War of the Colossal Beasts
     By Samuel Simpson
     
     Nuka's eyes sprang open.  "Surprise!"  The weirdly
scrawny lion snickered.  He could hardly wait to see the
look on mother's face.  Sure, she'd probably cuff him good
for playing dead and giving them such a scare, but at least
she'd finally noticed him.
     But there were no astonished shouts, no angry words,
just... nothing.  Nuka squirmed under the heavy log pile,
pathetically trying to worm his way free.  "Um, hello?"  He
shoved with all his not very considerable might, and only
managed to lift his head enough to see that the river valley
was deserted.
     His face fell.  "Zira?  Vitani!?  Come on, lemme out!
This isn't funny any more!  Please?!"
     More silence.  Nuka snarled and struggled furiously,
but that only made the logs shift and settle, leaving him
even more thoroughly trapped.  "Stupid mother..." he whined.
"Stupid sister.  Stupid pride.  If I was Kovu she wouldn't
leave me to rot.  If I was her oh-so-precious chosen one..."
     Things went on pretty much like that the whole day.
     And all night long.
     Nuka was much quieter by the next morning... but only
because he'd gotten too hoarse to complain.  He'd never been
so miserable in his life.  All things considered, he wasn't
a bit surprised when the flash flood came and washed him
right down the river, fallen logs and all.
     
     
     By the time the bruised, sore lion managed to find his
way back to the Pride Lands, days had passed.  The closest
he'd gotten to catching a meal in all that time had been
when a pack of hyenas spotted him climbing out of the river,
totally soaked.  One look, and they'd nearly laughed
themselves to death.  Three failed stalks and one
particularly harrowing run-in with an elephant later, he was
hungry enough to eat almost anything.
     Even a gnarled old monkey with a stick.
     Old Rafiki, as it happened, was ambling along out by
the recently burned east field, spreading blue powder from a
leather sack over the new green growth in the ashes.  Nuka
didn't have a clue what the shaman was up to, and frankly he
didn't care.  "Old coot's probably deaf as a rock!" he
purred, grinning nastily.  "Munchy crunchy monkey, munchy
crunchy monkey!  Heh heh..."  Nuka crept closer and closer,
ready to pounce.
     Suddenly, food was the last thing on his mind.
     The plants around Rafiki were bigger.  Much bigger.
     Nuka blinked, sure he'd finally been out in the sun too
long.  He frantically rubbed his eyes with his forepaws and
looked again.
     Not only did the plants still look big, they'd grown
even more.  Grass and wheat, taller the old baboon's head.
Huge blossoms.  Fruits as large as a boulder!
     Old Rafiki capered about, laughing with delight.  "Now,
the herds will return in numbers greater than ever before.
Simba's pride will lack for nothing!"
     The instant the smug baboon had gone on his way, Nuka
leapt from hiding, still unable to believe his eyes.  "Man
oh man...  would you just look at all this food?"  The lion
padded into the midst of the greenery, weeping with
frustration.  "And here I am, a stinking carnivore!  Dang
it, it's not fair!"
     He sat and scowled, scratching at his flank and trying
to think.  Then his face lit up.  "Hey...  I bet they've
taken over Pride Rock by now.  When I tell mom about this,
I'll get all the food a lion could ever want, heh heh..."
     
