"Grass. Grass and trees. TREES!"
"SHUT UP! You stupid little FOOL!" The paws swiped, the grass was gone.
The moans of sadness rung in the air.
"I wanted to grow... a TREES!"
"I'll finish you one day, I swear!"
The words that you are about to read are those that raced through a certain young lion's mind constantly. No happiness, sadness, fear or anger could stop them.
It could never have been avoided. It was fate. One of those things that would've happened no matter what. Tanabi knew this. He used it as a comfort. But no one would ever know his little secret, and he liked it that way.
Looking back, Tanabi realised that to change what had happened, he'd have to have changed everyone involved to some degree.
Tanabi was to be the next king. He had no doubts about that, but still the birth of Kopa unsettled him. Kopa was a chubby cub who cried a lot, this was bad news. Not for his parents, Simba and Nala, but for him. The cub was healthy and this made him a threat.
Tanabi stalked around the cave kicking any pebble that dared stray into his path. He was a handsome golden cub with his mothers green eyes and a flame red hair tuft like his father. And then there were his dark eye rims. His father didn't like his eyes. He wouldn't look at them. He prefered to stare at his own feet when talking to him. This made Tanabi feel unloved. But his mother told him that his eyes were beautiful and he should take pride in them.
He loved his mother. She was the only thing in the world that he had to love and he didn't take advantage of that. He made a point of doing everything to please her. He didn't even like baths but had them just to spend time with his mother, the beautiful Queen Nala.
Then the day came.
"Tanabi! Your father and I want to talk to you! It's great news!" Cried the voice of Nala. Tanabi turned heal and sprinted to her, nuzzling into her leg and looking expectantly up at her. His father, kind Simba looked over his lands as if he didn't know the cub was there.
"Well," Nala said, "Me and your father were thinking that you might like a playmate. And well, i'm going to be having another cub!" Tanabi nearly fell over, his heart sunk.
"I don't need a playmate! I've got Nuka!" He protested. Nala and Simba exchanged unsure glances.
"Tanabi, sweetheart. About Nuka... Well, we're not sure we really want you to hang around with him anymore." She said as gently as she could.
"What? Why?!" He cried, shocked to the core.
"Well Nuka's mother is a very bad lioness and we're a bit concerned that Nuka will be bad one day too. I'm so sorry dear, I wish it didn't have to be this way" She said softly.
"It doesn't have to be this way!" Cried Tanabi, "You just presume something and you suddenly see it as fact!" He shouted, "You're both idiots!"
Simba gave a snarl and in a sudden anger, he swung his paw out at Tanabi. He hadn't meant to catch him really. Just scare him into showing respect. But he did hit him. Right across the eye. The same eye Scar had had his own. Tanabi fell to the ground, his unnecessary blood mingling with the bitter tears rolling down his cheek.