The Lion King X:

Beginning of the End

Note: The characters Mangel, Singa, Shyla, Timba, Runu, Aurora, Larka, Pala, Sithuka, Zaraku, Garofé, Sekeita, Kadio, Tanko, Onay, Baynarr, Monagbor, Kusa, Cheasala, Ariko, Bayngo, Russtet, Rayana, Hârdlayje, Tayquwya, Corga, Quwin’go, Zariy, Uhäki, Thuraia, Kwennoir, Irawh, Medi, Kutu, Baytamba, Kya, Bahari, Lacchelo, Parra, Ezima and Koriche have been created by me and are not allowed to be used without my permission, so please email me first if you would like to use any of them. And I apologize if any are the same in other fan-ficts and I didn’t know, so I won’t change anything unless you email me. You can also email me if you would like to say anything about the stories. The characters, Simba, Nala, Mufasa, Sarabi, Sarafina, Scar, Shenzi, Banzai, Ed, Rafiki, Zazu, Timon, Pumbaa, Zira, Kovu, Kiara, Vitani and Nuka have been created by Disney.

Warning: You won’t get this if you haven’t read my first stories, The Lion King III: A Clash of Kingdoms, The Lion King IV: The Lost Trio (all three parts), The Lion King V: Attempts of the White Lioness, The Lion King VI: Pride Rock’s Heir, The Lion King VII: Kusa and Cheasala, The Lion King IIX: The Spirit of Uhäki and The Lion King IIX: The Falling Stars (all three parts). Also, you obviously won’t get any of this if you haven’t seen The Lion King or The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride, both created by Disney.

What it’s Based On…

This story wasn’t really based on anything, I just made it up.

Chapters/Scenes

1. Another Cub (Pride Rock)

2. Parting of Life (Pride Rock to Tree of Life to Pride Rock)

3. The Cursing Chant (Pride Rock to Pridelands to Tree of Life)

4. Hard Playing (Pridelands)

5. Anisha (Tree of Life)

6. The Dirt Map (Pridelands to Pride Rock to Pridelands)

7. Simba (Desert)

8. Spirit Waters (Jungle to Mountain)

9. The Attack (Pride Rock to Pridelands to Pride Rock)

10. Beginning of the End (Pride Rock)

Characters

Original Characters from Disney

Simba (Once King of Pride Rock, son of Mufasa and Sarabi, father of Kiara, mate of Nala)

Nala (Once Queen of Pride Rock, daughter of Sarafina, mother of Kiara, mate of Simba)

Mufasa (Once King of Pride Rock, mate of Sarabi, father of Simba)

Sarabi (Once Queen of Pride Rock, mate of Mufasa, mother of Simba)

Rafiki (Once shaman of Pride Rock and the Boulder of Strength, brother of Garofé)

Timon (Once royal baby-sitter)

Pumbaa (Once royal baby-sitter)

Zazu (Once royal majordomo of Pride Rock)

Kiara (Once queen of Pride Rock, daughter of Simba, mother of Mangel and Shyla, mate of Kovu)

Kovu (Once King of Pride Rock, son of Zira, brother of Vitani and Nuka, father of Mangel and Shyla, mate of Kiara)

Zira (Mother of Kovu, Vitani and Nuka)

Nuka (Son of Zira, brother of Kovu and Vitani)

Vitani (Daughter of Zira, sister of Kovu and Nuka, guardian of Shyla)

My Characters

Mangel (Once King of the Boulder of Strength, son of Kovu and Kiara, father of Aurora, Timba and Runu, older brother of Shyla, mate of Singa)

Singa (Once Queen of the Boulder of Strength, daughter of Zaraku and Sithuka, mother of Aurora, Timba and Runu, and mate of Mangel)

Zaraku (Once King of the Boulder of Strength, father of Singa, and mate of Sithuka)

Sithuka (Once Queen of the Boulder of Strength, mother of Singa, and mate of Zaraku)

Shyla (Daughter of Kovu and Kiara, baby sister of Mangel, and princess of Pride Rock)

Aurora- (Daughter -youngest- Mangel and Singa, sister of Timba and Runu, shaman of the Boulder of Strength and Pride Rock)

Runu (Son -middle one- of Mangel and Singa, guardian of Baynarr)

Timba (Son -oldest- of Mangel and Singa, King of the Boulder of Strength)

Garofé (Once shaman of the Boulder of Strength, brother of Rafiki)

Sekeita (Sister of Kadio and Tanko, mate of Scar)

Tanko (Brother of Kadio and Sekeita)

Kadio (Brother of Tanko and Sekeita)

Pala (Guardian of Shyla, tigress in the Pride Rock pride, elder sister of Parra)

Larka (Friend of Aurora’s and Runu, mate of Timba, Queen of the Boulder of Strength)

Baynarr (Son of Timba and Larka, prince of the Boulder of Strength)

Onay (Royal majordomo of Pride Rock)

Monagbor (Mate of Shyla)

Kusa (Son of Shyla and Monagbor, prince of Pride Rock)

Cheasala (Daughter of Ariko and Bayngo, sister of Rayana, Hârdlayje and the other lionesses, betrothal of Kusa)

