Art by Julis-Rocks

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-CW: Mentions of death in childbirth, starvation. Discretion is advised-

A sharp huff exited from Nala’s mouth as she rolled over onto her back after practically falling onto her side. The zebra they’d been eating not a few minutes earlier was nothing but a pile of bones now. Both she and her new hyena friend had taken their time, and finally finished all of it. As usual, both of them were quite full. Zoww especially, who was actually showing a bit of bloating around his already plump midriff. He had just gotten down next to the queen, looking up at the darkening sky above them. Now they could finally rest and digest that zebra together.

“Well then…didn’t that hit the spot? Because that hit plenty of my spots!” Zoww would smirk as he lifted his paw up to his teeth. Using a claw, he began to pick his teeth of any small fragments of meat that didn’t go down.

The joke made Nala shake with a short, but genuine bout of laughter. After her eyes rolled at the silly joke, she turned her head slightly towards the hyena.

“I don’t have spots to be hit, but the feeling is mutual. Uurph!” Her paw pressed against the front of her muzzle hurriedly to stop herself from outwardly belching. Her cheeks warmed up in embarrassment as a sheepish smile spread across her black lips. “Sorry…I think we may have overdone it.”

Zoww merely snorted back a laugh. Seeing a seemingly regal and proper mannered queen have such an unbecoming moment struck the hyena as amusing, especially her apology afterwards.

“Hey, don’t worry about it. We just had like over fifty pounds of raw zebra each. Some of that’s gonna come back up. You can excuse yourself if it helps you through it.” He smiled, giving his own dome of a belly a couple pats.

At this, Nala simply shrugged and smiled.

“If you insist. But be warned. They’ll be hearing me all the way back at Pride Rock.” She then regarded him further.” That said, you are quite polite for a hyena. Speaking only about my experiences.”

Zoww shifted a little as he explained himself. “Eh! I got it from my dad. Unlike the other hyenas, he spent most of his life away from the clan. He was kind of a nomad. Then he met my mom and she had me…then she and my dad got separated.” His mood seemed to shift after he said this.

“Oh, I’m sorry things didn’t work out..” Nala chimed in.

“No, no. I mean physically they got separated. My parents had a great relationship. Mom was just…taken. Like I was.” Zoww shuddered a bit, remembering his time with humanity. “I was just lucky to have been brought back. My mom…well, I don’t remember her at all. I hope she’s okay though…I’d love to meet her. She’s all I have now, family-wise..”

Nala’s face was stricken with remorse. Losing a family member was never easy. She had assumed that Zoww’s father wasn’t a part of his life anymore, but now she finally had confirmation.

“That’s terrible…I assume your father isn’t with us anymore?…” Nala deigned to ask.

Zoww took a deep breath and winced, readying himself for reliving those dark and terrible times while Scar was at the height of his power.

“Yeah…he didn’t live to see Scar’s downfall. A few months before you left…he just kinda stopped eating. Not even the bones. I did my best to encourage him but…he just smiled and told me that he was proud of me, and that he was sorry for getting us involved with Shenzi. You see, we didn’t know about Scar’s plan to kill Mufasa until it was far too late. I was just a pup still. I was none the wiser…but I guess my dad didn’t do anything or leave with me because he thought what Shenzi offered us was worth aiding a tyrant. Still…it broke my heart to find him one morning and not be able to wake him up…” He paused briefly, collecting himself. “Ed was there for me, oddly enough. He and a couple others helped me bury him at the top of a hill that overlooked Pride Rock. I just wonder if I could have done more. If I could have saved my father..”

As Zoww sighed and looked up towards the multicolored sky, Nala looked towards the hyena with eyes full of emotion. She wasn’t going to let her friend feel alone at this moment, for she knew how he felt.

