Adui watched the sun rise like a plate of fire lightening the table that was a pale orange sky. He finished his meditation when a dark, cloudy mass swerved through the sky. At first, he thought it was a large flock of birds, but it moved at an extraordinary speed, and directly towards his tree.
He rose regally and took hold of his staff, before diving off the tree that he was sitting on, and kept the staff in front of him. He landed with the staff breaking the fall, and he flipped and landed on the earth. Despite his age, he was an agile mandrill.
The ears of the mandrill detected a faint and cold voice which said:
Help was given to the avenger
Our advantage will not last forever
Little do they know our arsenal
Blind they are to our movements in shadow.
Long will we wait for the soul
He who will come and make them woe.
"Ibilisi, why must you speak in riddles?" Adui asked bravely.
"What is the condition of Scar?" Ibilisi asked.
"As of yet, he is unwaken," Adui replied.
Ibilisi compressed his cloud form into the lion that everyone feared. He followed Adui into the dark tree. There they saw the battered body of Scar, who bore
horrific burns to his paws, legs, arms, face and back, with almost every inch of his unrecognisable body covered in cuts and gashes.
"De hyenas broke several ribs, all of his leg bones and de fall must have damaged some vertebrae," Adui commentated on the images shown by an otherwise black ball of marble.
"The fire caused almost total burns to his body, otherwise unhealable, but our ability should just do dat," Adui added.
"Now it is a game of patience," Adui said.
"Patience? Where did patience get anyone? Only failure and aging," Ibilisi scoffed. He held a paw over Scar's face and the edges of the countless wounds glowed as a yellow light ebbed away the burnt skin and closed the most severe cuts that had allowed blood to pour from like a spout. In place of the furless skin, Scar's red fur sprouted back like grass and all physical traces of the injuries had vanished. The pain, though, would linger, for Ibilisi knew that a time would come when Scar would be most dangerous, and the Pride Lands would be most vulnerable. This was when he would instigate his plan to get Scar on the throne once more and exact revenge on those who banished him from the universe just for his beliefs. Ibilisi's dark magic also realigned the broken bones with the sickening sound of a harrowing crack of the bones instantly fusing together.
Scar grunted as he pushed himself up, the pain of his wounds still evident. He would find a river or something to wash his many cuts and gashes to prevent infection, he decided giving himself a quick onceover.
A stinging pain tortured his skin as the wind blowed as soft as a delicate breath. He could hear voices, both shallow, yet deep and heavily accented. They echoed as his dark dreams and mortal memories fill the space of sleep. His thoughts were clouded by the presence of a dark being, as dark as his deeds and as foul as his intentions. His thoughts were as followed as his vision came unto Ibilisi in lion form.
Fire and darkness I saw before my eyes rejected light.
Carried I was before I wake and see thee with fright.
When now does my sun fall, where does my fate lie?
Why do you keep me, why do I not die?
End my suffering, Lord of Death!
End my reign. End my life.
"Silence with your poetry, Lord of Kiburi," Ibilisi ordered.
"When I last felt the fiery air in the night, I was in a pain as violent and excruciating as the fire that engulfed my palace. I hear the birds and feel the breeze, but no longer do I suffer pain, only the memory of my dark deeds," Scar said, partially lying about the pain part.
"Hark! He regrets his actions! You shall retain your treacherous nature, thou Kingsbane!" Adui shouted and aimed his metal staff, with the white ball of marble glowing.
Scar snarled, instinctively swiping the stick out of Adui's grasp giving the mandroon an icy glare before stepping out of the tree to find a lesser known stream that very few knew about he needed some time to himself alone to think, and was rather thirsty.
Scar soon came upon said stream, and taking his time to savor the cool freshness of the water as he drank before steeling himself as he submerged himself to wash clean his wounds wincing slightly on emerging due to the water stinging his wounds – which to him felt like acid melting his skin away. Stepping onto the shore, he looked up at the star-full sky, many which shone rather brightly. But one specific star that shone brighter than all the rest caught his attention as he silently stared upon it.
He didn't know how long he had been silently staring at the star as he had been reminiscing the past and of happier times gone by – the times as cubs he and his brother managed to sneak off to play with each other. He recalled a promise they had made, aside from being there for each other when they were needed most as he had truly loved Sarabi then. He wasn't meant to have heard the conversation between his parents and older brother, yet he had on passing by – it was about the tradition of betrothal, both brothers learning of Mufasa being betrothed to Sarabi.