Ariko (Father of Cheasala and Rayana and Hârdlayje and the other lionesses, mate of Bayngo, leader of his pride)

Bayngo (Mother of Cheasala and Rayana and Hârdlayje the other lionesses, mate of Ariko, leader of her pride)

Rayana (Sister of Cheasala, Hârdlayje and the other lionesses, daughter of Bayngo and Ariko)

Hârdlayje (Hare-d-lay-ha-hey) (Sister of Cheasala and Rayana and the other lionesses, daughter of Bayngo and Ariko)

Corga (Monkey, friend of Kusa)

Russtet (Hippo, leader of the hippos)

Tayquwya (Lioness of Shyla’s and Monagbor’s pride)

Quwin’go (Son -oldest- of Kusa and Cheasala, brother of Zariy, prince of Pride Rock)

Zariy (Zar-eye) (Son -youngest- of Kusa and Cheasala, brother of Quwin’go, prince of Pride Rock)

Kwennoir (Leader of zebra herd)

Irawh (Zebra)

Medi (Zebra in Kwennoir’s herd)

Kutu (Son of Medi)

Thuraia (Lone lioness)

Uhäki (Zebra, great spirit)

Baytamba (Once King of Pride Rock)

Kya (Daughter of Quwin’go and Thuraia, princess of Pride Rock)

Bahari (Son of Koriche, betrothal to Kya)

Koriche (Bahari’s mother)

Lacchelo (Lion, son of Ezima)

Parra (Younger sister of Pala)

Ezima (Mother of Lacchelo)

My New Characters

Nesa (Daughter of Kya and Bahari, princess of Pride Rock)

Anisha (Lioness, shaman and Queen of the far lands of the east)

One

~Another Cub~

(Pride Rock)

The sun was high, and many animals gathered at the Kingdom of Pride Rock. Only when the wise old shaman, Aurora, came to the tip of the peak with the little cub in her jaws, did they cheer out and bow. The spirits of the past generations looked down and smiled from the clouds, and there was a pride with the loyal subjects, who also bowed and roared. When it was over, they left to go to their own Kingdom, and the animals went their own ways as well.

Aurora carried the cub back to its mother, who was Kya. She was laying down and the shaman placed the cub in her front paws and she started to groom it. Kya’s mate, Bahari, came over and nuzzled the cub, then the Queen. He laid down beside her and placed a paw over her neck, purring.

The day was bright and red and orange. A little later, there was a tigress, who walked away from the Kingdom and pride, and was going home, back to the northwest, where the jungle was. But still, the new princess stayed with her mother and father and pride, in her own Kingdom. It was old—very old, but very new to her, because she was very new.

Two

~Parting of Life~

(Pride Rock to Tree of Life to Pride Rock)

