Scar's Heirs

[Carl]

I've had another idea for a fanfic. This one's AU as opposed to a continuation of the story. I hope you all enjoy it.


There is now a comic adaptation of this fic in the works, see it here.
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Prologue

"Oh Simba, you must understand, the pressures of ruling a kingdom..."

"Are no longer yours. Step down, Scar."

"Of course I would, naturally, but you see them? They think I'm king."

"Well we don't! Simba's the rightful king."

"Step down, Scar, or fight."

His ambitions, his achievements, everything flashed before Scar's eyes. He'd come too far to let Simba ruin everything now. For a moment, he'd considered challenging the young prince, but he was too weak to destroy the more muscular lion, and he doubted he could rely on the hyenas to really have his back. Hatred boiling within him, Scar bowed before Simba.

"Of course. You are the rightful king, and oh how I'd hate to be responsible for the death of a family member. Wouldn't you agree, Simba?" he said in a low tone.

"I've put it behind me, Scar. There was nothing I could have done," replied the younger male.

"What is he talking about, Simba?" Nala asked.

"Ooh, you didn't tell them?" Scar asked rising.

"It was an accident. The stampede killed my father, there was nothing I could do," Simba said, "Now get rid of your hyenas."

Somehow, he managed to get all of them to follow him back out of the Pridelands. However, he felt like striking the hyenas as they all complained loudly back at the Elephant Graveyard. As if it was his fault they were so worthless.

"This is only temporary!" Scar snapped at them, "I'll get rid of that king for good this time. Just like I got rid of his father..."

"Scar," Zira's voice cut into his reverie, snapping Scar back to the present. He frowned. How could he have handled that differently so that he could have remained king? What could he do now to get the throne back?

"What is it?" he asked boredly, his mind still working over this king business.

"You still haven't come to see my new cubs, and Simba's going to present his heirs today. I was hoping you'd come around and see mine first..." she mumbled.

Scar flicked his tail a little. What did he care about Zira's cubs? It wasn't as if they were his, she'd mated some rogue, yet again, and she'd probably had more scraggly runts like Nuka. As far as he was concerned, they were just more worthless cubs to get on his nerves, just like Simba's cubs no doubt would. He opened his mouth to tell Zira that he had no time for cubs, but he stopped as an idea struck him. If he was kind to her cubs, if they weren't as pathetic as Nuka, he might be able to use them to his advantage. He might be able to get them on his side, and manipulate them into helping him retake the throne.

"Alright," he said instead, "Show them to me." He rose on his paws as the lioness's maw split in a toothy grin of pure delight.

"You won't be disappointed like you were with Nuka. They're healthier than he was, they'll make fine heirs for you Scar."

"Heirs to what? I no longer have the throne, and those cubs aren't mine."

"This is only temporary, Scar. You'll have your throne again one day. Actually I was hoping if you like what you see in my cubs, we might leave and start our own pride. We could find better lands, and you could be the undisputed king," she said as she turned and started walking back towards the den where her cubs were lying and from whence she came. Scar followed her silently. He'd never settle for leaving. The Pridelands were his birthright and he would have them again one way or another. If her cubs were worthless, he'd just have to come up with another plan.

[cleargreenwater]

I actually really enjoyed this. Well written, nothing/no-one out of character, not a wildly different AU--crazy ones majorly detract from a fic IMO, I usually don't read AUs, I'm glad I gave this one a shot, though. It's not so much a "lets mess with this" AU, but a genuine "what if" scenario, and very believeable as written.

Hope you continue!

[Carl]

Why thank you for the lovely feedback. I hope to continue it for quite some time, actually. ^^ Still working some things out though.