     
     "You did a pretty good job today," rumbled Simba, as
Vitani left the main cavern of Pride Rock with slow weary
steps.
     "Yeah, whatever," grumbled Vitani.  She stopped,
frowning oddly, then slowly turned her head to scowl at the
adorable little cub chewing on her tail.  "Off, you little
rugrat!" she hissed, giving it a push.  Instead, it rubbed
up against her paw, purring it's little heart out.  "Oh
no..." pleaded Vitani, "I'm not your mommy.  Cut it out!"
The cub mewed sweetly.  "Please?  Aw, crud."
     Simba laughed warmly.  "See?  You do have a way with
cubs."
     Vitani sighed, rolling her eyes.  "You don't have to
rub it in."
     The young king just smiled.  "Go on, Vitani, you're off
duty now, but don't forget to report for hunting party duty
at sunset."
     "I know...'
     "And border patrol at dawn..."
     "And cubsitting again at noon.  I got it already, can I
go now?"
     Vitani waited for Simba's nod, then took off at once,
wishing to be far away before he thought of anything else
that needed doing.  "Sheesh.  Maybe mother was insane, but
at least you could respect her!"  The trail leading out to
the waterhole was empty, so she padded that way.  "Why
should Simba get to push us all around, just because he's a
big handsome male.  What's so special about that?  I mean,
so what if he's got all those muscles...  and a smile to
charm the stink right off a warthog, and..."
     The former Outsider trailed off abruptly, shuddering.
"Okay...  Take it easy girl.  He's the first really good
looking lion you ever met, and he's screwed around with your
head a little, that's all.  You are not, no way, gonna fall
in love with..."
     Right out of the blue, Nuka wandered out from behind
some rocks.  "Oh, hi there!  Wait'll you see..."
     Vitani shrieked, clapping a paw over her eyes.  "Gods
have mercy, not that!  Anything but that!"
     "What?"  Nuka looked left and right, blinking.
"Anything but what?"
     Vitani sighed through clenched teeth.  "Never mind.
Nuka, brother dear, aren't you supposed to be dead?"
     "Oh, that?  I got better."  He sniffed haughtily.  "No
thanks to you."
     Vitani gave him a sharp-toothed grin.  "Can't blame a
girl for trying."
     Nuka matched her grin.  "Yeah, that's right, laugh it
up, cause what I'm about to tell you will wipe that stinking
grin right off your face!"
     And for once in his life, Nuka was absolutely right.
     
     
     Not long after, Nuka and Vitani were concealed in the
shadows by Rafiki's tree, close as they could come without
breaking cover.
     Vitani scowled at the ancient baobab, her tail
twitching thoughtfully.  "So that's it, is it?"
     Nuka nodded excitedly, already rubbing his forepaws
together with greedy anticipation.  "It's an old leather
bag, with kind of a stain on the side and blue powder
inside.  Sure you can climb up there, sis?"
     Vitani laughed aloud.  "That?  Cub's play."  She
crouched, then sprinted for the tree base.
     "Hey, don't forget!" Nuka shouted after her.  "I get
some of the stuff too!  Fifty-fifty!"
     "Idiot," she hissed, as she leapt and began to climb.
"Why doesn't he just shout it for the whole Pride Lands to
hear?"  Even so, she soon began to enjoy herself.  The bark
was old and tough - nearly impossible to sink her claws
into.  Nuka couldn't have made this climb in a million
years, but for her it was just the sort of challenge she
loved.  It took every bit of wit and wiry strength she
possessed, but at last she hauled herself over the edge and
dropped into Rafiki's sanctuary.
     The peaceful simplicity of this place dismayed her for
a moment.  Clay bowls and wind chimes?  Where were the
traps, the dire warnings painted in blood?  She padded
boldly into the very heart of the place, half expecting some
dire magic to strike her down for daring to trespass, but
nothing happened.  Nothing at all...  "Some shaman," sneered
Vitani.  "This is way too easy."
     Best if she hurried, the lioness decided.  Rafiki might
be back any minute.
     Vitani cast about the cluttered space, planning how she
might most quickly and efficiently search, but again, there
was no need.  The item she wanted was quite literally under
her nose, right on the floor in plain sight!  Her ears
pricked up.  Quickly, she plucked at one of the drawstrings
with a claw, and sure enough, blue powder spilled out,
bright as the noonday sky.  All she had to do was take it.
     If she dared.
     The Outsider sighed.  "Who am I kidding?  It'd probably
turn me into something green and scaly, or a tree, or gods
know what.  If I had a lick of brains, I'd make Nuka taste
it first."
     But she'd seen the giant plants!  Those were real, at
least.
     All her life, Vitani had wished she were stronger.  All
the days of her cubhood, she'd dreamed of getting so big
some day that even the biggest and baddest of lions couldn't
push her around the way they'd pushed daddy around...  But
in the Outlands, there'd never been enough food to go
around.  She'd grown up tough but scrawny, her body never
able to reach its full potential.  If there was any chance
this magic dust could really transform her, any chance at
all...
     "This is for you, Scar," she whispered.  "Today your
little girl's going to make you proud!"  She licked the
powder, just the merest taste...
     Her eyes suddenly snapped open very wide.  "Oh yes...
Yes!!"
     