It was a very bright and warm night in the Pridelands. There were voices from the many lionesses who were in the royal pride. A very old bird, who went by the name of Onay, fluffed her feathers, yawned, and perched upon a branch. Two old lions, who were once King and Queen, but were now even older than the Gry and Cry, curled up with each other, within the royal cave. They closed their eyes to sleep. They were called Kusa and Cheasala. A monkey named Corga, was nearby. He slept on a rock on the main pathway. Aurora lay asleep in her tree.

~~~

In the morning, when everyone awoke, it would be a terrible and dreadful day. As Kya laid with her little cub on the peak, and let her suckle at her stomach, the other lionesses awoke to find that their very old King and Queen were dead, along with a few of their fellow lionesses within the pride itself. Corga, as well, was dead. Onay had fallen off her branch while she had slept last night, for she had died, too. And, as Zariy traveled out to the Tree of Life to report the news to Aurora, he gasped as he saw the shaman, still lying there.

"Aurora!" he called, and leapt up, going passed the bumping and loud coconuts.

He pawed at her, and she awoke with a yawn. Sighing in relief, he said;

"I’m so glad you’re OK."

"Hmm? Why wouldn’t I be?" she questioned, getting up and stretching and yawning.

"Because you’re old."

"I’m not the only one who’s old around here." She winked.

"No, I mean you’re really old. Older than Kusa and Cheasala, and Corga, who all died. Plus, Onay."

"What?!" Aurora asked suddenly, quite alert now. "This can’t be."

"And why not?"

"Oh…" She sighed. "Of course it can. They’re all old."

"But what about you, then? Why haven’t you died?"

"Oh that’s a nice question." she said sarcastically as she rolled her eyes.

"How can you be so calm about this, Aurora?!" he yelled.

"Because it’s the way things go. It’s the Circle of Life. And, as for your first question, I have not died because I am the shaman. The wise ol’ shaman as some call me. Did you know that Rafiki lived for many more years than that of the normal baboon?" He shook his head and she chuckled. "Well he did. And I have, too. I think I will see many more suns at that."

She glanced at her picture of the new cub on the wall of the tree and smiled, before jumping from the tree, yawning, stretching and shaking again. Zariy followed.

"I don’t get how you can be so calm about this, still." he whispered.

"I have seen many deaths. I will see many more, including yours most likely." He gulped and she laughed. "Not for awhile, though. Anyway, I’m used to it, and I have a special thing with this ‘cause not only do I perform the death ceremonies for the royal ones, as well as the birth ceremonies, I know that one sun everyone and everything will die." She paused, then said as they walked closer to Pride Rock, "Do you want to hear a secret?"

"Sure, I guess. If it will lighten me up a bit."

Aurora shook her head. "Then I guess you don’t want to know."

"I just said I did."

"Yeah but, it won’t lighten ya up."

Zariy’s ears and tail lowered but he was still curious. "Please tell me."

She sighed. "Fine." After taking a deep breath, she exclaimed, "Zariy, everyone and everything dies, and this Kingdom and its royal pride will one day die. I hope it’s not when I’m living, though it could, for like I’ve said, I’ve been living for a long time, and predict I will keep living a long time. And yet this Kingdom is old. Very old. It goes all the way to the beginning of the royal generations, which was years and years ago. Even before the great Simba himself was birthed."

"Well, go on. What are you getting at, Aurora?" Zariy asked.

"I’m trying to say that I think—because I have a gut feeling about this one—that this is the one time and one cub in this one generation, that will end all generations."

"Huh? Princess Nesa? Kya and Bahari’s new cub?"

"Well yeah, who else do you think I’m talking about?"

"Er…so you think she’s gonna be the cause of the ending?"

"It will be the beginning of the end I think. And it won’t be because of her. It’s her fate, though, to end it nicely."

"How can life be ended nicely?"

Aurora laughed. "If she doesn’t have a mate, she can’t have a cub to carry on the Circle of Life. There will be no new lions or lionesses, and so the lionesses of this pride will die from old age. She, too, will eventually."

"So you’re saying, it can be ended nicely if they die…"

"If they die just like Onay, Corga and Kusa and Cheasala had died. I think all of them died happily and peacefully in their sleep. Now they are all up in the stars. They are stars."

"Why do you think Nesa will be the one?"

"I don’t know. I had a dream earlier. Hard to explain, and yet it was so real like."

"What was it of?"

"Nesa was roaring out to all the animals, but she was an adult. In fact, she was very old. And then, she laid down at the peak and died quietly and peacefully. I saw myself beside her, though. We both roared and then died at the same time."

"That’s terrible!"

"Not really. We both died peacefully, after many good suns. At least, that’s how I saw it in the dream. After all, isn’t that how you’d like to die?"

"Yeah! Of course! It’s not like I wanna be tortured before a hyena chews on my neck or something!"

Aurora elbowed him as they got closer to the Kingdom.

"But it wasn’t scary to see your own death?" he asked.

She shook her head. "Nope. Because I know I will be with my kin again. I will be free and I will be in the stars. I might be a star. Plus, I know I’m going to die, so why not deal with it? And if I do die that way, then it will be good and peaceful, and I know that I won’t die like tomorrow or something."

Zariy shuddered and Aurora laughed.

"I’m not too good with death," admitted the lion. "I would hate to know my own death, or when it was. I don’t even like thinking of it. You’re a living fossil, Aurora! How can you be so calm like that?!"

Aurora laughed again and they took off in a run to Pride Rock.

"What about Nesa and the betrothal, though, huh? You forgot that," he suggested.

