Author's note:

"The summary doesn't do the description justice. Character limits and what not. But, the premise is simple, and hardly unique. I've long entertained the thought of doing a story in this fandom, and was hesitant to do so, unsure of my own abilities. But I've decided to give it a shot.

The premise, is simple as I said. Scar is saved by Simba, before being devoured by the hyenas. But in the time between his fall from the Pride Rock and his rescue, he begins to look back on his life. On the things that he thought were justified at the time. He begins to see the error of his ways. That is pretty much the idea, Scar finding redemption, with Simba struggling to forgive him for all that he had done.

Of course there will be more, stuff that crosses over into events from TLK2, with obvious differences of course. But that is later, the first few chapters will be in the lull, between TLK1 and the second movie.

I plan on expounding on Scar's history, and I hope I can come with some unique stuff, both his life before the first movie, and his reign.

I'm hoping my idea is a sound one for a story, and want everyone reading this to give it a fair chance. I am of course, very accepting of criticism, so long as it isn't tasteless flaming. I'm open to suggestions as well, be it for plot or future characters. Anything to improve my writing.

This chapter was beta read by Incarnate Firefly.

Fire.

It was everywhere, threatening to consume everything in its path. Yet it was the least of Scar's problems. He was currently backed into a corner, both literally and metaphorically. The hyenas had turned on him, dozens of them surrounding him with the bottom of Pride Rock to his back, preventing any chance of escape.

Even over the roar of the fire he could hear their laughter, and for the first time in years, Scar felt genuine terror. Not even the sight of Simba returning had scared him so much; once he had gotten over the shock of seeing the overgrown hairball alive, his keen mind had instantly gone to work to find a way out.

His nephew may have been much bigger and stronger, but he was also inexperienced and naive. Easy to manipulate. At least Scar had thought so at the time, but as it turned out, his attempt to deflect the blame for Mufasa's murder failed spectacularly. Not only did he fail to frame Simba, but he picked the wrong party to place the blame on. His timing on such was also quite poorly executed. Now he was about to pay the price; and this time no amount of sweet talking or subtle manipulation would be enough to get him out of it.

Without warning, two hyenas jumped out from behind Shenzi, both going for his throat. He managed to bat the first away with a sharp blow to its midsection, cracking several ribs and cuttings its flesh nearly to the bone. The second managed to reach him, but thanks to his mane the only thing it tasted was a mouthful of hair, before Scar grabbed it by the nape with his teeth and slung it roughly off to the side.

Several more immediately rushed in, attacking from all sides. He slapped one to the side, before he felt another's teeth sinking into the flesh above his left rear leg. Roaring in pain, he turned to rip its throat out, but before he could, he felt two more sets of teeth bite into him; one on his left shoulder, inches from his spine, and another latching onto his chest. Thinking quickly, he flung himself into the side of the rock face and rolled, dislodging both hyenas before they could inflict any debilitating injuries.

Scar then noticed a crevice just a few feet wide, a short distance to his left. There were no hyenas blocking it at the moment, but he would have to jump through several feet of fire to get to it. Still, any chance of escape was better than being eaten alive. So braving the flames, he leaped through the inferno, burning his back paws on some coals, before finding his way into the narrow passage.

He made it, perhaps twenty feet or so in before seeing that there was indeed an opening, but one far too small for even a cub to squeeze through, much less a grown lion like himself. With the entire hyena clan closing in on him, Scar began reflecting on everything from his cubhood to the present. As strange as it was to him, he found himself questioning his actions more than he ever had in the past; starting with his plot to kill Simba in the graveyard and leading up to the point where he murdered Mufasa, his own brother, for the throne.

While Scar had at times felt guilt in the past for what he had done, he had rarely stopped to think that it might all have been the wrong thing to do. But in the months leading up to Simba's return, he had found himself actually missing his brother more and more. At first he tried telling himself that the only reason he wished Mufasa were still alive was so that it would be he who would have to deal with the kingdom falling apart, not Scar himself. But the more he had thought about it, the more he had realized that he regretted killing Mufasa. To be sure, he was plenty angry at some of the things his brother had said and done, but when he thought back, death should not have been the answer. But he could not openly admit any of it, not even to himself. These feelings became so strong that the mere mention of Mufasa's name would bring up all the old feelings, ones Scar hadn't felt since they were both adolescents; before Mufasa was declared the sole heir. Before he allowed his darker side to consume him.