     
     Meanwhile, in the starry realms above, certain of the
Great Kings of the Past were becoming mightily alarmed.
     "It has begun," fretted one.  "Without our aid..."
     "We cannot interfere," spoke another, sternly.
     "Must we sit idly by," cried the first, "and watch one
lioness destroy the work of ages?"
     "Excuse me..." purred the voice of yet another spirit.
"What about... her?"
     The Great Kings regarded this idea with slowly dawning
awe.
     The first spirit, who had been known as Mufasa in his
mortal life, asked, "Why didn't we think of that?"
     The second scowled.  "Hush.  Sarabi, you may do this
one thing for them, but no more.  See to it."
     The newcomer smiled serenely as she turned to pad away.
"Of course..."
     "Blasted lionesses," muttered the other spirit.  "Next
thing you know, they'll want to call it the Great Kings and
Queens of the Past..."
     "I heard that!"
     Mufasa chuckled deeply.  "Told you so, father..."
     
     
     At the shady cistern behind Pride Rock, nearly the
whole pride lazed about here and there, both Pride Landers
and the newly integrated Outsiders.  Kiara slept peacefully,
snuggled up beside her new mate Kovu, utterly unaware of the
disaster brewing at Rafiki's tree.
     "Kiara..." sang a voice in her dreams, calling with
gentle motherly tones.
     The lioness moaned softly, squirming in her sleep.
     "Kiara child... it is time."
     Slowly, Kiara began to grow...
     

     "Oh yes..." purred Vitani, gasping for breath.  Her
muscles were growing thicker, her limbs longer, her paws
larger and broader.  She'd never felt so whole, so.. alive!
     "Mother would be so jealous," she crooned.  "I'm
stronger than she ever was, and I'm still getting bigger!"
She eyed the leather bag greedily.  "More!" she mewled,
ripping the bag apart in her haste to get at the stuff and
gulp it down, not caring how the dry powder made her throat
burn and her eyes water.  "I've got to have more!"
     
     
     Down on the ground, Nuka had taken to pacing angrily.
"Sheesh, what is taking her so long already?  If I wanted to
stand around all freaking day I could do that all by my
freaking self thank you very..."
     From high above came a crash of shattering pottery,
then a burst of wild feminine laughter that sent chills up
Nuka's spine.  Suddenly, Vitani burst from the treetop,
effortlessly leaping straight to the ground.
     Nuka's jaw dropped.  "V... Vitani?!"
     "Who else?" she purred.
     Never in his wildest dreams could Nuka have imagined a
sight at once so awesome and terrifying.  Vitani had more
than doubled in size, and she was still growing, larger and
stronger with each passing moment.
     Nuka swallowed hard.  The sly grin on her lovely face
was starting to scare the crap out of him, and clearly she
knew this and was enjoying every moment of it.  "I... uh, I
guess you kind of already had some," he stammered, fumbling
for something to say.  "You look good big, Vitani.  I mean,
it suits you.  Really."
     The expanding lioness laughed derisively.  "Why thank
you, brother dear."
     "Yeah...  But, um, I was just wondering, where's my
share?"
     Vitani sneered down at him.  "Nuka, you are so
pathetic.  Did you really expect me to waste any of this
wonderful magic on a worm like you?"
     A small strangled shriek escaped Nuka's muzzle.  "You
can't do that!"
     Vitani just burst into fresh giggles.  "I don't see why
not.  Who's going to stop me?"  She lunged, her huge
glistening fangs suddenly inches from Nuka's face.  "You?"
     Nuka backed slowly away from her, his tail quivering
with panic...  But as fast as Nuka retreated, Vitani filled
up the space between them simply by sitting in one place and
continuing to grow larger, which amused her to no end.
     "Stop that," Nuka shouted, unable to keep his voice
from shaking.  "Cut it out!"
     "Make me, little lion."  Just to rub it in, Vitani
stretched mightily, rising to her full height.  From the
pads of her sharp-clawed paws to the tufts of her ragged
ears, her enormous tawny form stood nearly as tall as
Rafiki's boabob tree, and she'd soon dwarf even that if she
kept growing.
     Nightmare visions filled Nuka's head.  How big would
Vitani chose to be, if there were nothing to stop her from
getting endlessly larger and larger?  Would she ever stop
growing!?  "I'll tell King Simba on you," he blurted out.
"I will, I mean it!"
     Vitani's face darkened like a thundercloud.  Very, very
slowly, she lifted one titanic paw from the ground and held
it posed directly over Nuka.  "Let's get one thing straight,
brother.  I'm in charge now.  Not Simba, not that turncoat
Kovu... me.  Got that?"
     Nuka screamed, wilting to the ground.  Each sleek
furred toe was bigger than his head, the whole paw more than
large enough to squash him in a single step.  "Okay... Okay!
You win, Vitani, no... mistress... no, Queen Vitani!  I'll
do whatever you say.  Promise!"
     The giant lioness blinked, utterly taken with this new
idea.  "Queen Vitani..."  She smiled wickedly.  "I like it!"
     
