A/Ns:
Emerald dreamer96: Hi all, I would just like to thank everyone who's read and reviewed lately, we've already responded privately to almost everyone but unfortunately we can't do so for guest reviews. I'd like to thank number 32 for their very kind review, I'm so glad you enjoyed it, I very much hope that you continue to do so, we're definitely going to give it our best shot to make that happen.
Chu10: Our dear readers, welcome abroad to Chapter 4. And to the unsigned review, the guest who took went the extra mile for the wonderful encouragement, thank you very much, and we will definitely do our best!
Personally, to Yeti, I'd like to thank him for his review. Sorry bro, I was busy with my exams and the composing and couldn't respond…later, I will. :P
And without further ado, we shall stop talking and let you enjoy the newest chapter of Ripples.
The sun hung low like a blood red eye, casting long shadows over the savannah. Its dying rays fought with the first signs of dusk and it was a suitably spectacular end to the day that had seen so much.
The Lion noticed none of this, he didn't even notice the dust that clung to his sweat drenched fur, he didn't notice the injury on his paw, and he didn't notice the burning sensation spreading through his tired lungs as they gasped for air and begged for rest. His entire world resolved around a single thought - follow the bird.
Behind him his Lionesses struggled to match his killing pace so soon after eating. But they pushed themselves onwards they knew what was at stake; they had never seen their King like this. The sheer refusal to let anything as trivial as pain and exhaustion stop him would have been inspiring but they were too caught up in their own private battles of endurance.
One paw in front of the other, follow the bird. They had to reach the hills, follow the bird, failure was not an option, follow the bird. There was nothing more important in the world at that moment than their mission. So they pushed themselves on, ignoring their screaming muscles and followed the bird.
The bird led the pride through the hills, his wings carrying him swiftly through the air, faster than any small horn-bill like him could ever fly. He knew the way to where the pride needed to be at the moment, and lead them there he must. Behind the lions, the dust from the area was being pounded up in clouds, disturbed by the footfalls of anxious hurrying. But the bird would not stop until he reached where he needed to be, and neither would the huge lion that ran slightly ahead of his pride.
The horn-bill craned his neck, his eyes darting from here to there. Any moment now. The area got less and less familiar but he knew what the prominent landmarks were. It was what he did as a job, after all. Here up ahead lay a huge rock. And another twisted, gnarled tree branch. And just up ahead, sharply turning west to the direction of a rocky plateau, was where he found it.
It. The majordomo could not believe his eyes at what he saw but he was greatly disturbed by it, and had flew back in such a hurry that he thought his flight feathers were going to fall off - but no, here he was, zipping full throttle to his destination.
"There, Sire!" He shouted, his voice strained and hoarse from exertion. "Up ahead!"
Mufasa didn't reply, only pushing himself even harder, Zazu had to take flight again just to avoid being trampled. He stared after his King, the sheer force of will of his monarch was as impressive as it was terrifying. One by one the Lionesses passed. One of the lionesses at the back, older than the rest, fell over, tears of exhaustion and pain running down her cheeks as she gasped for several moments. Still she tried to pull herself back to her bloodied paws.
Zazu was torn between continuing his mission and trying to help the elderly Lioness, he would not have lasted long as Mufasa's Majordomo if he had it in him to make any other decision.
"Don't get up, you'll hurt yourself, lay still and take deep breaths, that's it. The King has everything under control, just rest, everything will be fine, there's nothing else you can do." In between gasps, Zazu soothed the Lioness hurriedly, unsure if he was speaking to her or himself.
Mufasa stopped suddenly, he stared at the sight in front of him, somewhere from deep inside his throat a low groan of utter despair fought its way out.
Before him lay his brother.
Scar was half buried in rubble, his normally silky black mane roughened and filthy with blood and dust, one paw was pulverised by a large chunk of rock, he wasn't moving and his covered by another paw obviously trying to shield his head from the falling rocks.
If Mufasa's mind had registered any sign of his body's exhaustion before, it didn't now. Adrenaline and something else coursed through his veins as he leaped over the rubble to reach his brother. He tore away at the debris; again and again he didn't notice a claw break off or the dozens of small cuts and bruises as the appeared. He just kept digging.