So Scar had enacted a new law, one forbidding anyone to mention Mufusa in any way, so long as it was in his presence. While most others simply saw it as him losing his mind; going mad with power, it was in reality so much more than that. It was his way of dealing with the pain; if he could forget his brother ever existed, he would never have to remember what he had done to him. When Simba returned, the illusion he had attempted to cast on himself was shattered, and all his bitterness returned with a vengeance. All his rage, his resentment, both for Mufasa and Simba surfaced once more. And since only one of the two was alive, Simba was the sole recipient of it.

Scar almost laughed at how hilarious fate could be. For the first time in his life, he was beginning to see the error of his ways, and to feel genuine remorse for his actions; but in a few more minutes he would be nothing more than a meal for the hyenas, the same ones who had stuck with him for so many years despite his rude and often cold attitude towards them. But that didn't stop him from selling them out at a moment's notice, to try and save his own skin. And that was the true irony of the situation.

He saw them. Shenzi, Banzai and the 'stupid' one, Ed, who was smarter than he had let on. He might have even been the smartest of the three in some ways, he was always the most observant of all them. They were standing at the entrance to the cave, with nearly a dozen hyenas in front of them, and countless more waiting in the shadows. Scar took a moment to observe them, expecting to see sadistic expressions of glee. Instead, they appeared almost sad. Upset, anguished even. But they could not let his betrayal go unpunished, the rest of the clan would never accept that, and Scar could see the turmoil in their eyes at what was to happen.

"Sorry it had to be this way old buddy, but you brought it on yourself big time with this." Banzai looked at the ground sadly, before Shenzi smacked the back of his head, motioning for them to leave.

One final glance back, and they disappeared out of Scar's line of sight. A part of him was touched, in that they couldn't bring themselves to take part in his death, that they still valued the friendship they used to have. But with the masses advancing on him, he couldn't allow himself to be distracted by such sentimental thoughts. Barring a miracle, his situation was hopeless. But he refused to go down without a fight, to become a meal for those slobbering mongrels.

Roaring ferociously, Scar charged at the advancing horde and brought a clawed paw down on the skull of one unfortunate hyena. Before he could even catch his breath, he felt another latch on to his other leg, tearing deep into the muscle. He managed to sling it off, but several more leaped upon him, tearing into his shoulders and pinning him to the ground. It started to become a blur, as he thrashed madly, refusing to give up. Finality a set of jaws closed around his throat, and he felt the world around him blur as his vision began to fade.

...

At the top of Pride Rock, Simba watched as his uncle tumbled down the side, smashing roughly into the rocks as he fell. To his surprise, he saw that Scar managed to get up, seemingly unaffected by the fall. But as he looked closer, he saw dozens of shadows moving around. Hyenas, dozens at least. No doubt the remainder of Scar's army. He nearly turned away, but their cackling managed to keep his attention, and he saw his uncle shrinking back, in apparent terror. It clicked right away with Simba, from the way Scar was cowering, to the aggressive posture of the hyenas, and the rightful king knew in an instant was about to happen. In a few short moments , they were going to rip his uncle to shreds.

"Serves him right," Simba snorted, but then thought on the matter more closely. Scar was a murderer, he killed Mufasa and tried to kill him, more than once. But seeing the look of horror etched into his uncle's face, Simba wondered if simply leaving him to die was the right thing to do. Did he actually deserve to meet his end in such a manner?

He figured that due to Scar's close contact with the hyenas, that his and Nala's brush with death at the elephant graveyard was his doing in some way or another. So would it not be justice for Scar to be devoured in the same way he intended his own nephew to be? More than ever, Simba was confused on what path to take, and he glanced to the heavens in search of guidance.

"Father, I know now what he did, and that he should be punished for it, but is this the answer...what should I do?"

As he spoke, a faint breeze started up around Simba. It was comforting in a way, and the scent it brought with it was very familiar. "Father?"

"Simba, the answer rests within you. It takes more strength to forgive your enemies than to condemn them. My son, do as you know I would do."

Mufasa's voice lingered in his head, and Simba smiled, realizing what his father wanted him to do. He whispered a silent "thank you" to the deceased king, before turning his attention to the roaring from below, and the pained yelps of several hyenas. Scar was attempting to fight them off, but Simba could tell that it was a doomed effort. Simba gathered a few of the lionesses and hurriedly took off, descending from Pride Rock as quickly as possible. They would think he was crazy, even he thought so. But it was the right thing to do.

Scar opened his eyes, suddenly finding himself leaping onto the bottom of a cliff face. For a moment he thought he had somehow managed to get away from the hyenas by attempting to scale Pride Rock. But once he got his bearings, he realized that he was somewhere else entirely. Somewhere that made the blood in his veins turn to ice.

