Prologue
Mufasa couldn't sleep or shake the distressing thoughts nagging at his racing minds. The king's stress was what caused the beastly lion to be deprived of much needed sleep.
Every time that Mufasa drifted off to sleep, he would reawaken in a panic. Needless to say, he would gladly have to thank the Great Kings of the Past watching over him and his Pride, for it was only a dream.
Eventually, the king gave in and decided to leave Pride Rock and perhaps go for a walk to clear his mind that was filled with worry.
His thoughts clouded with worry could not seem to focus on where could he go on his own in the middle of the night. So Mufasa decided to visit his brother, who he had not seen since earlier in the day.
He looked to his right, and then to his left, and headed in the direction he remembered his brother's private domain was located. When he got to Scar's territory, of his land, he was surprised to see that Scar's den was unoccupied.
Where was Scar? Mufasa couldn't help but wonder, looking around in the night. There was no sign of his brother, who would be there any other day.
What Mufasa wanted was to call out his little brother's name. He was sure to get a response if he had. But at the same time Mufasa did not want to draw attention to himself so he remained quiet.
He decided to sit there, at the mouth of Scar's cave and wait for his brother to return from wherever he may be. Thinking, I shouldn't of left the den...
Meanwhile, Scar snuck back into the Pride Lands from the Elephant Graveyard, crossing over the borders. A new plan had been hatched: killing Mufasa and Simba. But the question was, how would it be done? This question he asked the hyenas, but they had no idea.
Scar wasn't surprised. He couldn't expect a hyena to come up with a plan, but the thought was a start. Scar had to do the real planning, branching off from the hyenas' idea to form his own genius plan of succession.
Matters like this needed to be thought out very carefully. Scar was a great thinker, always thinking of the consequences, but no longer for the good cause. Scar's army were now under Scar's authority after being promised to have limitless meat to eat.
After earning the hyenas' love and trust, earning authority over Shenzi's clan was even easier than Scar imagined it would be.
On the route back to Pride Rock, as he neared the giant structure that the Ndona Pride shared, Scar saw Mufasa sitting in front of his den. What the bloody hell does he want? Scar wondered. Mufasa's eyes were drawn to Scar as he was in plain sight.
"Scar, I want to speak with you." Said Mufasa. Scar was taken by surprise that Mufasa was asking to speak with him. He calmed down when he saw that there was no anger in the eyes of his older brother.
Mufasa obviously had not noticed Scar sitting up on the cliff edge watching the hyenas corner Simba and Nala and taking no action to protect the cubs.
"Scar, I can't seem to get Simba to listen to me. He.. he almost died today, Scar. If I wasn't there in time, he would have. Scar, I don't want to lose my son. Now I see why father was hard on us." On me, you mean. Father's never scolded you once. You're the golden child! Scar didn't speak. Just listened in spite of wanting to speak. "Scar, I wouldn't be king if you weren't always there to give me a helping paw."
Ah, now there's an idea.
"I told him I was afraid Scar. I know I shouldn't of given him the idea that I get scared, but I just don't want him to keep going and looking for trouble. The Elephant Graveyard is a dangerous place."
"Yes, I told him that." Scar said dryly.
"The gorge is even worse. There's a herd of cowardly wildebeests. One sound could scare them," Mufasa informed Scar.
Ah-hah! Now there's a plan.
"Don't worry, Mufasa. I will watch Simba tomorrow. You and his mother needn't worry. I will teach Simba a very valuable lesson about why listening is important, I promise." Scar said in a soft voice.
"You do keep your promises. Thank you, Brother." Mufasa said, pulling Scar into a crushing embrace.
Simba never understood his uncle Scar. Scar was like an unsolved crossword puzzle. Every now and then a new side of Scar was revealed. And something about Scar's mysterious nature frightened Simba, yet at the same time, the cub enjoyed spending time with his uncle.
And this new day was a day they were expected to bond even more. Scar had agreed to take Simba off his parents' shoulders for the day, to spend quality time with his nephew.
When Simba woke up to see Scar standing over him, staring at him as he lied there waking up from a nightmare, Simba didn't know if he should be happy or frightened.
"Goodmorning, Simba." Said Scar. "Today is a very special day."
Simba looked around to see that there was no one else in the cave.
"As you see, your father and Zazu have gone to patrol the borders, and your mother is leading the hunting party. They all left at dawn."
"Where's Nala?" Simba asked.
"She's with the lionesses, I'd imagine, being taught how to one day become a very skilled huntress." Scar told Simba, making the cubs mind wonder.
"Hey, uncle Scar?" Simba asked once his mind registered a question he had put aside to ask later. "How come male lions don't hunt?"
Scar gasped like he couldn't believe what he had just heard. "My, Simba, who told you that?"
"My dad did," Simba replied, pawing at his own twitching tail tip.
"Your father is absolutely right, it's a lioness' job to do the hunting, but us boy lions do hunt sometimes, Simba." Scar told Simba. "I do, at least, in my spare time. Simba, your father asks of me to take you on a learning expedition."
"Where are we going?" Simba couldn't contain his excitement.
"To the gorge," Scar replied. He was leading Simba out the cave, but when he saw Simba staying behind, he looked over his shoulder, "Coming Simba?"
Simba bounded out of the cave after his uncle. And to the gorge they went: one of the places his father didn't want him to go.
"Has your father told you about the gorge?"
