The Lion King: Through Her Eyes Ch 7

The Elephant Graveyard, Tears, and Stars

The hyenas walked out and one of them said, "Well, well, well, Banzai. What have we here?"

The second one, Banzai, said, "Hmmm... I dunno, Shenzi. Whaddya think, Ed?"

Ed only gives a weird chuckle and has his tongue hanging out, then Banzai sneers, "Yeah, just what I was thinking. A quartet of trespassers!" I looked at the three and said, "Just an honest mistake, no harm done. If you three don't mind, we better head home." Banzai looked at me with furrowed brows and said, "Hey, you look familiar. Haven't I seen you from somewhere before, chica?"

I felt myself stuck in a trap and lied, "No, why do you ask?"

Ed sniffs me and begins to snarl, then Shenzi says, "I've seen eyes like yours from someone we know, girl. Do you know any humans that might have been in the Pridelands?" I began to tense up and denied, "No, there hasn't been any for over two months." Zazu got next to me and said, "She's not interested in answering any questions, you three! If you don't mind-" He stopped as Shenzi pressed her paw on Zazu's tail feathers and said, "Whoa, whoa, wait, wait. I know you. You're Mufasa's little stooge!" Zazu gets out of Shenzi's hold and says, "I, madam, am the king's majordomo!"

The three begin to circle around us as Banzai asks Simba, "And that would make you?"

Simba glares, "The future king!"

Shenzi asks, "Do you know what we do to kings who step out of their kingdom?"

I snarled, "Back off! If you mess with my brother, you're gonna have to deal with me first!" Shenzi looked at me closely and said, "Wait, I remember! You're the little leopard princess Mufasa's taken in! We tried to get you, but your daddy had to whoop our butts! Nice meeting you for the first and maybe last time, baby girl."

Banzai sniffed me and said, "She might be the same human who sprayed us with that stuff that made our eyes burn! Isn't she, Shenzi?" I swallowed and said, "You might've mistaken me for someone else, guys." Simba scoffs, "You can't do anything to us!"

Zazu gives and uneasy chuckle and says, "Technically, they can. We are on their lands."

Simba said, "But, Zazu! You told me and Vivi that they're nothing but slobbery, mangy, stupid poachers!"

Zazu said with a clenched beak, "Ixnay on the upidstay!"

Banzai heard the remark and glared, "Who are you callin' upidstay?"

I said, "No one, so let us go or things will get ugly like your face!" We began to make a run for it, but Shenzi blocked us and said, "Nice try! You're the human from before and we know it's you, so don't play dumb! Besides, we'd love to have you and your friends stick around for dinner." Banzai jokes, "Yeah, we could have whatever's lion around."

As they began laughing and making stupid food puns, I mouthed at the cubs and Zazu to follow me. I started to run with them as Zazu flew and heard from a yard away, "Didn't we order this dinner to go?"

"No, why?" Shenzi asks.

"'CAUSE THERE IT GOES!" Banzai yelled.

We kept running and got towards a clearing. I panted, "Okay, I think we lost those three. Everyone okay?"

Nala and Simba nodded, then Nala asked, "You okay, Vivi?"

I said, "Yeah, I'm fine. Wait a minute, where's Zazu?"

We ran and found the hyenas stuff Zazu into a mini volcano as Banzai taunted, "Majordomo bird, hippity-hop all the way to the birdy boiler!" The volcano began to erupt when Zazu said, "Oh no, not the birdy boiler! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" The volcano spurts when Zazu flies out like a rocket and the hyenas laugh their heads off.

Simba shouts, "Hey! Why don't you pick on somebody your own size?"

Shenzi smirks, "Like you?"

I moaned, "Not good! RUN!" The cubs and I took off running away from Shenzi, then flames came up as the hyenas scared us more. We began to lose the hyenas when we climbed up a skull, slid across the spine, and zipped over a gap as we landed on a bunch of bones. We began to climb up, then I heard Nala cry, "Simba! Victoria!" I looked back and saw Nala slipping down when she screamed, then Simba and I rushed down to save her.

