Today was the day, Amadi decided one morning after waking up to watch the sunset. Today was the day that he was going to come forward about what he did to Dalia. He knew that it wouldn't go over well. Dalia would probably be shocked; all that effort she put into keeping his name clean would be for nothing. He knew that his mother would probably cry; she cried a lot at dramatic things. As much as he loved his mother he knew that she had a tendency to be a bit overdramatic. But he also thought that this was an incident that was already dramatic, he didn't think there was a way to over dramatize it. As for his father; Amadi draded the thought. Kovu was usually a fair tempered lion, something that would make him very fit to follow Simba's place as king. But he also had a temper. Kiara often told Amadi that it had something to do with his cub-hood. It didn't matter the reason, all Amadi knew is that Kovu would probably be furious with him.
He didn't want to think of what Simba might do. Simba was the king, even if he wasn't his father Simba had the ultimate decision over everything. He had come to learn, through his mother, that Simba once had a son named Kopa. Zira killed Kopa, resulting in the exile of her and all the other outlanders. As for Scar's violence; that resulted in his ultimate demise. Violence was not tolerated in the pride, and though Amadi's act had nothing to do with murder, he knew that there would be a dire consequence. One thing, he hoped, that would not lead to his exile, or worse, was that he was not nearly as cold hearted as the previous violators of the pride; he had no inner hate and no desire to hurt anyone. Hopefully the pride would take that into consideration.
This thought, this ounce of hope, hardly helped his nerves. But he knew that if he were going to be an honest king one day, that this would have to come forward. That afternoon, he gathered the pride. At first he thought he would only talk to his parents, but the pride was a part of his family, and he wanted to be as honest as possible to everyone. That and he was sick of people finding out about things he did through gossip. This way, he was in control of who knew, and whom he wanted to know.
"What is this about, Amadi?" Kiara asked, sitting near her son as he took a step forward.
"I…I have something to tell all of you. Something that I have done." He said, looking at Dalia with sad eyes, and then looking at the ground with a sigh. "Something I am very ashamed of."
The pride looked at him strangely, and then began to murmur amongst themselves. Kovu's eyes narrowed when he looked at his son, and Kiara's eyes shined with that ditsy incomprehension she often possessed. Dalia, however, knew from the moment Amadi looked at her what this was about. She shook her head, silently telling him no. Don't do it. Stop. Save yourself. But he didn't see. Ayo, who was sat next to Dalia, also knew what was coming. He thought it was about time that Amadi came forward about this; his eyes watching him with shame in his heart.
Amadi cleared his throat, and stood up straight; trying his best to show a modest confidence in such a difficult time. "I know you have all whispered about it, about how strange I am. About how I was with…With Ayo." He said, looking amongst the faces who, shamefully, nodded that they knew. "Well, then I'm sure that you have noticed that that is no more…. Ayo is with Dalia now… Happily with Dalia. When I found this out I was jealous. I spied on them; which I am not proud of."
Kovu watched his son intently, hardly blinking as his whiskers twitched with curiosity. What was his son going on about? Simba sat back and watched, his ears intently listening for the confession of what he knew to be true.
"I was jealous, a horrible emotion that makes good lions do stupid things…As you all have witnessed through the madness of Scar." He knew that the moment he would say that he would get a reaction. He was right, some of the lionesses pinned their ears back, others stared wide eyed at Amadi. "Unlike Scar, however, I feel guilt for my jealousy. I feel remorse, and I am no longer jealous of this beautiful couple. My heart has mended. However, my conscious is not clear…."
The pride tensed, Kovu's eyes were wide now. No… No his son couldn't be planning to say what he thought he was going to say. Hyena's attacked Dalia! Not the future king!
"I was the one who attacked Dalia; Hyena's had nothing to do with it." He confessed, listening to the gasps of the pride as they all stared at him with shock and terror in their hearts. Dalia hung her head low, beginning to cry when she heard his words. Ayo sat back, a paw on her shoulder for comfort.
Kiara backed away from her son, shaking her head as tears welled up in her eyes. "It's not true…" She murmured, biting her lip as she stepped back all the way to Simba. "Not my gentle Amadi."
"It's true, Mum…" He let his head hang low for a moment, loosing his confidence. He quickly regained it and looked to Simba. "I am sorry, Gran—I mean, Sir. I know now that what I have done was horrible, and I beg your forgiveness."