[Carl]

Chapter 1

Nuka huffed as he watched the cubs playing. What was so special about them? Why did his mother like them more than she liked him? Why did Scar? They weren't anything unique at all. Both of Simba's cubs looked healthier than them, and they were so young and annoying. Of course, he didn't dislike any of the cubs, not really, but wasn't he better than them? He was older, stronger, smarter; he could actually be useful right now. He could hunt if it was necessary, he could do things. What good were those little cubs now? In a few years? Maybe they'd be able to prove themselves worthy of Zira's and Scar's attention. For the moment however, it was just frustrating that he was the one that had something to prove.

"Just look at 'em down there," he muttered aloud as he stared off Pride Rock at them. The four cubs were dashing to and fro, as if they didn't know where they were trying to go. Sometimes they'd tackle one another, but they didn't seem to quite understand anything...

Kopa grinned mischievously and cut his eyes in the direction of his sister. Kiara was the weakest of the four cubs, easily pinned by any of them if they wrestled. The other three were fairly equally matched, though Zira's cubs overcame Kopa more often than he bested them. It had been a while since Kiara had wrestled any of them, because she didn't like losing so often, but Kopa loved to see her lose. At the moment, she was sitting beside him, staring at a passing butterfly. Laying on the ground in front of them, Vitani was looking at her brother as he told her an uninteresting joke about a rhino with a skin condition.

Utterly bored, the young prince leaned over and bit down roughly on Vitani's tail. In an instant, he was upright again, turning a baffled and shocked look at Kiara, even as Vitani yelped and spun around to face them, a look of pure anger on her small face.

"Kiara what did you do that for?" he asked, doing his best to sound aghast.

"What?" she asked, looking away from the butterfly and back to the others, "I didn't do anything. It wasn't one of you? I was just watching that butterfly..."

"Yeah, a likely excuse," growled Vitani, tackling Kiara. Kopa grinned as his sister yelped and tried to wrestle off the stronger cub. Kovu chuckled.

"I won't say anything," he said to the prince, grinning himself.

A moment later, Vitani had Kiara pinned. The princess shrunk to the ground, as the rougher cub growled at her. After holding her down for a moment, a paw raised as if to strike her, Vitani backed down, letting the princess up.

"I think you've suffered enough," she said before trotting back over to the boys. Kiara rose uncertainly to her paws, and slunk back over to them as well. She still wasn't sure what she'd been blamed for doing, but she was certain her brother was to blame. However, considering as she'd already been roughed up for it and had no evidence that Kopa had done anything, she just decided to apologize for now, and pay more attention in the future.

"It won't happen again, Vitani," she said, shooting a sharp glance at her brother. The prince just smiled smugly at her, getting a smirk from Kovu as well. Kiara narrowed her eyes at the two of them. Why were the other cubs always so mean?

---

Like Nuka, Scar had spent much time watching the cubs. It pleased him that Vitani and Kovu were as powerful as they were, though Vitani was already looking slim, much like her mother. She was definitely the smallest cub, but she could hold her own against the others. Kovu was even more pleasing. He was equal to Simba's son in stature, he overpowered all of the other cubs more often than not, and he even somehow resembled Scar. A cub like him was certainly worthy of being called Scar's heir.

The only problem he could see was that Zira's cubs were too close with Simba's. If they continued to develop bonds with Simba's heirs, it might be difficult to turn them against him. He had tried to convince Shenzi and the hyenas to let his 'heirs' play with some of the hyena cubs, but the hyenas no longer trusted him after the incident that had cost him his kingdom. He supposed that was for the best, his kingdom would run smoother if he didn't have to feed them as well, but things could be trickier with getting Zira's cubs against Simba if their only friends were his heirs.

Not that he wouldn't be able to do it. He was very good at manipulation, and those cubs were rather fond of him as well. In fact, if he played his cards right, he might be able to manipulate Simba's own heirs through Zira's cubs and turn them against him as well. Regrettably, even if he were to succeed in such a feat, he would have to dispose of Kopa thereafter. It was the only way he would be the next in line. It was so tempting to do away with the little runt now, but being as his only supporters were Zira and that wretch, Nuka, it would do him no good to be so hasty. He needed to be patient, and then everything would fall into place in due time.