The shaman nodded and replied, as they ran, "Yeah but, the betrothal hasn’t even come yet! They said they’d bring him before she was born, but she’s already a day old and he’s not arrived!"

"What do you expect? He’s probably just a day old as well!"

"Yeah but that’s the thing! The mother didn’t want to stay here, and yet she was willing to give up her cub. That’s not what we want. If we get the betrothal, we get the mother as well. It would tear the cub apart! Remember? Hasn’t Cheasala told you how she was?"

Zariy nodded and called through the wind, "Yeah!"

"So that’s why the lioness should’ve given birth to the betrothal here, and stayed here! Now if she waits any longer, he will know where he’s at and then, once he actually does get here—if he does—then he’ll probably get depressed!"

"True!" the Gry agreed.

Aurora did the death ceremony—which she liked to call the parting ceremony—once they arrived. She did it, not just for Kusa and Cheasala, but Corga and Onay as well. Everyone was sad and one lioness went to the Boulder of Strength with the news. She came back the very next day with a heavy heart. Now there were ten lionesses all together—including Aurora—and two lions.

Three

~The Cursing Chant~

(Pride Rock to Pridelands to Tree of Life)

"Mom!" yelled a little cub. "Wake up, Mom!"

Suddenly a lioness and lion from in the royal cave of Pride Rock woke up. They yawned with joined in roars and stretched. It had been two months since Nesa’s birth. Nesa was now bigger, though still very small for she was just a two month old cub. Her fur color was very similar to that of Simba’s, and her eyes were bright and crimson. She was a very playful little lion. Nesa led the way out of the cave. It was dawn. The lions started to walk down the main pathway.

"Everything you see, exists in a delicate balance, called the Circle of Life," exclaimed Kya to her cub. "Nesa, to be Queen, you must understand that balance."

"How?" Nesa called out as she started pouncing around in the grass.

Bahari took over. "It’s like this…We eat the antelope now, but when we die, and our bodies become the grass, they will eat the grass, and so we are call connected it the Great Circle of Life."

Kya nodded in agreement.

Before long, the three of them were far out into the Pridelands to the northwest, where Mufasa had been when he was describing the Circle of Life to Simba when he was a cub, and where he had also taught him to pounce, using Zazu. Nesa leaped on the rock and looked around, curiously.

"A time will come when you, Nesa, become Queen and…" That was Nesa’s mother speaking, but the cub had a very jumpy mind, and so her mother’s voice started to fade as she snuck up on a mouse. Suddenly, as the little lion was about to pounce, Kya grabbed her. "Nesa, you’re not listening!"

"Sorry, Mom." She giggled, though.

Both her parents rolled their eyes. After another few minutes, they came to a water hole and, as the older lions drank up the precious water, Nesa started sneaking around again. Suddenly, she fell with a yelp kind of sound of surprise. She rolled down a hill and smacked into a strange looking lioness, who leapt up and roared.

"Who dares disturbs me?!" snarled the lioness.

Immediately Kya and Bahari ran over to their cub and stood over her protectively, as they roared back at the stranger.

"Who dares intrude on our land?!" Bahari roared.

The lioness blinked in surprise, before growling, "That little fur ball disturbed me!"

"You’re not supposed to be on our land!" Kya replied, hotly, but she couldn’t help notice the unusual scar above her left eye.

"Please," the lioness then said, gently. "Let me stay a bit longer. I’ve been traveling for suns, and barely got any water. Do you mind?"

The King and Queen looked at each other, surprised, before nodding and letting the lioness pass and slap up some water from the water hole.

"What is your name and what is your business here?" questioned Bahari after she finished.

"I am called Anisha. I have come to curse the young one." she answered stiffly.

"Huh?" both the rulers asked, as Nesa cowered under her mother.

Suddenly, Anisha roared out, before pouncing Bahari. He snarled and she pushed him down a hill, before she took a swipe to the face from Kya. But Anisha let the Queen jump her, and so she twirled around and flung her off her, so that Kya went crashing into Bahari. Anisha looked at the exposed Nesa then. She started to chant something:

The night will open to the sun,

and the moon will close the day,

when there is that only one,

who shall let the others finally pay

But once Bahari and Kya gathered their wits, Anisha had disappeared into thin air. It was like she vanished, blown out as a flame was from a candle. Nesa was trembling, for she had a bad feeling. Kya went over and checked her out for injuries, before nuzzling her, purring. She licked her daughter, took her by the scruff and started with her mate, to the Tree of Life. Once there, they both leapt up in the tree and set Nesa down.

"Why, hello there," Aurora said warmly, smiling. She was laying lazily on a branch.

"Hello, Aurora." Bahari said.

"Aurora, we need to talk to you." Kya exclaimed.

"Why certainly." The shaman growled nicely, leaping down. She glanced at Nesa, who was still trembling. "What’s gotten the young one all worked up?"

"There was another lioness today, Aurora," explained the Queen. "She was a stranger. She suddenly attacked Bahari and I and chanted something. It was strange, those words, and how she said it."

"She was very and unusually strong," Bahari added.

"And she had a scar above her eye."

"She was scary," whispered Nesa.

"It’s all right, you’re safe now." Aurora ensured, and nuzzled the cub. "You’re high up in a tree with your parents and I."

"Her name was Anisha, and she said she came to curse the young one." Kya went on.

"Huh?" And then Aurora gasped.

"What?" they both asked.

"She disappeared like a flame," Bahari said.

"I have heard of this before," exclaimed the old lioness. "But, how did the words go?"

