Renewal Part Two Nala sat resting comfortably, in the shade of a tree in a small clearing, her eyes barely open, her ears perked in hopes that something tasty would wander into the clearing with her, so far no such luck. Today’s hunting had not been so good, the lionesses had split up into small groups to cover more ground and she had elected to go on a solo hunt. Despite her vigilant search no animals had split off from their herds, and the only thing that had been foolish enough to wander into the clearing as she rested, was a male serval and he was quick to flee, once he saw her. Finally as the sun started to lower in the sky, she decided to head back to Priderock, maybe one of the others had been luckier then she had been. As she stood up she glanced at the tree, she had been lying under, then to her paws. She then proceeded to run her front claws across the tree bark, sharpening them, and tearing fine lines into the truck. The sound it made always annoyed her, but it was a small price to pay to sharpen her claws to deadly points. With a final stretch she padded out of the clearing and into the tall grass. After only a few steps, she felt the cooling sensation of the breeze and she paused, to raise her head and breathe deep, taking in the soothing scent of the vegetation that surrounded her. After inhaling for a moment she paused, a scent came across her nose that caused her to unsheathe her claws and bare her teeth. “Outlander” she said to herself silently as she crouched low and slowly turned amongst the grass. The intruder was close, very close no doubt they would cross to clearing she had just left. Nala listened, sure enough the sound of parting grass filled her ears, if every so silently. Wanting to know who it was she was dealing with; Nala once again inhaled deeply trying to catch the exact scent of whoever had entered the clearing. What she smelled gave her pause, while the unmistakable scent of Outlander was there, something else was mixed in. Fear a most unfamiliar scent to belong to the seasoned lionesses of the Outlands. As she thought a moment she heard a small whimper and a sigh, much too weak to come from a full grown lioness. Nala’s mind immediately thought of Kovu, the young male Outlander cub that had followed Kiara into the Pridelands a week before. This was not his scent, it was more feminine, yet still had traces of both the male cub and his mother Zira. Nala slowly parted the grass, and was quite surprised at the sight. She had been partial right, it was indeed an Outlander, but she had expected a young lion, not another cub. This cub however, was female, maybe slightly older then Kovu, her position and posture showed that the cub was resting having already made it over halfway to Priderock. Weather that was the cub’s intention Nala didn’t know, but she knew she’d have to send the cub home before Simba found out an Outlander was in the Pridelands. He was very upset when he had found Kovu with Kiara, he would be furious if he found out there was another Outlander cub this deep in the Pridelands. As Nala stepped into the clearing to make her presents known, she paused as her heard the cub start to speak, “This isn’t going to work” the cub said as her front paw moved up and down her leg. Nala immediately realized the gesture as an attempt to comfort oneself; she herself had done it many times when Scar had been king. This wasn’t what gave the lioness pause, it was the tone in which the cub spoke, with deep sorrow and an almost broken tone. “How could she do this?” the cub said, giving a slight shiver as she spoke. Nala crouched low moving closer to the cub, being sure that the cub would not notice her presents until she learned more. Weather it was her motherly instincts or that she herself had been in a similar position when she was no older then this cub, she felt sorry the Outlander cub. From what she had heard, combined with the overwhelming smell of fear, it was clear that this cub did not want to be here. Not realizing that the wind had changed, Nala almost jumped when the startled cub turned to face her. Quickly she regained her senses and stood up, her form casting a shadow that enshrouded the cub. Nala had expected the cub to run away or at the very least, back up in an attempt to put some distance between herself and a possible threat. Instead the cub merely sat there, shivering in fear, her ears drooped, and her eyes constantly moving to the ground as to avoid making eye contact with the lioness. For a moment there was silence, several times the cub opened her mouth in an attempt to talk but, she failed to find words. Finally Nala stepped forward, despite how she felt, she had to put on a show, to at the very least find out why the cub was here. “Who are you Outlander” she said with a stern voice, trying not to sound to threatening. The cub looked up at her shivering and final found her voice “My name in Vitani, p-please…please don’t hurt me.” Nala relaxed a bit but, kept up her act as she continued her questioning “You’re a long way from the Outlands Vitani, what are you doing in the Pridelands?” The cub failed to answer and looked away as if she was trying to figure out what to say. After a moment, Vitani finally answered “M-my mother…my mother kicked me out of our pride. S-she said that I was w-weak, and that weakness had no place in her pride.” As Vitani spoke she looked away several times and her stuttering wasn’t from fear, as a mother Nala could tell, it was from thinking of what to say on the spot. Nala had seen this several times with Kiara, and even as a cub she herself had attempted to fool her mother in a similar way, this cub was lying. Despite knowing this, Nala continued her questioning “I’m very sorry to hear that Vitani, but you still didn’t answer my question. What are you doing in the Pridelands?” even thought she already knew the answer Nala wanted to confirm her suspicions as to why the cub was really there. Nala could almost hear Vitani swallow the knot in her throat, slowly Vitani looked up into Nala’s eyes and answered with all the courage she could muster “May I join your pride.”
Notes: I must say Backlash91 did a magnificent job on this, it was his idea to add the shadow effect, adding both symbolism, and making it look cool. Honestly despite this being one of my favorite, non-adult pictures of the series I almost cut the story short. I feared the next page wouldn't have enough content but, after rereading it, I like where it ended. I almost wanted to tell this from Vitani's point of view to really express her fear and realization of the situation she was in but, I wanted to plant the seeds of Nala's sympathy for the cub.