Scar strode out of the den, being met on his exit, much to his annoyance, by his nephew the king. Simba was followed by his mate and their young, all four of them looking rather pleased. Anger swelled within him. 'Go on and gloat, Your Majesty,' Scar thought, 'but I shall have my throne again in time.'

"Ah, Simba," he said, putting on a smile, "It's a nice day, isn't it? I trust your cubs are doing fine? We wouldn't want anything to happen to this little prince, now would we?" He emphasized his point by leaning down near Kopa.

"Of course not," Simba said, narrowing his eyes a bit at Scar, "They're both fine, and we'll make sure they stay that way." He didn't trust the way his uncle was acting towards his son, and he wondered if he had made the right choice by allowing Scar to remain in the Pride Lands. Little Kopa however, was oblivious to any threat Scar might have posed, and just laughed.

"You're so weird, Great-Uncle Scar, of course we're doing okay."

"That is most pleasing to hear. Do take care," Scar said monotonously, stepping past the king and his family. He wanted to test the mettle of his two 'heirs.'

[Regulus]

I'm probably stating the obvious here, but I think this first chapter should have been a bit longer. There's a lot of potential here for a good subplot, at the very least. If two cubs were capable of causing enough mischief to end up in an elephant graveyard, the possibilities seem nearly infinite with four.

[Kopalover]

I like this story so far, even if it's still in the roots. I see it having a very strong plot line, heck, it already does. And I like the fact that Scar is still alive and causing mischief. Keep it up

[Carl]

[quote="Regulus"]I'm probably stating the obvious here, but I think this first chapter should have been a bit longer. There's a lot of potential here for a good subplot, at the very least. If two cubs were capable of causing enough mischief to end up in an elephant graveyard, the possibilities seem nearly infinite with four. [/quote]
Yeah, a longer first chapter would be beneficial. For the moment, though I'm just trying to make sure I have all the ideas mostly figured out before posting much so I won't have to edit later. So that's why it isn't longer. But, the story itself should be fairly long, so I hope to make up for it with that. At the moment I'm still working on the exact nature of their mischief, but it's (hopefully) gonna be pretty intense.

[quote="Kopalover"]I like this story so far, even if it's still in the roots. I see it having a very strong plot line, heck, it already does. And I like the fact that Scar is still alive and causing mischief. Keep it up [/quote]

Thanks.
I'm glad you're liking it!

[Carl]

Chapter 2

Lying in the savanna grass, Scar watched with disappointment as Zira's cubs eagerly let the mouse escape each time one of them caught it. The rodent scampered from between Vitani's paws and shot off into the grass. Kovu's ears perked up and the youngster chased after it, his sister going wide in an attempt to head it off. She passed it and dropped to the earth in a stalker's position, sending up a small cloud of dirt. The mouse skidded to a halt to avoid running into her grasp, and instead was pinned by Kovu's front paws as the boy tackled it. He held it still, grinning widely. Vitani stood and narrowed her eyes at him. Understanding, Kovu raised his paws, releasing the small creature. It skittered away and the two cubs resumed the chase.

Scar rolled his eyes and continued to watch. 'Well,' he thought, 'at least the hairballs can catch it, even if they do turn it loose immediately.' Growing weary of their game, Scar rose on his paws and made his way over to the mouse, his stride seeming lazy and slow though he moved with a certain elegance and speed. In a mere moment he stood before the two cubs and dropped a paw on the frightened rodent.

"While I do admire your penchant for toying with your prey," he began in a bored tone, "you both need to learn to end it when the time is right." Without another word, the older lion raised the mouse with his paw up to his mouth and snapped it into his jaws, barely chewing it before he swallowed. He made sure that they saw its death, saw it snapped in half, saw the blood and bits of fur and bone crack in his maw and drop to the ground. The two cubs stared at him in shock. Neither of them had expected to see their father figure actually kill the mouseㅡ of course they both knew that animals were killed in order for them to eat, Simba had told them about the circle of life. And of course they had seen blood and bone before at meal times. What they hadn't witnessed was an actual death.