"We’re not sure, exactly. Something about the sun opening for night and the moon closing day, and someone letting the others pay."

"This is just as I expected."

"Huh? Aurora, what did you expect?" asked Kya.

"The chant has been around many many years. It’s more of a legend than anything, so hopefully it won’t work. But it’s the thing that would curse someone in the first place. It can only work on someone very young, though, like a cub."

"Why?"

"Because it must ‘correct’ the mind of the young one. As in it will have a better influence on a younger—willing-to-follow-the-older-ones—mind than an older, experienced and wiser mind. It is like secretly brainwashing someone. With that, the cub will do things only purposely subconsciously."

"Like do what kind of things?"

"Like bring death to others. That’s what it’s saying in the verse. She’ll make the others pay."

"So she’ll be like murdering?" asked Bahari, worried and yet confused.

"No…but I fear things she touches will die."

"Huh?"

Then Aurora lightly and gently picked the cub up, leapt from the tree, and put her down on the ground. The grass suddenly turned brown, at least the grass she was touching.

"See?"

"How’d that happen?" Kya choked.

"I don’t know. But it came from the power of what’s beyond the mortal life, I know. You see, that one lioness, Anisha, must’ve been a spirit. That’s how she disappeared like that."

"Well why’d she want to do such a thing?"

"Probably it was someone evil, who held a grudge when he or she was living, and used the disguise of someone else, with a different look and voice and act."

"You mean it could be any mad person, who’s dead?" questioned Bahari, starting to scoff and not believe.

Aurora nodded, but glared. "You must believe, Bahari," she said darkly.

"She’s right," Kya said to her mate. "How else could someone just disappear like that? And beat up two other lions so easily and quick? It had to have been a spirit."

"Things are changing." Aurora exclaimed, quietly. "Things are changing…"

"But then why didn’t your tree die when she was in it?" Bahari challenged.

"It is the Tree of Life, of course," Aurora growled.

"Well then why didn’t you or Kya die when you scruffed her?"

"Because the chant was so recent, and so it will probably only work on a few small things for now, such as plants and bugs. But it will grow as she does. And one day, anything and anyone she touches, will die."

There was silence, and Nesa was trembling and whimpering. Kya growled, then licked her and looked at Aurora.

"How can they do this and why?" she finally asked. "And is there some way to stop it?"

Aurora sighed and shook her head. "Not that I’ve heard of."

"Well then how and why has this happened?"

"Because someone has a grudge against you and your family. Why not pick the youngest one, who’s the most vulnerable, and meant to carry on the family? Think…who has a grudge against you?"

"Many do." whispered Kya.

"But of course," said Aurora. "Scar. He is the one true lion, who has brought this whole wrath of hate upon your family from others…from most of animals who have hated you, that is."

"So you’re saying," said Bahari. "That Scar came back as a lioness, did a chant, and cursed our daughter for life? But how?"

"Bahari, Kya…there are ways that make even the impossible, possible. This, though, has stumped me. How can anyone bring a spirit back without them coming back willingly? I don’t know."

"You said he came back because he had a grudge, which obviously means he came back willingly."

"Yeah, but he would need help I presume, getting back. A way in time and space and a way in mortality to get back here. Someone has helped him. Someone very spiritual and powerful."

"But who?" Kya asked.

"I do not know…Now listen, you two. Take good care of your cub. Don’t let her out of your sight, but at the same time, don’t touch her and don’t let others touch her. Don’t let her touch anyone or anything, got that?"

Bahari nodded, but Kya was outraged.

"What?!" she yelled.

By now Nesa was so confused and so frightened, that she was curled up in a tight, little fur ball, quivering.

"I will not let this happen to my daughter!"

"Indeed, it is bad, Kya," said Aurora. "But this is the best thing you can do for her and others, even if it doesn’t sound good at all. In the meanwhile I—and you may join as long as Bahari watches her—will be trying to find a way to stop the curse. I think I can with the right chant. That way, the curse will be lifted and she will be saved, and even if there was another chant for her, it probably wouldn’t work if I found the right curing one. Though I must say, I will also be busy trying to find out how, why and who got Scar back."

They were all silent, and then Kya cried inwardly.

Four

~Hard Playing~

(Pridelands)

"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten!" squealed a little cub.

It was only a week after Nesa was cursed. No one went near her but her parents and Aurora as well as her grandparents and great uncle. But everything she did touch, died.

Right as she sat on a rock in the Pridelands, her mother and father nearby, watching her and some other cubs, Nesa sighed. She watched all the other cubs have fun and play hide and seek. There were three other cubs plus a teenager lion in the pride, besides Nesa. The princess finally leapt from the rock, making her way back to her parents. Though as she went through the grass, all the blades that touched her, shriveled up and became drier than normal, and turned brown.

"Get away from me! Ah!" a cub suddenly yelled out as Nesa accidentally stepped on his paw.

He ran to his own mother, meowing and crying out. Nesa gasped and watched him. The hairs on his tail tuff, all started to fall off. Ears and tail lowered, she ran to Kya and Bahari.

"Mom, Dad!" she cried. "I can’t do anything! I kill plants and bugs, and makes others go bald or sick if I touch them!"

"It’s all right, hun," said Bahari. "You didn’t do anything wrong. It’s not your fault. Just be more careful."

He nuzzled his daughter, though he couldn’t help but fear it somewhat.

Kya was silent, though. She laid on a log, looking at the horizon in the north. Then she sighed heavily.

