Guide us all
Prologue
Darkness fell upon the vast plains of the Pride Lands. The last shimmering rays of the sun dipped below the horizon to signal the start of another long night. The huge monolith of Pride Rock darkened to blend in with the now bleak surroundings. To the casual viewer, Pride Rock would've looked almost hidden in the darkness. However, an even bleaker outlook was about to be burdened upon the residents of Pride Rock.
A lone dark lion strode towards the giant rock formation with a blue hornbill following behind him. The lion seemed to have his head sunk low in recognition of the recent events that had unfolded that very day. A stampede of wildebeests heading through the nearby gorge had ultimately killed the king of the Pride Lands, Mufasa, and his son, Simba in a freak accident. The dark lion, Scar, as he liked to be named, was none other than the secret perpetrator of this disaster. But as cunning as he was he was about to play innocent with his fellow pride members.
Within Pride Rock, the lionesses were growing concerned over how long their king had been away with his son. However, a band of cubs were still eager to play with one another in the cave they had grown accustomed to but very oblivious to the coming revelation which would change their lives forever.
"Too slow!" a brown male cub, Chumvi, shouted as he evaded the pounce of another male cub with tan fur and a black hair tuft, Malka. The tan cub landed ungraciously with both front paws spread out on the ground and his bottom sticking up in the air. Off on the sidelines, a female tan cub with a small hair tuft, Tama, laughed at Malka's haphazard acrobatic skills while Kula, a female brown cub, joined in with the fun. Malka groaned in this embarrassment and set off in hot pursuit .
A tail's length away from Kula, Tojo, another tan cub with bright blue eyes, was the only cub who wasn't joining in on the fun the others were having. Instead he was in deep thought about his fellow team member, Simba. "Why hasn't he returned yet?"He thought with his head laying on top of his paws. He knew that Simba had apparently gone with his uncle, Scar, for a walk but he didn't say where though. "It's a surprise" he could hear Simba say about the confidentiality of this walk. It also felt peculiar that he had taken the opportunity to go for a walk when the sun was just about to display it's sunset colours upon the land. As much as he wanted to ponder over this strange situation, he was suddenly interrupted by Kula with a wave of her paw in front of his face.
"Hey, earth to Tojo" she mocked his tendency to daydream. Rather annoyed by the interruption, the young cub shook the stars out of his head, releasing his chain of thoughts and turning his attention to Kula. "Come on and join in" she persuaded Tojo knowing that the male cub was the most laid back of the group. However, Tojo just smiled mischievously at Kula who in turn gave a quizzical look at her bright eyed friend. Within a heart beat, Tojo leapt up and pounced on Kula catching her completely by surprise. The two began to tussle playfully and now Tama had two shows to watch.
At the entrance to the cave built in pride rock, Sarabi, the queen of the Pride Lands, waited anxiously for her mate to return. She thought that Mufasa was on patrol with his majordomo, Zazu, and indeed Mufasa said so but he was taking sometime to get back.
A figure appeared in her sight shadowed by the night. Trailing the figure though was Zazu. Sarabi thought that it was Mufasa and strode up to greet her husband. However, once she was close enough, she realised that it was Scar wearing a rather distressed look on his face. Even if the two didn't get on at times in the past, Sarabi sometimes referred to scar for the latest information, even if his response was mainly filled with sarcasm.
"Where's Mufasa" she questioned Scar calmly.
Scar had a talent for performing believable but fake acting. The dark lion couldn't bring his eyes to meet hers as the pain was just too much. However there wasn't any backing away from the subject, he had to tell her.
"Th... There was an accident" Scar started, "I was taking Simba for a walk where we passed through the gorge. But suddenly, the wildebeest herd stampeded through and we were caught in the middle. Mufasa bravely came in to rescue us but..." he sighed heavily trying to move the massive weight on his shoulders
"But what?" Sarabi questioned further becoming more worried by the moment
"Both Mufasa and Simba... didn't make it".
Sarabi suddenly felt like she had been stabbed through the heart. It took a few seconds to comprehend what Scar had just told her. But the realisation was to horrific. Her husband and son were dead.
Sarabi cried out in terror and ran to the tip of the peak of Pride Rock. Her entire world had just been turned upside down and there was nothing she could do to redeem herself.
Scar simply sighed and trudged on through into the royal den. "So far, so good" he thought.
The cubs and the other lionesses had heard the cry of their queen outside the den. A moment later, Scar entered the den to greet them. He relayed the unfortunate news to the lionesses and the cubs overheard it. The lionesses began to despair and mourn for their sudden loss.
"What! Mufasa and Simba dead?" Malka barely spoke as he had trouble taking in the information.
All cubs stared wide eyed and mouths open, shocked beyond anything they've experienced.
"Simba..." Tama whimpered realising that their long time friend was gone forever. Even though Tama and Simba would get into heated quarrels with the smallest things, she still considered him to be a very good friend. Tears began to flow freely as she broke down. Malka was immediately at her side trying to comfort the stricken cub.
Kula and Chumvi sulked and let some tears run freely. Only Tojo, while troubled, kept a stoic stance on the situation. He thought gravely about how Nala, the light tan female cub and best friend to Simba, would take it. He would soon find out however.
"I would like to make a speech at the base of Pride Rock, if I may?" Scar requested returning his sophisticated dialect. The lionesses all nodded together and started to follow Scar out into the open with Sarabi being encouraged to join them. Tojo, Kula, Tama, Malka, and Chumvi all followed quickly behind.
Tojo noticed Nala right beside her mother crying relentlessly. Unfortunately there was nothing Tojo could do right now to comfort the poor cub. The group of lions gathered at the foot of the rock formation with Scar taking a position on top of a large, half buried rock above the group. When everyone settled down, Scar began his speech.
"Mufasa's death was a terrible tragedy" he began shaking his head in mock sadness, "but to lose, Simba who had barely begun to live".
The lionesses sulked in despair having lost their leader and the heir to the throne in a matter of moments.
Sarabi was still taking it the worst with Zazu by her side placing a single wing upon her paw for comfort.
Sarafina, mother to Nala, bowed her head in sadness and respect to her long time friend for her loss. Nala was crouched between her mother's legs feeling nothing but a longing emptiness now that her best friend was gone. She buried her head into her mother's leg and let a single tear fall down her muzzle.
The group of cubs just all sulked in sadness not making a single sound.
"For me it is a deep... personal loss" Scar continued reflecting on his relationship with his brother and his nephew "so it is with a heavy heart that I assume the throne". The mourning group all looked intriguingly at scar's fulfilled proposition. But as they stared, dark, evil shadows began to move upon the face of Pride Rock.
Hundreds of hyenas assembled from out of the open expanse and congregated to the rock formation. Every lion, except Scar, gasped in fright as the dogs advanced on their position.
"Yet out of the ashes of this tragedy, we shall rise to greet the dawning of a new era. In which lion and hyena come together: in a great and glorious future!"
Scar immediately ascended to the peak of Pride Rock to gain overall leadership of the land. A very dark age in this pride's history had just begun.