"You see, if you don't learn to kill your prey, neither of you will survive. I want to make sure the both of you are prepared. After all, what would I do if something happened to the apples of my eye?" he explained, to make it appear that he genuinely cared for them. "I want to make sure you two are strong enough to make it when I'm too old to look after you. And you know, one day, your mother, Nuka, and I will all be gone. You two will have to take care of yourselves; and you never know what challenges you might face. Sometimes even family members could turn on you..."

"What do you mean?" Kovu asked him, cocking his head to the side and raising an eyebrow. Vitani just stared up at him curiously with her big blueish eyes.

"Oops," Scar said, placing a paw over his mouth, "It seems I got a bit carried away. It's nothing you cubs should worry about just yet. We'll continue this lesson later. For now, why don't you two run along and play?" He let as friendly of a smile as he could slip onto his maw as he suggested it. The cubs remained sitting in the grass for a few moments looking up at him in wonder before turning and scampering off.

Scar watched them disappear into the grass as they ran toward Pride Rock, thinking of other ways he could have handled the situation today. Other ways he could have planted the seeds for manipulation. There was no doubt in his mind that he could have done better, but he was confident that what he'd said today would suffice. He was starting to feel that he was losing his touch with age, but refused to believe it.

"I'm just as clever as I ever was," he said aloud to reassure himself, though it was barely audible. He made his way back to the den he'd made for himself long agoㅡ it was the place he'd stayed when Mufasa had still been alive. His private sanctuary away from the eyes of his brother's pride. Technically, he reminded himself, it was Simba's pride now, but the sense of déjà vu was strong enough that it seemed to be one and the same. How had he let himself get into this situation? Was there not a way he could have held on to the throne. He scowled as he entered his den, though the scowl was replaced with a look of surprise when he found Zira waiting for him.

"Hello Scar," she purred. He composed himself quickly.

"Yes, Zira?" he asked in his usual monotonous tone.

"I saw you take my cubs out earlier. Do they still please you?"

"I think I can teach them to follow in my paw prints," he said simply. The obsessed lioness beamed with pure delight. "Now if you don't mind, I'd like to be left alone to think," Scar told her flatly. Zira was much too happy and proud of her cubs to protest, though she desperately wanted to stay.

"Of course," she said, and padded out of his den, leaving him alone. Just how he liked it.

---

"Kiara! Kopa!" Vitani shouted as the duo drew nearer to Pride Rock. The sun would soon begin to set, but the cubs were still eager to play. They bounded up the massive rock formation, clambering over their sleeping half-brother. Nuka protested in annoyance and glared after the cubs as they ran around the back of the rock where the lionesses, Simba, and his cubs were sprawled out. Simba was bathing a patient Kiara while Nala wrestled with a feisty Kopa in an attempt to clean him as well. The young prince struggled to get free, and at the sight of his friends, began to fight even more.

"Okay Mom, I'm clean enough; you can let go now," he declared, squirming in her grasp.

"No you're not, hold still and I'll be done faster," Nala said, licking his tiny tuft of a "mane" that was starting to grow in. The cub grumbled, but stopped fighting with his mother. At this time, Simba was letting Kiara go.

"There we are, all clean," he said, beaming at his daughter. She purred and nuzzled him. Vitani and Kovu exchanged glances.

"Daddy's girl!" they teased, chortling. The princess narrowed her eyes and stuck out her tongue at them.

"At least I have a daddy," she countered smugly. The other two stopped laughing, staring at her in both astonishment and a bit of anger.

"Hey!" Kovu growled.

"That's enough, Kiara," Simba said, looking at her sternly.

"But Dad, they started it," she whined.

"And I'm ending it."

