Chapter 1: Night Pleasures

"Dunno about you," Nala began wearily yet nonchalantly, "but nearly becoming plant fertilizer takes a lot out of a girl." She grunt as she climbed up towards a wide and sturdy branch with Simba right before her. "Though I'll give the Jungle this," she began as she looked out at the night sky, "it's actually really peaceful at night." Simba got onto the branch while she took her time to take in the full moon in all its beauty. "If it hadn't been for you, I wouldn't be seeing this view..."

Simba sighed deeply at this while Nala joined him on the branch, knowing what he needed to break to her. "If it hadn't been for me, you wouldn't have to endure this torment," he lamented while walking towards the near edge of the branch. His crush couldn't help but detect his dower tone of voice. "Try getting plenty of shut-eye tonight," the former prince ordered. "We'll need every bit to get you back to Pride Rock... somehow." His choice of words weren't lost on her.

"Me?" Nala asked with a visible look of unease in her eyes. "Aren't you... coming home?" She looked at Simba from behind, afraid of the inevitable answer. "Uncle Scar said it himself," he replied, hanging his head shamefully. "The whole kingdom will see me as the one who got my father, their king, killed." The lioness cub felt her heart sink upon hearing her best friend hold in his tears. "Accident or not, nobody will be able to see me as anything other than a murderer."

"So what?" Nala asked, trying to keep it together. "I'm just never going to see you again?" She could see Simba's shoulders tense up before going down in a sigh. "This exile is my burden to carry, my price to pay," he declared with an attempt at a firm tone of voice. "You only got caught up and nearly died twice because of it." The lioness cub heard her best friend paused to swallow in his all sorrow. "Because of me." She could make out the immense guilt he harbored.

"But..." Nala began, trying hard not to cry herself, "that's not fair..." Simba only laid his front upon the branch with his fore-paws cushioning his head. "It's about as fair as it's gonna get," he declared firmly yet wearily. "You won't last another day out here and we both know it." The former prince of the Pride Lands didn't dare look back at the teary-eye expression all over Nala's face. "Now go... to sleep so... we can prepare you... for home..." He yawned as both his eyes closed.

Simba kept telling himself mentally how this was for the best. He knew full well that Nala had a family waiting for her back at Pride Rock. Uncle Scar would likely vouch for her to so nobody would hassle her at the very least. However, the cub's slumber was slow going as a selfish desire to keep her clashed in his heart. Even if he was exiled, Simba had only just realized his true feelings for her. He couldn't help but replay Nala's previous words in his head. It truly was not fair...

"As you wish, your majesty," Nala despondently replied with bitterness mixing in with his sorrow. All she could do was sit on the far end of the branch and look at Simba from a distance, tearing up how the gap between them would be miles wider. The lioness cub knew that she had a family at home waiting for her to return safely but... imagining life without Simba was just wrong. His cute cocksure attitude. His bright smile. The way he'd stood between danger and herself.

Everything Nala loved would slip away. Just like the desert sand through her paws.

Nala shuffled around to her left in order to look away from Simba and hold back her sniffling cries, lest he wake him up. Tears formed in her eyes and soaked her furry face despite these best efforts. She was so caught up in her sadness that she never noticed the snake slithering down from the branch behind her. The brown scaled python hung his head from the branches above while moving it in closer to spy upon the lioness cub, smacking his lips in his growing delight.

Kaa glances over towards Simba and moved his head a touch closer in order to make sure the lion cub was sleeping. His smile grew when he heard the former prince beginning to snore and looked back at Nala. The rock python had just ended one of his worst hunts to date with a pair of wolves escaping his coils by sheer luck. This time, he wasn't about to let this slip by him. However, part of him had a soft spot for cubs. Tasty as they were, they deserved a decent send off.

"Ssssay now," Kaa hissed while slithering up to Nala, "what have we here?" The sniffling lioness cub looked up to her right and widened her eyes in surprise upon seeing the rock python so close to her, turning around to face him. Nala had yet to fully register the danger she was in and had been just startled by Kaa's size compared to the Savannah's snakes. The way he spoke and smiled seemed too dopey to take seriously, reminding her of a lazy bear she met once.

"Why, it'ssssss a lion cub," Kaa hissed in pretending to be in awe like he didn't know. He moved his face closer to Nala only for her to pull back in discomfort, enjoying how she squirmed. "An adorable little lion cub." Despite her tears, a very peeved expression appeared upon the lioness cub's face over being talked down to like she was still a little kitten. "Are you crying for your mommy's milk, kitty?" he laughed mockingly, knowing how prideful even the youngster could be.