Behind him the first of the lionesses entered the gully. She gasped in shock and horror at the sight of their Prince, but soon set about helping, throwing rocks off the body of Scar. However, without knowing it, she came too close to Mufasa, and without warning, yet unintentionally, the King sent a powerful blow to the side of her head with the back of his paw, bowling her backwards. Dazed, she lay there for several moments - but Mufasa did not show the tiniest sign that he even noticed. Shaking herself off, the lioness jumped into the fray once more as more lionesses arrived, crowding the small site of the accident. It became so crowded that not all of the lionesses could help with the rescue, so they helplessly stood by, shouting encouragements and demanding answers.
Rock after rock, stone after stone, the huge lion desperately threw all the obstacles out of the way. He had to get to his brother, he just had to. His paws hurt greatly, his muscles pulled to their limits, but he could feel neither of those. Numb to his pain, deaf to the noises around him, and blind for everything else except for his brother, Mufasa fought through the rubble.
Through all the commotion and emotion, Scar lay still, his body never moving. Not even an inch of his fur moved; either it was stuck together with blood or trapped under rocks. When the upper half of his body was finally excavated, Mufasa's pent up emotions nearly exploded.
"Brother? Brother! Scar! Speak to me!" he nearly yelled, his usually deep and calm voice plagued with turmoil. He repeatedly shouted his brother's name over and over as he desperately shook the lion, extremely anxious for a reaction. But none came.
"No!" he roared. "Zazu, call Rafiki over here!"
"B-but Sire, he's -"
"CALL HIM!" The anguished roar echoed through the hills.
"Right away Sire, right away!" cried Zazu, taking off once again on his exhausted wings. Mufasa immediately turned back to his brother.
"Scar! Listen to me you have to get up and -" he cried, nearly in hysterics, but a few strong paws held him back.
"Your Highness, please leave him be," the voice of the elderly lioness who had collapsed during the trip spoke shakily to the King. She had gotten back onto her own four feet, and in her more steady and calm state of mind, gathered some lionesses. These younger and physically stronger lionesses were holding on to his shoulders, not letting him touch Scar. Mufasa, in his troubled mind, started to get confused and even more furious by the second. Why were they touching him? Why were they even holding him back?
"Your majesty... you can't help him anymore." She was clearly choking back tears.
Mufasa looked at her in confusion, he tried to reach his brother but the limitless strength of moments before was just a memory the Lionesses easily held him back.
"I'm afraid your brother is dead. There isn't anything you can do for him. I'm so sorry."
Mufasa looked at her in horror before staring at his brother, and slowly his mind shook off the numbness.
"Dead?" He whispered in a voice so weak and uncertain that it took a moment for the Lioness to realise her king had in fact spoken.
She didn't reply. The tears were freely running down her cheeks now.
Mufasa looked at his brother with new eyes, noticing every dust and blood covered wound, the unnatural angle of his rear legs and the utter stillness of his body.
He let out a roar of pain and grief and felt his legs growing weak. With all his waning might, he broke free of the Lionesses and half-walked, half-fell towards his brother. As his sobs echoed off the walls, it seemed to the watching Lionesses that he lay there for an eternity, but nobody could find it within themselves to pull him away. Eventually Naanda stepped forwards.
"My King... we need to get back to Pride Rock."
Mufasa didn't hear her until she repeated it for the third time. He looked up at her with an expression of sheer confusion - almost like a cub. She nearly recoiled in shock from the change in him.
"Back?" He whispered.
"Yes my King, the others will want to know what has happened. We can't stay out here."
Mufasa didn't reply, and for a moment Naanda thought that again her words had not registered. But just before she was about to repeat her words, the great Lion stood up and with heart breaking tenderness began pick up his brother. Naanda and the others moved forwards to help but were sent back with a snarl.
Eventually succeeding in getting his brother across his back, the King slowly and silently started walking back in the direction they had come from as the last rays of the sun faded, leaving only darkness.
On the outskirts of the Pride Lands was a tree, in terms of height and size it was impressive enough but that wasn't what made it special. What made it special was that it had outlived a thousand Kings. Sometimes during a feast, the Lionesses would tell their cubs about the tree, so permanent and magical it was that 'the old tree' was enough description to instantly bring it to mind.
It was only natural the Shaman had chosen to make his home there. Normally the tree gave him a sense of peace, but not tonight. Tonight he knew only pain. He had failed at trying to change things for the better. Now, he was not sure whether or not he had just made things worse. He stared at the marking on the wall shaking his head sadly. This was his fault, all his fault.
He heard the flutter of wing beats behind him.
"Oh thank the Kings, you're here!" Zazu gasped.
Rafiki did not acknowledge him.
