Past Demons [PRIVATE: AC and TheIvanMuse]

[AustralianChaos]

Mufasa may have thought everyone was still asleep, but that was not quite true. While Mufasa was up at Pride Rock's summit, Simba had woken up, yawning and stretching, casting a bleary gaze around the den, his gaze still unfocused so soon after waking up. It took him a long time to notice that, whilst Sarabi was still dozing peacefully nearby, Mufasa was nowhere in sight. A puzzled look appeared on the cub's face, his dad was never up before him, ever, so why was he up so early now? Did it have anything to do with yesterday's events...was Simba still in biig trouble, despite the fun evening they had shared?

This brief moment of childish fear flared further when a shadow approached the opening of the den. Realising that his father was coming back, Simba immediately dropped his head back to his paws and closed his eyes, pretending to be asleep as he fought to calm his racing heart and quick breathing. But after a few moments, Simba felt the light filtering into the cave grow in intensity once more, meaning that Mufasa had moved on. Not hearing any pawsteps, Simba slowly peeked one eye open, instantly snapping both of them open when he saw no sign of his father...where was he?

His infamous curiosity once more getting the better of him, Simba got to his paws, his earlier sleepiness completely forgotten as he eased his way out of the den, trying not to alert the rest of the pride as he tried to find his father. This kind of behaviour from Mufasa was not normal, and he wanted to find out what he was doing that would cause such a change of routine so suddenly. As it was, Simba was so preoccupied on following his father, and finding out where he was going, that he completely overlooked the small, gold-furred cub sleeping near the entrance, walking right past the little guy without even noticing him.

As Simba looked around, he noticed his father walking towards Scar's cave, and his curiosity rose even higher. What's he want to see Uncle Scar so early for? he wondered silently, as he discreetly followed his father, doing his best to keep out of sight, and remain as quiet as possible...he could see that, for some reason Simba could not understand, his father was alert for any sign of followers, and Simba got the feeling that he might get in trouble if he was spotted. For a brief moment, Simba considered going back, horrible thoughts of the Elephant Graveyard pushing to the forefront of his mind, but once again, Simba's curiosity would not rest...and besides, he was following his dad, what could possibly go wrong there?

[TheIvanMuse]

Mufasa didn't find Scar anywhere in the cave,but his smell was there,not only the smell engraved in the cave,but he could feel that Scar was very close. He kept wondering why Scar wasn't in his cave,he's usually just laying around for most of the day,especially in the morning. He was always the lazier one of the two brothers,Scar was always not interested not too enthusiastic about what father used to tell them back while they were younger. Mufasa looked around once more,but he didn't spot Scar. Slightly annoyed with the fact that Scar wasn't there,he called out his name. ''Scar!'' ,he said out loudly,with a strictness in his voice that he always had when he saw Scar making trouble. The something lisped in the bushes. Mufasa immediately turned around and got ready to react to whatever might be there.

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Scar was only returning to his den from the last night's meeting he had with the group he's planning on doing some drastic changes in the Pride Lands. It was a very long night and he was exhausted since he' basically the brain of the group,telling everyone what there is to do. But there has always been someone who seemed to have a retort to whatever Scar was saying. He didn't like him,and neither did Scar him. It seemed as if there were two candidates for the head of the group...

As Scar got closer to Pride Rock,he picked up a familiar smell. It was not anyone from his family,but it was familiar,he knew this lion,but he wasn't sure who it might be. He didn't seem to bother too much with the question either,as all he wanted at that point was to get some sleep. As he came closer to his cave,walking through the bushes,he noticed Mufasa was standing in front of his cave. What does he want now... ,he thought,slightly annoyed that he couldn't get to rest straight away. Mufasa seemed angry and Scar didn't feel like listening to his brother about what he did wrong. He just lied down in the bush and watched Mufasa as he seemed rather annoyed at this point.

As Mufasa called out his name,Scar peered up his ears,but didn't move another muscle in his body. He really wasn't feeling like taking a lesson from Mufasa,especially not when he's in a grumpy mood. But then,suddenly a mouse walked through the bush right where Scar was laying,while producing a rustle in the bush. Mufasa apparently didn't overhear it. Perfect timing... ,he thought,while rolling his eyes. Since there wasn't much left he could do,he might as well just walk out to see what Mufasa has to say and so he did.

