depended on it. Simba didn't back down. His chest was bursting with the effort, but he burst into speed and came up behind her. He pounced and sank his claws deep into her back. She screamed in fright and pain, as he ripped and slashed without mercy. He did it again and again, he couldn't stop, all he could see were flashes of crimson so fast they blurred his eyesight. Suddenly Zira leapt and twisted her body, unhinging his deadly grip. He crashed to the ground. He could dimly make out Zira's heavilly wounded figure running into the horizon, a hazy blur across the sky.

Plop. Drip. Plop. 

It had started to rain.

Overcome with emotion, Simba closed his eyes.

And cried.