Nakala was well over the border when he stopped to catch his breath. He couldn't help but look back at the border, the bones he placed along it. They wouldn't do any good anymore. The young lion was still trying to process all that happened. Seeing his father again, the argument, the fury. It all just happened but some part of his mind was still debating if it actually happened or not.
"No. It happened. All of it. I saw him and the things he said..." Nakala saying aloud felt a wave of nausea hit him. He took deep breaths in an attempt to steady himself.
Nakala could remember at one time when he was a cub he admired his father. Not just for being the ruler of the Pride Lands but because of his strength and visible skills as a leader. He could remember a time he wanted to be just like his father. Nakala never told anyone but he had early dreams of being a capable king but like his father. But he would learn at an early age that his dream was not to be. Just being a bit older than him, Kiara was already destined for the throne. Growing up he became just fine with his sister becoming the next ruler of the Pride Lands but the dream never fully left him.
But now that dream is dead. If there was something further than death that was Nakala could only equate it to. His encounter with Simba made something clear to him: Nakala was glad that his dream never came true. Knowing what he does now about the hyenas he could never take a throne of any kind and continue the suffering they had been put through. Now the image of his father was distorted and transformed in Nakala's eyes. He no longer saw the lion as a courageous leader but as a spiteful lion who could not let go of the past. Simba mentioned his grandfather Mufasa. Though Nakala never met him he heard the Mufasa was just as hateful towards the hyenas before they had committed the crimes they had under Scar's influence. Nakala came to realize that if he was still in the Pride Lands he would be dedicating his life to barring those who were cast into a land of suffering and death from any hope of any kind.
They'll never be let into the Pride Lands because they could never pay for their crimes! It's the least that they deserve. Nakala grit his teeth as those words echoed in his mind.
They're just barely surviving and he's more than happy to see them dying of hunger and thirst. Mother's who couldn't feed their cubs. Cubs who watched their parents die as they starved feeding them instead. Trapped in a land of no hope and punished if they try to escape from it. That's what my friends deserve? Is that what Cheezi, Chungu or Janja deserve? Is that what I deserve for doing all I can to keep them alive and happy?
Nakala could see them moment when he and Simba stood with just a whisker's length between them. I should have stabbed my claws into his neck right then and there! Nakala gasped and felt his pulse picking up. I could have done it! I should have done it! I should have hunted him down like the cowardly prey he is! Nakala gasped once again. What am I saying? I'm not gonna kill Simba.
You know you would do anything for the hyenas sake.
Nakala took deep breaths, calming himself. As the lion's pulse began to slow a new feeling came washing over Nakala. Now Nakala wanted nothing more than to get far away from the Pride Lands as quickly as he could.
Simba also had much to think about as he trekked through the savanna. His head was swimming with so many thoughts all at once. His paws felt numb as he pressed them against the earth yet he still continued forward. Even though he saw Nakala leave first, the thought of getting caught by the Outland lion sent a cold chill through him. The look of fury in Nakala's eyes flashed in his mind, causing him to shudder. It was there that he saw the very same look in his eyes that Scar had when he held Simba on the edge of Pride Rock. A look with the intent to kill. But even with that look Nakala just turned and walked away, Simba thanked the kings above for that.
The whole encounter left Simba feeling a bit sick. To his own son, grown up without him and on the side of the hyenas. Defending their crimes and even attempting to ask for their freedom. He was not the same as the cub he once held close. He was much bigger and stronger now. Simba took a deep breath and accepted that from now on he will have to keep his guard up.
He may be my son but he was raised by the hyenas. He is an Outlander now. From now on Kion is the enemy, Simba gulped. No, he isn't Kion anymore. He's not the lion I held as a cub, he's changed. He's changed...