Past Demons [PRIVATE: AC and TheIvanMuse]

[AustralianChaos]

The moment Mufasa stood up, Tanga knew he was in trouble. Standing up himself, Tanga backed off a couple of paces, suddenly frightened once more. Mufasa had caught onto his fear and uncertainty, and knew something was up about his past. "N-n-nothing!" he stammered in a rather bad attempt at casting the subject aside as Mufasa questioned Tanga's reaction to the king's name. "I-I just...I just heard someone at home mention you a few times, that's all!" he explained desperately.

Technically, Tanga was not lying...there were members of his pride that did mention Mufasa from time to time. Tanga just decided to conveniently leave out the fact that those references to him almost always involved plots to kill the king. Mufasa would never let him stay another minute if he ever found that out...he needed to protect that secret at any and all costs.

By this point, tears were forming in Tanga's eyes, the constant references to his violent, and his fear that Mufasa would discover his secret were takign their toll on his emotions. Struggling to hang onto the last pieces of control, Tanga gaze once more fell away from Mufasa's, as he violently wiped away the water in his eyes. "Please, sir..." he pleaded. "Please...I can't talk about this...and I have nowhere else to go..." he was literally pleading by this point. If his family ever found out what he was doing tonight, he was dead for sure. And if Mufasa ever found out about his past, he was also dead. Secrecy was his only chance for survival, in his mind, and he was almost begging Mufasa for it.

[TheIvanMuse]

As soon as Mufasa asked the cub about why he reacted to his name the way he did,Tanga got clearly overwhelmed by panic. Mufasa realized that there was something on about this whole thing. Tanga's words barely came out of his mouth,but when he said that someone from his home knew about Mufasa,the suspicion in Mufasa just took over. Whoever did this to Tanga,knew about Mufasa as well. Whoever harmed Tanga,could also come and try to harm Mufasa or even his family. By this point,the cub's eyes were already teared up. No matter how sorry he felt for Tanga's destiny,his safety and the safety of his pride came at first place.

A fear awoke inside of Mufasa once again,a fear he had felt only earlier this night. What if they attacked Simba?,he thought to himself. The mere thought of someone even ripping a hair out of Simba's fur caused Mufasa's anger to grow stronger. The love for his son was much stronger than the feeling of sympathy for some other lion. As a king,he often had to balance out the needs of his family and his royal duties. But in this case,just the sorrow of a little cub couldn't compare to the danger he might put himself,his pride or his son into,if he let the cub be.

By this point,Mufasa was already getting closer to Tanga,his eyes widened and his teeth shown. He was afraid for his pride... As he got a few steps away from the cub,he stopped and gazed the frightened cub into the eyes. He then opened his muzzle and spoke: Whoever did this to you,does he know of me? He was staring into the cub's eyes,waiting for an immediate response. ''Speak!'',Mufasa said out loudly with a roar in the demand. He wasn't going to back off anytime soon,until he got some information.

[AustralianChaos]

The moment Mufasa advanced on him further, Tanga realised that mentioning someone at his old pride knew the king was completely the wrong thing to say. At this moment, Tanga's blind panic took over, and he attempted to run, turning to flee Mufasa...and his lands, knowing he was just getting himself into more and more trouble. But as he made to flee, Mufasa demanded that he speak up, and the one, roaring word startled the cub, causing him the trip over his own paws, collapsing back onto the hard rock, every part of his undersized, malnourished frame shaking his panic and fear.

Knowing he was cornered, and with no other choice, Tanga spoke up, although he did not turn back to face Mufasa, and tried his best to keep his head away from the lion, in a vain attempt to protect it when Mufasa attacked...as he certain that was what the lion was going to do once he got the information he wanted. "I-I-I...I don't..." Tanga struggled to form a coherent sentence, and to organise his chaotic thoughts so that he could actually remember what it was Mufasa wanted to know. "M-many...many creatures hurt me like this," he answered the first part of Mufasa's question. "My mum and dad were part of it, along with other creatures...there's more than just lions living with us."