I grabbed Nala with my teeth and ran when Simba scratched Shenzi's cheek before she could try to bite us. We got to the top and ran inside a cave, then began to climb on some more bones. We tried to go up the wall, but old skin under us tore and we fell to the ground. We looked up to see the hyenas walk in as Banzai smirked, "Here, kitty, kitty, kitty."

I stood in front of the cubs protectively, then Simba tried to roar. However, it was a pathetic one and it didn't faze the hyenas. Shenzi said, "That was it? Do it again. C'mon." As they were about to close in, I opened my mouth to roar and roared very loudly. Once I got them to shut up, I sprang into action and began to attack. As I was fighting, another roar came and a familiar lion came to aid me; it was Mufasa! I gave Ed and Banzai good swipes at their flanks, along with pinning Shenzi to the ground. Mufasa swiped the two as they tried to take a bite at me and stood powerfully over them.

The hyenas laid on their backs and complained as Banzai said, "Please, we give! Uncle! Uncle!" I said with a loud roar, "SHUT UP!" Banzai said, "Hey, c'mon! Easy, chica! We're gonna shut up now!" Mufasa roared, "SILENCE!" Shenzi looked at Mufasa sweetly and said as Ed began to cower, "Calm down! We're really sorry."

Mufasa glared at the three and growled in a threatening tone, "If you ever come near my son and daughter again..." Before he could finish, Shenzi said, "Oh, these...These are your kids?" She and Banzai started to laugh a little, then Shenzi asked, "Did you know that?" Banzai stammered, "Me? I-I-I didn't know about the little cub! Did you, Shenz?"

"No! Of course not!" Shenzi said.

The two exchanged glances and said, "Ed?"

He only looked at them stupid and nodded fast, then Mufasa gave a loud roar. The three shrank back and Banzai gave a tiny wave, "Tootles!" The three sped off with whimpers, then I yelled, "YEAH, YOU BETTER RUN!" Zazu stood next to Mufasa with a satisfied smile. The male lion only glared at Zazu, which made the hornbill shrink back a little. I looked at Mufasa to see him glaring at me, then he said as Simba and Nala came towards us, "You both deliberately disobeyed me."

Simba said, "Dad, w-we're sorry."

I said, "It was mostly my fault. I didn't mean to..."

Mufasa cut me off and ordered angrily, "Let's go home." I walked behind him as the cubs followed, then Nala softly said to Simba, "I thought you were very brave." I looked at the two as we headed out, but I looked up to see a lion with a black mane and green eyes as his left eye had a scar over it. He glared down and was silent, which made me shrink back a little as I heard Mufasa calling, "Victoria, we're leaving right now!"

I ran to meet up with the others and we headed towards the Pridelands in complete silence. As we walked, we stopped when I heard Mufasa say, "Zazu?" The bird flies over towards him and asks, "Yes, Sire?" Mufasa looked over his shoulder and said, "Take Nala home. I've got to teach my son and daughter a lesson." I knew that this was not going to be good and looked at Simba trying to hide under the grass.

Zazu flew over towards and said, "Come, Nala. Simba, Victoria, good luck." He flies away with Nala when she walks, then she looks over her shoulder sadly. Simba and I flinched when we heard Mufasa call, "Simba! Victoria!" We looked to see him sitting up with his back turned, then walked over towards him. I looked to see Simba stop and realized that his paw landed on another pawprint bigger than his own. I took notice of how deep Mufasa made the tracks from his paws and knew why he kept a good distance from us as we walked away earlier; he was beyond furious at us, especially at me and Simba.

I sat near Mufasa with my head down as Simba did the same. I didn't bother to look at Mufasa and felt myself close to tearing up. Mufasa said, "Simba, I'm very disappointed in you and your sister. You could've been killed! You two deliberately disobeyed me! And what's worse, you put Nala in danger! Victoria, you should've been in charge and known better! What were you thinking?! Didn't you realize you not only placed your younger brother and Nala in danger, but nearly got yourself killed?! You could've died if I hadn't come there in time!"