"What is it, Mama?" Nesa meowed.

Kya turned to her daughter and gave her a weak smile. But, not saying anything, the Queen walked away after jumping off the log.

"She’ll be back," assured Bahari. "She’s going to see Aurora. You know, to see what she can do."

Five

~Anisha~

(Tree of Life)

Kya leapt in the tree and saw Aurora there.

"Aurora, it’s so hard for Bahari and I and the pride to have a cub with a curse!" she cried.

Aurora growled slightly then. "Kya, as hard as it is for you, it’s even harder for her."

Sighing, Kya nodded gravely. "Of course," she muttered. "Yes. It is, and I’m sorry."

Aurora whispered then, "Kya, look."

The shaman took her paw and removed a curtain of hanging vines, to expose and show a sleeping lioness on branch. Kya snarled, "Anisha!"

"Shh," Aurora exclaimed. "Don’t worry, Kya. Anisha was possessed by Scar’s spirit. It wasn’t her fault."

But Kya raised a paw, ready to swipe. Aurora stopped her and roared. "STOP!"

"Sorry," Kya uttered, but then blinked as she saw that Anisha did not have the scar above her eye, which made her relieved somewhat. "I’m sorry."

Suddenly, Anisha awoke. She looked sharp and yet old. "Hello, there." she said, slyly.

Kya blinked, and managed a fake smile, ears folded back slightly.

"All right then." Anisha said, getting up and walking through the curtain. She walked gracefully about, before laughing. "You smiled?"

Kya nodded. "Yes."

"Why?"

"Why not?"

Chuckling, the lioness replied, "Never mind. I guess you should smile. After all, you live in these beautiful lands with a family and friends and you rule them all!"

"Er…" Kya was taken by surprise, so was Aurora.

"So this is the great Queen Kya, of Pride Rock and of the Pridelands." declared Anisha. "You get everything you want and you take it for granted, until the day your cub is cursed." She gave a maniacal laugh, which caused both the other lionesses to shiver. She was now walking around the tree. "I had only thought of these as stories. I had only thought of you as a story. But then I travel from my own Kingdom, from the far far east. I come and I see you and your Empire. And after that spirit, Scar, has come and asked for help, for I am a shaman as well as a Queen. I have to rule and help and I have much responsibility and I need to take care of my friends and family while leaving in a scorching savanna with a Kingdom that is falling apart. Well now, yours will. You and your family will pay. They will eventually die from old age and, as your daughter can’t touch anyone or anything, she can’t have a cub, and her fate will be to lead the royal family to its death. Or to its end."

"I knew it," whispered Aurora.

"But why and how?" asked Kya, angry and sad at the same time.

"I told you," explained Anisha. "I am a great shaman and Queen. But you call this old lioness a shaman?" Aurora started to growl at that, but Anisha ignored her and went on. "Many spirits come to me and call. They ask for help or they give help. This one came to me and asked for help. His name was Scar and he told me of a time, many many years ago when he died and he wasn’t even the rightful King. I didn’t believe, but he urged me to travel to the lands that were once his. I went and I found you here. I found that it was true, for, though you have that faintest stench of his blood in yours, you are still not the rightful ruler. It should’ve been the lions on his side."

"You don’t know the half of it!" roared Aurora.

"Oh, and you do? It’s not like you speak with any of the spirits, and you didn’t live back then. You have no proof."

"Rafiki told me, and my own aunt and uncle."

"Well you still don’t know."

"Neither do you."

"I speak with Scar—"

"And you’ve only heard his side. He killed his brother, Mufasa, the rightful King! And then tried to kill Simba—"

"ENOUGH!" roared Anisha. "I have dealt with the cursing after bringing him back with my own strengths and powers. I have don’t what I think is right, and I believe what I believe. Plus, Ezima, who is a lioness that should be ruling, came to me. She wasn’t related to Scar, but her ancestors were in his pride and side. Scar tells me that once you’ve all died, then Ezima and her future kin will rule! That will at least by the lions on Scar’s side!"

Kya roared suddenly, and took a paw, claws extended. With another roar, she slammed it down, swiping Aurora, who had jumped in the way of Anisha. Anisha laughed, leapt of the tree, gave a roar of her own, before running off.

"Aurora!" cried Kya, and tried to help the shaman up.

Now Aurora had deep gashes on the left side of her face. She staggered up and smiled.

"Are you OK?" asked Kya, urgently.

"I’m OK. It’s just a scratch…though you are very strong." She chuckled.

"Why’d you do that?!"

"Because, Kya. If you want that curse lifted, then you must keep Anisha alive."

"Why?" the Queen questioned.

"Anisha had told me she knew where the Spirit Waters are."

"’Spirit Waters’?"

Nodding, Aurora went on. "Yes. Anisha is indeed, a powerful shaman, that’s how she called Scar back. She let him use her body to get to Nesa and curse her. Now that that’s happened, the only way to lift the curse, is with the help of other spirits. The quickest way to do that, before it’s too late, is to take Nesa to the Spirit Waters. They’re great waterfalls, passed the desert in the west, and into the jungle where the mighty tigers live. Passed them, up a mountain is where the waterfalls lay. It is said that the spirits of everywhere, give their mortal powers there. That should lift the curse from Nesa forever, and every other curse that could be put on her. Plus, anyone else in her bloodline wouldn’t be able to be cursed again if we took her there. That way, the whole royal blood of Pride Rock, would be safe, and live again."

"So I will take here the myself. Bahari and I will, while Mom and Dad and Zariy rule the Kingdom once more." Kya declared. "I will start there, at dawn tomorrow."