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As Scar got out of the bushes,Mufasa felt relief that he didn't see any other hostile lion,but at the same time slightly pouted over Scar apparently playing some games with him. He looked him in the eyes with a stern gaze that meant anything but a friendly chat coming up. ''Scar,where were you last night?'' He said,while looking at his brother,knowing that he'll probably mingle out something else to avoid the question,whether Mufasa liked it or not.

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''Well,good morning,brother!'' ,Scar said with an almost mocking tone in his voice. ''Why am I enlighted with your presence so early?'' ,he said while keeping the sarcasm always in his line. It seemed however that Mufasa was never too concerned about his sarcasm,but he still liked to tease him with it though.

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By this point,Mufasa was already annoyed,and it was only amplified by his brother just teasing him around again. He then said loudly with almost a roar included in the sentence:''Don't play games,Scar!''
He then got closer to Scar,who seemed quite tired at this point. He got to him eye-to-eye and demanded an answer. ''Tell me.''

All this time he thought what Ahadi might think of them being like this. What would he think of them getting into arguments so often. Was it Mufasa's fault,or was it Scar's fault. Maybe we're both to blame...,Mufasa thought to himself,while looking Scar straight in the eyes,waiting for a response.

[AustralianChaos]

As Mufasa called Scar, and Simba's uncle appeared out of the grasses, the young prince frowned in confusion...Mufasa's tone suggested Scar had done something wrong, since Simba had only heard that tone used when Mufasa was scolding him for some trouble he had gotten into. But what could Scar have done...Mufasa could not have seen his brother since he had rescued Simba from the Elephant Graveyard. Unable to make sense of his father's behaviour, but still insanely curious, Simba continued to hide, using a patch of tall grass, and a few large rocks to conceal himself from view. He knew that his scent could give him away, but he doubted that would happen...this close to Pride Rock, the scent of every lion and lioness in the pride was constantly wafting through the air, making it nearly impossible to determine if someone was actually there or not by smell alone.

As Simba continued to watch his father and uncle, his confused frown became even more prominent. Mufasa was asking Scar about his actions last night, and Scar was blatantly avoiding the question, his blatantly sarcastic nature bringing itself to bear. It was this dry, obvious sarcasm that Simba loved about his uncle...it might make him seem weird, and a little creepy at times, but it meant he could always get a few laughs from his uncle. But as Simba watched, none of amusement was forthcoming...why was Mufasa asking about what Scar had been doing last night? Surely he had been asleep, like the rest of the pride?

For Simba, things did not make any sense, and suddenly his confusion started to turn into worry. Mufasa was being dead serious, and did not look happy...Simba knew there was some detail he was missing, but what could possibly be going on that would make his father so wary and suspicious...almost cold...towards Scar. They were brothers, and as far as Simba was aware, they got along alright, even if they did not always see eye to eye. He certainly loved both of them. Part of Simba suddenly wanted to leave, realising that this conversation was probably not going to go well...but his curiosity was still strong...he needed to know what was going on, why Mufasa was suspicious of Scar...and why Scar was avoiding Mufasa's questions. So he stayed, not realising just how much he could possibly end up regretting that decision...if Simba even had an inkling of the truth, he probably would have left there and then.

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Back in the den, as Mufasa was confronting Scar, Sarafina slowly came into the waking world, opening her eyes and yawning expansively, rubbing a paw over her eyes to clear the lingering sleep from them. Looking around as her gaze focused, her eyes quickly found Nala, curled up beside her, still sleeping. A weak smile reached her features as she gazed upon her daughter, who looked every bit like she had when she was Nala's age...when Zazu had brought her daughter home, briefly explaining what had happened, she had pulled her daughter into a fierce hug, briefly scolding her for making her worry, but otherwise too relieved about having her back safely, and unharmed, to really properly talk to her about the way she had wandered into a forbidden area.

Knowing she would have to talk to her daughter at some point, but deciding to let her sleep for now, knowing she had endured a trying day yesterday and needed the rest, Sarafina slowly got to her paws, stretching to relieve the soft cramps brought on by the long sleep. As he wandered towards the cave mouth, however, she spotted a small figure lying off to the side of the entryway, seemingly a sleeping cub. "What?" she briefly whispered, wondering what Simba was doing sleeping there, of all places? He always slept on the royal family's resting area with his parents, and Sarafina had never seen him sleep anywhere else before.