I didn't bother to look when tears filled up my eyes and I didn't say anything. I felt my face being turned gently and looked at Mufasa as the tears fell. Mufasa's glare softened and he looked at me sadly. I cried, "I was too stupid and didn't know! The memories came back as the hyenas began to ask me questions and I was too scared! I just froze before I began to fight them off, okay? I thought I could've handled it without any help and showed that I could be a good fighter like you! Happy now?" I turned away and began crying, but I felt a strong paw pull me in for an embrace and placed my head over Mufasa's shoulder as I wept. Mufasa held me tight and said to soothe me, "It's alright, Victoria. Shh... Calm down."

Simba was close to crying and said, "W-We were just trying to be brave like you!" I looked up and reached my paw up to wipe my tears away, then Mufasa sighed, "I'm only brave when I have to be. Simba, being brave doesn't mean you go looking for trouble. It's about facing your fears and doing something that you're afraid to do." Simba looked up and said, "But you're not scared of anything."

Mufasa looked away for a moment and sighed, "I was today."

Simba asked, "You were?"

Mufasa looked at us and answered, "Yes, I thought I might lose the both of you."

We relaxed a bit and Simba said, "Oh. I guess even kings get scared, huh?"

Mufasa nodded, then I said, "Hey, you know what?"

Mufasa looked at me and asked, "What?"

I looked over my shoulder and said with a smile, "I bet those hyenas were so scared that they nearly peed themselves when I gave that roar." Mufasa chuckles and smirks, "'Cause nobody messes with you or your dad! C'mere, you!" He pulls me in and begins to tickle my sides, making me laugh and squeal, "Quit it, Daddy! Cut it out!"

Mufasa laughs as he tickles my stomach more, "Cut it out? Where, right here? Or here?" I squealed with laughter as Mufasa began to playfully nibble me on my neck and onto my stomach with playful growls. Simba laughed and said, "I'll save you, Vivi! Nobody messes with my sister!" He pounced towards Mufasa, but gets pulled in for a noogie. Once Simba managed to free himself, we began to run after Mufasa as we laughed.

I manage to tackle Mufasa to the ground and Simba gets on his head as he playfully bites his father's ear. We laughed as our spirits came up, then we looked at each other. I looked at Mufasa and said, "I love you, Daddy." Mufasa licked my cheek and said, "I love you too, Victoria. Both you and Simba."

Simba asks, "Dad, we're pals, right?

Mufasa rolled his eyes to look at Simba and smiled, "Right."

Simba asks with a smile, "And we'll always be together, right?"

Mufasa gets up a little as Simba is on his father's back, then Mufasa says, "Simba, let me tell you and Victoria something that my father told me. Look at the stars, the Great Kings of the Past look down on us from those stars. So whenever you feel alone, just remember that those kings will be there to guide you...and so will I."

When we look at the stars, Simba asks, "Victoria, how did the hyenas know you? Why were they saying that you were human?"

I looked at Simba and sighed, "Well, it's a very long story. I'm only going to say this once, but try to bear with me."

Simba nods, "Okay."

I began, "I really was a human. I have a family back in a place called America, which is very far away from here. I came here to Africa for a trip and explored a bit. I was looking at some of the animals and hid for cover as the lionesses came for hunting because I was scared about becoming prey. I kept myself hidden, but the three hyenas we met at the elephant graveyard tried to kill me. I managed to spray them with some pepper spray to distract them and run off, but they kept gaining on me. I didn't look where I was going and fell down a hill, then I smacked my head hard and the last thing I saw were the hyenas at the top of the hill. When I woke up, I was turned into a leopard and became a part of the pride."

Simba looked at me as he understood and sadly asked, "So you're not really my sister or even royalty?"

I looked at Simba and said, "No, Simba. I'm not related to you by blood, but you are a brother to me in my heart. Your dad and mom are like my parents. No matter what, I'll always love you and care for you like you're my own little brother." I nuzzled Simba and kissed his cheek, then looked to see him smiling at me. Mufasa got up and said to me, "Human or not, Sarabi and I will always love you as if you're our daughter. And no matter what anyone says, you are and always will be my little princess."

We headed back towards Pride Rock safely and turned in for the night. I looked to see Simba sleeping next to his father and I laid myself down next to them when I began to fall asleep.