"You can’t. You don’t know where it is. Just to the west, passed the deserts and tigers and jungle is all you know. You could easily get lost. No. Nesa must find out from Anisha herself. Once she does, she can journey to the Spirit Waters herself. She will then save herself, and the future rulers. While she is gone, you and your mate will continue to rule."

"But she’s just a little cub!"

"Perhaps when she is in adolescence she will go. But this is something she must do by herself. She must find out by herself, and then make the journey by herself, so she will know."

"What if she doesn’t make it?"

"Then so be it. But I fear this is the only way."

Six

~The Dirt Map~

(Pridelands to Pride Rock to Pridelands)

One day, it was sunny and hot. In the Pridelands, to the far southeast, Nesa was hunting. She was in early adolescence, and she had grown much in the next year. Now that she was a teenager, she was a beautiful lioness. Much bigger than she had been, but slender, and her fur color stayed the same, as well as her eyes.

Now she was on a hunt. Actually, because everything she touched died, she had started hunting earlier than any lion ever had. It was easy for her this way, and so the curse did have its advantages. But she still hated it as always. Though now, Nesa understood it better as well, for just last sun, her parents had explained to her what Kya and Aurora had been talking about, just last year, about how she had to find Anisha, and find out where the Spirit Waters were, and then she would have to travel there by herself. At first she was scared, but now she was dying for an adventure.

After a few minutes, she leapt on a zebra, and it died instantly as its herd ran off. She dug her claws and teeth into its flesh, eating away at her lunch.

But then, there was a sound. It was a rustling. Suddenly, Nesa jerked her head up to see an old lioness, watching her from a few yards away. For awhile, the youngin’ ignored her. It was only after she was done with the meat, did Nesa get up and stalk over to her.

"Why, hello there," the lioness said nicely.

"Who are you?" growled Nesa. "And why are you on our lands?"

"I tried traveling back to my own, but once I went out, I couldn’t go further and so I had to turn back because I was so old. I must end my days in a peaceful place, and these lands are very peaceful."

Nesa nodded, but asked again, "Who are you?"

"I am…Anisha."

Nesa gasped, then roared out. She was about to leap the shaman, but then remembered how Anisha must live to tell her where the Spirit Waters were.

"You must tell me where the Spirit Waters are, or I shall kill you." threatened the princess.

Anisha laughed. "I know you. You are that princess. And I know you wouldn’t kill me, for I am your only chance to lift the curse."

They were silent, and things ran through Nesa’s head. She kept trying to think of something to say or do, but there was nothing. Finally, Nesa sighed.

"Please tell me," she begged.

Suddenly, Anisha roared out. She pounced Nesa, and the princess was taken by surprise at this as she landed on her back, for Anisha didn’t die. Instead, she just stood over her, smirking and staring into the lioness’s eyes. Nesa gasped at the scar that suddenly appeared over the old lion’s left eye.

"To the west, far faraway. Passed the desert and jungle. Once you see the striped cats, you will know you are on the right track. And then, you will see the great waterfalls." Anisha exclaimed.

She leapt off the teen and drew a map in the dirt with her paw.

"Look at this and study it, and then go. I will be waiting for you there." Anisha then said, before disappearing.

Nesa gasped. She ran home, but kept what she saw a secret from everyone.

She laid alone on the peak and sighed. The betrothal had never come, after the rumors of her curse had spread. Nesa was very lonely, and not even her own parents could nuzzle her anymore. So it was never a wonder when others saw her crying.

What should I do? she thought to herself.

That night, she made up her mind and went back into the Pridelands to study the map. For days and days she did that. But when it was fading and being blow by the wind, she’d always drew the map somewhere else, on the ground once more. Finally, she memorized it so well, she knew it by heart.

And then, finally, one day, when Nesa was an adult, just two years later, she took off on her own, without a word. She was heading west, to the desert.

Seven

~Simba~

(Desert)

Now she was full-grown, and her curse was at its worse. Every time she got near someone or something, it’d die immediately. But she tried her best to ignore it.

One night, while in the desert, she laid down on a sand mound and sighed. Suddenly, someone—a lion, appeared in front of her. She jumped up and roared out, "Who are you?!"

But just in case she caused him his death, Nesa stepped back.

"I am Simba." he answered.

He seemed very friendly, and familiar.

"It’s funny," he said. "You look just like me, if there was a girl me that is." He laughed.

Nesa smiled, but then replied, "You better not get too near me, or you’ll die, literally."

"Oh, and why is that?"

"A curse."

"Well that’s bad."

"Duh!"

Simba then looked up to the stars. "Has anyone told you you can look up to the stars because—"

"They’re the great Kings and Queens of the past." finished Nesa.

Simba nodded with a, "M’hm."

"Well they should help me now!" she cried out.

"They are. I am."

"Huh?" Nesa tilted her head.

"Don’t you remember the stories your mother, father and the shaman used to tell you as a cub? About the past generations?"

"Er…oh yeah! About the great Simb…" she trailed off as her jaw dropped and her eyes went wide.

"Well I wouldn’t call me great," he laughed. "Anyway, I’ve come to tell you that once you get to the Spirit Waters, go in, and go out, and don’t talk to anyone."

"I won’t anyway, I’ll kill them." Nesa added.

"I mean, Scar will try to get to you. Why else do you think he went through Anisha to actually tell you where the Spirit Waters are?"

"Er, I mean…you’re right." Nesa blinked at that. "You’re right. Why would she or he have told me otherwise?" Then she sighed. "Thanks…Simba."

He ran up to the stars.

Eight

~Spirit Waters~

