Mystery of the Outlands
Years Ago…
“You… You wouldn’t! We’re lions!”
An enraged roar reverberated throughout the land. The winds and ground acted with it, as if the heavens and its residents were helping it.
Terrified screeches filled the sky. Pretty soon, the miraculously-airborne lions plummeted to the ground, each with a loud thud and pained groan.
"Uhhh..." Nuka moaned groggily as he shakily got onto his feet. His whole body ached from the near-fatal fall.
"Where are we...?" he asked, glancing side to side at the wasteland.
Zira sighed irritably as she shot up from the ground. Nuka was either dazed from the fall, or just being his typical, clueless self.
"Our new home." she sarcastically replied.
She glanced toward the horizon, her face clenching hard with rage.
Back to square one…
Later that day…
Night fell across the Outlands. The buzzing of termite wings was soon replaced with the sparse population of crickets, whose chirps were still enough to break the deafening silence of the barren wasteland.
Atop a prominent rock amidst the flat land was a lioness that sat sternly, looking out into the rather empty and drab escape. She may have been looking, but she wasn't seeing, as she was too deep in thought.
'That miserable brat...' she thought, 'All hyenas know is deception and lies. The hyena only got her way because she knew royalty. If she were alone, she and her kind wouldn't stand a chance...'
A small, adolescent cub timidly approached. She tried not to make a sound, as she debated even bringing up what was on her mind at all.
Mother told her to go to bed with her brothers, as she did every day once it was dusk. She wanted to obey her mother, but countless questions buzzed through her head following what had happened earlier that day.
What was a 'Lion Guard'? What was this 'Roar of the Elders'? How did it work? Were they really just going to experience first-hand what might've been the craziest, supernatural event ever, only to just get up and never speak a word of it again?
"I can hear your footsteps, Vitani."
The cub's heart nearly leapt from her chest. The jig was up.
"Oh..." she mumbled, coming out of hiding.
"You need to work on your stealth. We'll go over that starting tomorrow morning." Zira dryly said.
No going back, now. If Vitani had a question, she'd better ask it now before it gets ignored in favor of endless training. She ascended the rock, gulping.
"Mother...?"
"Do speak up, dear. A soldier doesn't mumble."
"Um..." Vitani quickly cleared her throat to talk louder, minding her mother's comment, "Mother, how do you know so much about the Lion Guard?"
Zira stared off for a moment, images of her budding friendship with her beloved Scar raced in her mind. He was without his shoulder mark, a fresh, bleeding wound over his eye. He looked like he had been struggling internally.
“Well, it’s like I’d said earlier.” Zira began, “Scar told me all about what the Roar could do, and what he’d done to lose it. Oh, had his pompous brother not ticked him off, he wouldn’t have wasted it on his fellow lions…”
The preteen tilted her head. She didn’t remember this part at all. Zira saw her cub’s confusion, and continued.
“Yes… it had been the final straw. His father swiped Scar over the face, and Mufasa gave him a cruel nickname to top things off. And what for? Scar had done nothing!” she huffed, “And that mother of his. She was no help, I could tell. She was my hunting teacher. She never gave me so much as one glance. Always had her eyes on that Sarabi. That goody-goody little nerd saw herself as a miniature version of the Queen! I –”
She glanced down at her daughter. Realizing she’d gotten off-track, she quickly regained her composure.
“You’re a very astute listener, Vitani. That will serve you well as you grow.” her mother grinned, “You get it from me, of course. If only the Queen hadn’t picked favorites, she would’ve seen the greatness in me as I see in you. I care about you, all of you, when no one else in this world will.”
Vitani smiled softly, despite still reeling from her mother’s sharp mood shifts. Compliments like that didn’t come often, she cherished what she could of it.
“Anyway,” Zira cleared her throat, “Scar would always turn to me for comfort, and trusted me with the secrets of the Roar. He would tell me about the way it had controlled the wind, the ground, the sky… and animals…”
Vitani gasped. That last part reminded her of her other question.
“What did the Guard do that made Scar kill them?” the cub asked.
“They refused to help overthrow Scar’s tyrannical family.” Zira scowled, “I wish Scar had reserved it for his family, but he’d instead lost control, and used it on his unruly Guard. The little sycophants favored Mufasa over their own leader… It didn’t stop there, either. Scar’s newfound hyena friends he made had replaced his Guard – and me. Those slobs almost made Scar’s reign unenjoyable, what with their insufferable complaints and endless appetites.”