Realising that was not what Mufasa wanted to know, Tanga cowered further on the ground, realising his home pride's threat of death to him if he ever spilled any of their secrets to an Outsider was going to have to come true now...he was dead whether he said anything or not...might as well give Mufasa the satisfaction of knowing before he killed Tanga. "T-there...was one lion...who talked about you...a lot. I don't know his name...but I do know what he looks like..." he trailed off at this point, the young cub finally managing to turn and face Mufasa again, his ears pinned low and his whole body trembling with fear. His eyes were brimming with tears again, and the wide, blue orbs were silently pleading with the regal lion to not pry into his home any further...if he gave away what this lion looked like, Tanga's fate was all-but-sealed...he would be killed the next time someone from his home met him.

[TheIvanMuse]

As Mufasa demanded an answer,the young cub seemed to become more and more panicked with each second that passed. He flinched on the ground and his shivering body only seemed helpless to Mufasa. Mufasa knew that what he might find out might not be very good,neither for him,nor for the cub. But the truth had to come to show,for his duties as a ruler proposed him to take action in securing the safety of his pride. He didn't want to back down from the cub's fear,as in a way,he thought he was helping the cub as well.

Mufasa was rather confused with the cub's responses,he was speaking about other animals than lions. He was surprised that any other animal would dare to assault a lion. The matter was only brought to a worse level when mentioning his parents. Normal parents should have helped and protected their cub,but here it was obviously quite the opposite case. Mufasa was very concerned of letting this cub return to where he came from,clearly no one there was in a normal state of mind. He didn't want to and he couldn't let the cub return there,they might even kill him if he did so.

His mind was running wild at this time and Mufasa didn't know what aspect of the whole situation worried him more,the cub's immense misfortune,of the maybe unhinged safety of his family. At this point,Mufasa was only standing in front of Tanga,not making a single move,just listening. As the cub said something about a specific lion,he turned around and looked Mufasa in the eyes. Mufasa was now rather confused of what to ask the young cub. Mistreated by his parents,beaten up by his own people,he didn't want the cub to suffer any longer. ''Listen,Tanga.'',he said in a very silent matter. ''You shouldn't return to the ones who treated you this way. I will allow you to stay with me and my pride for a while,under my pretection,but under one condition.''

By now,Mufasa was looking Tanga straight in the eyes with a serious expression on his face. ''You must tell me what that lion looks like.'' Mufasa had doubts in whether the cub would tell him anything,but he wanted to help Tanga,and the only way in which he could do so is by getting to know what happened to him and by letting him stay with him.

[AustralianChaos]

Tanga felt a huge portion of his fear and panic wash away as Mufasa's soft voice said he could stay under his protection. Tanga could see that this lion was big and strong, and would have little trouble protecting him from many members of his old pride...he just hoped that his whole pride didn't come at once, if they ever did. But when Mufasa added on the extra condition, the slight hope Tanga had seemed to fade away right before Mufasa...considering the cub's state of mind, asking for a description of the lion that was essentially his pride's leader, and the one who hated Mufasa the most, was almost asking everything of the little cub.

"I-I don't...know if I can..." he finally replied in a very small voice, clearly showing his hesitancy. But he knew it was either that, or get kicked out to fend for himself again...and Tanga knew which one he would prefer...his life actually depended on it. But it was taking every piece of psychological strength the cub had to make himself reveal the identity of the lion that hated Mufasa so much, and the cub took a few slow, deep breaths, a trick he had found by himself that he knew helped calm him down when he was angry, scared or just plain stressed...which was almost all the time.

Finally, Tanga looked up at Mufasa, and started speaking. "I...I don't know his name, but he had this brown fur...it looked like he was always dirty or something...and his mane and tail were black." He paused, shivering at the memory of the next feature, but forced himself to reveal it, knowing Mufasa wanted as much as he could think of. "A-and his eyes...he had these really creepy, green eyes. And he was really skinny...like me," he added, looking over his own small frame with something resembling self-disgust.

Tanga had absolutely no idea how the lion he was describing would affect Mufasa...and if he did, he probably would never have spoken out in the first place...even if it meant death. But he was oblivious to the situation, and as such just sat there, waiting for Mufasa to respond to his description...hoping it would be enough to let him stay for a while.