Simba stood stone faced, the way he had been since Amadi started his confession. He did not know what to say to Amadi, and the situation was difficult. Without Dumaka, there was no male successor to the thrown if he exiled or dethroned Amadi. However, there was Dalia, and there was her mate to be, Ayo. Simba looked to Kovu, whose head was turned away from Amadi in shame. Even Kiara wasn't looking at her son.
Simba knew the whole pride feared the same thing. Amadi had always had Scar like physical traits, even more so than Kovu, and now that he had confessed to this crime, the whole pride feared another rein similar to Scars from the King-To-Be. Everyone looked at Simba expectedly; with the exception of Kovu and Kiara.
"Dalia came home very wounded, Amadi. Am I right to assume that if it weren't for Ayo, considering he was there, it would have been worse?" He asked, his tone very disappointed, but just. He wasn't going to explode at Amadi like he did at Kovu once; he was wiser now.
Amadi had to think about this question. The only reason the fight had stopped was because Ayo body slammed him away. He didn't want to think what he might have done to his sister if Ayo didn't stop him. He looked at his sister, scars still remained, and then he looked at Simba. "I believe that….That assumption is correct."
Simba nodded, looking down at Amadi with disappointment. He then turned to Kovu. "When you are king Kovu, if you so desire, you have the right to overrule my decisions. But for now, I get to make the choice. You know what I have thought about this all along, but I gave it time…" He said, implying the conversation he had many months ago with Kovu about whether Amadi was fit to be a king. "Now it is time for me to intervene. Amadi, I view you unfit to be king. I remove you from your position as Prince of the Pride Lands, and exile you from our lands."
The Pride gasped slightly, never in the history of the pride had someone been removed from a royal position in the pride. Kovu did not look at Amadi, but nodded at Simba. Kiara didn't look at anyone.
Amadi hung his head in shame and tried his hardest to keep himself from having an emotional breakdown. He expected to be removed from the thrown, but he really didn't expect to be banished from the Pride Lands. He turned from Simba and looked at his parents. "Mother, Father….I am so sorry."
Kiara didn't look at Amadi, merely hid her face in Kovu's mane. She had lost yet another son. Kovu looked at him with extreme anger and disappointment. "Get out."
Amadi's eyes widened at his fathers words. Tears sprung to his eyes and he lost all composure. He knew that he had been a constant disappointment to his father. Without a word to anyone else, he turned, and left Pride Rock; running as fast as his paws could take him.
Dalia would step forward, ears back and angry at Simba's choice. "You have no right!" She shouted. "It wasn't that bad of a fight, it was just something stupid and caddy! All siblings fight!"
"He might have killed you if it went to far." Simba said, looking down at her with firm eyes. "Do you have any idea what Scar did to my father?"
"Don't compare him to that monster of a lion! It wasn't like that!" Dalia shouted, tears rolling down her face.
Kovu looked at his daughter. "Dalia--"
"Don't Dalia me!" She yelled at her dad before looking back at Simba. "He's our future king! We have no one else! Dumaka is not here, no one has seen him for months! Who will be king?!"
Simba looked at Dalia and stood up. "You will be queen with Ayo by your side. You are of royal blood, and you are with him. You two shall rule in Amadi's stead."
Ayo's eyes widened. He couldn't do that, he had his own pride to rule. Dalia understood this. "But Ayo isn't even a member of this pride! He has his own land to rule."
"I have talked to his mother, Zahra, a while ago about permanently joining the pride. I had my suspicions from the moment you limped into the den. I needed to make sure, I made precautions." He said, looking to Zahra. "She agreed a while ago that if we ever needed Ayo as king that she would be honored."
Ayo looked to Zahra. "Mother? Why didn't you tell me about this?" He asked, eyes wide with confusion.
"I ventured back to our old lands, Ayo. The land has not healed from the fire; there is no life, no water. We can not survive there." She said softly. "It is an honor to join prides with the pride of The Pride Lands. Many honorable kings have ruled here. And I am honored that King Simba would ask you. And so should you."
Ayo knew that look on his mother's face. Nodding slightly, he looked to Simba. "I accept…."
Dalia stared at Ayo and then at Simba. "No…No no, this isn't right. I'm fine! I'm alive. It was just a stupid fight! He didn't mean it! Amadi is the rightful king!" She yelled, then turned to Kovu. "Daddy, please, bring him back! He's your son!"
"I am not the King, Dalia… Simba has spoken." Kovu said, standing and heading to the den. He had experienced exile himself; it was horrible. But he had not done anything to deserve it. But Amadi…. Oh Amadi. How could he attack Dalia? Had he not been told many times of the story of Scar. Kovu shook his head. One son missing, the other exiled for a sever crime; Kovu's heart grew cold and reserved. "And he's no son of mine."