But as she approached the sleeping cub, his features suddenly came into better focus, and she realised this was not Simba. His fur was too light, his tail tuft too dark, and he was smaller in stature. But what shocked the mother were the signs of hardship on the young cub, namely his wounds and exposed ribs. Gasping softly at the horrid state this cub appeared to be in, Sarafina's mind, after a moment, quickly turned to her first question; What was this cub, who she had never seen before, doing here...and why was he in such bad shape?

Turning to look back into the den, Sarafina noticed that everyone was still sleeping, but that Mufasa and Simba was absent, most likely off doing some early-morning father-son activity. Sarabi, however, was still there, and the queen was still resting peacefully. Sighing, Sarafina slowly made her way towards the queen. She did not want to disturb her...but if she did not know of this cub, she had to be alerted, and if she did know, then Sarafina wanted to know more about what this strange young one was doing here.

[TheIvanMuse]

Scar has looked at the angry image of his brother with a rather annoyed feeling inside. He wanted to rest,but obviously,Mufasa wouldn't let him,far from that,it seemed as he was determined to find out some things. Scar had a rather relaxed expression on his face,but his mind was drudgingly figuring out what he'd tell to Mufasa. He decided to tell something not too specific,maybe Mufasa would drop the question off after that. ''Well,if you must know,I was taking a walk along the Pride Lands.'' Scar always had this almost humorous tone in his voice,that he didn't want to shake off,it seemed to him as Mufasa was rather annoyed by him talking that way,so he liked to tease his brother a little bit.

Wondering about why Mufasa was so curious,Scar claws through his chin mane,while asking him: ''Why do you want to know?'' He said it with a more serious note,as joking even further would seem rather silly in his eyes. He didn't think that Mufasa might know about his secret group,how could he... But then the suspicion rose in Scar as he remembered picking up a familiar scent. Maybe someone was here.... ,Scar thought to himself,while not moving a muscle on his muzzle,not wanting to draw any suspicion from Mufasa. Of course he had no intention of asking Mufasa of anyone he might have seen.

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As Mufasa's question was answered with a rather silly tone,Mufasa got even more flared as he wasn't in the mood for Scar's jokes right now. However he kept himself calm,not wanting to seem like a brute to his brother. His temper did get heated up pretty easy,but he always kept a note of calmness that he had learned mostly because of Sarabi. She always told him how she didn't like him being like that.''Oh really...'' ,he said with a much calmer voice,obviously showing Scar that he didn't buy his story,but he didn't bother to ask him anymore about it.

''Well...'' ,Mufasa said while raising his eyebrows,seeming almost completely calm at this point. ''I see you haven't been in your cave.'' Mufasa was now wanting to come off more calm,as he thought that he might take the whole talk a bit slower. Mufasa now lifted one of his eyebrows and asked with a rather puzzled tone: ''You were alone?'' Mufasa didn't want to mention Tanga straight away,it would be very unwise to do so,as Scar would just deny his existence and know that he is around. He didn't want him knowing that,at least for now,while he didn't judge the whole situation a bit better.

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Scar noticed Mufasa getting a bit pouted over his humorous outbursts,but he seemed to calm down afterwards,while answering his response. He saw that Mufasa didn't quite believe him that he only took a walk. Scar got more nervous with Mufasa now not only asking about where he's been but furthermore he wanted to ask with who he was with. At this point Scar was getting rather nervous,which was very unlikely for him. He mind was racing,he didn't know what he might say. ''Well...Ermm...'' ,Scar said in a very held back manner.''Yes,I was alone,maybe a few mice to follow me along. ,he said with a more courageous manner,but still,his nervousness could be felt.

[AustralianChaos]

Simba's worry grew more and more with each passing sentence in the conversation between Mufasa and Scar. His father was continuing to quiz Scar about his whereabouts last night, and while his uncle was now starting to give answers, Mufasa was not yet appeased...something was off, and Simba knew it. His father knew something about last night, and this talk with Scar definitely had something to do with it, something that, judging by Mufasa's tone, was very important, and possibly dangerous, too.

