Chapter 5: A Date to Remember
Part 3: Breaking Point
“Hey, that was a good idea back there,” Nala grinned excitedly as she and Simba slowly trekked through the tall grass towards Pride Rock. “I still can’t believe my mom is letting us play out here by ourselves. I thought she’d never let me out of her sight again!”
“Yeah!” Simba nodded in agreement. “I didn’t think it would work! So, uh, what do you want to do now?”
“Oh, uh, well…” Nala pondered for a moment while her mind cycled through a long list of possibilities. When she had been stuck back in the den, the only thing the girl could think about was all the fun she would have once she got better. But now that she was finally free, none of the cub’s fantasies seemed particularly appealing or practical. After all, there was no way they could make it to the moon and back in just one afternoon, and where would they even start to look for an evil magic scepter? Finally, Nala shook her head in embarrassed resignation. “I, uh, don’t know,” the girl chuckled sheepishly. “Maybe we could play a prank on Zazu?”
“Nah,” Simba replied with a slight frown. “I think my dad has him keeping an eye on Uncle Scar. Dad was pretty mad at my uncle for letting me go look for you that day.”
“Oh, yeah. Hey, didn’t you say your uncle was waiting outside when we fought the hyenas? Why didn’t he ever come help us?”
“I think he said something about his back hurting so he couldn’t climb up the steep path.” Simba paused while his mind tried to reconcile Scar’s story with his own terrible memories of that day. Something about the adult lion’s absence during their perilous fight just didn’t quite add up. “I guess he went to look for help after I went into the cave?”
“Hmm…” Nala’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully as a vague memory flickered across her mind. The brief flashback was out of focus and elusive like a fading dream, but the cub could just about recall a familiar voice echoing around the cavern that had become her dungeon. Had there been someone else there with the hyenas? But as Nala struggled to identify her fourth captor, Simba playfully poked her in the shoulder with his paw, abruptly breaking her from her thoughts.
“So, is there anything else you want to do?”
“Hey, isn’t it your turn to come up with an idea?” Nala teasingly sneered. “Let’s go on some kind of adventure! There’s got to be something around here we can explore.”
“Yeah!” Simba nodded excitedly at the girl’s suggestion. After so much time in the den, a good adventure was just the kind of fun they needed! “We could…uh…maybe we could…” The prince wracked his brain to come up with some fun escapade that would keep them entertained for the afternoon. But as the cub pondered, his thoughts began to shift, turning darker and darker as his suppressed guilt and fear reasserted themselves in his psyche. The more Simba tried to image the fun he and Nala could have, the more his mind morbidly focused on the worst-case scenarios of any adventure he might conceive. Falling out of a tree, being washed over a waterfall, trampled by elephants – there were so many ways for a cub to get hurt! “No, stop!” Simba mentally shouted at himself as he felt his imagination spiraling out of control. But the horrific imagery kept coming. Falling off a cliff, crushed by a rock, suffocated by a snake, bitten by vampire bats… Suddenly Simba was back in that cave on the outskirts of the Pridelands, once again cradling Nala’s broken body in his paws as he stared down a trio of hungry hyenas moving in for the kill. He was paralyzed, unable to run or defend himself. As the hyenas’ sharp teeth loomed over him, it took all of the traumatized cub’s willpower not to scream out loud in terror.
“Simba?” Nala gently shook the young lion with her paw. “Simba, are you okay?!” The motion abruptly broke Simba from his thoughts, roughly launching him back into the real world with a start.
“I…” Simba finally managed to stammer. The cub’s demeanor had completely changed from a few moments before. Where the prince had just been laughing and full of joy, he now seemed distraught and burdened with guilt. His breathing was heavy, and there was a slight tremble in his voice when he spoke. “Maybe an adventure isn’t a good idea,” Simba sighed sadly. “I… I, uh, told your mom I wouldn’t let you do anything that might hurt your leg. Maybe we should just go back to the den…”
Nala cocked her head in shock, incredulous at the words that had just come out of Simba’s mouth. The abrupt change in her friend’s attitude was startling and uncharacteristic, immediately worrying the girl. They had just been having so much fun. What changed? “Uh, Simba?” The sweet cub sat down apprehensively in front of the prince and searchingly peered into his troubled eyes. “What’s wrong? Are you getting sick?”
“I’m fine,” the golden-brown cub responded, his tone more curt than intended. His voice was hoarse, and Nala could swear she saw tears in the corner of his eyes. “I just…” But before Simba could explain himself, the already anxious cub was cut off by a quiet rustling sound that abruptly arose from within a nearby bush. Startled by the unexpected noise, the young lion’s ears immediately pivoted to attention and his eyes narrowed in anticipation. “Did you hear that?”
“I think it was just –”
“Nala, get back!” Simba roughly pushed Nala to the side and took up a defensive stance between her and the noise. The agitated cub crouched low to the ground, every muscle in his body tensed and ready to pounce. His teeth were bared and every fur on his neck pointed towards the sky. By the time the small meerkat had emerged from the shrub, Simba had already attacked, aggressively pinning the unsuspecting creature to the ground with a single pounce.
“Hey!” the meerkat shouted in surprise. “What’s the big – Woah! A lion!”
“Who are you?!” Simba demanded angrily. “What are you doing here?! Why were you spying on us?!”
“What? I-I-I was just looking for grubs!” the meerkat stammered as he struggled to squirm out from under the prince’s sharp claws. “I wasn’t spying on you, I swear!”
Simba frantically shook his head, unconvinced by the small creature’s pleas. With a threatening growl, the paranoid cub began to slowly press his sharp claws against the meerkat’s soft body. “I don’t believe you! Who sent you?! Tell me!”
“Simba!” Nala shouted in horror as she scrambled to stop her friend. “What are you doing?! Let him go!”
“Nala? But I… He…”
“Let him go,” Nala repeated, her voice firm.
Simba stared wide-eyed at the young lioness for a moment before reluctantly releasing his grip on the meerkat. Immediately, the small creature darted away from the two lion cubs as fast as his short legs could carry him. Before long, the prey had disappeared into a hollow tree trunk well out of Simba’s reach. “Nala,” Simba gaped as his mind frantically struggled to rationalize what had just happened, “I… I didn’t mean to… I…”
Nala silently scrutinized the golden-brown cub for a moment as the prince finally began to calm down. His eyes were bloodshot and tired, and his whiskers hung low on his muzzle. In fact, the young lion’s whole face seemed to sag as though it might slide right off his skull. Clearly Simba was exhausted, but Nala noticed something else buried deep beneath everything else. It was something she had seen within her friend only a few times since she’d known him. Fear. Simba was completely terrified.
With a deep breath, Nala cautiously stepped forward and tenderly wrapped her paws around her friend’s tense shoulders. Instantly she could feel a slight tremor rippling through the prince’s body. As gently as possible, the girl insistently helped Simba onto this stomach before lying down next to him in the tall grass. “Simba,” Nala delicately prodded as she nestled soothingly against his side, “I think it’s time you told me what’s going on.”
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Published:
3 years, 9 months ago
23 Jan 2021 21:52 CET
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