The hyena's swarmed in from all sides. It seemed like they would never cease, there were so many of them. Nala pressed closer to her mother, Sarafina, who nuzzled her comfortingly. Kula, her cousin, whimpered in fear and Chumvi , their friend, stood protectively in front of her trying not to betray his own fear. He looked round to distract himself and just saw the end of Tojo's light brown tail as he retreated with his birds. "Hyenas have been notoriously oppressed by our kind." continued Scar, staring strait ahead, not catching anyone's eye. "Accused of theft, abuse even murder!-"

"But they are murderers!" A young voice yowled. "They are liars, traitors and murderers, the whole lot of them! They killed my brother! And your just going to let them live here!?" The cub's eyes blazed with hatred and defiance as he looked up at scar.

Scar met his gaze calmly and replied "That may be true young Leo. But the hyena that did that was killed. And you can't hold every hyena responsible for what one or two have done." He then raised his head and continued his speech. "As I was saying, they have been accused of many crimes. But although many hyena's have committed crimes against us, has any lion ever given just one hyena a chance? Surely not all hyenas are this way? But has any lion ever done more than scorn and exile them? But I see past their terrible stereotype, and see the goodness within. With your help you can give them a chance. You never know. They could do good to the pridelands..." He turned to leave. "And one more thing. Instead of sleeping in the main cave as my brother did, I would prefer to occupy the royal caves." And with that, he left.

"You shouldn't have done that!"

Nala woke with a start. She could hear a voice shouting and another shouting back. Stretching she went to investigate. Outside the caves, a pale colored lion roared at a smaller, cream cub. Leo. And his father Ende.

"You were lucky they didn't hurt you-"

"They wouldn't hurt me!" Sneered Leo. "Your Scar's best friend."

"So I know them better than you do! Look I know that hyena killed Domi but -"

"How does knowing Scar make you know the hyenas?" Asked Leo, who was frowning.

"We used to see them when we played in the elephant graveyard. Anyway some hyenas will see the wrong in what that hyena did. But you very probably offended some of them and if you get on the wrong side of a hyena, you don't often stay alive for very long." Leo went quiet, suddenly scared.

"It's all right." Ende said soothingly. "I'll talk to him tomorrow. He'll make sure they don't touch you. And if they do- well, you wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of Taka." Leo looked at his father questioningly. "Whose Taka?" Ende looked around.

"Did I say Taka? I meant Scar. Now lets get back to Sabini and your mother." They started to walk back. Nala scrambled back to her mother before they got inside. There were allot of questions running round her head. There were laws that expressly forbid cubs going into the outlands that had been around for generations. How had Ende and Scar gotten round it as cubs? It had sounded like they had been there many times if they 'knew' the hyenas. And Scar would have been a prince under heavy guard. And who was Taka? It didn't seem like name you would accidently mix up with scar. And there wasn't anyone in the pride called Taka. Maybe he had been a cub that had died. Nala then remembered how she and Simba had gotten into the outlands by giving Zazu the slip. A lump came to her throat and tears to her eyes. It was painful remembering Simba.

Scar's coronation was a very lavish occasion. Nearly all the lionesses went hunting as there would be a feast afterwards and there was usually allot of food anyway at a feast without having to feed 100 hyena's as well. Tama, a cub with a similar fur colour to Nala with a bouncy tuft, lolled against her father, Bagra, waiting for Zira, her mother, to return from the hunting trips. She noticed her father looking grim and asked if anything was the matter. Bagra smiled down at her. "Nothing. Just your mother."

"Why? What's the-" Tama started to ask, but the hunting party came back and Tama ran to greet her mother who was talking to Digger, A young sandy coloured lioness, who had apparently just made her first kill. Zira, who had mentored her, was very pleased with her.

"-And when you ran at it, well it didn't see what hit it and- oh! Hello Tama dear." She bent down and licked her daughter's ear, while Digger playfully cuffed her. In the background, you could see Kula's dark brown body sneaking up to steal some meat, before her mother, Sanura, caught her and she played with Nala and Tojo (and his birds) instead. Zira straitened up and continued talking to Digger.

"Well last night me and Scar well..." She blushed and Digger gasped and said "What!? Oh Great Mohatu you didn't!" Zira nodded.

"Oh my- well at least your not-" Digger whispered so Tama couldn't hear. "-in heat." Zira shrugged.

"I would proudly bear his cub." She said, still blushing. Digger grinned.

"Well that's good 'cause I think he's all set to make you his queen."

"Oh don't be silly." Said Zira, but a small part of her knew this was probably true.

The crowning ceremony took place in the late afternoon. The animals of the lands crowded round pride rock to watch. Rafiki called on the great kings of the past to look down on him and care for him, like they did his ancestors. He then put some goop on his forehead and he walked to the edge of pride rock and roared. His Father and king before Mufasa, Ahadi Roared afterwards. The rest of the pride followed their lead.

The feast was magnificent. Allsorts of meat were up for grabs and the pride (and the hyena's) fell on it, Kula especially. For an hour everyone ate themselves silly then rested, under the evening sun.

Ahadi then made a speech about how proud he was of his son and how he hoped he would carry on the peaceful reign that Mufasa had started. Scar's mother Uru was licking him tenderly, as if he were still a cub. When she had finished, Scar stood up and started a speech. He started off by saying how sorry he was that his brother's reign had been cut short and what a good king Simba would have been. Tama saw Nala trying to wipe the tears of her face. He continued by thanking everyone from his father to his first kill then he said he had a very special announcement. Tama noticed he was looking at one particular lioness.

Her mother. Zira.