(Jungle to Mountain)

Just a month later, Nesa had made it. She had made some friends and some enemies with the tigers and even talked about Pala and Parra with them. They also told her many strange stories of them and why they were the only solitary tigers they knew of. This all happened as she made sure to stay away from them. But then Nesa went to the mountain for the Spirit Waters.

Nesa found them on a ledge of the mountain. They were the biggest waterfalls she had ever seen. They came down in a pool of water and then rushed down into a bigger one that was actually on the jungle ground.

Sighing and taking a deep breath, Nesa brought her first paw into the water. A great wave of cold came over her, but she kept walking into the pool of water that was formed on the ledge itself. She glanced to the right and then in front of her, where she had the best view of the jungle. All the trees used to be great, but now they looked as if it was just one big blanket of green, all over. Her breath showed in visible puffs, and she kept moving along in the crystal clear waters. Soon, she came to the first waterfall. It rushed over her quickly. And then, Nesa ran around, roaring with joy. She felt like a cub again, rolling and running around and splashing. The waters were shallow, and yet she was surprised at how she enjoyed the water in the first place. Then, as she climbed back out of the waters, she sighed, and there was a great wave of joy and relief that washed over her. She was suddenly feeling great, and the water had completely come off her somehow. There was something that flowed through her veins, and she didn’t quite knew what it was.

"I’m cured," she whispered, taking a final look at the Spirit Waters, before making her way down the mountain again.

Nine

~The Attack~

(Pride Rock to Pridelands to Pride Rock)

Your daughter is cured, I can feel it!" cried Anisha to the royal pride.

Everyone cheered and roared in joy, even if the Grys and Cry had died just a few suns before, from old age. After the parting ceremony Aurora had performed, Anisha suddenly showed up. Scar was controlling her, for she had the scar above her eye again. Now she was sitting on the peak of Pride Rock.

Anisha roared out, "Something happened in the jungle, on the mountain, in the Spirit Waters! I couldn’t get to her! At least, not to kill her as I wanted…but, I did manage to call Anisha’s pride here. They are on their way, and they are very large and strong. Soon they will…"

The possessed lioness trailed off, and turned to her left to the east, to see a great pride making their way to Pride Rock. She started to laugh.

"Ah, they’re here now!" Then she roared out to them.

"Attack!" Bahari suddenly called to his own pride.

At first, everyone was hesitant.

"We must!" the King went on. "To save our Kingdom! And our lives! If we can beat them, then our Kingdom can be carried on. The Circle of Life will be carried on because after we defeat them, Nesa will have returned, and because she is cured, she can carry it on!"

But then, as they saw Ezima leading the pride, Bahari and Kya’s pride, as well as them, suddenly took off down the main pathway. They ran out to the east. Soon, the two prides were fighting. There was roaring and slashing, swiping and scratching, biting and rolling. Anisha was the only one who wasn’t fighting, as she stared down at the two prides, smirking.

"They’ll both die," she said to herself, laughing. "Once they do, Nesa will come back and see her family gone. But Ezima will be the only one alive, as well as Anisha. They will kill the princess, and so Ezima and Anisha, who are both on my side, will win over the Kingdom…finally. Finally the darkness will rule."

The fight went on for one long our, before finally Nesa arrived. She had gotten back much earlier than she planned.

"Mom! Dad!" she cried. "I’m cured!"

But no one answered as she went in the cave. She glanced around, before gasping as she saw Anisha on the peak. With a roar she ran over to Anisha and jumped her. But because Anisha was facing away and wasn’t listening, and only thinking of what was going to happen, Nesa managed to push her off. Down Anisha went to her death. That way, Scar was released forever.

Seeing their leader dead, the other pride ran off. Ezima roared out something about loyalty, but she soon saw how she’d die because she was the only one left to stand and fight. So, she ran off, too. The pride was never seen again.

Ten

~Beginning of the End~

(Pride Rock)

"So that’s what happened." Nesa finished.

She had told them what had happened when she had gone. Then she nuzzled into her parents, for the first time in three and a half years. They nuzzled and licked her, and Aurora began tell the stories of the past generations.

Before long, Nesa sighed and fell asleep between her parents, still nuzzled into them like a cub.

"So what is her fate, do you think, Aurora?" asked Kya.

"I’m not sure," replied the shaman. "Hopefully and probably to carry on the Kingdom."

"Then why’d you say you thought her fate was to lead it to its end?" questioned Bahari.

"I think that she didn’t lead us to the end. I think she led the path between mortality and what’s beyond this life to the end. Now she can’t ever have a curse set on her. No one even related to her can. No one will. And now, no spirit can come back to harm us or anyone."

"How do you know?" Kya asked.

"Because she went to the Spirit Waters, and they soaked up the evil in the chant that was set upon her and molded into a hateful curse. Now I’m pretty sure they—the spirits—with the power Nesa had given to them, will never allow anyone of their kind to come back…for bad reasons that is. Now she and the others in the future will be just fine. They will be…It was the beginning of the end for any bad spirits to cross over into our world."

With that, the family, all the pride, huddled together, even nuzzling the sleeping Nesa, without dying. And there were many lions, brightening up the night sky. They were smiling upon Pride Rock and its pride.

The End

Baby Fire Wolf

wolfcub_gemini@usa.com