Thanks to my new awesome beta reader Airezi for helping me out tons on this one
~*
As the vicious summer storm reached its peak outside, a small, skinny lion cubs sobs echoed throughout the dark and lonely cave that rested just below Pride Rock. Away from the others he allowed himself to cry. Alone he wondered if the pain would ever go away...or the shame. I'm not good enough, echoed in his mind.
His time to dwell on his predicament was limited. As soon as the young cub's keen, strangely pointed ears picked up the faintest sound of paw steps he silenced his crying. "Who's there?" He asked with a growl hoping to scare off whoever had wandered into his sanctuary. Though he was small and had barely begun to grow a mane tuff, he held no fear—a trait seemingly genetic to royals. "Go away now!" He demanded as he listened to the strangers' rapid breathing. Whoever it was was tired, no doubt, but this spot was taken. Unsympathetic for the lion who had just come barreling out of the rain he reiterated, "NOW!!" The moment his scream morphed into a tantrum like yowl lightning struck the outside world and for a brief moment illuminated the dark cavern.
All he needed was a brief glance.
Narrowing green eyes he hissed with anger, "Go away Mufasa." He was in no mood for his excessively chipper brother; the Golden One, the one he was always unfavorably compared to.
Paying no heed to his testy brother the larger lion cub trotted over to where the red cub sat and took a seat beside him despite the warning growl.
Barely able to see each other in the low light, the smaller lion recoiled in surprise as he felt his fur become damp. Shifting away he riled at Mufasa, "You're wet!"
"Yep." The yellow cub agreed with a smirk as he shook himself dry, sprinkling Taka. "Tends to happen when you're out in the rain!"
Knowing his brother far too well, the now damp cub decided not to waste his breath trying to persuade Mufasa to leave. Hating the rain like any normal cat, Taka would wait out the storm in the company of his overly good spirited brother. Once the storm passed he would find himself a more secluded spot, away from Pride Rock where he could think. Yes...think...he needed to think some more.
The two brothers sat in the dark silently for a while. Then Mufasa amused himself by humming some annoyingly catchy tune while Taka began to bath himself in an attempt to ignore the gratingly happy melody.
As if someone had pulled the older brother's theoretical string and quickly ending the silence that filled the cavern, he queried, "Why where you crying?"
Taka froze. Hesitantly he looked in the direction of his brother only to see red, curious eyes staring back. Blinking back the fear he was sure his sibling would notice the smaller cub responded, "I wasn't crying." He tried to sound convincing.
"Then why did you want me to leave so badly ." Mufasa inquired.
Snorting, in his usual high-brow, condescending manner Taka circled his brother and posed him with a question in turn, "Why do you think everyone so desperately wants to be around you, Golden boy?" Mufasa appeared ruffled causing Taka to smirk. The red lion always did have a way of changing the subject and disarming someone. "You seriously have a God Complex Mufasa, do you know that?" Taka spat before walking towards the back of the cave away from the pest that was his older brother.
"Don't turn your back on me Taka!" The future King sounded almost offended.
From somewhere further in the cave resonated, "No, perhaps you shouldn't turn your back on me."
"I'm only trying to help you like any good brother would do, why are you being such a moody monkey?" Mufasa called out sincerely. Taka snorted again but his brother continued, "You still sore about how I told Sarabi that Taka was a girls' name? Come on dude that's been weeks. Anyway, she got mad at me and said I shouldn't say stuff like that." Frowning in thought, the golden lion added, "She's always sticking up for you and junk...I think she likes you."
Any other day the usually placid, aloof Taka would have jumped for joy at the thought of the young Sarabi having feelings for him. Today however, he didn't feel much like jumping for joy.
With a deep sigh Mufasa wandered over in the cold dark to his brother. What could be bothering him so much?
Like in their baby days Mufasa curled up against the resting Taka. The lack of light hid the darker lion's grimace of disgust. Even when Mufasa tenderly laid his tail across his brothers, Taka didn't voice his discontent. Though it felt strange and inside he was practically screaming for his own space, the tired cub took some comfort in the warmth his brother provided.
Deciding the storm was far from done, and with the warm, cozy feeling of having someone next to him, Taka decided to rest his eyes just for a bit. Letting out a little yawn he closed his green eyes, giving them a break from a days worth of crying.