"You must come at once, the King commands it! Scar is hurt!"
"Rafiki is afraid dat it is too late, de one known as Scar has already gone onwards in de eternal journey, he is part of the Circle once again." Rafiki looked at the painting, at the evidence of his sins. There was a dark shape scrawled out, and beside it stood a red maned lion with a black maned one at its side, the paint still wet. Two Lions standing beside each other. Rafiki sighed sadly as he erased the dark Lion, muttering a prayer and asking for forgiveness.
Five young cubs of different ages huddled beside Sarabi as she entertained them with an old tale of how the Pride Lands came to be.
"Long ago, when the world was young and the sky was empty, there were three brothers.
Their names were Moyo, Nemsi and Taraja, and their names meant life, honour and hope respectively. They knew neither hunger, nor fear or failure, and travelled the empty lands with nothing but each other. It stayed that way, until one day they came across a Lioness, the first Lioness. Nina. Her name rightfully meant mother. One by one the three brothers fell in love with her, and sired cubs.
They loved their cubs but soon realised that their gifts had not been passed on. Their cubs suffered from hunger, for there was no prey to be had. In desperation Moyo, the youngest brother, slit his own throat."
The cubs let out a gasp at this. Sarabi, however, continued.
"But it was an act of sacrifice, not surrender, and on the spot where his blood touched the earth grew a tree, the first tree and soon after across the land other plants and trees started to grow, within days the empty world was teeming with life, soon there were other creatures to be hunted and eaten.
The first Pride mourned for Moyo but honoured his sacrifice, always treasuring life even as they took it to survive.
But not all the creatures were good; some sought to inflict pain on each other. The second brother Nemsi did battle with these evil creatures to make the world safe for his loved ones, he died in battle but not before driving them back, thus he created honour as a way of life, defending the weak and doing what was right.
The cubs by this point were grown and the lived with honour and valued every moment of life, but they had fears, of what would come next. How would they remember their fallen Pride mates? What would happen to themselves after the end?
Taraja, the oldest brother, thought long and hard about this, and eventually he came up with an idea. He climbed the highest mountain in the world until he reached the heavens themselves, then he became the first star, and from that day onwards every noble Lion King would become part of the sky. Kings would become stars.
Nina watched her children have children of their own, and as she was aging and dying she wished for all of them - even those who did not become Kings - to never doubt their value, and so she buried herself beneath the earth, feeding the grass that would feed the food of her descendants, becoming the Circle of Life."
And with a loving smile on her face, Sarabi finished narrating the story to the cubs. Mchanga and Pepo, who had been listening all the while, wide eyes filled with wonder, started to talk all at once.
"Queen Sarabi, that was so cool!" Exclaimed Mchanga.
"Yes, Queen Sarabi, I loved the story! Can we have another one?" Asked Pepo eagerly, before two of the cubs shared a short glance at each other.
"Pleaseeeee?" The both of them asked at the same time.
The two other brown cubs who sat by them mewed in agreement. Even little Simba, who was the youngest of them all and did not understand very much of the words, gave a smile and made a small sound of agreement. The Queen laughed.
"No my dears, Simba is going to have to need his sleep. And so do you both." She stood up, nudging them gently towards their parents in the den. "Goodnight, children."
"Goodnight, Sarabi!" They replied over their shoulders, running into the den. Sarabi nudged the two other young cubs who sat together towards the den as well.
"Chumvi, Kula, it's bedtime for you too." She nuzzled them gently towards said direction.
She then turned to Sarafina. "Now, where do you think Mufasa and the others have gone? It's been quite a while."
"I don't know, Sarabi. What do you think?"
"Well, I - " Sarabi started, but as she turned her head to look into the horizon, she saw a small group of shadows appear in the distance. She squinted, and sure enough, Mufasa and the rest of the Pride were returning. As she watched on, she noticed that Mufasa seemed to be carrying something on his back.
"There they are," said Sarafina, but she stopped when she noticed the load on Mufasa's back. "What is he carrying?"
Sarabi suddenly realized that the body-like figure on her mate's back was that of a dark-maned lion. Slim and lanky, his limbs hung limp. Her breath caught into her throat. She knew who that lion was, and she had to react fast.
"Sarafina," she said slowly, keeping her voice under control, "look at me."
Her best friend turned to her. "Is there something wrong?"
"No, but you have to go into the den now. Heavily pregnant mothers should get early nights."
"Come on now," Sarafina laughed. "What are you going on about?"