Vitani’s face fell as her mother continued to vent at her. Quality talks with her had never lasted long.
“They’d always steal his attention from me up until Simba came along.” Zira spat, “Had he not come back to steal the throne, those ravenous heathens wouldn’t have torn my beloved Scar to shreds!”
Zira teared up as her claws gripped the rock she had lain on. The edge now sported eight streaks that briefly sparked upon contact.
“If only I’d been there to protect him…” she turned to her daughter, “Just as you protected your brother back there.”
Vitani opened her mouth. She didn’t know what to say.
“Yes. I saw you stand up against that hyena. Excellent work. That’ll come in handy once you become an enforcer of Kovu’s, one day.”
“R-Really?” Vitani smiled again.
“I can see it now! You, with your very own Lion Guard protecting Kovu’s place as King. You’ll be far better enforcers than Scar’s hyenas, my pet. You won’t even need the Roar! Why, I see a great reign in our future atop Pride Rock…”
Vitani followed suit and gazed at the faraway Pridelands as her mother had. To be a strong leader, just like her mother. She didn’t think herself to be the type, but Mother saw it in her. She wondered what lions she would someday lead.
"Now, off to bed with you." Zira said softly, but still with command, “You need to be well-rested for what lies ahead…”
Vitani understood, and trotted to the main termite mound fortress where her brothers had already been fast asleep.
Inside the den was a sight Vitani distinctly remembered, and one her older brother would to this day refuse to acknowledge ever happened. The brothers had embraced each other in their sleep, Nuka had a long arm draped around Kovu, and Kovu hugged said arm. Both snored in their own ways, Nuka with his obnoxious, nasally snorts, and Kovu, a soft buzz.
For a moment, the preteen stole one last glance outside, her eyes reflecting the deep red sunset at Pride Rock, the peculiar lighting making her look not so different from her cunning, ruthless mother, whom she'd been shaping up to be more and more like for years to come...
Present Day...
The fully-grown lioness stared off towards the Outlands. Her eyes were her usual electric blue color, as she'd faced away from the sun.
She looked deathly drowsy from a night of no rest due to her intense fixation on her cave paintings. Everything made her drowsy. Everything that had ever happened. Her mother had conditioned her into quite the restless and fidgety lioness, and it showed as she had looked twice her actual age.
Still, she had a territory to patrol. The one she'd inevitably end up guarding like Mother said she someday would, just not like how she'd imagined.
A familiar sight had grabbed her attention mid-patrol – the termite mounds that she and her family once begrudgingly called home.
But before she knew it, her eyes wandered West, towards a prominent structure that towered over many locations of the Outlands – besides the volcano, of course – the cave that took on the shape of a lion's head. A cave that stood just beside a luscious watering hole, possibly the best one that could be found in the Outlands. One that had been protected for years... by hyenas.
Glancing back at the lion-shaped cave, she saw a leonine shape that stood in front of the mouth. Sporting a dark bluish tint, it had a large, red mane, a head stripe like her mother's, and a bulbous snout like her older brother's.
"Who goes there?!" Vitani barked.
It walked back to the mouth, and faded away as if it weren't solid.
"Hey!" the Fiercest charged, the rest of the Guard far enough along the patrol route to even notice her leaving her post.
As she bounded, her ears rang from overwhelming glimpses of voices of the past she'd recently heard.
"Get up before I give you a real reason to cry!"
"Lions Over All!"
"What's wrong, my little Moonlight?"
Vitani stopped in her tracks from the sudden migraine that had taken place, but not before crashing into something: An animal that yelled for her to stop, just before impact.
In shock, the lioness quickly shifted to combat mode. She charged as fast as she could, and body slammed the animal with full force before climbing atop of it and pinning its forelegs down to not let it escape. Her snarl lessened as the animal's form came into picture.
"It's... You." was all the lioness could make out.
"I have a name, you know..." the long-haired hyena playfully scoffed.
Before Vitani could think, she was flipped on her back, with far less force than what she, herself, had used.
"..and a few moves up my sleeve." the hyena giggled.
"Yeah, yeah, I remember you... Prime Minister."