~*
He wasn't sure what woke him. Maybe it was the warmth of the sun on his pelt as it eased through the entrance of the cave, maybe the sound frighten zebras somewhere off in the vast land meaning a hunt was taking place somewhere, or more likely it was the solacing bath he was receiving. Much like a little newborn cub he kept his eyes closed in utter contentment and squirmed around happily on his back as someone diligently cleaned his neck and ears. At the moment he didn't even bother to wonder who it was or even to register the thick scent that filled the air and mingled with his own. No, for a moment Taka was merely in bliss. For a moment, Taka had some genuine attention and affection. For a moment, Taka purred.
"WHOA! You haven't purred in like forever, man!" The shrill, excited voice quickly destroyed that bliss. Reluctantly Taka opened his eyes to see a very doofy looking cub with a crooked smile staring down at him. He hoped this wasn't what Angels looked like.
Sighing, Taka heaved himself up. With a yawn he stretched the sleep out of his body and numbly asked, "How long have I been asleep?" Casting a swift glance at the sun shining brightly outside he guessed it was late morning.
"All day." Came the correction. "You were so tired, I left you a few times to get some water and stuff thinking you'd wake up while I was gone but each time I came back you were still snoozin'!"
Taka wasn't all that surprised that he had slept so long, the prior day had been a straining day...both physically and emotionally on him.
Without glancing back Taka headed towards the entrance only to stop abruptly and sit achingly straight on his haunches as he heard a loud roar echo across the land.
Mufasa didn't bother to hide his laugh as he bounded up to his brother, "It's just dad silly."
"I know."
"Then come on, dinner's ready!" Running out of the cave like a wildcat it took Mufasa a while to realize he was alone. With the tempting smell of freshly killed zebra flooding his nostrils and sound of others enjoying a feast, he found it hard to pad back into the cave.
"Uh...Taka?" He stuck his head inside,looking for any sign of his brother. "Taka? He called again. Nothing. Hm...maybe he passed me... Mufasa thought. After all, his brother was much faster than him—one advantage of being sleek and slender.
Just as the future king was about to leave he heard a strange noise. Rotating his ear to home in on the odd sound, he slowly crept in the cave. The closer he got the more he became painfully aware of its source.
"Taka...?" Peeking over a boulder he stared down at his weeping brother who didn't even bother to hide his tears this time . "What's wrong...?" He questioned confoundedly, almost brought to tears by the sight of his brother bawling. Hearing his brother cry and actually seeing his calm, collective brother cry were two different things.
Showing his naturally compassionate nature, he gave his brother a comforting lick on the cheek hoping it would have the same effect as it did last night. The red cub quickly jerked back.
Mufasa fought hard not to gawk at his brothers newest facial feature but the still pink cut stood out brightly against the dark fur. He had noticed it this sunrise in the morning sun but fought his cruious nature to ask his brother how he acquired it. Now it all became painfull clear. He asked furiously, "Someone hurt you, didn't they?"
Composing himself slowly, Taka gave a small nod and instantly ignited a flame within his older brother, "Well I…I…I'll go and tear their gizzard out!" Baring his teeth in all seriousness Mufasa swiped at the air in anger. "Tell me who hurt you and I'll kill 'em! Kill 'em till they're dead!"
As said before, bravery seemed to be a strong trait within the royal family, courage in the face of any enemy. "It was dad." But that changes when the enemy is your own family.
His bravado screeching to a halt, the yellow cub stared down at his sibling with disbelief. "Dad?" He repeated, certain he had heard wrong. When Taka confirmed it with another nod, Mufasa began to shake his head vehemently. "No! Not Dad. Na uh! He would never do such a thing, he's the Great King Ahadi and we are his sons, the Princes!" He turned his back to his brother angrily. How dare Taka try to spread such slander against such a great king! And one who was their father no less! For once, taking the role of the more mature sibling Mufasa said in a mature, scolding tone, "I'm ashamed of you Taka."
"I knew you wouldn't believe me." It seemed as if his brother's disbelief didn't ruffled Taka. In fact he almost seemed to expect it. "That's why I didn't want to tell you." Thinking for a moment, Taka growled at his brother who still had his back turned to him. "Go ahead, go home tell mom what I told you, tell the whole pride, I know you will."
Mufasa's body tensed as if he wanted greatly to do just that.