“I ask myself the same thing…quite often actually.” Nala began on her own experience. “You might already be aware of this one. It must have reached your ears just before Simba returned. There was a young lioness who was my age. Her name was Kula.” She briefly smiled in reminiscence. “Had you two met under different circumstances…you’d have been great friends I’m sure. But, she didn’t make it through Scar’s rule either. She was one of the few lionesses who had volunteered to provide Scar with an heir after he disapproved of Zira’s son. To gain favor with him for her own security. I thought her crazy for the longest time. I was angry too. Of course, she ended up becoming pregnant with a rather big litter…and by then, the herds were entirely gone. She spent the next three months growing and starving, struggling to keep herself and her cubs going. I’ll never forget how scared she was those last few days before I left to go find help. Like she’d lost all hope for herself.” Nala then paused, taking a breath as she continued onto a harder part of her retelling. “The birth…killed her, and the cubs weren’t even alive. Just a day before Simba and I came back was when she went into labor. I only found out after our victory. My mother and Tama pulled me aside…I was inconsolable for the rest of the night. Kula and I were extremely close. She and Tama were all I could lean on when I thought Simba was gone forever…and find out she died in childbirth to cubs in certain she didn’t want…that hardened huntress I was known to be just broke for a couple days.”

Nala took another soft breath and rose her paw, wiping one of her eyes. She was determined not to cry. Not in front of Zoww. Not while she was this far along. She had to be strong. But regardless, she let her emotions out with her words. Her expression hardened slightly as she continued.

“Scar should consider himself lucky that it was you who got to him before I had gotten that news…I’d have torn him apart personally…but more than that, I wanted to tear myself apart for not doing more to help. I keep kicking myself for not taking Kula with me…but at the time, I didn’t know how to get us both out without getting caught. She was as big as a rhino and as clumsy as one. But…now she’s gone…and I can only hope she’s not mad at me up there..” The Queen’s gaze turned towards the stars, a small tear finally falling down from the corner of her eye.

“She’s not mad at you. I knew her for years, just like you, Nala.” Zoww immediately piped up with a sad smile on his face. “Before everything went to hell, she was easily the most upbeat of you big cats. I can’t imagine her holding a grudge against you beyond the grave because you weren’t able to save her from something that wasn’t really in you or her own control. Heck, I’m willing to bet she’s looking down at you wanting to slap some sense into you.”

“Hahahaha!” Nala closed her eyes and let herself laugh out loud. “She would! She really would..”

Nala then sighed once again and turned her gaze down to the rising and falling hill of her belly. “Thst said, I still have a lot of worries because of what happened, and what’s happening to me. The cubs, I mean. I just worry that I’ll meet the same fate as Kula. That I’d be leaving behind a grieving family and cubs that won’t have their true mother to help raise them…”

“You’ll be fine. Kula didn’t make it because of complications and not eating enough to sustain even having those cubs. You and I just gobbled up a whole zebra carcass over this afternoon, I think you have at least one complication to not worry about.” Zoww reached over with his paw, gently tapping Nala on the arm with encouragement.

The lioness looked back to Zoww and smiled, looking like she just had a lot of weight taken off of her chest. “Thank you Zoww, that means a lot to me. I really needed this talk…you’re a good animal to have around. Your father may have chosen the wrong clan to bring you into…but he raised a fine hyena…one I’d be happy to have living here with the rest of us.”

“You…you mean that? Do I get to stay?” Zoww asked. His tail began to wag.

Nala nodded her head. “I’d be shocked if Simba said no after I tell him everything you’ve done. Just you saving me would earn you that…but you’re so surprising, I almost forgot about how we met this morning.” With that, Nala huffed and rolled to her paws and stretched her back, which caused her joints to pop. “It’s getting late. I really must head home or Simba will be worried sick…but we’ll meet again, soon.”

“Those cubs better wait a few more days then.” Zoww chortled as he sat up and watched as Nala began to walk slowly down the hill.

The queen turned her head back one last time, the sun finally setting fully.

“Then you better be good at improvising, because if they decide to come at an inopportune time, you’ll just have to be my midwife.”

On that final note, leaving Zoww with that final assurance, Nala began her arduous trek back home, ready to tell Simba about the wonderful day she just had.

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Whoo! I think that might be the longest chapter yet. Maybe. I’m not sure. Either way, that concludes Nala and Zoww’s first time hanging out together, but that isn’t the end of this tale. I really hope you all are enjoying it so far. I’ve done my best to have Nala stay true to who she is in the movies. I was even reading interviews with Moira Kelly herself just so I can make sure I’m getting her down as best as I can. I hope you all like Zoww as well. Thanks again for Julis-Rocks. This story would still be an idea in my head without their art to help me visualize and give context. Till next time, and Happy Mayternity!