     
     King Simba was in the midst of his afternoon nap when
all the shouting begin.  Lioness ran to and fro.  Birds flew
every which way.  One of these spotted the king and made
straight for him.
     "Oh sire, it's awful!" squawked Zazu as he landed,
nervously shedding feathers all the way.  "It's a
catastrophe!  What will we do, what will we do!  Kiara..."
      "Kiara?!"  Simba sat up, immediately coming awake.
"Where is she?  What's happened?"
     "Well... perhaps it's best if you see for yourself..."
     
     
     As he pushed through the crowd surrounding the water
hole, Simba's first thought was one of relief.  Kiara was
here all right, and there didn't seem to be anything wrong
with her.  Why then, was practically every creature in the
Pride Lands gathered here, staring at her?
     Then his jaw dropped.
     Kiara was bigger.  Bigger than any of her pride
sisters... bigger than any lion or lioness Simba had ever
seen before...  By the Great Kings, even his father hadn't
been so large!
     Kiara shivered, still young and scared for all her
size.  "Daddy," she pleaded, "what's happening to me?!"
     But Simba didn't have the faintest idea what was going
on.  He just stood there, gaping in shock like everyone
else, as his lovely daughter continued to grow, literally
getting larger and larger right before their eyes until she
towered over the whole pride like a mother over her little
cubs.
     Kiara looked frantically from face to tiny face.
"Daddy, why am I so big?  Why can't I stop growing?"
     Of all the times for Nala to be away visiting her
family!  She'd been a giant lioness once before; she would
have known what to say to comfort her.  "Now, take it easy,"
Simba purred.  "It's going to be all right."
     "All right!?" shrieked Kiara, nearly deafening them.
"Look at me!  I'm huge!  I'm..."
     Kovu stepped in swiftly, rubbing up against Kiara's
ankles and purring to her.  "The biggest, most beautiful
lioness I've ever seen."
     "B.. but look at me!  I'm a monster.  For the gods'
sakes, Kovu, I'm bigger than an elephant and I'm still
growing."
     Kovu patted the ground with his paw.  "Come down here,
Kiara.  So I can tell you something."
     The giant lioness sat down obediently.  His poor girl
looked terrified, Simba thought, like she was worried to
death that she'd slip and fall over and crush someone.  In
fact, she proved far more graceful and agile than he
expected.
     "I love you, Kiara," said Kovu, his eyes warm and
gentle.  "No matter what happens, no matter how big or small
you are, I'll always love you, and I'll always be there for
you."
     "Oh Kovu..." whispered Kiara, her eyes brimming with
tears.  She leaned close and nuzzled him, and Kovu nuzzled
her in return, though he practically had to rub his whole
body against her cheek to do any good.
     Without warning, a thunderous boom shook the earth,
somewhere on the other side of Pride Rock, then another, and
another, louder and louder...  Kovu and Kiara were oblivious
to anything but each other for the moment, but Simba whirled
around and was aghast to see yet another huge creature
approaching Pride Rock, a living mountain of a lioness that
made even his overgrown daughter seem small by comparison.
     "Oh gods...  Vitani."  And judging by the trail of
destruction she'd made getting there, she hadn't come to
socialize.  "I'm going," Simba announced.  "Everyone else
stay here."
     "No, sire!" exclaimed Zazu.  "You'll be killed!"
     "I don't have any choice," said Simba grimly.  "Some of
the cubs are still down in the caverns.  I can't let Vitani
smash Pride Rock... even if I have to die trying."
     "No, daddy," came Kiara's booming voice from behind and
above him.  "You don't have to do this.  I'll stop Vitani."
     The thought of Vitani turning her cruel claws on his
beloved daughter made Simba's blood run cold.  "Absolutely
not.  It's too dangerous."
     But Simba's stern declaration only seemed to amuse her.
"What are you going to do, daddy?  Punish me?  Make me stay
in my cave?  I wouldn't fit, in case you haven't noticed."
     "You don't have the experience," insisted Simba.  "You
can barely hunt, much less fight!  Kiara... please.  You're
not ready for this."
     "You're wrong, daddy."  Kiara rose up tall and proud,
bigger than ever and still growing.  "I've never been more
ready for anything in my life."  She patted her father's
head with a giant forepaw, nearly giving him a heart attack,
and smiled sweetly.  "Just leave everything to me..."
     
