"What's this all about?" The two leopards stood at Zira's attention after being called for an urgent matter.
Zira smiled at the two before her and finally spoke. "I have been given a sign to move forward in my plans."
The two leopards looked at one another and back to the lioness. "That's not much to go on..," the second one said in an unsure and hushed tone.
"Just do as I say!" the lioness snarled, earning the attention of the shrinking leopards. She cleared her throat and stood straight once again. "Now. Mapigano. Badili. You two are to go to the hyena territory. Find the lion and this time show him no mercy."
"You mean?" Badili gave a hopeful smile.
"If you do manage to defeat him, leave him alive. We'll need to keep the Roar alive," Zira sneered and waved them off with her paw. "Now go!"
Mapigano and Badili wasted no time turning tail and racing off towards the hyenas as fast as their legs could carry them. Their speed was both in part of wanting to be as fast away from the wicked lioness and itching to pick a real fight.
Back at the hyena's mountain, inside the den of Janja and Nakala both were fast asleep. Janja's sleep was peaceful and dreamless. Nakala instead mumbled in his slumber and his heart was thumping against his chest.
Nakala opened his eyes to find himself back in the Pride Lands. He along with Janja, Cheezi and Chungu were facing off against the Lion Guard. Nakala prepared himself to fight, seeing his foes closing on them. He blinked in surprise as in an instant he was surrounded on all sides. He looked around and only saw the faces of the Lion Guard members. He couldn't find the hyenas and every turn he made he was met by faces of Fuli, Beshte and Ono. As quickly as he spun around he was met with them and only them. And each of their faces had wide wicked grins spread upon them, as if they were enjoying the lion's torment. Nakala growled and swat his paw at them, but made no contact. He stared in confusion and growled again. He sprung at Fuli and passed right through her.
The lion yowled as he started to plummet down a pit of darkness. He closed his eyes and to his relief his paw caught something to hold onto. He opened his eyes and looked down to see the barren cracked rock of the gorge miles below him. His right paw hung tight to a branch lodged into the side of a cliff. Nakala reached up with his left paw and grabbed hold of the branch. His legs dangled uselessly with nothing to latch onto. Feeling the strength in his upper body waning, Nakala desperately looked for something else to aid him. The edge of the cliff was in sight, but too high to reach on his own.
"H-Help!" Nakala yowled, feeling his claws slipping from the bark. His ears flicked from the sound of footsteps above him. Nakala looked up at his savior only for his hopeful smile to quickly drop and his blood to go cold. The stern face of Simba glaring down at him. The dangling hope that his father would reach a paw down to him, but the older lion simply continued to look right through his son. Nakala felt his right paw lose it's grip and drop limp to his side, too numb to feel.
"Please...." Nakala's plea fell on deaf ears as he heard a loud crack. His gaze quickly shot up to his father before he started to plummet. The lion watched helplessly as the image of Simba staring at him grew smaller and smaller. He looked down to see the ground rapidly approaching him.
Nakala leapt to his feet, panting and sweating. He looked around him only to be met with dull, cold stone. He was about to panic again until the gentle sound of Janja's breathing calmed him down. He looked at the sleepy hyena and took a deep breath.
It was all just a dream, Nakala reassured himself.
He knew after what he just experienced, there was no way he was going to just fall asleep so easily. So he did what he usually did when he couldn't sleep.
Mapigano and Badili stalked through the grounds of the Outlands towards the hyena's territory.
"...And what if he's not out there?" Badili asked.
"Hmm. Then we'll have to wait for him, even if it takes all night. We can't let those termite-bitten mutts know we're here," Mapigano huffed to himself. The leopards walked side by side under the cloudless night sky. The night was young and Mapigano was determined to make the most of it. He had no idea what Zira was planning with this lion, but he didn't' really care either way. This was just another mission he and his ally had been put upon.
"Mapigano! Look!" Badili hissed, bringing Mapigano back to the present. The smaller leopard pointed forward. Mapigano followed his gaze and found the lion they were looking for.
Nakala snapped out of his thoughts and looked around him. Somehow I always end up here...
He walked onto the training grounds, feeling the soft sand under his paws. He stepped foot in the area many times, always primed to push himself harder. But now the lion just felt tired, the images of his dream still flashing in his mind. He took a deep breath and spotted the big rock that he would usually push around. The idea seemed a little appealing to do, but something also felt a bit off that he could not pinpoint.