He recalled giving a silent snarl at that moment, crying as he ran off to be with those he considered his true friends – and family, who happened to be hyena. He didn't know why his mother had hated these creatures, regardless he had felt betrayed by his parents and brother.
Scar snarled to himself swatting a pile of sticks and twigs aside in frustration as he thought back to what had happened when they were younger, but still not teens and later on when they were very young adults.
He cursed inside his head the foolish feline that conjured sour memories. The lipard was Ahadi, the one who ruined the dreams of the innocent cub, effectively creating the monster who murdered his brother. He wondered through his memories like the cub he once was exploring a meadow filled with flowers as beautiful as his memories and his loving deeds, but his life had turned down a dark avenue that went through a lifeless area of the forest in which he committed the last deed as a free lion. The memory of one of the many events that moulded his life lingered in his mind, for it was the destruction of his Lion Guard that confirmed the fate of Scar as a servant of Ibilisi. The ritual of acceptance was to commit an unforgivable act, such as what he did.
Scar's thoughts were then ended abruptly, as was his reign as king. He felt a sharp pain as two needle-like fangs pierce the skin of his right paw. Out of reflex, his paw lifted itself and revealed the rope-like serpent that sank its fangs into his paw. He shook it off hoping the water would delay any effects of potential venom as he dipped his paw back in the water then he focused on where the snake had landed that hissed a warning to him to be more careful. Unfortunately, when he saw what type of snake it was that bit him – an Egyptian Cobra.
"Damn..." Scar growled as a slight fear gripped him, I should have been paying more attention!
Scar paced, it wasn't like him to have been that distracted and he knew that was one of the more dangerous and deadly kinds thus the first thing he tried to do was not panic and calm himself. He also wasn't one that was keen to show weakness – at least, that's what he considered it in front of Adui much less Ibilisi.
Mlezi had been visiting said metal tree, delivering to Adui a leapard body that was still in a sense alive but lacked a spirit, a soul. "Perhaps this may be of use to you" She bowed to the mandroon and his current visitor that was Ibilisi, she however showed no fear to the dark being. Then the young lipard cub left as silently as she had appeared, heading back towards the Pridelands to finish her duties...
"Why did he react in that way, my Lord?" Adui asked once the lipardess had left.
"That is one of the few things I do not know, I must search his mind for the answer," Ibilisi replied with a voice as cold as ice.
Scar, intertwined with his memories of both innocent and evil, heard a voice speak his name with a chilling voice.
"Scar, what is done is done, there is no need to look back, you must look forward to your future," the distorted sound of Ibilisi's voice said.
"Forgive me, but do I not have a right to memory? I was once a weak, naive and foolish cub who believed in the Circle of Life, but I was content," Scar growled laying down with his paws crossed.
The eyes of the lipard saw an epic scene: The rain cleansing the land of the shadow of the hurt and evil it endured by the paws of her father. The son of the victim of her father had announced to the world that the true heir of Kiburi had returned, and that meant one thing: Scar, the father of Mlezi the lipard had been overthrown by Simba.
Moments Earlier...
She left the viewpoint from where she could see the lionesses roaring in grateful acceptance of the return of the king. She walked to a henge of towering stones that surrounded a hole in the saturated ground, quickly filling with water. She began to cry as she crawled through the muddy path to her own lair of a surprisingly magnificent size. The walls of the cavern were plastered in intricately detailed
paintings and medicinal remedies contained in the countless empty gourd and coconut shells, for she was a shaman like Rafiki and Adui, and under the guidance of both mandroons, she was turning out to be a skilled healer, though her allegiance was undecided. She was naturally a kind-hearted lipard who knew right from wrong, but under the teaching of her father, the promise of power was attractive to her.
Suddenly, a sudden blast of cold air took the lipard off her feet. She was briefly dazed and confused until she saw that the cavern darkened considerably, so much so that she thought that she had turned blind, it was darker than the cave during the night.
The cloud that dwarfed the lipard cub reduced in size, and it turned into the shape of a black lion with fiery red eyes. It was Ibilisi.
Mlezi wanted to scream in fear, but her voice was stolen. Her fear was beyond the ability to scream. She heard inside her head a distorted voice that told her that she could be useful in his quest.
"I offer thee a chance of unyielding power, greater than your furthest imagination, all I ask of you is that you end the life of a leopard," Ibilisi bargained.
Mlezi was astonished. She would have liked power, considering her father had seemingly fallen. She was hesitant about basically killing one of her own kind. However, instead of rejecting, like a foolish soul would do if they wanted to remain alive, she accepted.