The princess looked up at her father and nodded, though she wanted to protest more. She didn't usually make retorts like that, so they always reacted like this when she did. No one seemed to notice when Kopa said something like that. Maybe it was because he was the future king, or maybe it was because he was a boy. She didn't know, but she did know that she should listen to her father, so she decided to drop this.

In the meantime, Nala finished cleaning the young prince and released him. As soon as he was out of her grasp, Kopa scurried off without a word. Eagerly, the other three cubs followed after him, moving as swiftly as their little paws could carry them.

"Don't wander too far, it will be dark soon," Nala called after them. Then she turned her head to nuzzle her mate. "Our son, he's just like you," she said. Simba smiled.

"He is, isn't he? I used to fight my mother just like that at bath time."

"And he's always so adventurous, like you were."

"I know. I worry about them. I led you to the elephant graveyard that time; what if Kopa leads Kiara and the others into danger like I did?" the king asked his queen.

"Then you can rush gallantly to their rescue, just like your father did for us," she replied, looking into his eyes.

---

The young zebra stood a distance from its harem, unaware of the eight eyes following its movements as it grazed. At the edge of the harem, the mother of the foal kept an eye on her youngster. It wasn't far enough away to alarm her, but there was a good meter or two separating them. Undetected by the zebras, four small lion cubs lie in the grass very near the foal.

"Let's hunt," Kopa suggested in a playful whisper. Vitani and Kovu exchanged looks, recalling their hunting lesson earlier with Scar. The cubs sized up the foal, trying to figure out if they could bring it down. Kovu nodded to the others and crouched down to the earth. The foal was still rather small; together, he reckoned the four cubs could take it down. They wouldn't be very coordinated, but neither would the young zebra. Vitani mimicked him, going into stalking mode as well. Seeing the two of them crouched and prepared to strike, Kopa and Kiara followed their lead.

"We can prolly get a good chase out of this one," Kopa said with a grin. Kiara nodded, eagerly agreeing with him. This would be fun.

"I'll sneak around and chase it toward you guys," Vitani said, going wide, just as she had when chasing the mouse earlier. The others nodded in acknowledgement and took positions low in the grass, the young prince at the head, Kiara to his right and slightly behind him, Kovu in the same position on the left. This wasn't the first time the cubs had "hunted" a young prey animal. They often got chased off by the parents very quickly, but sometimes they actually caught their preyㅡ in which case, they'd let it go so they could enjoy chasing it down again.

Within a few moments, the foal came bounding towards the three cubs in hiding, Vitani hot on its heels. Quick as cubs can move, the trio sprang into motion, charging at the foal. Obviously alarmed, the foal rapidly turned to its left, darting past Kiara. The cubs gave chase. For a few moments, Kiara was directly on its tail, as it had just run past her. However, soon she lost ground and was quickly passed by the other cubs. She and her brother wore huge grins as they loped after the foal through the grassland. Kovu and Vitani, on the other hand, were serious faced and focused on their task. Drawing close, Kovu jumped onto the foal's rump, causing it to neigh in fear.

Kopa came up beside the foal on its left, his paws falling heavily against the ground for one so small. It veered slightly to the right to avoid him. That's when Vitani popped out of the grass and lunged for the beast's throat from the opposite side, Scar's words echoing in her mind. 'While I do admire your penchant for toying with your prey, you both need to learn to end it when the time is right.' She could see her father figure killing the mouse in her mind. This was a bit different, but it was the same basic concept. In an attempt to prove herself to Scar, who wasn't even present, the cub dug her claws deeply into the foal's neck and tried to get a good grip to bite it.

Surprised, Kovu let go of the foal's rump, returning his four paws to the earth below. This unbalanced the young zebra, toppling it to the ground. Vitani held on as the foal landed on top of her and struggled to get her mouth around its throat. The other cubs stopped in their tracks, noticing the mother zebra's rapid approach. She was much bigger than them, and could easily stomp them to death. Their eyes wide in fear, they began to back away from the foal and its approaching mother. Oblivious, Vitani wriggled herself out from under the foal's neck without letting go. Its flesh ripped as her claws twisted around in the process. Once she was free, she leaned in, still looking for a good place to bite down.