A distant snapping sound caught the lion's ear and attention. "Hmmm? Hello?" Nakala hissed, thinking that one of the hyenas also had some trouble sleeping. But looking around the young lion saw nothing. Flicking his ears, he also heard nothing beyond the gentle breeze of the night air.
Right before Nakala could turn his attention towards the training grounds once again. A snarl was heard and a heavy weight jumped on the lion's back. Nakala grunted in pain, feeling sharp claws pricking his shoulders. Thinking quickly Nakala threw himself onto his back, hearing his attacker wheeze as the weight was now shifted on top of him. Jumping up and looking back Nakala looked down to see Mapigano coughing and slowly getting up.
"You... I remember you," Nakala provoked. The day Janja was attacked. I gotta keep them away from the others!
"Hmm, that's flattering," Mapigano chuckled and stood on his feet. "But I'm afraid I'm not alone this time."
Another snarl came, this time Nakala was ready. Quickly turning towards the noise he raised his paw and swatted the smaller leopard to the ground.
"Not bad..." Badili smiled, despite the stars he was seeing. He stood on his feet and lowered himself in preparation to strike.
Nakala looked from leopard to leopard, biding his time and waiting for one or both of them to strike. Mapigano was more than happy to deal the first blow, lunging forward. Nakala met him head on, raising his paws. The two stood on their hind legs, trading blows and swipes. Mapigano dealt a strong hit to the lion's chest. Despite fighting to catch his breath, Nakala swung his right paw and raked his claws against the burly leopard's cheek. Mapigano snarled in pain, jumping back. Badili took that as a sign to enter the conflict.
Badili planned to pounce on the lion, but his plans were quickly thwarted by Nakala jumping to the side and literally swatting him away.
Mapigano groaned in frustration. Badili was a good friend to him but he was frequently seen as a liability in the bigger leopard's eyes, too. He shook his head and accepted that this one basically rested on his shoulders. Seeing an advantage, Mapigano leapt to his feet and pounced on the distracted lion.
Nakala growled in pain as Mapigano learned from his earlier actions and wasted no time digging his claws into the lion's skin. Nakala was about to try his earlier trick before but something caught his attention. Looking over to the still dazed Badili, Nakala saw his chance. Mapigano let out a snarl of surprise as Nakala ran forward. The leopard held tight, thinking that the lion was trying to throw him off again.
Mapigano dug his claws even deeper and grinned as he heard the pained hiss of the lion underneath him. Mapigano looked up, saw what Nakala was running towards and his breath caught in his throat. Nakala continued as fast as he could, raising his back and slamming the leopard into the stone. Mapigano let out a pained groan as his back was thrown into the hard rock along with being squeezed between the lion's weight and the unmoving hard mass. He lost his grip on Nakala and fell to the ground, feeling like all the air was stomped out of him.
Nakala winced in pain, feeling the sting of Mapigano's claws on his back. The damp feeling and smell of blood also came to him. He looked over at the leopard trying to regain his footing and surged up to him. He pinned Mapigano back down on the sand, feeling his claws extend. That's when he felt it again. That rush, the adrenaline that coursed through his veins. A sudden urge washed over him. He saw that his foe was pinned, defeated. All that was left to do was finish it, with just a swipe of his claws.
"Grrrkk..." Nakala shot back to reality to see that he saw pressing his paw down on Mapigano's throat. He reeled back and let the leopard go. Nakala looked over at Badili, who had no idea what to do and just stood staring at the event.
"...Just get out of here...." Nakala snarled at the two leopards. He pushed Mapigano off and Badili rushed to his side. Nakala watched as the smaller leopard helped his ally to his feet and the two stumbled off.
"T-This isn't over..." Mapigano snarled, looking back at Nakala. The lion stood his ground as he watched the two leopards slowly move farther and farther out of his sight.
Nakala breathed a sigh of relief and looked up at the sky that was lightening with the rising sun. His mind was racing with what just happened. Who were those two? Why were they attacking him? And when will they be back?
They have to be from the Pride Lands. Sent here for me or for Janja...
He shook his head and walked back into the cavern to find Amana.