"They wont believe me either, I know," Taka continued, walking over to Mufasa who swiftly turned his face away. "Why would they? All they see is Ahadi the Great." The yellow cub huffed irritably as his brother spoke, very close to running out of the cave. "And you..." Taka spoke with contempt in his voice, "You're the Golden One, his future heir, his idol, his reason for living." Mufasa's anger began to melt away even as Taka's words grew more venomous. There was some truth within his harsh words."You're the reason for all of this! I have to live up to your level, something I can never do! You're the reason Dad hates me! The only reason!" As if a great weight had been lifted off his chest, Taka let out a deep, content sigh. How long had he been wanting to say that? It had been something he'd wished to say for some time. All the pain the so-called 'Great Ahadi' put his younger son through all correlated back to Mr. Perfect Mufasa. Taka wasn't good enough.
"You can do no wrong in his eyes and you know it!" the younger brother continued heatedly, "That's exactly why you run around here acting like a fool , because he allows it! I on the other hand am limited in every sense of the word."
Loyalty to his father urged Mufasa to speak up against his brother's remarks but with each sentence Taka spoke a recent scene would play out in his mind. Maybe father was a bit lenient on him...and Ahadi was a bit standoffish towards Taka. Occasionally other lioness would remark how Ahadi played favorites with his sons, but they weren't right…were they? And the usually calm King could have fierce temper tantrums from time to time. But could he really hurt his own son?
Forcing himself to look at the fresh mark that graced Taka's face, the future king gulped. It was strong and deep and had no doubt bleed profusely when first created. Even now it still dripped small drops of blood. It was the mark of a lion's claw.
With a deep, heart felt sigh he saw the truth. space "You can't stay in this cave forever you know," Mufasa tried to reason with his brother. "You can't hide forever from dad."
Pointed ears pricking in surprise, the shocked Taka asked, "So you believe me?" The yellow cub nodded solemnly.
"That's the mark of a lion all right. Who else would have the gall to put their paw on a Prince but a King?"
"Mark?" Taka wondered out loud. "I knew it hurt real bad but I didn't know there was a mark… In his sorrow Taka hadn't even noticed then intense pain. "Is it…bad?"
Lying through his teeth Mufasa tentatively said, "No...not really. It might leave a tiny scar but that's all. Still, Taka, there's something I don't understand," The confused young lion admitted. "Why would dad do such a thing?"
As if he had already spent hours devoted to answering that very question, Taka replied casually, "He's the King, he can do whatever he wants." It was simple, true fact.
"But I won't be like that!" Mufasa swore. "I'll be just and kind, I'll be a true King!"
"Power corrupts all. If the power is within your grasp you are bound to succumb to it." The red cub elegantly quoted something he had heard a wise but bitter old lion say.
Before they exited the cave to rejoin their pride, Mufasa smiled softly at his little brother. Bumping Taka lightly with his shoulder the gold prince said companionably, "I know we don't always get along but until we die we're brothers. I'll always be there for you little bro."
Discontent for his sibling still simmered deep down in Taka's soul. Discontent in knowing the fact he'd always be second best, runner up to his 'perfect' brother. Yet even with that intense emotion Taka was far from heartless. Mixed in with the hate and blame that he placed solely on his older brother was the love that only siblings could share. Maybe Mufasa was the source of many, if not all, of his worries, but they were still joined by the bond of brotherhood.
With a smile that was neither sinister nor condescending, Taka beamed genially up at his big brother. "I know you will."
OxOxOxOxOxO
Many things would change.
Years later Taka would cease to exist and Scar would be born. With the help of the mighty corruption of absolute power just outside his grasp, he would seize the spoils of Kingship by turning on his own.
Now as the King, HE could do whatever HE wanted.
But some things stayed the same.
Just like before, a part of Mad King Scar still loved his brother—though it was a much smaller part. The same brother he ruthlessly murdered for the crown. Even after all the years of living in his shadow and then being tortured by his ghost, Scar, in his own way, cared for his deceased sibling.
Still he felt completely justified in his actions. To him it was written in the stars that he should one day over throw his older brother. His older brother whose perfection had caused him so much pain and ridicule.
Yet somehow in death the presences of his brother lingered and grew even stronger in King Scar's mind. Mufasas' voice, his eyes, his smell was forever ingrained in the new King's mind.
Just like Mufasa promised all those years ago, he'd always be there
After all, they were brothers.