[TheIvanMuse]

The cub was still hesitant about telling Mufasa of the lion who he has spoken of. The cub was clearly overcoming a huge obstacle,he was gathering his thoughts and preparing a respond to Mufasa. As much as this whole thing has been worrying the cub,in Mufasa's opinion it was better for him to stay by his side and let him find out what happened. As the cub started to speak,Mufasa peered his ears up to pick up any detail the cub might tell him. Brown fur,black mane,that was nothing too unusual,Mufasa knew several lions that had features like that. After a short break,Mufasa continued to listen to Tanga. What he then heard shocked him immensely. No,it can't be him! ,Mufasa thought to himself. Could that be Scar that the young cub is talking about...

By this moment,Mufasa's eyes were widened,as his thoughts were running wild. Could Scar be an associate in this whole group? Why would he do that,why would he harm Tanga like this? Mufasa himself,didn't know what to think. He didn't want to believe that Scar might be part of this group who clearly had no intentions of doing any good. His own brother,the lion he grew up with and played with,it couldn't be. The words that Scar spoke to him earlier that day were echoing in his thoughts. He told him that he shouldn't turn his back on him. Would Scar try to harm him? Mufasa shook his head by this thought.

Maybe it's not him. ,Mufasa thought as he wasn't quite sure of whether it was really Scar. He then turned his gaze back to Tanga,who was by now probably even more nervous,as Mufasa wasn't very calm anymore himself. He then spoke to Tanga: ''This lion,does he have a scar over his left eye?'' The severeness in Mufasa's question was very clear,he had to find out if it was his brother the cub is talking about.

[AustralianChaos]

As Tanga described this lion he had heard constantly plan about Mufasa's death, the cub could see Mufasa was getting more and more nervous, and this caused Tanga to hesitate. What was going on? Did Mufasa know the lion he was describing? I all made Tanga back off once more, stamerring rapidly. "I-I-I'm sorry...I shouldn't have...I won't..." he tried to stammer out some excuse, trying to find some way of avoiding the rest of the conversation. But in his heart, Tanga knew it was useless, and that Mufasa's shock surely meant he was going to have to explain more about this lion.

Sure enough, Mufasa's next words were a request for a particular detail, and his voice was heave and serious...Tanga knew that he had to answer this question...and immediately. But as Tanga processed what Mufasa was asking him, his nervous, shocked expression was more than enough answer all on it's own...Mufasa knew this lion that was trying to kill him. "Y-y-yes..." he finally answered with extreme hesitancy. "Yes, there's a scar over one eye..."

As he spoke he shied away from Mufasa, dreading what the lion would do. It was obvious that Mufasa knew this lion...and Tanga realised that that fact was very bad for him. He was almost certain that Mufasa would hate this information, and never forgive him for telling him this. Taking a shudderring breath, feeling his emotions slip further from his control, he tried desperately to say something, anything, to help his situation. "I-I-I'm sorry, sir...I didn't know...I shouldn't have told you..."

But even as he spoke, he knew Mufasa's shock, and the severe way in which the lion had demanded that one detail, meant that he had gone too far. The first tear slipping from his eye, streaking down his cheek, Tanga turned to walk off, fully believing his time here had already gone. He wanted to run, but his wounds were still hurting something fierce, and his leg would only let him move at a hobbling, slow jog. Despite his perceived hopelessness, tanga fought to hang onto the last shred of his dignity, and kept his emotions under control...barely. His breathing was shaky, and the occasiona; tears leaked out of his eyes, showing just how close to a full breakdown he was.

[TheIvanMuse]

When Mufasa saw the expression on Tanga's face as he asked him about the detail in the lion's description,the shock which Mufasa felt was only enhanced by the cub actually confirming his suspicion about the scar. His mind just went blank and his body seemed almost paralyzed. He couldn't believe that Scar could be part of such a vicious group,that his own brother could do something like this to a little lion cub. That was not how their father had taught them,that was not how Mufasa would ever hope his brother would have become. What concerned him even more was that the cub said that Scar has been talking about him. What could he possibly talk about with group that involved Mufasa. He didn't want to believe that Scar could have been serious about his intimidation earlier. What was he up to?,Mufasa thought to himself while gazing up to Ahadi's star.

Tanga began apologizing about what he had said,and Mufasa's thought were only partially interrupted by this. ''It's a good thing that you told me.'',Mufasa told to the cub while not looking him into the eyes,but lowering his sight from Ahadi's star to a stare into the distance. What was Scar talking about to the group? Does he really intend to hurt him? Mufasa thoughts were simply going savage by this point. He had to clear this thing out,with Scar,alone... During this whole period,Mufasa didn't play much attention to what Tanga was doing.