Vitani rolled, and the hyena responded mercifully by gently releasing the lion.
"It's Jasiri, or something, right?" Vitani groaned, "Never bothered to really get to know you."
"I can see that." Jasiri deadpanned.
"I GOT YOU, JASIRI!" a male voice yelled.
"Janja!” Jasiri hopped in front of him, “There's no need."
“B-But that’s –”
“I know. She’s welcome here.”
“Alright.” he grumbled, “It… It’s time for my shift at the cell, anyway.”
“Good boy.”
“Cell?” Vitani’s brow arched.
“He’s one of my trusted enforcers. Head warden of the Kizimba Caverns.”
“‘Trusted’...” Vitani balked.
"He'll get the hang of it, eventually." the matriarch rolled her eyes, "So... what brings you to the Outlands?"
Vitani rubbed the back of her neck, "Ah, thought I saw something. L-Like, something I recently saw in a dream. Had to chase it. But... I can't explain it, it's too ridiculous."
"You look like you haven't gotten a wink of sleep. Animals' minds tend to go wild without rest."
"Yeah, I'll be fine." Vitani trailed off, staring onward as her eyesight no longer had a trace of blue. How much of that Zamani stuff did she take?
Realizing she had found herself near the entrance of Jasiri's Watering Hole, she looked to the left, then upward at the lion head monument towering over the region.
"Jasiri...?" she broke the silence, "Do you ever wonder what that thing is? My mother wanted to live nearby it so badly. She said she knew of it like the back of her paw, but, never went into how..."
"I’ve peeked at it a bit on my patrols. I haven’t really been wanting to go in, since, well, what happened when we were younger…” Jasiri said, “It seems like an abandoned arena of some sort, by the looks of it. Could’ve sworn I saw paintings in it."
"You're kidding?" Vitani's eyebrows flew upward.
Jasiri smiled. Beyond the paintings, she had a lot of things she wanted the former Outlands resident to see on the way.
"Why don't we find out?"
This had better not been a trap. Vitani had only ever known deceptive, fickle hyenas in life. But, only because of everything Mother had talked her ear off about. She jotted that down as one of the many questionable things Zira had believed, given what she’s recently seen of Jasiri and Janja. Not only had they claimed to be Prime Minister and head warden of the Outlands, respectively, but she’d remembered their collaboration to fight beside Kion. Perhaps Mother was wrong about all hyenas…
But, she had to know about these paintings, if there were any. What could they tell her?
Semi-reluctant, the lioness followed the Prime Minister of the Outlands.
The two passed the Watering Hole. The older hyenas looked welcoming enough, but the younger ones found the lioness' presence odd.
The girl had long hair and purple eyes, like Jasiri. The boy with only a few strands of hair and blue eyes. Both sported a wary look at her.
Vitani subconsciously returned the gesture with a puzzled look of her own. What was their problem…?
Vitani digressed. Meanwhile, she noticed something different about the Outlands. She felt something soft under her paws. Grass.
Throughout her trek across the Outlands was an overall pop of color and biodiversity. The Lioness could smell flowers she didn't know had grown in the area, and she observed more potable water sources outside of the notable one in Jasiri's territory.
"Here we are!" exclaimed Jasiri.
Vitani looked up, and saw the lion-shaped cave. It had been overgrown with moss, and even more flowers, funnily giving the cave a mane, somewhat, like it must've been meant to have. A dense, flourishing colony of bats flew from the cave, almost making the lion head look like it breathed fire.
Jasiri smiled warmly at the sheer surprise in Vitani's face.
"A lot has changed since you left the Outlands." the hyena began, "I heard about the monsoon at the Pridelands. The Outlands were in just enough reach to get some of it. We needed it for decades. The lands were so thirsty, that I had to help evacuate the animals from floods. But... It worked itself out, eventually."
Vitani was nearly moved to tears at the potential beauty that finally showed throughout the Outlands. Why couldn't she live in something like this all along? She had to wonder what became of the particular home she survived through every day. Had the Termite Mounds turned many colors, too?
Jasiri tilted her head towards the prominence, “Shall we?”
Vitani gave a quick nod, and soon enough, they walked towards the unexplored section of the Outlands.
