I own only Daraka (Swahili for 'duty'), Hodari, (Swahili for 'strong'), Amini (Swahili for 'reliable') Mpenzi (Swahili for 'girlfriend') and Binamu (Swahili for 'male cousin').

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"Long live the king," Scar sneered, and threw him backwards.

Mufasa was horrified, he'd been betrayed, and by his own brother. But there was nothing he could do about it now, so he just roared.

He fell, but landed across the shoulders of one wildebeest and the back of another, dragging them both down, and making the fall survivable. The last thing Mufasa saw before blackness came to him, was a wildebeest hoof pounding down within an inch of his muzzle.

Some of the wildebeest tried to veer, but pressure kept them bound together. Despite this many managed to jump or stumble over the king without seriously wounding him.

In time, the stampede passed, and the wildebeest that had been under him managed to scramble free and run. Minutes later Simba nudged his father, trying to rouse him, but Mufasa was unconscious, just barely alive.

After the hyenas had chased Simba off, Scar bent down to his brother and whispered, "you turned your back on me brother, I warned you about that." He sneered and continued, "but you see, with you and Simba dead, I am now the king, I have won."

Scar laughed loudly at that, until he saw the hyenas. "Is it done," he asked.

"Yeah boss," Shenzi replied, "the kid's never going to be a problem again."

"Good, good," Scar said, "now gather the pack, and have them meet me at Pride Rock."

"Aw, don't we get to eat him first," Banzai asked, "the cub wasn't much good."

"No," Scar said, firmly but levelly, "there'll be plenty of time for that later."

"All right," Shenzi said with a sigh, "come on you two, let's round 'em up."

Scar and the hyenas departed, and all had managed to miss the faint signs of life still in the former king.

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Far away, in his baobab tree, Rafiki was troubled. Something was bad in the Pridelands, but he couldn't be sure what it was. Finally, he looked up to the sky through the canopy, and asked, "oh Ahadi, something is not right in Pridelands."

The breeze suddenly picked up, as if in reply, ruffling Rafiki's fur for a few moments. "A stampede, in the gorge," the mandrill asked, "but surely..." He turned to look in the general direction of the gorge, as if trying to see, what was going on over towards the gorge, and the desert boundary.

"This is bad," Rafiki muttered, descending to the base of the baobab, and looking again. Still wondering what could be going so badly at the distant point, almost at the edge of the Pridelands, he set out.

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"Man, what is it with you Daraka," one of the wildebeest asked the fidgeting one, "we're safe now."

"I don't know Hodari," Daraka said, "I still think we should go back, I mean, what were we running from anyway?"

"I don't know," Hodari said, "and whatever they were, they don't seem to be around here now, so I don't care much either."

"Now that I think about it, it seems weird," Daraka said, "I don't think it was lions, it certainly wasn't dogs, or cheetahs, or even leopards, so that just leaves hye..." He paused a moment, "... hyenas... ...but surely Mufasa wouldn't..."

"He's a king," Hodari said, "and a lion."

"Yes, but letting the hyenas in..." Daraka said, then his expression changed, and without another word, he headed back towards the gorge.

"Hey, where're you going," Hodari called after him, but got no response.

"We going after him then," another wildebeest asked, a few minutes later.

"No, Amini, we're not," Hodari replied, "if he wants to get himself killed let him do it."

"Yeah, but..." Amini said, then paused a moment, "...how're we going to explain that to Mpenzi?"

Hodari glared at Amini for a moment, then said, "you win then, let's go." As the two of them followed where Daraka had gone, he muttered under his breath, "damn you Daraka."

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Things were not looking good. Daraka had given Mufasa's body as much of an examination as he could manage, and as far as he could tell, the lion was dead. He was just wondering what to do, when he heard a noise from further up the gorge. Straining his eyes, we could make out a vague figure, a monkey or something like one. As it got closer he could just make out that the figure was carrying something long and straight.

"Hey, what you doing there," the figure called, when he spotted the wildebeest."

"The, er, the king's here," Daraka replied, "and he's not looking good."

"And who are you," the figure called.

"I, er, my name's Daraka," Daraka replied, "and er, who are you?"

"I am Rafiki," the figure replied.

"R-Rafiki," Daraka asked, "the shaman."

"Yes," Rafiki replied.

As soon as Rafiki arrived, he began to examine Mufasa's body, and small smile came to his face, when, despite the damage, he detected the faintest signs of life. "Old friend," he said, despite knowing that the king could not hear him, "you are powerful indeed, to survive what you have been through."

Rafiki then checked Mufasa's body again. The king had at least seven broken ribs, both the collarbone and at least one leg were broken, and both the skull and the pelvis were likely to be cracked. And to add insult to injury a badly placed hoof meant that, if the king survived, his tail would have a permanent kink a third of the way from the tip.

"Is he dead," Daraka asked, indicating Mufasa's body.

"Almost," Rafiki replied, "now, tell me what happened."

Before Daraka could begin to explain, however, there were more hoof-beats, and a voice called, "you there Daraka?"

"Yeah," Daraka called back, "that you Amini?"

"Yep it's me," came the reply, "and Hodari really wants out of here."

"Friend of yours," Rafiki asked.

"He is," Daraka replied, before turning and calling, "you'll have to come and get me."

Hodari came forward, grumbling. "You'd better have a pretty good reason to..." he started, but stopped when he identified the body as Mufasa.

"Oh dear," Amini said, speaking for the first time, "was that us?"

"I think so," Daraka replied.

"What do we do now," Amini asked.

The answer became obvious, as, an hour later, Hodari emerged from the canyon, followed by Rafiki, and finally, Daraka and Amini, Mufasa astride their backs.

"Where now," Daraka asked, once they had reached the top of the canyon.

Rafiki glanced around, before pointing with his staff, "this way."

"I smell hyena," Hodari said, tensing a little, "a lot of hyena."

"Do not worry of such," Rafiki said, "I know of ways that we can use that will allow us to pass safely."

"Good," Daraka said, "because I really don't fancy meeting any hyenas at the moment."

"Follow me," Rafiki said grimly, and the three wildebeest followed Rafiki.

"Where are we going," Amini asked.

"The lands of king Binamu," Rafiki replied, "he will be safe there."

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