     
     Vitani padded majestically across the Pride Lands, as
mighty and unstoppable as a monsoon storm.  Her massive paws
fell on entire trees and crushed them to tinder, as easily
as a normal lion might trample weeds and walk on, neither
noticing or caring.  When a kopje turned up in her path, she
simply kicked it aside, showering the savannah with dust and
gravel.  "Now that's power!" she purred, quickening her
pace.
     Far behind, Nuka gasped for breath and sprinted faster,
chasing after her.  Occasionally, he had to detour around
paw prints twice his own body length.  "It's not fair," he
whined.  "I should have been the one to grow, not her!"  At
least she wasn't growing any more.  That was one worry out
of the way, at least.
     But what was this?  Vitani was closing in on Pride
Rock, and standing in her path was...  Kiara?  "Aw crud,
there's two of them now?  Sheesh, what is it with all these
giant lionesses?"  Nuka laughed, not believing his eyes,
then laughed even harder.  "Heh...  This is going to be
cool!"
     
     
     Vitani herself was considerably less pleased.  She was
furious, in fact, beside herself with rage.  "How dare you!"
Simba's lionesses clapped their paws over their ears, so
awesomely loud was that terrible voice.  "You ruined
mother's plan, ruined everything..."
     "And I'll do it again if I have to," said Kiara,
defiantly.  "Either shrink yourself back down or leave this
place, Vitani.  I won't warn you again."
     Vitani cackled, baring her fangs.  "You won't warn me?
Oh no, princess.  If you want me gone you'll have to fight!"
With no more warning than that, Vitani lunged at her rival,
slashing furiously!
     The titanic lionesses battled back and forth, moving
with speed and grace that should have been impossible for
such massive creatures.  Their mighty paws pounded the earth
again and again as they dodged and circled, wreaking havoc
for miles around.  Gaping chasms opened, rivers spilled over
their banks and flooded the land...  The earth shook with
such violence that the upper third of Pride Rock shattered
and came crashing down, destroying the wondrous promontory
that generations of kings had stood upon.
     And worse, Kiara was clearly overmatched.
     "What's the matter, princess?" sneered Vitani, as she
slammed Kiara into the ground for third time.  "Daddy's
little girl never learned to fight like a real lioness?
Oooooh, Kovu must be so disappointed."
     Kiara growled and shoved Vitani away, struggling back
to her feet.  "You leave him out of this!"
     "Or you'll do what?" crowed Vitani.  "Face it princess,
you're history!  After I finish you, I'll stomp your daddy,
and that traitor Kovu, and when I'm done with that I'll...
Wait, what are you doing?!"  No...  Impossible!  This
couldn't be happening!
     Kiara was growing again.  Bigger, stronger...  Half
again as large as Vitani...  Twice as large...  three times
as large, and Kiara still wasn't stopping!
       For the first time since Vitani had become a giant,
she knew real fear.  "Grow..." she muttered to herself
urgently.  "Come on girl, grow!  Curse it!"  Nothing was
happening!  She hadn't grown a bit, and Kiara... Kiara...
Oh gods.
     Kiara wasn't merely huge any more, she was enormous
beyond belief.  Still, she continued to grow.  The beautiful
young lioness swelled so big and so tall that she blotted
out the sun and sky overhead, casting the land into a
freakish, unnatural twilight...  and even then she didn't
stop growing.  It wasn't long at all until she towered over
the giant Vitani as thoroughly as Vitani towered over normal
lionesses.
     Pride Rock seemed no more than a broken termite mound
at Kiara's feet.  Wisps of cloud played about her ankles.
     Suddenly, it was Vitani's turn to have a terrifyingly
huge paw looming over her head, ready to crush her in the
blink of an eye.  "SHRINK!" Kiara commanded her.
     "I don't even know if I can..." stammered Vitani.
     "SHRINK!!!" roared Kiara, in a voice heard three
kingdoms away.  Vitani discovered that she could indeed
shrink, and very quickly at that!  In less time than she
would have imagined possible, she was herself again, just a
average-sized weakling lioness.  She would have wept in
frustration, but Kiara wasn't through with her yet.
     Kiara crouched down, closer and closer.  "STAY HERE OR
LEAVE, VITANI.  BE WHATEVER SIZE YOU WANT, IT DOESN'T MATTER
TO ME...  BUT IF YOU EVER, EVER THREATEN MY FAMILY AGAIN..."
Kiara brought her paw down, and the impact was like the end
of the world.
     Vitani whimpered, then turned tail and ran.  It would
be a long, long time before anyone saw her in the Pride
Lands again.
     And that, as the shamans say, was that.
     