"Zira. Can you come up here please?" As Zira sat down beside him, Tama noticed a complete change in her attitude. She looked as if she was in paradise, by just looking into his eyes. Tama hadn't seen that look in ages, when her mum and dad were together. Scar also looked deliriously happy and his voice trembled as he spoke.

"Zira. Will you do me the honor of being my queen?" Zira took a deep breath and answered.

"I will"

Their wedding was scheduled for a week after the proposal. It was to be even more lavish than the crowing ceremony; though with not as much food ("otherwise we will have no more to eat afterwards!" Laughed Zira ) Being Zira's daughter, Tama was to be in the procession. She, Zira and Scar often had little private meetings ("So we can get to know each other as a family" Smiled Scar) in which they usually discussed the wedding, each other or just gossiped.

"- And you Tama, until Zira and I give you a brother or sister, shall be made first in line for the throne. " Scar told Tama who was lying across his paws. "Cool" remarked Tama. "Who's second?"

"Young Leo." Tama looked at Scar skeptically.

"That idiot?! All he thinks about is himself!"

Zira laughed "I'm sure he has many great qualities." Tama snorted.

"Yeah, right." She paused. "Does that make me a princess?" She smiled sweetly. Scar smiled too. "Yes it does."

It was amazing. Everyone who was in the pridelands attended as did some royal families from neiburing prides. Scar stood nervously at the bottom of pride rock, Uru still licking his mane tenderly. "It's all right to be nervous son." Ahadi reassured him. "I felt like this when I was to marry your mother." Uru looked up from her grooming and looked at Ahadi with a playfully questioning expression. "Well I also felt excitement, love and happiness." Ahadi replied quickly, smiling sheepishly at his mate. Uru chuckled and nuzzled him. "Thanks Dad." He said, smiling. "And thank you too Mum. I look great!" His usually scraggy coat gleamed.

In a cave close to pride rock Zira was getting ready too. Her friends helped her: Sanura was grooming her to perfection, Sarabi was overseeing the order of the procession, sadly thinking back to her own wedding and Sarafina was helping both of them and generally boosting Zira's confidence. "It'll be fine!" She said smoothly, helping her sister untangle some fur behind Zira's ear. "My own went brilliantly." Said Sanura between licks.

"Yeah? Well yours wasn't in front of the whole kingdom." Zira laughed, then, turning her head "How are they doing Digger?"

"Surprisingly well for their age!" Replied Digger who was supervising Nala, Kula and Sabini, Leo's sister, grooming Tama. It was very true. She looked magnificent. "Well then." Said Sarabi, walking in. "I think we're ready."

The procession started. First Zira's family, then Scar's. Scar's friends followed. Then came Zira herself, looking radiant, followed by her friends, and finally Tama. Ringa, a stocky, orange lioness cub gasped at how pretty Tama looked, while Jisifu, a scruffy, golden male cub just gawped, only half listening to Leo talking about how grand his wedding was going to be. "- and there will be so much food you can't eat it all and 100 lions in the procession and-"

"Oh shut up Leo, you know it won't happen. Unless you marry Tama or something, which isn't likely to happen as she thinks you're a prat!" Sabini, Leo's pale yellowy-cream sister said sharply. Leo opened his mouth to say something, shut it again and started to sulk. The procession met pride rock and Rafiki started to say the ancient vows that would bind them together. "Doesn't Zira look lovely?" Whispered Kula to Nala. "Yeah- which is surprising as she doesn't look much!" Replied Nala.

"Nala! That's our queen you're talking about!" Gasped Kula in mock horror. They both giggled.

Rafiki shook his stick above Scar and Zira's heads, took one of the fruits of it, broke it, then spread the goo across their foreheads. He then bowed and backed away. Scar smiled at Zira and they began to ascend pride rock. As they got to the edge, Zira looked around at the assembled animals; the herds, the monkeys, the pride her friends and thought how lucky she was to be queen of all of this. They both took a deep breath, and roared. The animals bowed, the monkey's shrieked and the lions roared as well.

The feast was brilliant. It was like a massive social event, with lions talking, laughing and congratulating the new couple. Scar was grinning quite stupidly, as though he couldn't believe he was married. Zira smiled and thanked everyone who approached them, still ridiculously happy. Yet again the lions ate their fill, rested then, those who wanted to said their speeches. Among these people were; Ahadi, Uru, Zira's parents, Mara and Kuuma, various other friends and relations, then finally sarabi. As she stood up, a wave of silent respect and sadness washed over the assembled lions. Sarabi smiled, then started

"I am very happy that my brother in law has found love in one of my best friends, as I knew his sadness when his betrothed, the princess Shika of the drylands pride died all those years ago." She paused to nod to Shika's parents. "I have of course, suffered my own great loss, that of my husband, the late king Mufasa, and my son prince Simba. Words cannot express my sadness." She paused again to sniff despairingly. "Sorry. But it seems that Mufasa left me a beautiful gift before he died." She smiled bravely. "For I am now carrying his second cub."A gasp went through the crowd and Sarabi turned to king Scar. "King Scar. I know he cannot be king like his father, but I beg of you to find in your heart some love for this cub. He will need a father figure." She looked at him pleadingly. Scar looked as though he was considering for a moment then smiled. "Of course. Now I think it may be time to retire for the night"

As the lions started to get up, Sarabi smiled. 'Maybe things won't be so bad after all' she thought. Maybe Scar will carry on the peaceful reign that Mufasa had started and his surviving cub would grow up in a place like in which its brother had lived.' And with these hopes, she walked into the cave.

So this is part 1! I hope you liked it and I would appreciate it if you would leave a comment at least!