"Oh, leave me alone!" Nala snapped back with a swipe of her right paw, just missing as Kaa pulled back with a snicker. Her previous sadness had given way to a simmering anger over some overgrown worm treating her like some helpless newborn. The lioness cub couldn't imagine taking such a willy character as any kind of threat even if she should've. She didn't even recall her mother's teaching a while back on the dangers of pythons, finding it boring compared to hunting.

It might've saved a life that night...

"My, you're quite the tempessssstuousssss tomboy for a female," Kaa hissed, smirking in endearment of Nala's apparent stubbornness. He had the most fun with the fussier kind of prey by far. "Got a problem with that, worm?" the lioness cub spat back, getting up on all fours. Zazu gave her enough grief not being "girly" enough so this just ticked her off. She had no way of knowing Kaa's true size and figured that knocking his head around would alleviate her frustrations.

"And ssssuch a ssssour face," Kaa cooed as if fathering her rebelious daughter, moving his head back in closer. "A pretty little kitty ssssshould try to sssssmile more." On that note, rings of color began to magically flood out from his pupils merely by his own will when he looked into Nala's eyes. First, yellow. Then, green. And blue. Yellow. Green. Blue. Yellow. Green. Blue. All in growing speed. "Don't be ssssso down in the mouth, ssssssweetie pie," the rock python teased.

Nala scowled at Kaa's chauvinistic remarks before seeing how the pulsating colors glowed from his eyes in the dark. First, a puzzled expression formed on her face over this supernatural phenomenon before her wariness morphed into a growing sense of wonderment. The colors... looked too beautiful to describe. In fact... Nala found herself moving her head closer towards Kaa and forgetting to be way mad at him. She could see that her vision was becoming colored as well.

"Yessss," Kaa hissed eagerly, "it feelssss a lot better, doessssn't it?" He loved the look on Nala's face when his colors were reflected within her eyes, her pupils shrinking before the rings came flooding out. So surprised and shocked yet... fascinated. "No need to mope or whine with thisssss kind of blisssss." The lioness cub's mouth hung open while her head moved in a circle, a part of her clearly trying to pull out from the gaze. The rock python adored this kind of stubbornness.

"Ssssssmile..."

Nala indeed was trying to look away from the mesmerizing glow of Kaa's eyes while her mouth hung agape on the verge of drooling. Part of her knew that something was dangerous about this supernatural snake with how his gaze imbued her with a sudden sense of bliss. The kind of happiness she knew only before the stampede. The lioness cub knew that she was sad earlier and only just now was too ticked off at the rock python's chauvinism. This wasn't... right.

"Give into me..."

Yet it felt too good for Nala to break eye contact, her head rocking about less and less. Even being aware of the threat, Kaa's eyes gave her a sense of bliss that seemed to wash over her soul and clean away the negativity. No longer was she crying or frustrated over Simba deserting her. In fact... the lioness cub started to wonder why she would deny her any of this peace. She just had to do was look into the snake's eyes. It meant no worries for the rest of her days.

"That'ssss a good girl..."

Kaa could feel Nala's mind torn in two, smirking in entertainment. One half tried to pull away and even begged for him to stop silently. The other half yearned to fully submit and relieve herself of all of her emotionally burdens. The rock python loved it when his prey never made it easy for him. Not that he wanted to lose but rather he was always curious about how long they could hold out. Of course, he knew that he couldn't hold back even for cubs as his tail slithered on down.

"I'm not like that fair-weathered friend over there," Kaa promised, lying as naturally as breathing. "I'd never dare leave you alone." With Nala siting down, his tail began to slither around her fore-paws and tailbone and coiled around her waist within mere seconds. "In fact, I'll keep you nicccce and sssssafe within my coilssss." He made sure to keep his grip firm yet fairly comfortable with his coils reaching the lioness cub's shoulders. "Ssssimba will never hurt you ever again."

Nala barely took note of the coils creeping around her when she felt Kaa's thrall overwhelming her with each word he hissed. "Mmmm... Si..." Her jaw opened and closed almost sluggishly in her attempt to form words, upon hearing Simba's name. "S..." However, the python's colorful gaze cultivated her desire to give into his promises of pleasure. "Sim..." The lioness cub knew that she was slipping fast but also that her best friend would rush over if she could call out for him.

"Simba-URK!"