But as the conversation progressed further, Simba noticed that his uncle appeared to be getting more and more nervous, his behaviour reminding Simba of himself, when he was trying to hide something from one of his parents. This, however, caused Simba to become even more confused. Was Scar hiding something? And even if he was, why was Mufasa taking it so seriously? And how did his dad find out in the first place? Simba's worry was quickly accompanied by frustrated curiosity. He knew therw was something about this conversation that he had missed, some detail that had escaped his attention that was the whole point behind Mufasa confronting his brother like this, and without that detail, Simba was unable to work out what was going on.

But Simba knew that, if he left, he would probably never find out what was going on...and his curiosity would never let him go if that happened. So despite his growing confusion, and the sense of dread that left Simba fearing for what might happen soon, he stayed hidden, despite wanting to turn away. He just had to know what was going on...had to know what was making Mufasa so suspicious of his own brother.

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Sarafina came up to Sarabi's side, and gently nudged her queen, and close friend. "Sarabi...Sarabi, wake up, I need your help," she said gently as Sarabi stirred, groaning and yawning widely. She hated disturbing Sarabi's rest...but in her mind, she had little choice. A strange cub was by their cave...something had to be done.

As Sarabi finished her yawn, her brain finally started clicking into gear. "Saffy? What are you...?" Her question trailed off unfinished as her mind finally processed everything Sarafina had said, causing her to rise to her paws as quickly as her sleepy state would allow. "What is it? What's wrong?" she asked, quickly shaking her head to wake herself up, looking to her friend as she motioned towards the den mouth with her muzzle.

"Over there...we have a young visitor..." Sarafina said vaguely. As Sarabi looked that way, her eyes narrowing, and wandered off towards where the cub was still sleeping, Sarafina made her way back towards her daughter. As she did, she looked at Nala's sleeping form. She knew that Nala had a mild tendency to wake up in the middle of the night...having caught her at it a couple of times...maybe she knew something? Sarafina considered the idea for a brief moment, wondering whether it would be best to let Nala sleep for a bit. Eventually, she decided that this issue needed to be resolved before something bad happened. Sighing, she lowered her muzzle, and nudged Nala gently. "Nala? Nala, sweetie, wake up, please?"

[TheIvanMuse]

Mufasa didn't believe that Scar was so to say alone on his journey. His nervousness could be felt,Scar was usually very calm and not easily intimated,but now he was hiding something.something that has made him look quite nervous. ''You don't say...'' ,Mufasa said in a way that made it quite obvious that he didn't believe what Scar was telling him. Mufasa now approached Scar even closer.coming only a few inches away from him and breathing in his scent. He could sense that he Scar has been around other lions. There was some other smell too,but he couldn't determine what it was,he had never felt something like it. This mixture of fragrances that Scar had was worrying Mufasa. It seemed as if Tanga could have only meant Scar being the one leading that group.

As Mufasa picked up some foreign scents,he looked Scar in the eyes and raised one eyebrow,while not saying anything,just expressing that he knew that Scar was with someone recently. Not wanting to go around the subject for any longer,Mufasa decided to just cut to the case. Mufasa then started to distance a bit from Scar and then turned around. Does the name Tanga sound familiar? ,Mufasa said while gazing at Scar with a seriousness that was more intimidating than just being serious.

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Scar saw that Mufasa was acting rather wierd by this point and it intimidated Scar,he didn't know what Mufasa knew. Maybe he was onto their plan,but maybe Scar was being a little too paranoid. Mufasa comment only made Scar more suspicious,but he tried to keep himself as calm as he could,possibly his sarcasm up as well. But then Mufasa approached Scar,i seemed like he was picking up scents from him. Scar was quite nervous at this point,but still wanted to come off as if nothing was wrong. ''I apologize if his majesty is not too happy with my smell,the water hole has been quite far away lately.'' ,Scar said while really keeping his sarcasm on top. Mufasa didn't seem to care much for his almost humorous comment,as he simply waked away from him and then turned around.

What he said then shocked Scar immensely,he seemed to know something. The little Tanga seemed to have met Mufasa... Scar gulped as he literally lost his words,he couldn't get a word out at this point. However,he didn't want to make it too obvious,although Mufasa has probably already noticed his nervousness. ''Ermmm... No,doesn't sound familiar... W...Why do you ask?'' ,Scar said as calmly as he could but the words kept mixing up when they had to come out. He was worried...