Mlezi was about to exit her lair, but the ground rumbled under her feet, and it was as if the cave rotated, and light ebbed away the darkness, but it was not a pure light. The beige sky dominated the scene as Mlezi fell from a small height. She had been transported through a short period of time and to a different place: The Land of the Leopards.
She then saw a young male leopard wandering in the savannah, and it noticed only that Mlezi was present. She looked for the black lion that was Ibilisi, but was almost alone in the scene.
"I want you to kill that leopard," Ibilisi ordered, the voice inside her head being a heavy weight in her mind, like a burning headache.
"Makucha? But...he was my best friend!" Mlezi protested.
"I care not! It is a kill or be killed world, Mlezi," Ibilisi said.
Mlezi took a sigh of regret, with her mind set on ending the life of her friend. It was perhaps the last thing she thought she would do, and the last thing she wanted to do, but it was what she must do.
"Mlezi? Is that you?" Makucha asked, bounding towards her.
'Oh, hi, Makucha, mind if I just kill you?' Mlezi thought about the sudden betrayal that she would have to exact. She sighed and accepted her challenge.
"Yeah, long time no see!" Mlezi commented.
"How are things?" Makucha asked.
Mlezi's face dropped like a stone off a cliff. "My...father was dethroned," she said sadly.
"Oh, I'm so sorry," Makucha exclaimed. "I'm not sure if I should say it...but, I was chosen as the next ruler of the Chui Lands," he added, concerned that Mlezi would be further saddened or become jealous.
"Oh, congratulations. Don't think I wouldn't be happy for you, I'm not gonna be jealous of you or nothin', like, Nuka had more of a chance at being the ruler of the Pride Lands than me," she chuckled.
Suddenly, another wave of icy cold wind blew through the grass and a black cloud brewed, a dark shadow blocked the pale daylight as the face of Makucha stiffened in fear as the figure of Ibilisi descended from the cloud like a fallen angel.
"M...m-aaaaagh!" he screamed as he feared for his life and dashed through the grass, his slender body darted towards his home like a knife cutting through green flesh. Ibilisi extended one of his paws that were as dark as the deepest caverns within the earth, and Makucha froze in the air. He shivered and twitched as he feared as much as he tried to escape the freezing enchantment cast by Ibilisi.
"Do it!" Ibilisi demanded as he rotated the stone-like body of Makucha
Mlezi looked at the God of Death, and then chanced a look at the leopard cub. Never had Mlezi seen such fear in the face of a living thing. The poor leopard probably didn't know what Ibilisi was, for it was a long time since the stories of the lions of old were told amongst the leopards. Makucha didn't feel a reason to be impossibly frightened, it was the natural reaction in the presence of Ibilisi.
"DO IT!" Ibilisi's voice exploded in angry impatience. The cloud grew once more and a gale-like wind caused the black mane of Ibilisi to fly.
"Ibilisi, wait. Please, let him go - I have an idea as I plan to take the King's Stone when I have the chance, and training as a shaman I know that a soul transfer isn't necessary." Mlezi looked up at the dark lion form as she spoke. "You'll just have to trust me, I can't say anything about the idea incase someone be it Rafiki or the Kings of the Past hears me."
"You need not speak, for your thoughts are as clear as your friendship with this leopard. You think you can retrieve the shards of the King's Stone for me?" Ibilisi questioned. Mlezi nodded, afraid of his reaction.
"It is decided then, you will have one year to find one shard of the Stone, or this leopard dies," he said, and the frozen leopard fell limp.
"He'll wake up in time and know nothing of this encounter," Ibilisi assured, sensing pity from Mlezi for Makucha. It was said that anyone who came across Ibilisi lived a long yet horrible life of insanity and suffering.
"And if I happen to find all shards?" Mlezi asked as she picked up the leopard cub onto her back and walked slowly towards Makucha's mother's home which was a bit aways as she listened for a response.
"If all shards are found, it will do wonders in our quest to rule the universe, though I would be impressed, for the shards lie on the slopes of the Drakensbergs and the peaks of Atlas, they are buried in the sands of Dakar and Zanzibar," Ibilisi listed.
"Are they far away?" Mlezi asked.
"Farther than any migrant travels with four legs, only birds travel such distances," Ibilisi replied.
Mlezi would have moaned in exasperation had she not been in the presence of one of the most powerful and undoubtedly the most feared beings in the cosmos. He was more feared than death, because he is death.
