Simba woke up in a cold sweat, bringing his paw up to his muzzle to silence any escaping noise. His eyes darted around the dimly moonlit den, just to see if anyone happened to hear his quietness. The only thing he saw were the outlines of sleeping lioness' chests rising and falling. Wait...is he? Cautiously, Simba leaned his back and briefly panicked over the emptiness, but sighed in relief when he felt a soft, coarse fur. He looked up with a smile to see his father still asleep and not….not….

A shiver crept up the prince's spine as he thought back to the dream, no, nightmare he had.

The thunderous sound of thousands hooves drummed down below on the gorge floor. Simba scrambled up the side of the gorge, slipping from the vicious vibrations. Despite the brutal shaking, he was determined to make it to safety because his father was waiting up there for him. Although, as he hopped from rock to rock, there was one thought that kept crossing and it was: What am I doing here?

He had vaguely remembered how he got there. It had something to do with his uncle Scar...but that was all. Everything was just one huge blur. Why did Scar bring me he-

"Scar!"

A deep, desperate filled voice was heard throughout the chasm. Simba's ears perked up at the sound and he started climbing even faster. As soon as he got to a ledge, he heard the scraping of claws on the gorge walls. He turned his head and saw a golden furred lion with an auburn mane and tail holding on for dear life to the walls, barely holding his grip. Standing above him with a resentful gaze was a rusty brown furred lion with a black mane and tail. One of the lion's piercing green eyes had a scar across it. Simba whispered, "Scar? Dad? I thought he was waiting-"

He was interrupted by more scrapping, as his father was slowly losing his grip. The lion begged, "Brother! Help me!"

Simba instantly looked back at the brother, who just sat there staring as his father struggled. Getting frustrated, he shouted, "Help him!"

As if hearing his cry, Scar unsheathed his claws, dove down, and painfully latched his claws into his brother's paws. His father roared and bared his teeth down in agony. A very brief pang of relief went through Simba, thinking that he just used his claws to get a better grip. Unfortunately, the relief went away too quickly as Scar slowly leaned down to the now confused and disturbed father. A malicious smile slowly spread across his face, as he coldly, venomously growled, "Long live the king."

Both the king and Simba's expressions dropped into sheer horror at seeing this darkness inside Scar. And, almost too quickly, the dark lion threw the king off the gorge. Simba watched as his father helplessly, limply clawed at the air, as if something would save him. However, there was nothing except from the drumming of hooves and his father's bone chilling scream as he fell to his death. Simba cried as he watched his father fall, "NOOOOO!"

Hot tears ran down Simba's face when he heard a sickening crack of the king's body landing and the unrelenting hooves trampling over him. He curled up into a ball, whimpering and hoping that this is one bad dream. A sinister chuckle was heard from above him and, somehow, he knew who it was. Not wanting to be right, Simba looked up and, sadly, saw Scar staring down at him in twisted glee. The cub whined and slowly backed up, but he soon met with the edge of the ledge.

He looked up fearfully at the dark lion. The lion leaned down slowly until Simba could feel his hot breath. Scar harshly whispered, "Times up, Simba."

Before he could blink, Simba saw a large paw strike him from the side, causing him to fall of the ledge. The young prince slipped into unconsciousness as he fell into the abyss.

Simba stifled a whimper, merely thinking about the dream caused him to be in a panic. His eyes ended up wandering towards the entrance of the den and every part of him wanted to leave...maybe even find Scar. Just to give him some peace of mind, of course.

He looked back at his sleeping parents and thought, As long as I get back before everyone wakes up, I'll be fine. Concluding his decision, Simba carefully crept out of the main den to go out into the night.

The young prince walked through the pleasantly quiet Pridelands, trying to find his uncle. At first, he tried looking for him at his normal den not too far from Pride Rock, but found it empty. He figured Scar had to be somewhere in the kingdom or at least in Africa. Subconsciously, Simba found himself walking towards the Elephant Graveyard. He swallowed down a bit of fear when he thought back to yesterday he and his friend, Nala, where almost mauled by three hyenas because they felt a little rebellious. However, he did get a bit at ease because he saw his uncle heading down there before nightfall. Maybe he's going to teach those mangy poachers a lesson, the young prince thought proudly.

As he got closer to the seemingly desolate land, he noticed an eerie faint yellow glow coming from within the graveyard. A chill shuddered through the cub, but it wasn't enough to make him turn tail and run.

Once the prince carefully climbed down the hill of bones and gagged a little, he heard faint chanting inside the yard. He looked around, but all he could see was thick fog and distant outlines of bones or at least he hoped they were just bones. He took in a deep breath and reassured himself, "It's okay, Simba. You'll be fine. All you gotta do is find Uncle Scar and remember that you laugh at the face of danger. Ha ha ha-AH!" He yelped and ran off when a geyser went off behind him, heating up his tail a tad. "Okay! Maybe I laugh more on the inside!"

Blindly making his way through the graveyard, he heard the chanting get louder and found that it was coming from cave that had that same yellow glow from before. Despite knowing he could run into a cackle of hyenas, he still fled inside the cave and quickly dove for the first boulder he saw. After a few seconds, he heard steps that were synced with one another. He poked his head out from above the boulder and saw hyenas marching as they chanted, "It's great that we'll soon be connected with a king who'll be all time adored!"