"Sarafina, please. Just take Simba and get inside... don't let any of the cubs out."
Sarafina looked like she was about to protest but seeing the determined look on her friends face, she sighed and walked away.
"Note to self, never get angry at cubs for hating being put to bed." She muttered.
Sarabi walked out to meet her mate.
"Mufasa! What happened? Is he ok?" She asked urgently.
Mufasa walked past her without a word, by this point she could see the extent of Scar's injuries she wanted to vomit or cry but some instinct told her that she had to keep it together.
"Mufasa! Look at me!" She ordered.
He turned to face her, his eyes were raw with tears and holding a wild look. There was almost no trace of her mate.
"Mufasa, my love you can't take him inside, he will scare the cubs, and what about Sarafina? She was his best friend how do you think she'd react to you dumping the body in the den?"
The King spoke with a trace of his old commanding self.
"I. Am. Not. Leaving my brother outside."
Sarabi was about to argue but thought better of it.
"Take him to his cave, we'll give him a proper funeral but for King's – no, for our family's sake remember who you are."
Mufasa slowly nodded and set off towards Scar's private cave.
"Do...do you need help getting him to the cave?"
"Help?" He asked without understanding.
"I can help you carry him, he's heavy and you look exhausted." She felt awful for being so practical and matter of fact about it, but right now she couldn't afford to have any emotion. The only way she could get through this was to treat it as any other event, just something that they had to work through.
Mufasa looked confused for several moments, finally he spoke. "He's not heavy, he's my brother."
Sarabi watched him walk off, something was definitely not quite right about him, he didn't seem to be all there, and he sounded confused and hurt, yet also subdued. She wondered if it was the sheer shock dulling his emotions. She didn't want him to be alone in this state so she followed him. What else could she do?
The Royal couple trod into the den, with Mufasa leading the way and Sarabi following behind. She was never all that close to Scar, but this was a very stressful and sorrowful moment for her mate, and she knew that she had to stay with him and help him in any way that she could. As Mufasa bent down to shrug the body off his back, Sarabi gently came beside him to ease it down to the ground.
"Come, Mufasa. We have to leave him here for the time being and find Rafiki," she spoke softly, but Mufasa did not seem to hear her. "Mufasa..." she trailed off, looking at the weary form of her mate. It hurt her to see him like this. So tired. So broken.
"I am going to stay here with him," Mufasa whispered. Sarabi opened her mouth to protest against that, but closed it. She knew that if she were in Mufasa's place she would do the same. Reaching out, she wanted to give Mufasa a gesture of encouragement - a pat on the back, a lick on the muzzle - but she decided that it would not work, and simply turned and exited the den. Her mate would want to be left alone this time. But still, she stayed right outside the den entrance, lowering her head and keeping quiet. She would be there if her mate needed her at any time.
"Scar...my Brother..." she heard him say, "I'm so terribly sorry I said those things. So very sorry."
End A/Ns:
Chu10: Did that surprise you?
From the start, Scar was always doomed to die. It was just his fate. Deal with it, Scar-lovers – and an apology to you guys too. And to the really smart readers (you know who you are), good job on the speculations, we really nearly killed ourselves over them. Oh and you guys owe the cubs' folklore-ish bedtime story to my awesome co-writer.
It was both a pain and a joy to write all because of all that. Well, because Emerald dreamer and I have similar things that we want to say, I shall let him finish off. Leave us with your thoughts, guys!
Emerald dreamer96: This chapter was both easy and difficult to write. Easy in that once we started it pretty much wrote itself, the hard part was deciding whether or not to actually write it.
We had always planned from the initial concept to kill Scar but he is my favourite character and we wanted to give him a fair hearing so to speak so that his death actually has meaning and wouldn't be seen as just killing him off and everyone lives happily ever after. We wanted to put some depth in his and Mufasa's relationship although we may unfortunately have had to cram a lot into a short space to do it something approaching justice as it will have major effects as the story goes on.
We realised that in the course of this we had accidently left an opening for Mufasa and Scar to reconcile, this was a very tempting idea and we discussed the possibility a lot but unfortunately it would completely change the dynamics of the relationships and motivations of every other character and also wreck a lot of our planned sub plots, so unfortunately Scar had to die.
It is up to you whether or not he was actually going to attend the feast and whether or not he and Mufasa could fix their damaged relationship. That question will remain unanswered and it will cost Mufasa quite a bit of sleep over the years.