The distance might have seemed far to her, but due to what happened with her Pride she was rather used to traveling long distances by running with little to no rest in between.
Any other looking on might have found it ironic on hearing her story of her past. It was near identical to Simba's own, just with Hyena brothers in the place of the lion brothers. An other difference was that, the Unabii Pride soon got caught up in a rivaling clans and prides fight which trapped many herbivores forcing them to fight as well. It was during this chaos that her leopard mother Bashiri picked her up and ran, but she lost her mother after being tossed into a cave by being gored by a buffalo. Scar, her father though at the time she hadn't known he was found her and brought her to Zira to grow up alongside Kovu and Vitani then.
"Mavuto… You were a good friend…" The cub sighed, shaking her head to clear her thoughts as she delivered Makucha to his parents. "He'll be alright, he just needs some rest" She smiled up at the leopards.
After saying her farewells to the leopard parents, Mlezi soon found herself back in the Pridelands. She noticed a certain lion, the king drinking from the waterhole as she slowly approached it herself, feeling rather parched.
"Uh, good..day, your majesty," Mlezi stuttered, not exactly sure what time of day it was having been teleported through time.
"Uh, sure," Simba replied, certainly having seen better days as a Pridelander, though he was at last content.
Simba frowned at the lipard cub after a second glance, he saw an uncomfortable resemblance with a certain lion who murdered his father. Simba assumed that the lipard cub was the offspring of the bane of his father and for this, he made a pre-emptive judgement.
The cub kept looking between the mighty lion and the fresh water as she tried getting closer to the water.
"Are you a daughter of Scar?" he asked the lipard cub.
"Y-yes," Mlezi answered, afraid of Simba's reaction. "B-but it's not my fault that I am his daughter, I cannot choose my parents," Mlezi pleaded the suppression of Simba's prejudice.
"Silence! You share his blood and flesh! You do not deserve the water that he deprived this land of," Simba claimed.
"No, I do not share his beliefs, nor was he responsible for the drought or the famine, it was beyond his control!" Mlezi defended.
"How dare you defend the undefendable!" Simba shouted.
"Simba? What's going on?" Nala asked as she too came to the pond to drink.
"This freak is the daughter of Scar," Simba said.
"So? Why do you let your prejudice and anger blind you from innocence?" Nala asked.
"Simba, do you honestly believe he was at fault for the water issue? The drought was long and harsh, the plants withered and decayed. Otherwise, there'd have been greens still even if the herds had left. Secondly, herbivores will eat a little meat if they're lacking nutrition." she gave a relieved glance to Nala, thankful that someone who had some sense had backed her up.
"I'm training under Rafiki, I know your laws and what Scar did wasn't right, and my foster mother, Zira, is just confused. Do you honestly expect her to obey a new set of rules after following old laws for years in less than a day? Kind of selfish if you ask me. Now, excuse me," the lipard cub spoke, taking the chance to get her drink and honestly didn't care nor would blame him if he struck her as she heard the King's growl.
"I will not be defied by the spawn of a tyrant!" he yelled and prepared to strike the cub, but only when Nala pounced and pinned Simba to the floor did he realize his mistake.
"SIMBA! What is wrong with you? Would you really go so low as to strike a harmless and defenceless cub? That is no better deed than one of Scar's," Nala said to her mate.
Simba felt dreadful for his behaviour. He had almost hit a cub just because of her parentage. He was ashamed and embarrassed of this.
"Oh, what am I doing? What King threatens to harm cubs?" he asked himself.
"I'm so sorry, I don't know what came over me," Simba apologised to both Mlezi and Nala. However, when Simba chanced a look at Mlezi, he felt unparalleled guilt as she was holding her eye in pain. Blood trickled between her paws after a rogue paw did indeed hit Mlezi.
"Oh, no! What have I done!" Simba gasped. He walked briskly towards Mlezi in an effort to comfort her in any way.
"You've done enough, Simba," Nala said. "C'mon, Mlezi, we'll go see Rafiki," Nala followed the lipard cub.
Angry at himself, Simba swiped the water in frustration and regret. His anger had caused harm to an innocent cub. Some king he was!
Mlezi paused to look back at the King, revealing a fresh scar over her left eye and without waiting for a reaction she followed Nala to find Rafiki.
Simba could try spending some time with her later after it's been treated.
The cold wind blew against the hurting eye of Mlezi and it stung like a fire was burning her eyelids. The blood continued to trickle down her face despite her paw covering her eye.
"I'm really sorry about Simba," Nala apologised.