"Vitani, get out of there!" Kopa cautioned, scrambling backwards. At his words, she looked up, and saw the mother barreling down on her. She leapt away from the foal, and scampered over to her friends as the mother drew near, the rest of the harem right behind her. The mother zebra stopped beside her wounded foal, who was now breathing very heavily. Realizing that they had gone too far this time, the cubs turned and tried to escape by sprinting back towards Pride Rock, but the zebras were bigger and faster and had soon surrounded them, blocking their escape.

"My baby...!" the mother gasped, looking at her maimed foal. Though the cubs' claws were small, they could still cause severe damage to another small creature. The foal was seriously hurt, and that meant the cubs were in serious trouble. Kopa cut his eyes in the direction of Pride Rock, hoping his father could see them from there and would come help.

"You cubs may have just killed our only foal," a stallion said angrily, stepping up in front of the cubs.

"It was an accident," the prince said immediately, "we just wanted to chase him for a little while. We didn't mean to hurt anyone."

"Give me one reason not to kill you all right now," the stallion in front of the cubs neighed, striking the ground roughly with one of his hooves several times consecutively. The cubs gulped and shrank to the ground, but Kopa tried to stand tall and be brave, like his dad.

"I'm the prince, and this is my sister the princess. If you kill us, our dad will kill you all," he said confidently. The zebra snorted dismissively, while the agonized mother and her wounded foal continued to cry out nearby.

"Not likely. Not even a lion king can kill us all," he said. The young prince looked at the swarm of zebras surrounding him and his friends. The stallion before them was standing in a way that left an opening between himself and the nearest zebra to his right. If they were fast enough, the four cubs could escape through there.

"No one's stronger than my dad," he said, trying to keep the zebra focused on talking as he nudged his sister and motioned towards the gap in their formation. Kiara nodded in acknowledgement, and as soon as the stallion glanced back at the mother and foal, she bolted past him. Kopa roughly shoved Kovu and Vitani so they would follow his sister and then trailed them. As he was running by, the zebra on the right of the stallion neighed, catching sight of their escape, and reared up, alerting the rest of the herd. The stallion also reared up, his face contorting in anger. Scared for his life, Kopa sped up, hoping not to get stepped on. He ran as fast as his little legs could carry him, trying desperately to catch up to the other three cubs and make it back home to Pride Rock.

The young prince glanced back over his shoulder to see how close the zebras were to them, and to his surprise, saw that they weren't in pursuit. Not caring why they weren't being chased, the cub seized the opportunity to get away and turned his gaze back to the weirdly shaped rock they were getting closer and closer to. They were almost to safety. The pride would keep them safe.

[Dark Huntress]

Pretty awesome! I really like where this is going ! ^^

[Carl]

Chapter 3

The frightened cubs stopped when they were on Pride Rock, huffing and puffing. They were all out of breath, and all still freaked out. Nuka was no longer stretched out here and the grown-ups were nowhere to be seen. Kopa looked around at his friends, and narrowed his eyes when his gaze fell on Vitani. He padded over and stopped directly in front of her.

"What were you thinking?!" he demanded of her, "I'm all for risking trouble for a bit of fun, but you attacked that zebra! What if it dies?"

She looked over to her brother for help, but Kovu remained silent. Instead she stood her ground alone.

"We can't just chase them forever, we have to learn to end it when the time is right!" she insisted in her defense. Kovu's eyes widened as she repeated Scar's words. He hadn't thought Scar had meant for them to kill the zebra herd's only foal, so why had she thought that? What if Scar got in trouble because of this?

"What?" Kopa asked, making a face.

"Scar told me and Kovu we can't just keep toying with our prey," she explained.

"But we're not old enough to actually hunt yet!" Kiara protested.