What was worse was that he seemed to have no control over his body, as he struggled to climb the jagged cliff. He then heard the thundering of thousands of hooves below him, and the frantic cries of a young cub, worried for his father. He recognized the place as the gorge, the very same one he threw his brother into, but something wasn't right. That cub sounded just like Simba did as a cub. Scar suddenly got a horrible feeling about what was happening, even as he pondered the absurdity of the situation.

His body felt much heavier too, and he managed to catch a glimpse of his paws; instead of being a dark shade of brown, they were of a brilliant golden hue. At once the implications of this struck him, and as his body moved, independent of his own will, he realized that he was correct, that he was reliving the past. But it wasn't his past that he was experiencing. As if to punish him more, apparently fate deemed it appropriate to make him relive his darkest moment, from his brother's perspective. And Scar knew precisely how it was to end, because that memory had been forever imprinted into his mind the moment he committed that vile act.

As he struggled near the top, he saw his past self lean over the edge of the cliff, a cold, calculating smile creeping onto the ghastly face.

"Scar, brother, please...help me!" Mufasa begged, though it felt like Scar was speaking those words alongside him. At that point all the emotions, all the the thoughts his brother had experienced became instantly clear to Scar. He felt the sudden burst of joy, Mufasa had been glad that his brother was there for him, to pull him to safety and help rescue Simba. Then, as he felt the pain of sharpened claws pierce through the skin, Scar felt the same confusion Mufasa had no doubt felt, as they both roared in pain. But Mufasa remained hopeful. Hope that it was just another of his brothers twisted jokes, that Scar would pull him to safety; just as he would have done had their places been reversed.

But his past self leaned in, and whispered those dreadful words into his ear. "Long live the king." All the terror, the crushing sadness that his brother felt that day, Scar felt it with absolute clarity. He also felt the love Mufasa still had for him and the sting of betrayal. He felt every emotion that flooded through his brother's mind. Terror, shock, disappointment, and...regret, all mixing together at once. He then glanced into the eyes of his former self, and nearly cringed. They looked devoid of life, of compassion. Seeing himself from the outside in showed him something he never once thought he could be; evil, wicked, neither were good enough to describe what he saw, and he didn't like it one bit.

Then his viewpoint switched, with him being violently tossed back into the body of his past self, right as he cast Mufasa into the stampede. All the guilt in him rose up anew, as he heard his brother's roar of anguish for the final time. Then, as soon as the body had fallen out of sight beneath the hooves of wildebeest, everything went black again and Scar found himself thrust back into the present.

He heard frantic roaring, and hyenas growling and yelping in pain. He didn't know what to make of the vision he had just experienced, but it certainly felt real to him. But the present was what concerned him, and he strained to open his eyes, barely able to move.

Through blurred sight, he saw a huge, red-maned lion fighting off several hyenas. Scar couldn't believe his eyes at the sight. One tried latching itself to the lions throat, but he caught it mid lunge, smashing a massive paw over it's head and nearly splitting the skull clean open.

"Mu-Mufasa?"

After batting away several more hyenas, Simba turned towards his uncle, knowing that the lionesses he brought with him were more than capable of driving the rest of the mangy scavengers away.

"Brother, you're here...how..why are you..saving me, after all that I've done...why?" Not realizing who he was talking to, Scar kept rambling.

"You shouldn't...be wasting the effort...I..I don't deserve your mercy, nor your forgiveness."

Simba was taken slightly aback. Obviously Scar was delusional, and thought he was Mufasa, but his change in attitude from moments before was astonishing. He certainly seemed distraught, and remorseful enough. As if he was somehow grieving over what he had done.

A few seconds later, Scar managed to regain his focus, and he realized that it was not Mufasa who rescued him, but Simba. No doubt the blood loss was getting to him. That was the second time that day he had confused the two.

"S-Simba?" Scar said, as Simba managed to pull him over his back, supporting his weight. "You fool...risking your life for me, you should have left me for the hyenas..."

Simba shook his head as best he could. "No, Scar. If I did that, that would make me no better than you. I did what was right, what my father would have done if he were still alive." The last words were said with more bitterness than he intended, something Scar barely noticed.

Unable to remain conscious long enough to even acknowledge his nephew's statement, and certainly unable to throw out any sort of garbled response, Scar's mind drifted away, leaving the problems of reality behind and replacing those with all the horrors his subconscious mind could produce.