"No," Simba replied.
"I'm surprised. It's the coolest place in the Pride Lands. It's even cooler than the Elephant Graveyard. It's ancient.." Scar told Simba, enhancing the cubs uncontainable excitement.
Scar returned to Pride Rock to rest. His den hidden behind a stone, it's entrance a tiny crevice that Scar could easily slip through, was where Scar went instead of his favorite lounging spot out in the open.
Then Scar thought, being traced to his den would lead to a rise in suspicion. Scar was left in charge of Simba. Scar had to be sleeping near the scene of the tragedy—to make it look like Simba had gone looking for trouble as usual.
Scar quickly weaves his way back towards the gorge, finding an acacia tree a quarter mile from it, the ideal pick for Scar to rest. Scar comfortable stretched his limbs and lied down beneath the tree. Here he was protected from the relentless heat pouring down from the sun that hung in the sky.
In just a few hours, the sun would set. Scar hoped that he could give his coronation after the sun had already fallen. It being too late would be his excuse for Mufasa to not have a proper burial.
Scar still couldn't believe that his genius plan had gone so smoothly, and was a success. Of all his schemes to kill Mufasa, this one succeeded Scar's expectations. And because Simba was disposed of, Scar was granted the title as king.
Staged as an accident, Scar's plan would be seen by the Great Kings as a tragic accident committed solely by hyenas.
All Scar did was cue and order them, and because the hyenas were fugitives, the Great Kings didn't even look for the reason behind their motives, seeing the tragedy their fault instead of acknowledging the true culprit.
He had outsmarted everyone, and could now rest as King of The Pride Lands. A involuntary yawn and Scar was in dreamland, dreaming about what his reign might be like. Something extraordinary. Unlike any other. Truly a new era to behold.
Zazu woke up in the gorge with no recollection of how he wound up in such a dangerous place. He assumed that he may have fallen from the sky again. He stood up, still feeling light headed.
He must have had quite a fall. Laughter disrupted Zazu's thoughts, and the bird saw three hyenas appear from the thick dust cloud right below the ledge Zazu was standing on.
Ed, the name of the hyena laughing, darted away from the group, leaving Shenzi and Banzai staggering in confusion. "Ed, what's wrong with you?" Shenzi asked. "Banzai, go after him."
"You expect me to run with all these thorns in my butt?" Banzai snarled.
Some of the dust around them cleared to reveal that Ed was chasing after a stray wildebeest, who lost it's herd. As soon as Shenzi and Banzai saw what Ed had been after, they helped their friend to bring down the helpless wildebeest.
Resisting the temptation, "We're taking this to the clan," Shenzi said.
"You mean they're all gonna live in the Pride Lands? Will they all fit?" Banzai asked. He was the first one to even consider the fact that ShenI's clan may not all be able to live in the Pride Lands and still be promised endless meat that they wouldn't even have to catch.
Shenzi ignored the question, and lead the other two hyenas out of the gorge, hauling herself out carrying the young wildebeest in her strong jaws. They had no problem carrying the wildebeests' body to the clan's domain: where Shenzi announces the success of Scar's plan.
At least Mufasa was really dead. And there was no way Simba would survive. Shenzi would make sure to let every hyena know that if Simba is seen, to kill him, but if Simba was smart, this time he would listen and never come back. Scar must have really taught Simba a lesson then if he listens.
Also, Simba did not know where the Legendary Jungle was, so there was no way he would survive in the Saharan Desert with no water for very long.
Fortunately, Shenzi, Banzai and Ed cross the Pride Lands unseen.
They enter the domain. And every hyena's attention was drawn to Banzai's cactus bottom, whispering amongst themselves until Shenzi called for silence. She addressed their clans by shouting so that every single one of them heard her above the laughter and uproar. And the news that Shenzi brought easily obtained their undivided attention.
Her brief speech about Scar's victory ended with her tossing the wildebeest to the crowd of cheerers, and they chanted her name and the name of her two servants: Banzai and Ed.
And as the sun was falling from it's peak, the clan marched into the Pride Lands in massive numbers, to Pride Rock. Scar wasn't there yet. So all they could do was await Scar's return so that he may give his coronation, hidden in the shadows so that no other lion would see them first.
Only after the hyenas left had Zazu investigated the gorge. It wasn't long when he found the trampled body of Mufasa, lying beside an uprooted broken tree. The king was surely dead; his body pale, beginning to stiffen, ready for decomposition to take place. Zazu couldn't stay to mourn the king. He had to find the hunting party.
Once found, Scar was traced. He was questioned, but seemed to know nothing about the incident.
"I'd been resting." Scar said. "Simba must've run off to the gorge while I was asleep."
Nala was the only one who hardly believed Scar's story. Simba never went to a cool place without her, especially if it were dangerous. He knew not to go alone. So why had he today, after they had nearly died in the Elephant Graveyard?
And when Zazu told Scar his sightings in the gorge, of only Mufasa's body, Scar announced that his coronation would take place at moonrise.
"Mufasa will not have a burial. And Simba will not be searched for. If his body isn't in the gorge, then perhaps he was carried away by the herd. He'd of been back by now." Scar told the Pride. Only Sarabi dared object to Scar's order. "I am the king now and you do as I say!" Scar yelled at her. He felt no empathy. Only triumph in his succession, hiding any traces of remorse..
End of Prologue.