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Nala was deeply asleep,the late night wake up,made her sleep afterwards even deeper. As her eyes were shut tightly,she heard someone call out her name. The voice was telling her to wake up. As she slowly began to come to awake,she saw her mother's face in front of her's. She was a bit startled by it first,but then just purred as she saw her mother. ''Yeah,mom?'' ,she said,while giving away a yawn.

[AustralianChaos]

As Sarabi left Sarafina behind, and approached the cub sleeping my the entrance to their den, she frowned. What was the little guy doing here? Why hadn't Mufasa seen him when he left? Questions raced around in the queen's mind, but no straight answers were forthcoming. All she knew was that this cub must have appeared sometime last night, and for some reason chosen this place to rest, obviously unaware of the dangers of imposing his presence on a pride without consulting the king first. She knew Mufasa would most likely be highly accepting of the cub, but the little one was taking a huge risk by sleeping here, without even meeting anyone first.

But then Sarabi got closer, and what she saw caused her eyes to widen, and her jaw to drop. "By the Kings..." she gasped softly as she gazed at the cub. At first, his wounds drew her attention, causing her expression to reflect the horror she was feeling. The was wounded, badly...whoever had done this had most likely wanted the cub dead, making Sarabi wonder who would do such a thing to a cub, and how the little one escaped. But then she noticed his visible ribs, and obvious signs of starvation and neglect, and her horror only magnified. This cub looked like he had been neglected and abused...what was his family thinking?!

But as Sarabi gazed at the cub, she realised why he had sought out their pride...he had no other choice. Considering the fact that he was alone, Sarabi guessed that he had been abandoned by his old pride and family, and that he had sought Pride Rock out out of sheer desperation. He was starving, wounded, and could not fend for himself...he had sought out a pride because he would die if he did not do so.

Sighing, knowing that all of this knowledge meant very little, and that she needed to wake the cub, Sarabi leaned down, and gently nudged the small lion with her nuzzle, repeating the move when she felt the cub stir under her touch, sitting back up when she saw the cub roll over, and blearily open his eyes, looking up at her with piercing blue eyes that Sarabi actually found quite mesmerising...in an odd sort of way.

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As Nala woke up, Sarafina pulled back as she noticed that she had startled her daughter, but when smiled when her only child purred lightly at her presence. She loved her daughter, and nothing made her happier than those little gestures - those signs that Nala loved her back just as much. Her daughter may cause trouble, and make her worry every now and again, but she understood that all that was part of growing up...she had been on her own share of adventures herself, and loved her daughter all the more for it.

But she moved on reluctantly from those happy thoughts, reminding herself of why she had woken her daughter up. "Morning, sweetie...I'm sorry to wake you like this, but there's something I need your help with, especially if you were up last night." She gave Nala a slight smile at her last comment, letting her daughter know that, if she had woken up last night, she was not going to press the matter...although, as she thought of that, she realised she still had yet to talk to her about yesterday's events concerning the Elephant Graveyard.

Moving her thoughts back onto the subject of the cub once more, Sarafina turned towards the den entrance, and pointed a paw towards where Sarabi was, seemingly attempting to wake the mysterious cub up. "Sarabi's found a cub over there, and it appears he has come to us sometime in the night. Now, I know you sometimes have some midnight adventures when you have difficulty sleeping, and I just want to know if you know anything about this new visitor...if you do, it would really help, especially since Mufasa's out somewhere right now," she added, still unaware that Mufasa was the one to let the cub stay there for the night.

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Feeling a soft bump against his side, Tanga was slowly pulled from his already-forgotten dreams, his slow mind crawling back to life as he rolled over, feeling cold, smooth rock underneath him as he slowly opened his eyes, seeing nothing but a blurred shape, just in front of him. His mind drawing an instinctive conclusion, he quickly and unsteadily jumped to his feet, blinking rapidly to try and focus his blurred, sleepy vision. "I'm sorry I slept in, mother! I'm sorry, and I'll get right to..."

His voice trailed off, his fear increasing as he stared at a completely strange lioness...who was definitely not his mother. As he backed away from her fearfully, the events of the last couple of days came to the surface of his mind, including his meeting with Mufasa last night. Suddenly looking around, remembering where he was, he darted away from Sarabi, diving behind the rock he had initially planned on sleeping next to, peeking out from behind it and whimpering slightly as he noticed the lioness' gaze still focused on him.