At the Northern Pridelands Outskirts…
“Would you believe the nerve of some of these animals around here? You’d think the herds would be over this whole separation thing after that old rhino keeled over.”
“Guess he set the blueprint.” Imara shrugged, “All he had to do was set an example for the next animal. There will always be a bigger, scarier successor.”
“Maybe,” Kasi huffed, But, wouldn’t they just leave the Pridelands instead of trying to change – OOF!”
Before she knew it, Kasi found herself briefly sandwiched between the heavy Imara, and another lioness who had stopped dead in her tracks long before her own group partner did.
“Tazama?! What’s going on?”
The Keenest of Sight stared off toward the Outlands, “Vitani’s not with you. I’d like to think –”
Kasi gasped as she looked where Tazama was looking, “Oh, no… She didn’t…”
“I’m afraid so…” the aqua-eyed lioness frowned slightly.
Pretty soon, Shabaha could be seen bounding from the distance, on her way to catch up with the group.
“Taz, why’d you stop?” the Bravest panted, “I know you’re quiet, but I didn’t think I was actually talking to nobody, this time – What’s everybody staring at…?”
“Tazama saw Vitani wander off to the Outlands.” Imara said.
“Was she snatched up, or something?”
“I didn’t see anything from here,” Tazama answered, “but within the Outlands, she could’ve been…”
“We’d better hurry,” Imara stepped forward, “c’mon…”
The Lion Guard headed Northeast, crossing the river that bordered the two territories. Pretty soon they ended up in an escape that was fogged and illuminated by geothermal gases and their periodic explosions.
“Hey! Who goes there?!” a voice barked, “No animal is allowed beyond this point!”
The fog cleared a bit, revealing a clan led by Janja, old enemies who once had their share of territorial disputes with the Outsider pride.
“Really? No animals allowed?” Cheezi tilted his head.
“Guess this means we gotta go, then.” Chungu muttered.
“Not us, furbrains!” the leader groaned.
“Hyenas!” Imara bellowed, “We know you have Vitani!”
“What? No we don’t!” Janja cried. Irritably, he whipped his head toward his fellow clan, “Alright, which one of you’s talked?”
“Enough talk!” Kasi snapped, “Get them!”
Shabaha loved that part of every fight. She couldn’t contain her eager cackle as she went to execute the order.
Janja remembered that laugh. Horrified, he glanced around at the lionesses that had surrounded him and his dimwitted squad of enforcers.
“Uh-oh…” he groaned, not liking their chances.
WHAM! Imara tackled Chungu.
SLASH! Kasi’s paw swiped Cheezi.
WHOOP! Tazama tripped Nne.
Janja’s hackles raised in defense as Shabaha slowly made her way towards him.
PUNCH! BEAT! POW!
Before the hyenas knew it, they were knocked to the ground. The hyenas that remained conscious moaned, saddened and confused as to what came over these lionesses.
What did they do wrong…?
Without a word, Imara took the lead towards the fog. The rest followed.
“Yeesh, we’re in the Elephant Graveyard.” Tazama shivered a bit.
Kasi looked around, “Is it me, or does this place look a little more organized than I remember?”
GROWL!
The Guard paused, hearts nearly leaping from their chests. They looked towards the location of the noise. It had come from one of the ribcages from a pile of elephant carcasses.
"Vitani..." Kasi slowly turned, "Is that you?"
“What are you guys doing, here?” said a gravelly voice.
Squinting to see past the large, petrified elephant ribs, Imara recognized the lion pacing back and forth in his enclosure. He had a scruffy, dark brown beard, a well-muscled body, furious auburn eyes, and a lack of a mane due to it once being burned off by Vitani’s Fire Roar.
“...Kiume?” she finally guessed aloud, taking a step closer to be sure.
“Watch your step.” Kiume smiled.
Imara glanced down and noticed the molten liquid that formed a moat around the maneless lion’s prison cell. Gasping, she placed a large arm in front of the rest of the Guard to keep them from inching any closer and getting badly hurt.
“Molten metal.” the lion clarified, “Keeps me from escaping with my life. A good backup when the hyenas aren’t awake to watch my every move…”
“The hyenas were…? –” Shabaha cringed hard, “Ooof…”
Imara's heart dropped, body going numb. There was no undoing the damage they'd inflicted.
