King Ahadi wasn't the first Lion King to stand at Pride Rock and proclaim it as his own, and wouldn't be the last Lion King. The regal lion had travelled from a distant pride to find his own lands to set up a pride, and Pride Rock had been his goal even since he had sighted it upon the distant horizon. He didn't have his own lionesses – yet – but he did have a mate, Uru, and she was very pregnant as they crossed the river into the lush, fertile lands for the first time.
Ahadi took careful steps towards the monolithic landmark, scenting the air carefully as he tried to ascertain if there were any lions currently living in the bountiful and beautiful place. Faint scents of lionesses rode on the wind, hopefully encouraging the couple that they were indeed in the right place.
Pride Rock itself was beautiful. The land surrounding it was lush and green, the soil rich and loamy under their tired paws. Young baobab trees grew, scattered here and there amongst the acacia trees that were plentiful to the eye. The acacias themselves grew thickly around the base of the rock, and seemed to grow halfway up the structure itself, providing cover and shade from the heat of the sun.
Ahadi turned to Uru and smiled. "I'm going to scout ahead and have a look at the rock. You stay here, my dear." The lion gently headbutted Uru and made to pad softly off, crinkling his nose in dry humour as his stoic mate responded in the negative.
"You aren't going anywhere without me, love. Who would protect you if there was danger?"
Uru's teeth gleamed into a wide smile in the morning light and her eyes sparkled. Ahadi was the picture of politeness and shook his mane in response, good naturedly rolling his eyes, and snickering. Who was he to say no to Uru? The lioness was as beautiful as her mother, and as stubborn as her father – the King of their old pride. As cubs they had been inseparable, their parents amused as the two were always together. It was obvious who the King would choose to betroth his daughter to, and as Ahadi grew into a polite and respectful young lion, he was an intelligent choice, as well as the most obvious one.
Uru's father had once commandeered Pride Rock and had successfully built a pride there, eventually leaving the Kingdom to his brother, who had only recently passed away, leaving no heir to the throne nor mate to carry on the royal line for him. After much deliberation, Uru had presented the idea to her father that she and Ahadi would leave their pride to rule the small pride currently living without a King. Although her father was not entirely accepting of the idea, he saw no other choice, and allowed it.
So here they were, paws standing on the fertile ground, Ahadi ready to meet the lionesses of his pride for the first time, Uru ready to rest (although she would never tell Ahadi that, of course!) and both lions stepped bravely forward, walking proudly towards the great landmark that would become the foundation of their Kingdom.
A soft and gentle snore filled the little den and Sarabi ran a tongue over her younger brother's sleeping form, curled between her front paws. The story of their parents finding Pride Rock was his favourite one, and although Sarabi knew precious little of those early days and how their parents settled into the new pride, she never let on to the boy. She would plaster a big beaming smile on her face and merrily make up little pieces of information to keep him happy, making sure to bring up something new each time. It was easier to recall memories of their parents that they both remembered, but he always wanted to hear the beginning story. Sarabi wondered what it was that made him so endeared to 'The Beginning', as he called it, and resolved to ask him, one day. For now, the young lioness was happy to pretend she knew more than she did, to keep the cub happy, too. Sarabi lowered her head protectively over the cub and lowered her eyelids, hoping that sleep would come swiftly for her, but as always, her thoughts always drifted to the accident. It had been a true tragedy, not through the fault of any being, just the King and Queen – their parents – had been in the right place, but at the terribly wrong time. Mercifully, it was a swift death, but as such there would be no official leadership, and the male heir was simply too young to take the throne. Sarabi – oh, so her mother's daughter! Strong, proud, brave Sarabi, would take it upon herself to simply climb the precipice of Pride Rock and let out a roar that would rival any lion! The young lioness would take the throne until she chose a suitable mate for herself, or her brother come of age. She would be the young Queen of the Pridelands and all rulings would be made by herself. It was unheard of in this time, for a lioness to solely rule, and her grandfather had protested, but young Sarabi stayed firm, and her grandfather, perhaps seeing so much of his precious Uru in her, withdraw, heartbroken, without much of a fuss after all, although he did promise to stop in every so often to help her and generally just visit.
Sarabi had spent much time with her parents before her brother was born, and they, in their infinite wisdom, had schooled her on being wise, kind and merciful to all animals, treating every animal with respect and showing gratefulness to the relationship they played in the Great Circle. Ahadi and Uru hadn't formally given the princess any lessons on 'being' a princess, but Sarabi applied her gentle, kind and respectful nature to all animals, making sure to spend time in all areas of her new Kingdom, and getting to know her subjects on a personal level. She was well loved, her kindness well revered, and every quadrant of the Kingdom rejoiced when she was around.
The young Queen rested her chin on the sleeping cub and mused thoughfully. He was only such a child, not long out of his cub spots. He was such a lively child, with boundless energy and excitement. He adored Sarabi. Especially after the accident, the boy stuck to her like glue, visiting the Pride Lands with her, asking copious questions, witnessing her make decisions, both good and bad. When she made a bad decision, she would always sit with him and explain the importance of admitting her right and wrongs. He always soaked up the information like a sponge.
Sarabi had to admit though, from somewhere, or someone, or perhaps as a result of the trauma he experienced through his parents death so young, the boy did have one fault that was quite obvious, and could be difficult to manage. He lacked empathy. It wasn't as if the young cub didn't take the time to sympathise with those he knew were suffering – it was as if he couldn't. He just didn't have the ability, and Sarabi just didn't know how to teach him the proper responses to those who were dealing with grief and loss. She had tried explaining that some people felt like he did when his parents died, but he couldn't grasp how someone else could feel the same way that he did. Sarabi was at a loss to try to explain it to him, especially as if she never found a mate, he would take the throne, and would definitely need the skills.
For now, she mused, she was able to teach him the very little that she knew, and would continue to work on the lacking empathy. Perhaps the Great Kings were hearing her tonight, for her head felt fuzzy, and she gratefully closed her eyes, feeling sleep steal upon her. For tonight, the Kingdom was safe. For tonight, she would be able to get some rest. She nuzzled the little cub gently and whispered softly into his ear.
"Good night, Taka."
Author's note: Hello everyone and welcome to my story! It won't be very long I draw pictures of these two a lot and thought I'd give it a go to write down my little headcanon of Sarabi and Scar being brother and sister. I'm basing my opinions on a few things: TLK is based off of Hamlet, so I'm setting the story in Shakespearean times, where male heirs and kings were highly regarded and women/princesses were not. (Yes, it sucks, but I'm trying to stay as faithful to TLK as I can). There was no such thing as 'in-laws' in Shakey times, so Scar sneering at Mufasa "Why, if it isn't my big brother descending from on high to mingle with the commoners" – this makes sense, still.
I've chosen to base Scar with a bit of an Asperger's personality, highly intelligent, high arousal (for those of you who aren't familiar with the term in its use for children with Autism and Asperger's– it's able to be overstimulated easily by exciting things going on around them) not socially engaged, and a complete lack of empathy. I've done a lot of research on this but if you do pick up something that isn't right in my description of him, please do let me know, as I would like to be faithful to this also. It's important to know that while I am writing him in this manner as a child, this doesn't mean he acts this way as an adult because of it, rather other events that happen within the story drive him to become withdrawn and bitter and from there the true 'Scar' is born. For now, he is still Taka. Young, bright, excitable but of course, very affected by the death of his parents. All opinions/thoughts/critiques are very welcome, I look forward to chatting with you all about it!