Mufasa may have said that no one in his pride would hurt him, but Tanga had been given too many lies from creatures he had once trusted to completely believe it. Right now, Mufasa was the only lion he trusted...and he did not want this lioness near him until Mufasa was there to watch over him. "Please...please just stay away from me!" he called, hoping the lioness would listen. "I just...where's Mufasa? Can I see him...please?"

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Simba could not help but smirk slightly as Mufasa's saracastic response sounded completely disbelieving of Scar's nervous explanation. Yeah, that never worked for me, either, Uncle Scar, he thought. Despite his satisfaction at knowing that Scar could not get away with his nervous lies any more than he could, Simba was still curious as to what Scar was hiding, and continued to watch as Mufasa came up close to his brother, his head cocking to one side as Mufasa appeared to be smelling his brother...what was going on?

As Mufasa backed off from Scar slightly again, Simba, for a brief moment, thought that Mufasa might end it there, and that this was all just another one of their misunderstandings. But what Mufasa asked of Scar next caused Simba to paused, even more confused than before. Tanga? he thought. Who's Tanga? Simba did not know anyone in the Pridelands by that name, and having not seen the cub this morning, had no idea that their pride currently had one more member than it did yesterday.

But if there was anything that would prove to Simba that something was definitely out of place, it was Scar's response. Scar denied knowing anyone by that name, but his nervous reaction made it blatantly obvious, even to Simba's simplistic perception...Scar was lying, and lying very badly. But, for Simba, that just raised more questions. Who was Tanga? How did Scar know him, if this Tanga was not a Pridelander...and why was Mufasa so interested in all this?

[TheIvanMuse]

By this point Mufasa could already see just how nervous Scar was. He was onto something and it didn't make him happy that he was. He knew Scar was hiding something,something that had to with him. Just what was he doing with those strangers whose scents Mufasa picked up? Why would he even tell them about him? The questions that flew around his mind only asked of the worst things he could expect. Mufasa was now gazing at the insecure Scar,who obviously had troubles keeping the truth away from him.

Scar was keeping his posture up as good as he could,but he was aware that all the covering up would do no good for any longer. He didn't know how much it would be of use to keep stalling Mufasa,as his cover was pretty much blown by this point,at least it seemed that way from Scar's perspective. But he didn't want to say anything that he hasn't been asked about,as Mufasa probably didn't know all. Tanga wouldn't be so stupid to tell him everything... ,Scar thought to himself.

''Well,I have met Tanga... And he told me some pretty interesting things...'' ,Mufasa said to Scar,while approaching him. He looked calm at this point,but he was far from it,all his instincts as a father,as a protector,as a king,told him that Scar wasn't someone he should be kind to at this point. But he was still his brother,he would never hurt him. But he had to find out what was on,cause it was killing him.

Scar's eyes widened as Mufasa told him that Tanga has given him some information. What was he going on about to Mufasa? Scar didn't know exactly what to say about Mufasa's answer,so he simply asked: ''Well,what did he tell you?''

Mufasa was now tired of Scar avoiding the truth. He roared out loudly and came in front of Scar,who was by this point very intimidated by Mufasa's presence,the way he has never felt towards him before. Mufasa anger was set free at this point and he came only a few inches away from Scar,meeting him eye to eye,while growling and telling him in a very stern voice.''What have you been doing,Scar?!''

At this point Scar's fear was overwhelming him,Mufasa had seemed so vicious at this point. But he knew that his brother wouldn't hurt him,at least he hoped so. It helped him to relax a bit,but only a bit,as Mufasa was standing in front of him with a ferocious expression on his face. ''I...Nothing,I was just...'' Scar was almost mumbling,which was a rather weird image to see him in. He tired to squeeze his was out of Mufasa's demands for an answer.

''Why have you been talking about me to strangers?!'' ,Mufasa asked while he knew that Scar probably wouldn't answer him directly,he still had to make it known to him that he knew something. He knew that Scar up to something,and he didn't like what it looked like.
Scar was now completely clueless of what he'd expect Mufasa to do. He knew too much... He then summoned up some courage to just have a comeback to Mufasa. ''Oh,why do you care anyways!'',he said in a rather angry matter,even thought he didn't know why he even said. It was obvious why he wanted to know about it.

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Nala smiled back to Sarafina and said in a rather silent matter. ''Good morning,mom...'' She was rather surprised how her mother knew about her waking up during the night sometimes. She thought she was never noticed. He just smiled innocently,and confirmed her assumption.''Ermmm,yeah,I was.''

