AN: Shade is back once again, my friends! Hopefully, you didn't miss me too much… I love you all 3

Chapter 4: Run under the Night

Nala awoke to the terrible events of the day before, one of her friends was missing and it was mostly her own fault. The cold of the den kept her from forgetting about the possibility that she had died. She couldn't help a few tears escaping her eyes. As she opened them, something blurred her vision; Golden Fur. She smiled to herself as she lift her body up. She started looking around for Aida, she could have returned during the night, but as she examined the lionesses, none of them seemed to be her friend.

She walked to the entrance of the den, making sure not to wake anyone in the process. Surprisingly, she noticed that it had rained. There were numerous puddles on the rocky surface, while the Savannah seemed drenched. It was rare for it to rain in the Pridelands, it had only happened a few times in the past year. Now, the sun was in view in the sky and the rain clouds had faded away. Nala only dared hope that her friend was alright; something inside her was imposing a distressed feeling, as if she was the one needing help.

Mufasa would probably call for a Pride Meeting soon; he was doing his morning rounds right now. Surely he was looking harder for Aida, but if he came in empty handed that would mostly certainly mean that she had been taken to the Outlands and that the King could not do anything about it since he needed to remain in the Pridelands to assure peace.

"I did not find her, Nala" She heard her father say from behind her. Sadness filled her mind and she let out a few quick tears.

"Who could have done this, Father?" Nala said and sobbed.

"I ignore it Nala, I will call for a Pride Meeting as soon as everyone wakes up" Mufasa said, trying to reassure his daughter.

Nala sobbed again, and entered the den, leaving her father to his thoughts outside. She noticed that there were a lot more Lions that were starting to get up. Perhaps they had heard their conversation and were getting ready for the meeting. Simba too was awake, even though he was resting his head on his paws, Nala could clearly see that his eyes were open.

She laid next to him, and was greeted with a warm smile. She smiled back before he asked "So what did the King say?"

"He will be calling a meeting soon enough…" She responded, resting her head on her paws.

"Don't worry Nala" He said before putting his head on hers.

"I just wish I had not left her alone" the princess said with guilt.

"Then you would have disappeared with her" He said, and started staring at her, straight in the eyes "You can't blame yourself for this Nala"

"But it's my fault…" She started, but was soon interrupted.

"No it's not, if there's someone to blame, it would be me" Simba commenced, and continued due to Nala's confused look "If I had not been sleeping, I surely could have prevented this from happening"

"Oh Simba, you're just saying anything you can think of" She said, with some sad giggles.

He simply kept starring at her; he had been trying to comfort her, to no avail. Seeing Nala like this saddened him greatly. Simba went ahead and nuzzled her, doing everything he could think of to possibly make her feel better.

"I'm sure your father will think of something" He said, in another attempt at comforting her.

Both remained at their current location for a while, Simba's head on Nala's as he kept trying to comfort her. She seemed quite shaken from these last events, more than Simba ever thought possible. It was still too early for everyone to be up, but both had doubts that Mufasa would not wait any longer, as there might be a life on the line.

As quickly as he had left, the King was back in the Den and ordered a few lionesses to gently wake the cubs, as most adults had awaken already.

Everyone had soon gathered around the King, Simba was in the back of the Half Circle as he did not feel like pushing people around for a better spot. Nala on her side, was needed in the frontline of the circle, in case she needed to explain a certain detail of the story. Although, Simba doubted that she was not in any condition to explain anything whatsoever.

"I have gathered everyone here today because we have a missing lionesse" Mufasa started "Aida". There were some gasps at the last statement.

"She has disappeared yesterday when…" He recited the entire story to the Pride, some of them were surprised, and others weren't.

"Now, I suspect that whoever has taken Aida, to have fled to the Outlands" Some lions lowered their heads, as if all hope was lost and that she could not be saved, after all, no pure Pridelanders could survive the Outlands.

"I may not leave the Kingdom for I need to protect it" Mufasa continued "And I may not force anyone to risk their lives" He finished, which was followed by a wave of gasps and curses.

"I may only ask for volunteers… Would anyone be willing to go?" The King asked.

There was an awkward silence until the Princess spoke "I will go father, it is my fault" Nala said.

Mufasa was staring at her either angrily, or with disbelief. Another silence followed, but this time, it was much shorter as a Male lion spoke up with great determination "No Nala" was his statement. The crowd split apart to show Simba on the other edge of the circle. He walked to the middle of the circle, gave Nala a look that seemed to mean "I'm sorry" but turned to face Mufasa.

"I will go, Your Majesty. I know the Outlands better than anyone else, and I can fight" Simba started.

Nala stared at him in disbelief "Simba! I'm coming with you" She said.

"No, you aren't Nala. I'm sorry but the outlands are in no way a safe place" He said with a begging look. Her coming with him would most likely slow him down, and lower his chances of finding Aida.

"Nala" Mufasa started "Simba is right; he is by far the best choice if we are to save her"

"But why may I not accompany him, father? Surely I could be helpful" Came as a quick response.

"You are the princess, I cannot allow you to get hurt for me" Simba said quietly. Nala was starting to grow angry, he could feel it. She turned away and left the den. Truth is, Simba only said that she was the princess for it to seem a valuable argument to the rest of the Pride.

"I'm sure she'll come around" Mufasa said "You depart tomorrow morning"

Simba nodded and watched as Nala left the den.

TLKTLKTLKTLKTLK

Simba ran as fast as he could, he had not expected Nala to run so far away from him. She was not the fastest runner in the world, while Simba was incredibly quick for his age. She eventually gave in and sat straight, her back to him. He looked around and could not exactly determine where they were. Trees, plenty of them, which was quite rare for the Savannah. He assumed that she had led them to the jungle.

"Nala…" Simba started, but was quickly interrupted by an angry lioness.

"How could you Simba? You know I could not stand to see you getting hurt for me.." She said and looked down.

"This is something I must do. You know as well as I do that I am the only one with Outland experience besides Mufasa" He answered with a comprehensive expression.

"But Simba… What if… What if you get hurt over there? No one could help you." She said sadly.

Simba started distinguishing tears running down her cheeks "You should not worry about me so much Nala. It would not be my first time on the road; I've been through tough times before."

"I could not bear to see you hurt… Or… Or… Dead…" She said letting loose on her tears that started flowing down her cheeks like a waterfall.

Simba let out a sigh. He did not understand why she was making a fuss out of all of this. He would not get hurt or die. Sure there might be a few fights, but he was used to it and a great warrior, he had lived that way his whole life. His only concern right now was that she did not follow him into the outlands while his back was turned "Nala promise me this; whatever you do, you won't follow me into the Outlands" He asked.

"I… I…" She did not know what to answer as she had planned to do this without her father's consent, but now that Simba brought it up, it made her uneasy.

Her being hesitant to give an answer made him understand. He looked deep into the deep blue eyes of Nala's and let out another sigh. "Nala, if you can't promise me then I'll be honest with you now… If you come along, it might just slow me down. Plus, if you get hurt, I won't be able to carry both you and Aida back to the Pridelands… That would make things more complicated than they should be" he said, turned around and started walking back to Priderock, leaving her to ponder on his last words.

By now, Nala had stopped crying and started thinking about what Simba had said. He may be right, but it won't stop me from following him… I love him.

AN: Okay so, this was a leftover file from when I last wrote. I have a 4 day weekend so hopefully, I get to write a lot more and maybe post some GoG also.