As Mufasa remembered about Tanga again,he then lifted up his gaze and saw that the cub was already turned away,limping away from Mufasa,to what might be a sentence to death. Mufasa then immediately ran towards Tanga,stood in front of him and looked into those already teared up blue eyes.
''Don't leave,Tanga!'' ,he said with a sign of concerne ih his voice. ''You can stay with me,I am not angry at you. I am grateful that you decided to share what you did.'' When those words slipped away from Mufasa,he could only hope that Tanga would decide to accept his offer and stay with him and his pride.

[AustralianChaos]

Tanga slowly limped away, sighing when Mufasa did not seem to acknowledge his presence, or the fact that he was leaving, as he fought to hold back tears. He had been so close! He had almost found a place where he could live...this Mufasa seemed to, to an extent, care about him, and Tanga had hoped he could experience more of that care that seemed to be missing from his life. But no, he had to go and open his stupid mouth, and get Mufasa angry at him, over something he did not fully understand.

But then Mufasa jumped in front of him, causing him to yelp and jump back, startled by the sudden reappearance of the big lion. When Mufasa told him not to leave, and that he was grateful for sharing the information, he looking up, his eyes still full of unshed tears, a trace of hope returning to those vividly blue orbs. "I...I can stay?" he asked hesitantly, his voice shaking...he was still fairly close to breaking down. "You...you're not...not mad at me?" his voice was filled with that same, hesitant hope, every part of his being praying that he had heard correctly, and that Mufasa was not playing some vicious prank on him or something.

Knowing that this was probably his last chance at having some sort of shelter from the abuse and neglect that had plagued his life so far, Tanga kept looking up at Mufasa, his whole muzzle begging him to confirm what he though the adult was suggesting. "Please, Mufasa..." he begged, walking up to Mufasa and lifting himself up on his hind legs, placing his forepaws on one of Mufasa's legs to steady himself, looking straight up at the big lion's muzzle. "I...I don't wanna be sent back out there, alone. And I...I can't go back home...they'll kill me now, after everything I've told you...please let me stay?"

Despite the fact that Mufasa had rather bluntly requested a lot of information from Tanga, the young cub was starting to grow attached to the big lion. He had treated him far better than anyone else had recently...with possibly one of two very minor exceptions. If his pride was anything like he was, Tanga knew that he really wanted to stay, and would do just about anything to guarantee that sanctuary and protection.

[TheIvanMuse]

Mufasa was determined in not letting Tanga go away so easily,he couldn't leave him out there on his own. He was worried for him,he felt bad for him,he wanted to give him shelter. ''Yes,you can.'',Mufasa said while managing to put on a little smile,just to comfort the little cub. ''I'm not mad at you,but there is someone else who I have to have a talk with.'' ,Mufasa said,while making a rather worried and annoyed expression. He had to have a few feisty words with Scar tomorrow and he knew that would be hard,as he loved his brother despite the fact that the arguments between them two have been getting more and more common.

Tanga's desperation became more and more obvious to Mufasa,as he was almost begging him to not let him return to that wretched place. His fear and unwillingness to return was only made more obvious with Tanga approaching Mufasa with a gaze in his eyes that meant only sorrow and helplessness. He stood with his little forepaws on Mufasa's paw,which was much larger than both of Tanga's paws. His teared up eyes brought Mufasa's state of mind to an extent where leaving this cub would cause him to hate himself,he didn't even doubt anymore of whether he should let him stay within his pride.

By now Mufasa was torn between the sorrow he felt for the cub and the worryingness he felt upon his brother being not what he seemed to be. But for tonight,he could only do one thing,and that is to make sure that Tanga knows that he is welcome. ''Tanga...'' ,he said while putting a smile on his face. ''Come with me...'' Mufasa then picked up the hunk of antelope meat and started walking towards the cave. He entered the cave and placed the meat right next to the elevation of the rock where Sarabi was sleeping and Simba too,who was now a bit more away from his mother. However,Mufasa still made sure that he is the one who'll stay the closest to Tanga,just to make sure he keeps everything under control.