"Shh. It's too late to change what happened. Now, the best thing for us to do is to not mention this to our parents, agreed?" Kopa suggested.

"Agreed," the other three concurred.

"Not mention what to your parents?" Simba asked, appearing from inside the den. The cubs shrank back in horror, realizing they had probably been caught in the act.

"Nothing!" Kopa said, "It's nothing, there was just aㅡ"

"Simba? Look, the zebra herd is coming this way," Nala said, stepping up behind him and interrupting Kopa. Simba squinted at the approaching forms. They looked upset.

"This can wait, but you cubs aren't off the hook," Simba said, making his way to the edge of Pride Rock as the zebras stopped before it, demanding to speak to the king. The cubs looked at each other, undone.

"What seems to be the problem?" Simba asked the herd. A stallion stepped forward. The stallion. The one who'd threatened the cubs.

"Four lion cubs just attacked our only foal, he's not looking good. You promised your pride would not hunt our young!" the stallion shouted.

"What?" Simba asked, rounding on the cubs, "Is this true?"

"We, we were just playing," Kiara insisted.

"We didn't mean to hurt him," Kovu agreed. Simba's narrowed eyes were focused on his son now, his expression stern. Kopa was usually the leader of the group, he was always the one they followed.

"They're telling the truth, we were just playing. We do that all the time, we chase after prey animals, but we never hurt them, we always let them go. It was Vitani who messed up, she's the one who actually attacked it! She jumped up on his neck, the rest of us backed off when she did!" the prince said in defense of himself and his other two friends. In his eyes, his sister, Kovu, and himself were completely innocent. Zira's daughter was the one who'd hurt the foal, she was the one to blame, she was the guilty party.

"Is this what you weren't going to mention to us?" the king demanded of his son. Kopa's face fell and his head drooped a bit.

"I... yes.." he mumbled.

"None of you will be leaving Pride Rock again until I say so, is that clear?" the king decreed. A chorus of quiet little "yes sir"s arose from the four. Simba went on, "We do not kill for sport. We only go after our prey when we need food, and we have to honor our treaties with the herds when we do so. We are sworn never to hunt young zebra, for any reason! In exchange they accept it when we pick off those nearer to the end of their time. Breaking this treaty could result in the zebras leaving this land, or dying out. We don't want that to happen."

"Then how are we supposed to learn!" Vitani said defiantly. She would stand up for what Scar had told her, he was as good of a lion as Simba, and he was right, one day the older lions would be gone and the cubs would have to take care of themselves.

"You'll learn when you're old enough, from the lionesses," Simba said sternly. The cub looked down at her paws, feeling belittled and angry, and a little bit guilty. It felt like Simba was holding them back, holding her back. The other cubs were too. But, she understood why Simba was reacting this way. She had made a mistake, and she knew why they had to wait until they were older. She wanted to learn now, though and be strong.

Simba turned back towards the zebras standing below.

"It won't happen again."

"See that it doesn't!" the angry stallion retorted, "The next time a lion cub attacks one of our young, we won't hesitate to stomp him to death." With that, the herd turned and galloped away. Simba turned back towards Pride Rock with a sigh, narrowing his eyes at the cubs.

"Get inside Pride Rock," he breathed. When all four rose and turned, he stopped his son, "Not you Kopa."

"Dad?"

"Son, there's someone coming in the morning we want you to meet," Simba said, "Right now it almost feels like I'm rewarding you for making a mistake..."

"Simba, he's still being punished, and Malka already set out. It's not like you planned it this way," Nala interjected. Her king nodded and turned back to his son.

"Malka?" Kopa asked, "Who's Malka?"

"He's a friend of mine from my cubhood, from another pride," Simba explained.

"Why would I want to meet one of your old friends?"

"It's not him you're meant to meet," Simba laughed. Kopa cocked his head and raised an eyebrow in inquiry. Simba smiled and went on, "Malka's bringing his wife and daughter with him. It's his daughter you're to meet."

