Nakala

Chapter 27

Nakala was unable to move under the gaze of his own father of all Pride Landers.

"It-- It's you?" Simba gasped, a look of many emotions that Nakala couldn't single out on his face.

Nakala gulped and closed his eyes. Get a hold of yourself, Kala. You can get yourself out of this. 

"Is it really you, Kion?" Simba asked, taking a step forward. Upon seeing the older lion getting closer, Nakala jumped back, his hindquarters pressed against the underbrush once again.

"My name is Nakala..." the Outland lion answered the question with a cold edge to his voice. He had no idea why but hearing Simba calling by that old name made him dig his claws into the ground in irritation. He reminded himself of his situation and to keep calm.

Simba gasped and stepped back to where he stood previously. The lion he raised was standing before him, but he was nothing like he was before. He didn't look the same as Simba remembered. His fur was dingy, a wild and untamed mane snaked past his shoulders. He could see that the young lion was very much in shape, displaying powerful muscles underneath his shoulders and legs but in contrast he was very much thinner than Simba himself. His scent carried the stench of hyenas that Simba knew he involved himself with. The lion Simba gazed at was no longer Kion in any way. He was an entirely different entity now, a true Outlander.

"So don't call me that," Nakala growled, his senses had returned to him. He was in enemy territory and cornered by none other than the King with no support. If this encounter went south he would have to be ready to defend himself.

Simba heard the threatening tone in his son's voice and also had to remind himself that he was in the presence of the enemy. He stood firm and cleared his voice. "Very, well. What are you doing here?"

"I chased a mouse over the border without realizing it," Nakala was surprised by how quickly the alibi came to him. "Food is scarce back home and I need all I can get."

Simba looked his son over again, he looked strong and healthy but seeing him so thin made him wince. Even if he was a foe he couldn't bear to see the lion's ribcage visible even under his fur.

Nakala was aware that Simba was checking over him, looking at his stomach multiple times. He's pitying me like I'm some kind of helpless cub! It made Nakala dig his claws deeper into the soil. He wasn't going to accept some charity from a Pridelander, especially the Pridelander that is the cause of all his hardships in the first place.

"Ki- Uh, Na-kala? You can always return home to the Pride Lands," Simba suggested. "All your friends and family are there and they'll be so happy to see you again."

Nakala tried to keep his composure as best he could but those words were all registered as an insult of sorts. "My home is the Outlanders! My friends and family are all starving because of you!"

"Because of me?" Simba questioned. "It's hardly my fault if they're nothing out there for them to take from someone else.

Nakala gulped upon realizing his father was calling him out on his own actions. "I do it because I have to. I'm not going to let the ones I care about starve! I will do anything I can to keep the hyenas fed and protected. They took me in and raised me as one of their own. They taught me everything I know and I'm still learning from them. They care about me and that's why I'm willing to do anything for them. I'll even use the power of both Roars if I have to."

"B-both Roars?" Simba asked in confusion. Nakala cursed himself for letting it slip but figured it wouldn't matter if Simba knew about it anyway. There was nothing he could do against or about it.

"Yes, Scar gave me the power of his Roar and I control them both," Nakala admitted, causing Simba to flinch. Simba always had a feeling that Scar's influence was never fully gone from the world but to think that it got to his son. Simba took a step and gasped in horror as he began to piece things together.

Scar and the hyenas have deceived my son into becoming this! Simba shuddered in dream. And now he has the power of Scar's Roar... Simba looked up and that's when he noticed the distinct mark on Nakala's face. A scar that ran over the same eye as his dreaded uncle. A biting chill ran through the King.

"I just want the hyenas to live the same kind of life you Pride Landers do," Nakala admitted, a softness in his voice at such a thought. "You could easily lift the banishment and let them live free in the Pride Lands."

That idea brought the resolve back into Simba. All he and the Pride Lands had suffered from the hyenas... The devastation of the Pride Lands, assisting Scar in his ruthless reign and the death of his own father, Mufasa.

"No! Never! Any hyena who steps foot into our lands will face punishment. They'll never be let into the Pride Lands because they could never pay for their crimes?" Simba planted his foot firmly, standing over his son. "It's the least that they deserve."

Nakala snarled at his father, walking directly towards him. He stopped close enough that the two lion's noses nearly touched. There were so many things he wanted to say. That the hyenas who followed Scar had all died off, bearing children and children of their own. The hyenas that Nakala had come to know were all innocent and struggling to survive. He had known hyenas who had died giving their food cubs and the elders. The hyenas were a community that cared for one another and showed him nothing but kindness. To see his father encouraging their suffering, their deaths and claiming it was something they deserved...

You should drive your claws into his throat right now...

Nakala growled and lifted his paw, extending his claws. They were brown and had clumps of dirt still clinging to them but Nakala could care less. Simba saw the fury in his son's face and braced himself to be attacked.

You can end him and free the hyenas yourself... You can free them yourself!

Nakala snarled once again and drew his paw back. He looked into his father's eyes but said nothing. He simply turned around and ran as fast as he could towards the border and Outlands. Simba didn't follow, simply watching him leave. He gave a heavy sigh and turned around to return to Pride Rock. Above both Nakala and Simba the sun was beginning to set and each had much to think about.