Nakala

Chapter 91

As Nala and Kiara walked away with Nakala, Simba and Rafiki stayed behind. The king watched the three leave until they were out of his sight. Beside him stood the mandrill, giving him a judgmental look.

"What are you planning?" Rafiki asked, tapping his foot to the ground.

"I don't trust him, clearly. But I think he's here for something else," Simba insinuated. "I'm just not sure what."

"Why did he come here? Why now?"

"Well, times are starting to change," Rafiki pointed out. "Change can be a hard thing but it is necessary to enrich life."

"And what if I reject change?" Simba asked, starting to walk away.

"Then!" the mandrill warned, sticking out his staff to block the lion's path. "Change will force itself to happen and you will be powerless to stop it. You can try to avoid it but change will come for you, sooner or later."

"Can't you see that Nakala came all the way here on his own. There are no Outlanders lurking around in the shadows, I checked."

"He is the Outlander," the king growled.

"If Nakala wanted to cause any trouble, he would have already done so, easily."

"I know it may feel impossible, but you must let go of the past," Rafiki urged his king, following close behind him. "If you don't, disaster will surely come for us all."

In response, Simba said nothing. He simply continued his walk towards Pride Rock. Now left alone, Rafiki groaned in frustration and looked up to the stars above. With nothing else to do, he sought out Nakala, wanting to know more about the lion and how he could help him.

Kiara and Nala had led Nakala around the outer perimeter of Pride Rock. It was a long walk, making the lion realize just how large the rock formation really was. But sure enough, their walking soon came to an end and Nakala was led to a part of the rock that was overgrown with shrubs and small trees that looked like they were lacking light.

"This is where we bury those that were closest to us," Nala explains. Next to her Kiara pointed to two mounds of fresh dirt, piled side by side. "That's where they are."

Nakala stepped close to the smaller plot and stared at it. "Seems like a great place to be buried. I wonder if he would have wanted that... It doesn't matter. You guys gave him better than I ever could have."

"What do you mean, Nakala. Did something happen in the Outlands. To Bunga, I mean?" Kiara asked, padding up to her brother's side.

"Bunga followed me into the Outlands, I said that before. At first I told him to go back where he came from. That it was too dangerous for him to be there. But he pleaded in the way that he does. And I did miss having him around. There was so much I wanted to catch up on and some part of me did want what I used to have here. So, I let him stay. He found den and I would go out to talk to him as much as I could," Nakala explained.

"You know Bunga never really stopped looking for you. Knowing him, he wouldn't have come back here even if you forced him to," Kiara chuckled.

Nakala couldn't help but smile, knowing that his sister's description of Bunga was very accurate. His smile faded a bit as he continued. "Things were going great. I talked to Bunga all the time, we were telling each other stories, laughing and joking like we always did. But one day I went to go see him and he was gone. He was attacked by something. Whatever did it, did on purpose. You saw the way his body was ripped open like that..."

"Oh, Nakala, I'm sorry," Kiara soothed, pressing her body close to the lion's.

"When I saw him my powers got out of control and I made a storm, a strong one that made lightning out of nothing. Janja found me and brought me back. But I blamed myself for what happened... It was because I let Bunga follow me into the Outlands that he died. I didn't want to bury him in the land that took his life so I was trying to bring him here."