She was still a bit surprised that her mom didn't seem to be too upset about her midnight strolls. But as soon as Sarafina pointed towards the little cub,Nala,jumped to her feet. ''That's Tanga,I met him last night with Mufasa!'',she said with joy and cheerfulness in her voice. ''Simba should...'',with saying that she turned around,but noticed Simba was away. She shruged,as she knew he was probably taking a walk,possibly with his father who was away as well.

She then noticed that Sarabi at the entrance of the cave,obviously in shock upon seeing someone. She must have spotted Tanga. ''Mom,come on,Sarabi's probably with him now'' ,Nala said while already jumping of joy and waiting for her mom to come with her to see Tanga.

[AustralianChaos]

Tanga kept his fearful, half-hidden gaze on the strange lioness as she took one step towards him, causing Tanga to shy away. "Easy there, little one...I'm not going to hurt you," the lioness said in a slow, somewhat soothing voice, her calm and gentle nature doing little to ease Tanga's fears. He was too small to fight her if she decided to betray him, and without Mufasa around, there was no-one he trusted to help him out, to calm him down and tell him everything as okay. "Who are you, and where do you come from?" the lioness continued to press, causing Tanga's ears to fold back as he took another step away from this lioness. "How do you know of Mufasa?"

The steady stream of questions was quickly overwhelming Tanga's mind, and he resorted to simply lying down behind the rock, cowering and hoping this lioness did not harm him. "I-I...I..." he stuttered, not wanting to tell this lioness anything...he just wanted to see Mufasa, to know that the big lion was around to help him. But as the lioness tok a step closer still, Tanga gave a frightened mewl. "Please, miss, don't come close...please..." he begged, causing the lioness to stop, at last.

But Tanga never felt the relief he expected, for at that exact same moment, two more lions came out the cave. One was the cub he had met last night, Nala...while the other, judging by the near-identical features, could only be her mother. But this did nothing to help Tanga, as he was still mildly frightened of Nala...although he did trust her more than the two lionesses at the moment. "Nala..." he called nervously, hoping she would help him rather than act like the other cubs he had known. "Nala, please, where's Mufasa?"

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Sarafina gave her daughter an amused look at Nala's excited response when reminded of the cub. "So he's Tanga, hmm?" she said, more as a method of remembering the name rather than as a question to Nala. As Nala mentioned Simba, she quickly caught on to what she believed her daughter was going to say. "Simba hasn't met him yet?" she asked, perplexed as to how Nala could know something without Simba knowing. The price's curiosity was the stuff of legend among the lionesses.

But then Nala spoke up again, obviously wanting to show her to Tanga. Smiling at her daughter's antics, obviously happy to have found another friend, Sarafina fell into step beside her daughter. But, by the time they reached Sarabi's side, there was no sign of Tanga. "What?" Sarafina mumbled instinctively, immediately looking to Sarabi. "Sarabi, where did the cub go?" she asked, worried that the cub might have run off. But Sarabi simply nodded her head, pointing her muzzle outside the den. Following her gaze, Sarafina finally spotted the cub.

Any greeting she was going to make to the cub stalled as she looked at the young lion, hiding behind a rock, obviously scared out of his mind. His blue eyes watched them all, and his fear only seemed to increase when he noticed that more of them had arrived. Poor thing, Sarafina thought sadly. He must be so desperate for help to have come to us in the night, but he's still too frightened of us. She knew, right then, that she wanted to help the young cub, let him know he was safe here, but was not sure how to go about it...he seemed really nervous and jumpy, and just one wrong word could see him running off.

Before she could figure out how to work through this delicate situation, however, Tanga surprised her by speaking up himself, addressing Nala and asking for Mufasa. This caused Sarafina to become even more confused, as she turned to Nala for answers, "Why does he want to see Mufasa?" she asked in a small whisper to her daughter, hoping to avoid scaring Tanga by keeping him unaware of the conversation with her daughter.

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As the conversation grew more and more heated between Mufasa and Scar, Simba's sense of dread intensified exponentially. He had never seen his father and uncle this angry at each other before, especially Mufasa, and his uncle nervousness and continual avoidance of Mufasa's questions was scaring the cub. Scar was obviously hiding something, but Simba's young mind did not want to believe it. And what was Mufasa getting so worked up about, anyway...who was this Tanga that had been telling Mufasa these things?

