"I'm glad to hear that," Scar said purringly. "You may really be dedicated enough to get truly fat."

"That won't matter if you don't have anything to feed me," Nala retorted. It had been uncomfortable enough when he'd put her on the spot a moment ago. He didn't need to compound the unpleasantness by talking about stupid hypothetical situations.

"Well, we'll just have to redouble our efforts, I suppose. Will you be all right by yourself here if we go off hunting?"

Nala wanted to say that she was afraid she would starve, but she desperately needed more food. If that meant she had to wait here while Scar and the hyenas killed something...she'd have to be okay with that.

"Of course I am. Get going!" she snapped. Scar was still smiling at her, which seemed incongruous, given what a brat she knew she was being. But he didn't say anything else, just turned and left the den, leaving Nala alone.

The next few hours were torture. The hyenas were good hunters, and she was convinced that they'd come back with something. At the same time, she wasn't used to going so long without eating, and her gut let her know that it wasn't happy about not being constantly filled. She felt terrible, but there was nothing she could do about it. There wasn't even anybody around for her to yell at about how they should be feeding her.

This was all Mufasa's fault. The hyenas weren't bad people; there was no reason to bar them from hunting in the same places that lions could hunt. In her hunger and anger, Nala felt that the king had made that rule specifically to make her life worse. Just like her parents and their stupid rules about how much she could eat! Scar was right: all the other lions were exactly the same.

Nala's ruminations were cut short by Scar's return. To the young lioness' delight, the hyenas behind him were bringing in four wildebeest carcasses. The bodies looked strange, almost like they had been squashed to death, but Nala wasn't in a position to be picky. They were food, and that was all she cared about.

"Dig in, my dear," Scar said as the hyenas piled the carcasses in front of her. "There's plenty more where that came from." Nala was awash in gratitude for the dark-furred lion. He'd come through for her, despite all the challenges involved in getting so much food.

She tore into the first wildebeest. It was softer than she was used to her meat being, but that made it easier to swallow, so she certainly wasn't complaining. There must have been nearly a ton of meat there, more than Nala had eaten at one time since coming back to Scar, but she was usually kept totally full. Today, she hadn't eaten in hours, so she had more room to spare in her stomach. The young lioness moaned orgiastically as she ate. She could feel her stomach getting bigger than it had ever been before, immobilizing her by lifting her thick legs off the ground. She was still a young cub, but she was so bloated and monstrously obese that she was nearly half as tall as Scar, and probably at least as heavy.

Usually, such a big meal would leave Nala nearly comatose, but something--the stress of the day, perhaps--kept her wits clear this time. She didn't feel sleepy at all. Heck, she didn't even feel full.

"You said you had more food," she said. "Bring it here."

Scar smiled. "As you wish, my dear. But we could only carry this many animals at a time, so we'll have to go back to get more. I'm afraid that means that you'll have to stay here by yourself again."

"That's fine," Nala said. If there was more food already killed, she wouldn't have to wait for them to hunt.

"Oh, and one more thing, Nala," Scar said, turning around just as he was about to leave the cave. Nala wanted to scream at him to go get her food and stop dawdling.

"Yes?" she said instead, still sounding very impatient.

"If you see Simba, please tell me when I get back. I'm worried about the poor boy." Nala couldn't work up the energy to care about what had happened to make Scar worry about his nephew. She just wanted him to go bring back more wildebeest or whatever.

"I will," she said. With that, Scar bounded away, the hyenas following behind him.