"Oh a new friend for me!" the cub exclaimed, "Is Malka's daughter lame like Kiara?" Again, Simba chuckled.

"I haven't met her yet. Her name is Unathi, and while she's here you're to spend time with her as often as you can, with or without your sister, Kovu and Vitani. Her mother's name is Tama, and though she wasn't all that nice to me when we were cubs, you will greet them with respect and treat them politely, is that understood?" Simba went on.

"We were only cubs then, I'm sure she's not like that anymore," Nala laughed.

"Yes, Daaaad," Kopa said with a huff. He didn't understand why he had to do all this stuff, or why his sister and friends weren't being told to hang around with this new girl. His initial excitement at the thought of a new friend was beginning to fade away. She was only a girl after all, and girls were no fun. Kiara was lame and Vitani had gotten them all stuck on Pride Rock, why did he need to hang around another girl?

"You can go now," Simba told his son. Kopa turned and scampered back into the den to talk to his friends about what Simba had told him. His parents remained outside for a moment, Nala leaning over to hug Simba. He let out a slow sigh, nuzzled her, and then the two headed into the den together.

☩ ☩ ☩

Nuka sat at the very peak of Pride Rock, and watched the events with the zebras unfold. He shook his head bitterly. Those cubs had messed up now. Even from all the way up here he'd heard some of the goings on. His little half-sister had attacked a young zebra.

"Will mother and Scar still like you over me when you're exiled for breaking treaties?" he murmured rhetorically. He was joined by the slim form of a lioness who'd snuck up on him and sat down quietly. He didn't look at her.

"How are you doing, Nuka?" she asked quietly.

"They don't appreciate me, N'gora. No one even notices when I'm there! They complain about my attitude, but even mother and Scar are too obsessed with those cubs to pay any attention to me, is it a wonder I'm rude and grumpy?" he confided to her. She placed her head under his chin comfortingly.

"Those cubs are the pride's potential for the future, everyone wants them to grow up a certain way. Everyone is trying to steer them onto predecided pathsㅡ they've even betrothed young Kopa to a girl he's never met," N'gora said.

"What does that have to do with anything?" the male grumbled.

"I'm just saying, being in the spotlight isn't all good. No one's picking out your mate, no one's trying to force you to be someone you're not. They may not be giving you the attention and respect you deserve, but this way you get to keep all of your freedom," she explained. Nuka looked at her as she moved away from him, a look of intrigue on his face. "Which is more important to you? Take care of yourself, Nuka, and one day, you can show them how great you can be. Or you can wallow in self-loathing because they ignore you, and see where that gets you."

With that, she turned and sauntered away, leaving the scraggly male on his own atop the rock. Nuka watched her go, then rotated his head around and looked at the stars, thinking about what she'd said.

☩ ☩ ☩

The next morning, as sunlight entered Scar's den, he was busy covering his head with a paw. He could hear the commotion outside and knew that Kopa's future queen had arrived. He intended to end his nephew and Kopa long before they had a chance to be wed. He'd almost think about letting the cub live in the end, but if that child survived, he could come back to challenge Scar just as Simba had done. And after last night, he knew his plan was starting to come together.

It had been Kovu he'd been hoping to influence more, but Vitani was showing a lot of spirit. With Simba's scolding of her, it was possible the seeds of hatred were already being planted within her. The old lion smiled cruelly, hoping for the best. He didn't have forever, if he waited until the cubs were fully grown, he'd be too old and decrepit to rule, assuming he lived that long. No, this had to be soon, within the next few years. He needed to pick up the pace. He sighed as he saw Simba's friend, Malka striding past outside his den. The future queen had almost reached Pride Rock. Goodie.

Malka and Tama walked towards the home of their neighboring pride with smiles on their faces. It had been a long time since they'd been here. Behind them trotted a small cub who bore heavy resemblance to them both, her big eyes staring up at the bizarrely shaped rock formation before her in wonder. Little Unathi had never seen anything like it.