When Mufasa's requests got more and more direct, and more and more forceful, Simba started shaking and whimpering lightly...he hated seeing the two lions he looked up to more than anyone else in the pride fighting like this...it made it impossible to decide whose side he should be on. But when Scar angrily retorted to one of Mufasa's demands, Simba finally snapped, he could not take seeing or hearing any more of this argument, and just wanted it to end.

"Stop it!" he cried, jumping from his hiding place, moving to his father's side and clutching his leg tightly. "Why are you fighting? What's going on? Dad, please...you're scaring me..." the last part was spoken with a small voice, but Simba knew it was true. This argument between his father and uncle was scaring him, and he just wanted it to end. He looked up at his father, his eyes wide as he silently pleaded for him to find a way to end this argument before it got any worse.

[TheIvanMuse]

Mufasa wasn't intimidated by Scar's sudden outburst,in fact,he expected it at some point. If it wasn't to be for Scar to answer his questions,he probably would have gotten aggressive eventually,rather than just crumbling in himself. But what happened next,shocked Mufasa. He would have never expected something to change his mood and attitude so quickly and so severely. Upon the dialogue flared up at this point,someone screamed for the bushes and jumped out. It was...Simba...

As Simba came out,he clenched himself to Mufasa's leg and said something that made Mufasa's heart break. His own son was... Afraid of him... He pulled his ears down and frowned as he felt so sorry for Simba witnessing his father being like this. He felt guilty to some point,before realizing that no matter how severe the talk seemed,it had to be done,sooner or later. And it was apparently postponed for later. As Simba looked up to Mufasa,Mufasa saw his now watery and widened eyes,literally begging him to stop the argument. He couldn't keep going on like that,as he was now much too sad for him to have any will to continue the conversation between him and Scar.

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Scar was by this point defending himself with aggression,as it was his only weapon left to use. But as soon as he talked back to Mufasa,Simba came out if the bush. Scar was relieved to see his nephew,it seemed as if he had bailed him out for now. He always found Simba quite amusing himself,but then again sometimes he did get on his nerves. Scar's intimidated figure was completely gone by now and he said out to Mufasa. ''Yes Mufasa,why are you being like that...'' ,he said while faking his sadness. He wanted to make Mufasa look like the bad guy here.

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As Scar made his almost mocking comment that might confuse Simba,Mufasa gave Scar a smirk that only meant that he should not talk anymore. He had no intentions of dealing with Scar's teasing now,as his most concerne laid in Simba. ''Simba...'' ,Mufasa said with a soothing and silent voice, ''I'm sorry you had to see this.''. With that said,all he wanted to do was to comfort his son,who he loved with all his heart. Scar had to wait for now. Mufasa gave Scar a very intimidating gaze,which could be easily interpretated. They weren't finished. Mufasa however said nothing to Scar,and just petted Simba's head with his paw,while pulling him closer. He leaned down and told him. ''It's alright...'' Simba's sad look was returned by Mufasa,as his eyes were only showing sorrow and sadness by this point.

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Nala was thrilled that she'd get to see Tanga again. ''Yup!'' ,she replied to her mother's question about the cub's name. ''No,Simba wasn't there last night...'' With that said she gave out a silent frown,she felt guilty now that she said out loudly that she was awake during the night again. She hated when she got caught doing something wrong,but her mother was always so loving and understanding,that it seemed that no matter what she did,Sarafina would always stick to her,as would Nala to her. She lover her mother with all her heart,but she never met her father. She never even asked mom why she doesn't have one... It was always that way... However,her thinking was cut short,due to that she remembered that Tanga is still out there. Then she and Sarafine made their way towards the little cub and Sarabi.

When they arrived,it seemed like he was hiding again,as his fear was pretty obvious. Upon seeing Nala,a familiar face,he seemed to have gotten some fear gone,but only a bit,as his most concerne was where Mufasa is. ''He should be around here,Tanga.'' ,Nala said with a more worried expression on her face,as Mufasa was the lion that Tanga obviously trusted the most,at least out of all the Pridelanders.

As her mother whispered down to her,Nala peered her ears up,as Sarafina was clearly making an effort not to make Tanga hear what she was saying. She leaned towards her mother and then replied. ''They have gotten to know each other earlier.''