"It's okay, I suppose he is still mentally scarred through the revelation," Mlezi said.
"But there is no excuse for hitting a cub," Nala replied.
"He is still young and will learn for many years through the mistakes he will make," Mlezi defended Simba.
"You would forgive him?" Nala questioned.
"The only thing to do is to forgive, life is too brief to hold grudges," Mlezi said.
The lioness and the lipardess soon arrived at Rafiki's tree. The mandroon noticed their presence and gasped at the sight of his injured apprentice.
"Mlezi, what on earth happened?" Rafiki asked.
Unsure whether to reveal the truth, Mlezi decided it would be better for her conscience to come clean.
"There was...an argument between Simba and Nala about my relationship with my father and I got caught in the crossfire," Mlezi recalled.
"Oh, well, we must get some ointment to dat right away, den we will attend to de wounds of de lionesses," Rafiki planned.
"I'll go see how Azra is doing," Mlezi said.
"How do we know if she'll be loyal towards Simba? There is no doubt that she shares the same beliefs as Scar and Zira," Nala asked.
"That's if she survives her malnutrition, her body has rejected any food or water that has gone into her mouth," Mlezi reported.
"Den I am afraid dat we can do no more than to wait for death to collect her," Rafiki sadly announced.
Mlezi's ear twitched at the mention of death as she held the lioness's paw, having her own encounter just a bit ago with Ibilisi.
After a moment of silence she spoke up, "I am more concerned about Zira. This isn't the first child she has lost, and even I know one can only go through so much loss and pain before they succumb to madness…" She shook her head sadly, despite her eye bothering her still.
After having ointment applied to her wound, Mlezi walked towards the solitary cave where the critically ill daughter of Scar and Zira lay helplessly. There was nothing that could be done to save her. Her body was thin, weak and failing. Already, Azra was a smaller than average lioness after a premature birth accidentally...
Mlezi sighed, resting her chin on the lioness as she thought quietly to herself, 'If you can hear me, all I ask is for one last day and night with her...'
The light that flooded into the cave had suddenly gone, as soon as Mlezi's wish was thought, darkness fell upon her surroundings.
She gasped in shock as the unexpected sight of Ibilisi met her eyes.
"Have you come to claim her?" Mlezi asked.
"No, young Mlezi," Ibilisi replied.
"Why do you not shield yourself from unfriendly eyes?" Mlezi asked.
"Because I am not truly present. I have invaded your mind so that you can communicate with me," the black lion said.
"I would've liked to be asked, but...y'know, Ibilisi isn't to be questioned," Mlezi said.
"I have heard your wish, though I cannot grant it in full. I will awaken her so you can have one last conversation," Ibilisi said and disappeared.
"Mlezi?" a raspy sound escaped the dry mouth of Azra.
"Azra! You're awake!" Mlezi feigned her astonishment.
"Yeah, I guess I will make it after all," Azra hoped.
"Uh...yeah," Mlezi agreed with a great deal of guilt. Azra had given herself hope, but it would soon be stolen from her.
"Where's mother and father? I think they would like to know I'm awake," Azra supposed.
"Oh, I'm sorry to be the one to say it, but our father has died," Mlezi announced, and this caused Azra to gasp.
"No, w..what happened?" she asked.
"Simba, the son of Mufasa, killed him," Mlezi announced.
"What?" Azra gasped, but this reaction caused her to enter a coughing fit that pained her lungs, and when it was ended, Azra spat out blood and grimaced.
"Be careful," Mlezi said. She stroked her half-sister's cheek, gazing with love, sorrow and guilt into her crimson red eyes.
"How long was I out?" Azra asked.
"Oh, a good couple of weeks," Mlezi replied.
"Bloody hell!" Azra raised her voice, but she fell into another violent coughing fit, and when she eventually escaped the prison of coughing, she decided to say her last
words before it was too late.
"Mlezi, I thought I had a chance, but it seems that the spirits woke me only to speak with you," Azra said.
"I'm so sorry, I failed to save you," Mlezi apologised.
"Don't be sorry, if you or Rafiki couldn't have saved me, no one could," Azra claimed.
Mlezi looked dejectedly at Azra, "I… am concerned, about Zira… and them; Nuka, Kovu & Vitani… Without you, what's going to happen?" The young lipard cub let a few tears fall, not caring at the moment about the left ones stinging her wound as any applied ointment would need to be reapplied anyhow. "Mother Zira isn't too stable as we both know…" She lay her head against the lioness, giving her a last nuzzle.