     
     Sometime the next day, somewhere far, far away, Nuka
finally caught up to Vitani.  She'd killed a wildebeest,
torn it nearly half to pieces in her anger.  Incredibly,
Nuka just padded on over and made himself at home, even
taking a few bites from the kill and gulping them down.
     "Well," he mumbled, through a mouthful of meat, "so
much for that plan, huh, Queen Vitani?  Doesn't look like
you're going to ruling much of anybody now."
     "Aren't you forgetting something, brother dear?" hissed
Vitani, clenching her claws.
     Nuka yawned theatrically, tearing off another piece of
meat.  "Oh?  What's that?"  He glanced back at his sister...
who suddenly grew to more than twice her natural size... and
he nearly choked.
     "Kiara doesn't want me hurting her family," purred
Vitani, thumping Nuka in the chest with a huge paw.  She
smiled cruelly.  "You're not.  You're my family."
     Nuka gulped.
     
     
     King Simba sighed, surveying the damage to his kingdom.
His pride was safe, none of the cubs had been harmed when
Pride Rock collapsed... but life here would never be the
same again.  Whether that was a good thing or not... well,
that remained to be seen.
     From atop the new, much changed Pride Rock, Simba could
see Kiara out in the fields, playing with her beloved Kovu.
Even as he watched,  she slowly shrank to barely the size of
a meerkat and began rubbing up against Kovu's ankles, much
to his obvious delight.  Simba couldn't help but smile.
     "Hi Simba," called a sweet familiar voice from behind
him.  "I heard there was a little excitement while I was
gone."
     Simba blinked, then grinned.  "Nala!"  He warmly
nuzzled his mate as she sat beside him, snuggling close.
     "There's one thing I still don't understand," admitted
Simba, after they'd lain outside a while, resting in the
cool evening air.  "Rafiki told me how Vitani got bigger,
but what happened to Kiara?"  Nala giggled and pawed at him.
"What?  What's so funny?"
     Nala smiled.  "Simba, do you remember the time when
that light from the sky made me a giant lioness?"
     Simba shivered.  The old scar over his eye was mostly
buried in his fur now, and the red had eventually grown back
into his grey mane, but still...  "Of course I remember,"
said Simba, his ears blushing.  "How could I forget a thing
like that?"
     "And do you remember what we did a little before that?
Down by the waterhole on that special night?"
     "Oh...  Oh!  You mean, that's when..."
     Nala nodded sweetly.  "That's when the gods gave us
Kiara, love."  The golden-furred lioness patted her belly
with a paw.  "She was right here, growing inside me when I
became a giant.  We just didn't know it then."
     Simba grinned.  "So... I guess she's always been kind
of special.  She sure took her time showing it."
     Nala rubbed up against her handsome lion.  "She picked
the right time, love."
     "Yeah..."  As one, their heads turned.  Kiara was
showing off again out there, growing up as tall as a
giraffe, apparently just so she could roll onto her back and
let Kovu play in her soft belly fur.
     "Jealous?" purred Nala in Simba's ear.
     Simba fidgeted.  "I... well, yeah!  I mean, who
wouldn't be?"
     Nala giggled again and pounced him, licking his face.
"And what makes you think I can't still grow like Kiara
does?"
     Simba blinked slowly.  "You mean, all these years, and
you never once..."
     Nala's special Look answered all his questions, taking
his breath away as only Nala could.  "Silly lion.  Didn't
you ever wonder why the hyenas all left in such a hurry two
years ago?"
     Poor Simba could only gape in wonder.  "Oh boy..."