"Woah! I bet they're talking about me," Simba whispered slightly egotistical. He found his gaze wandering high when he heard another voice added, "Of course, quid pro quo, you're expected to take certain duties on board."

Up on a ledge, the young prince saw a dark lion looking down at the hyenas, as if he has been with these murderous creatures his whole life and wanted to control them all. Parts of his nightmare began flashing when he noticed that Scar was wearing the same terrifying grin. However, Simba pushed down those images and thought that he must be throwing this all out of proportion. His uncle wouldn't do anything like that! He loved and cared for him...right?

He was soon brought out of his thoughts when his uncle continued, "The future is littered with prizes and though I'm the main addressee, the point that I must emphasize is..." Scar leaped down from the ledge, making Simba duck behind the boulder once more. When he ducked, the ground began shaking with such ferocity that it was splitting apart. The cave burned a bright red as hot steam filled and destroyed the room. Simba's ears flattened with fear when his uncle roared, "You won't get a sniff without me!"

A twisted feeling waved through Simba's stomach as he saw-the now demolished-ground sinking beneath. He pressed his body against the ground, frightened that he was being carried upward by a pillar of rock. He wasn't too high up, he knew that he could jump down and leave, but his curiosity got the better of him. So, he peered over the edge and continued to watch his uncle.

Scar had let to a pillar and was slowly being carried up, as he sung, "...be prepared for the murkiest scam! Meticulous planning," the hyenas chanted along with Scar, "We'll have food!"

"Tenacity spanning."

"Lots of food!"

"Decades of denial!"

"We repeat: Hail this king!"

"Is simply why I'll be king undisputed," Simba stared wide-eyed at the ascending lion, perturbed at the thought of his uncle's ambition to be king. How can he be king!? I'm the one that's next in line;plus, dad's already-no! He wouldn't really do that, would he? The young prince thought worryingly, silently hoping that his accusation was wrong. He now listed more reluctantly, as Scar continued, "respected, saluted, and seen for the wonder I am! Yes, my teeth and ambitions are bared! Be prepared!"

All the hyenas and Scar echoed, "Yes, our teeth and ambitions are bared!"

The columns finally stopped moving, causing Simba to feel a churning dizziness from the sheer height. He looked up at the dark lion and the hyena chorus that are now ominously lit by the moon and the red boiling pit below, as they all shouted, "Be prepared!"

As they all cackled wickedly, Simba couldn't take the feeling of dread and spite any longer. So, he quickly jumped down from his pillar, trying to ignore the stinging in his pads as he landed, and ran as fast as he could out of the wasteland.

Exhausted isn't the right word to describe Simba's tiredness, no, he was drained from any ounce of energy he had left. The cub would be perfectly contented to fall asleep in the middle of the Pridelands. However, with Pride Rock only a few feet away and the moon slowly going down the horizon, he needed to suck it up and keep trudging on. Wanting to get his thoughts out, he sighed, "Why would uncle Scar want the throne, especially with dad still...well...alive?"

His nightmare replayed in his mind, obviously showing that Scar didn't intend for Mufasa to be alive for long. However, Simba shook his head in disbelief, not wanting to think his uncle would go to such great lengths despite what he just witnessed. No. It was just a bad dream that's all. He would never-

"Simba?"

The young prince turned around and saw that his uncle had followed -No, not followed, just happened to go in the same direction as me- him. Before he could say anything, Scar questioned, "What are you doing out here so late?"

I could ask you the same question, Simba wanted to ask, but kept silently to himself. He didn't know how to respond to his question. What would he say? That he stumbled upon his evil plans to take over the Pridelands? He'd rip him into shreds without an ounce or regret. So, instead, Simba just shuffled his paws nervously. After a brief second of silence, Scar chuckled knowingly, "Oh! Haha! I see. Out on a little adventure in the night...without your father's approval."

The cub mumbled, "M-Maybe…."

It wasn't a complete lie. He did feel a bit daring going inside the Elephant Graveyard, which would mean he disobeyed his father twice. His uncle nodded and informed, "Well, it'd be a shame for your parents to question you, would it?"

Simba's ears flattened against his head. He hadn't even thought about the possibility of him waking his parents. He couldn't explain what he saw in the graveyard without his father punishing him for going back there. Well, what am I supposed to do now!? Simba thought slightly panicked.

As if he heard his thoughts, Scar commanded, "Come, Simba."

Before he could protest, Simba felt himself get picked up by the scruff and got carried off. He asked, "Where are we going?"

"To my den. I'd rather not have you be grounded for being a bit temerarious."

A wave relief washed over Simba, as he released a breath he didn't even realize he was holding. Uncle Scar is protecting me right now. There's no way he could be evil. ….Maybe I was just imagining things, Simba thought with a yawn. The young prince mumbled a thank you before he was lulled to sleep by the gentle swinging.

I honestly had a lot of fun remaking this and I think this is better than the original. Now, it may end up going the same route as the original, but there will be some new (major and minor) additions and there may be more chapters. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed. Let me know if you want this to continue! Please review!

Edit: Nothing new was added, just some weird errors.

Disclaimer: I own nothing except this story.