"I want you to promise something' I need you to protect Kovu, Vitani and Nuka, for I fear Zira will not treat them like a normal mother should. I have seen her harsh, ignorant and downright spiteful treatment of Nuka in particular, all he ever wanted was to please his parents and make them proud," Azra requested.
"Anything for you, Azra," Mlezi agreed.
"Thank you, know that despite our flaws, I love you and our family," Azra said.
"I love you too," Mlezi replied with a trembling smile.
Azra's breathing decelerated, and as her eyes displayed utter panic, her final breath escaped her lungs in a subtle cough and her irises froze.
A thought entered her mind, a thought that she would not conjure herself. She suddenly believed that she had to alert Rafiki so it did not look like murder. She knew that once Ibilisi had entered someone's life, he would never leave, and he would control them to do his bidding, and because she knew this, she knew Ibilisi had manipulated her thoughts.
"Why must I inform the others of her death?" Mlezi questioned.
"The pride will suspect you of euthanizing Azra, they will think you killed her," Ibilisi claimed.
Mlezi sighed as she gently closed the eyes of her deceased sister, Mlezi reluctantly stepped out of the little area where Azra lay, looking sadly at Nala, then to Rafiki, "She's gone…" the cub sighed, "It's better if I break the news to my family," she said.
"May she rest in peace in the company of Aiehu," Rafiki blessed the spirit of Azra so that she may find the path to heaven.
As Mlezi proceeded to return to the cave, she came across the lion who had left the permanent mark over her left eye. It was an accident, she understood, but it would be a part of her until her last breath.
"I cannot stress how sorry I am, daughter of Scar, I want you to know that I will not judge you on your parentage, and as a token of apology, I grant you the same rights as the children of Kiburi," Simba promised.
"Thank you, I appreciate it, your majesty, and...my name is Mlezi," she corrected, fearing the golden lion no more.
"You may call me Simba, Mlezi. I wish we could have got off to a better start, you seem humble, wise and kind for a young lipard," Simba remarked.
"I'm sorry about your sister, like I said, just because one's parents are heartless, evil, foul and putrid beings, they are not doomed to their personality, they can be independent of them if they choose," Simba said. Mlezi didn't want to correct instead opting to make a face.
"I agree, but if you don't mind, I need to break the news to the others," she said.
Mlezi waited for her mind to come up with a suitable way to inform the young and innocent minds of the death of their sister, and when it came, she entered the cave in which a recovering Zira was surrounded by her cubs, questioning what they were going to do now Scar was dead.
"Mother, what becomes of us now that we are no longer the royal children?" Nuka asked.
"Will the Great Plan still go forth?" Vitani wondered aloud.
"My dear children, you are still royal children in my eyes," she said. "Do not fear, the plan will not be hindered, it will only be delayed," she added.
Mlezi interrupted the conversation to deliver the horrible news. "Zira, I come to you with horrible news," she announced.
"Is it Azra?" Zira guessed and Mlezi nodded slowly with a saddened expression.
"Nuka, Vitani, Kovu, I'm afraid Azra has...hidden from us, and even though we cannot find her in person, know that she can find your heart and she will love you forever, and she will stay with you and guide you as well," Mlezi promised.
Zira subtly rolled her eyes at this nonsense. She didn't believe in the Circle of Life, or the King's of the Past, only the strongest would survive, and that Azra was not. She was born as she had died; Prematurely.
Mlezi ignored her adoptive mother's eye roll, in short giving a comforting nuzzle to her remaining half-siblings. Kovu was still too young to understand much, "You'll understand someday" She gave him a lick on the cheek before going up to Nuka. "You must be strong, for your siblings. Not physically, but mentally." The hybrid cub had made sure to speak quietly, yet calmly.
Mlezi, despite her young age caught the recent scent of her father on Zira as she dared to go up close to the hateful lioness, sniffing her fur before making a noise that was caught between a growl and disappointment. The cub payed no mind to her reaction as she promptly left the den, making her way up Pride Rock to think to herself.
Zira sighed in relief, not that there would be anything to fear if Mlezi had found out the truth. Who would believe that lipard runt? She had never really cared for the small cub, she only showed but a hint of compassion towards the illegitimate daughter of Scar because...well, she was Scar's daughter, and in the later years of Scar's reign, he had abused Zira for her inability to produce a suitable heir by the standards of Scar, and he would strike her even at the simplest of errors. And for this, there was relief found in her wicked heart when she was promised by Ibilisi that they would share love once more.
