"What are you doing here?" I said, glaring at the sky.
"You have forgotten who you are and so have forgotten me. Look inside yourself Scar. You are more than what you have become. You are more than a murderer, more than a villain, you are a survivor, but surviving comes with great consequences, you have survived something that you shouldn't have, I am here to remind you that mortality runs through your veins, do not get cocky. Remember who you are" Mufasa said, looking down at me, with an expression that only a ghost could manage.
"I remember exactly who I am. I am Scar, Ahadi and Uru's son, brother to you and Uncle to Simba" I said.
"Remember who you were before that, you were Taka, a kind and considerate cub that cared about his family and would do anything to protect them"
"Until he met the hyenas, then he was killed when their mother struck him across the eye and Scar was born" I said with a snarl hiding in my voice.
Mufasa shook his head "Taka was not killed that day, he just ceased to exist in your world, you thought he had completely disappeared, but in fact, he lives in you"
"NO! Taka is DEAD!" I yelled, turning away from him.
"He lives in you…" Mufasa kept repeating it until I couldn't hear him anymore.
"What was that? The weather is very peculiar. Don't you think?" Rafiki said, chuckling to himself.
"Yes, it looks like the winds are changing" I said, turning to look at him, didn't he just see Mufasa come back as a ghost?
"Ah. Change is good" Rafiki mused.
"Change is all around us, all the time, it has to be a good thing if it happens all the time" I said "Oh, great, now I'm saying lines that should be coming out of your mouth" I added, sarcastically, but in a jokey way instead of an insulting way.
"Ah, yes, you have been spending too long with me" He said, smiling eagerly.
"Maybe I should be going then" I joked.
Rafiki laughed "Maybe you should go back to Pride Rock!" He cried, getting a little ahead of himself, he realised what he said with a jolt "Scar, I-"
"Yes, and maybe you should return to the monkey mental tree" I snapped, turning away from him and storming off with as much dignity as I could muster with a limp. I headed back to Rafiki's tree, climbing back up the staircase of rocks that Rafiki had put there for my benefit.
I walked back to my grass bed and slumped down with a sigh. I laid my head on my crossed paws and stared at the wood in front of me, imagining my return to Pride Rock. I doubt it would go down very well; I could see it now:
I walked across the savannah, my new scars shining in the sunlight; I stopped at the foot of Pride Rock. I heard a roar, several actually. I turned my head upwards and saw Simba, all the lionesses of the Pride standing behind him on the peak of Pride Rock "Why have you come back?" Simba roared at me. I didn't get the chance to say anything before Simba leapt down and padded towards me, the lionesses followed him. I took a step back with every step forward that Simba took. He growled, stopped and leant back on his haunches, ready to pounce at me. I started to back away quicker, but I bumped into the lionesses. Simba snarled and leapt at me, he slammed his paws into my chest and knocked me backwards, the lionesses stepped back to give room to fall. Smacking the back of my head on the hard rock, I stared up at Simba, trembling slightly, his teeth were bared and his head was rising higher and higher, until he thrust it down at my neck and sank his jaws into my skin.
I snapped my eyes open; I had just envisioned my own death. But I hadn't realised something…I had hardly recognised myself when I looked in the pond; my new scars had changed my appearance. So why would any of the Pridelanders recognise me?
I could give myself a new name, give myself a new back story, make it seem as though I had never been near the Pridelands or the Outlands. This had to be one of the most wonderful plans that I'd ever had! Surely nothing could go wrong, if I hardly recognised myself, then what were the chances of anyone else recognising me? I laughed with pleasure, at which point Rafiki walked in "Am I interrupting something?" He asked.
"I just had a marvellous idea" I said, baring my teeth in a wide mouthed smile.
"Why do I get the feeling that this is a plan that will worry me?"
I told him my plan and he sighed "Scar, this will never work, someone will recognise you" He said.
"Ha, I didn't even recognise myself" I said "If this plan doesn't work, then it was nice knowing you, I'll take my final bow with my head held high" I smiled again "I just need to think of a name…" I mused.
"How do you like the sound of Kijinga? It's Swahili for stupid!" Rafiki said.
"No…Kiwa…Swahili for outcast" I said, smiling "I also like the sound of Majuto, but that's Swahili for regret, and at the minute I'm not feeling regret"
"I still don't like this plan" Rafiki said.
"It doesn't matter if you don't like it, I do, and that's what matters" Despite my confident manner, I was quite apprehensive and nervous about this plan, what if someone really did recognise me, as Rafiki thought they would? Was I as welcoming for death as I made out? "Rafiki...I won't be going back to Pride Rock, until the time is right" I said.