She leaned against the cage bars for a moment and breathed deeply. They hurt animals who were doing good. The Prime Minister would banish them, and rightfully so.
“So that was the commotion outside? Thought the hyenas were up to no good, just because they’re hyenas? Looks like you guys got some prejudices to work out…” Kiume chuckled.
Kasi balked, “Oh, you would know –”
Imara waved a paw to quiet her down, “Look, Kiume. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but… We were hoping you could help us find Vitani…”
“Why would I wanna help you, and how?” Kiume continued to pace.
“Well, we figured that since you’re the only one available, right now.”
“No thanks to us… Shabaha muttered in regret.
“We just wanna know if you might know where she might’ve gone, and whowith.” Imara continued.
“Well, I can’t exactly just give you pointers.”
“Why not?”
“You don’t know this part of the Outlands like I do, I’d have to walk you through it. You’re not gonna understand if I just tell you.”
“How do we know you’re not lying?” Kasi glared.
“Girls, trust me, I know the Outlands. I spent a good while here with my boys. We studied up on paintings we saw around here.”
“Paintings?” the Strongest raised her brows.
“Sure. Some paintings you lionesses ought to take notes from. It’ll show you the way a lion’s pride is meant to be. I’m telling you, it’s always been males that have led prides.”
“Whatever.” Imara glanced sideways, “Well, haven’t you tried busting out now that the hyenas aren’t watching?”
“You’re stronger than me – Well, I mean, I’m not saying you’re any stronger than a man, of course.” he said with a passive-aggressive whine that grated the lioness’ ears, “I’m a little out-of-shape since, you guys, you know, imprisoned me here. The hyenas starve me and hardly give me any water to live.”
“Yeah, yeah, we get it.” Imara cut him off.
“Not to mention, these bones?” he knocked them, “Solid. Gonna need something hard and heavy, like that plank the hyenas use to give me water, over there.”
They all looked. It was a heat-resistant slab of rock that must’ve been occasionally slid across the ground by the hyenas. They looked back towards the maneless lion.
“How about this, you get me out, and I'll help you straighten this whole hyena mess out. Have we got ourselves a deal, girls?” he grinned, offering a paw for Imara to shake.
Imara scowled at Kiume for a long time before looking at the rest of the Lion Guard, who were seen exchanging uncertain looks.
The Strongest looked back towards him, glancing rapidly as her mind raced.
She continued to hesitate.
Pride Rock...
The Future Queen tried hard to think her own thoughts, but a force kept her from it. Something, or someone, with their own memories had taken over her very mind and movement.
The Lion Guard vanished from Pride Rock, and the possessed lioness did not know where they could be, she sniffed around for the scent of any Lion Guard member. The trail led her to the Lion Guard Lair.
Empty. Of Course…
The Water Spirit within Kiara remembered this place, however. She would often lounge in the once abandoned underground lair, discussing her points of view with her fellow lionesses – her original followers. They didn’t seem to live in the Pridelands, despite earning their right to live here.
Suddenly, her focus was broken by the sound of a young mandrill rushing to another section of the Lair. She watched the mandrill from the other side of the wall, well-hidden behind a dense patch of vines.
“Okay, okay, okay…” Makini breathed, “If I were paint restoration materials, where would I be…?”
She brushed small vines out of the way to reveal a shelf holding orange powder.
“Oh, hello, Baadaye powder! Right where I left you. Good thing Rafiki told me to keep this stuff out of the wrong hands. I’m definitely the ‘wrong hands!’”
Something to be kept out of the wrong hands sounded exactly like something Zira’s spirit probably needed. Ever so silently, the golden lioness inched closer to inspect the powder.
“Oh, there’s the restoration stuff!” the mandrill beamed, still not noticing the lioness.
In her excitement, her hand accidentally brushed by the powder on the shelf. Like another lioness, recently, the powder shot into Zira’s eyes. She grunted, but pretty soon, her world took on an orange hue.
Opening her eyes, she could see her perspective change to the top of Pride Rock. She looked down on various animals who leaped and cheered.
The Pridelands looked drenched. Grass was saturated, mud was everywhere, everyone looked heavily rained on, and yet, they looked elated.
“Our Queen! Our Queen! Our Queen!” the swarm of animals chanted.
Could this be…? Was this Zira’s destiny?
Will she have won whatever war was coming?