest at the familiarity of it all. How
many times had they sat in this very spot, making plans?
Nala approached as quietly as possible.
‘You’re not thinking of running off again, are you?’ she
asked.
Simba jumped and turned. He smiled. ‘Never again,’ he said,
then patted the rock next to him. ‘Come over here. It’s been a
long time since we sat up here together.’
 ‘Yes, it has,’ Nala said, taking the seat next to him. ‘You left
the waterhole before the leopard showed up, didn’t you?’
‘What leopard?’
‘She is one of your mother’s scouts. Sarabi had animals
around the savanna and beyond searching for word about you.
The leopard brought word back about Scar.’
Simba’s spine straightened.
‘She said members of the Hatari pride arrived in Garamba
and made off with him.’
‘Do you think they will kill him?’ Simba asked.
‘I don’t think we have to worry about Scar anymore,’ Nala
said.
‘I guess I should feel bad. He was my uncle, after all.’

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 ‘Don’t,’ she said. ‘He tried to kill you, Simba. He killed your father. He
may not have done it with his own paws, but he caused his death all the
same. Don’t ever think about Scar again.’
After a moment, Simba nodded. ‘You’re right. I won’t think about Scar
ever again.’
‘Focus on what’s ahead of you,’ Nala said, gesturing at the land that
stretched before them. ‘You know, I would sit here when I wanted to feel
close to you. I wasn’t sure we would ever do this again.’ She nudged him
with her shoulder. ‘It’s good to have you home.’
‘Thank you for reminding me that I have a home here,’ Simba said. He
nodded towards the horizon, where the sun had just started to set over the
Shadowlands. ‘Remember how we used to talk about exploring all those
lands?’
‘I do,’ Nala said. ‘And you did?
‘It sounds as if you did too,’ Simba pointed out.
‘I always said you were the bravest cub at Pride Rock.’
‘You did not.’
‘I may not have said it, but I thought it,’ Simba said. ‘Well, second
bravest,’ he amended. ‘We both know that I’m the bravest. I mean, I was
able to survive out there in the big bad jungle all on my own.’
‘Yeah, with Timon and Pumbaa there to help you,’ she said.
‘Well, yeah, I guess you’re right,’ he said.
They both looked at each other and laughed. But then after a moment,
Simba sobered.
‘As much as I enjoyed living in Garamba, I really missed Pride Rock.
And I missed you, Nala. You are my very best friend. If anyone would be
brave enough to face down violent monkeys and rival prides, I’m not
surprised it was you.’
‘It would take more than monkeys and lions to keep me from you,’ Nala
said. She looked to Simba. ‘Were you scared?’
 He nodded. ‘But, like you said, Timon and Pumbaa found me and they
helped me feel not so alone. They reminded me how important family really
is. Not that I didn’t know it before, but being away from everyone for so
long and thinking that I would never be able to come back made me realise
just how important everyone here at Pride Rock is to me. This is a special
place.’
‘It’s home,’ Nala said. ‘And you never have to leave again.’ She gestured
to the land surrounding them. This is all yours, Simba. This is your
birthright. And I know Pride Rock is going to be better because you’re here
to lead it.

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