Simba knew that the decision was very harsh, but Amadi had caused nothing but trouble and drama since day one. The Pride Lands needed a good future, and after Scar and Zira, Simba wasn't going to take any chances. Though this was the hardest thing he ever had to do, he thought it was the right decision.
…
Amadi ran through the Pride Lands and out, tears never stopping as his chest ached from the lack of rest and the constant panting. He ran out of the borders to the only place he knew a rogue lion banished for attacking a pride member could go to.
After an hours running behind him, Amadi saw the lush paradise that Taj called home in the distance. Panting, Amadi found his body could no longer run; his muscles ached, and his eye sight was obscured from crying too much.
"Taj…" He called out weakly as he wobbled his way into the trees to find the water hole. He coughed as he reached the water, lapping it up with great thirst, for he had been running for a long time through a hot land. He was so happy for the drink that he did not notice Taj approaching from behind.
"Wow, calm down kid; don't want you drainin' the whole pool." He said with a chuckle. He was a joker, of course, but the moment Amadi turned to face him he knew that something had gone terribly wrong. "Amadi, what's wrong?"
Amadi coughed slightly, he had accidently inhaled some water after being startled by Taj. When he turned to face Taj, his expression was of obvious distress. "I was exiled…"
Taj's eyes widened slightly, his mouth dropping open slightly. Stepping forward he put a paw on Amadi's shoulder. "What happened?"
Amadi spent the next half an hour or so explaining how he gathered the pride, and confessed everything. He went through everything that Simba had said to him, and the way his father shunned him. "But I deserve it. I did a horrible thing…"
"Yeah, but I don't think it was worth this." Taj said, completely shocked. He knew that the pride was fragile; Amadi had told him about Scar and Zira. It seemed, to him at least, that this was Simba's way of correcting past wrongs.
"Well…Apparently it was." Amadi mumbled, laying down and hiding his face with his paws. "I'm a monster. A monster they compared to Scar, a monster who attacks their own sister out of jealousy. I am Scar… I am a monster…"
Taj lay down beside him, draping his front legs over the back of Amadi. Gently, he nuzzled Amadi with compassion and understanding. "You are nothing like this Scar character… You are a good lion…"
Amadi started to sob again, but this time he didn't say anything, he curled around to nuzzle up against Taj. "You can stay here with me." Taj said softly, trying to sooth the pain right out of Amadi. "Together we will rule our little piece of heaven, and not worry about other things. Forget them, forget the pain they have caused. You can be happy now."
Amadi would cry himself into a restless sleep, nuzzled up with Taj; twitching occasionally from uncomfortable dreams. Taj wanted to be there for Amadi; no one else was, so he lay there with him until he woke up.
When Amadi finally woke up, he had a moment where he didn't know where he was… But then he remembered what happened, and remembered why he was lying up against Taj. Taj had fallen asleep, so Amadi carefully moved so he wouldn't wake the lion. He didn't know what to make of this new home. He had only ever spent just a few hours with Taj, never the whole night let alone the rest of his life.
Standing, he walked to the watering hole, taking a few laps before looking around. This place was beautiful, at the very least. If he had to be banished to anywhere he was defiantly happy that it was here. Looking at Taj he sighed. What a gentle lion, Taj was. Well, compared to most lions. He smiled softly as he watched the male sleep, but then he abruptly shook his head.
No! He wasn't going to make the same mistake he made with Ayo. He refused to go through that again. He didn't want to get hurt, and he didn't want to hurt anyone else. Sighing, he realized he wouldn't be able to stay here long if he harbored soft feelings for Taj. Walking, he decided to inspect what local prey there was about; he was quite hungry after running for so long and emotionally exhausting himself.
After about half an hour of searching he came across a small herd of warthogs. Not the most appealing prey around, and their tusks made them annoying to hunt, but beggars couldn't be choosers. Now that he had to fend for himself his hunting skills would be put to the test. Crouching low, he tried to remember everything his mother and father taught him. He stepped forward, little flashes of the scene from the river where the crocodiles killed the zebra popping into his head. Shaking his head, he pushed them away. Now, while his belly was growling from hunger, was not a good time to be soft.
He slowly stepped forward, keeping his ears flat and his tail down so not to give him away. Downwind, he got very close to the family of warthogs, and with a roar, he leapt into the air, right upon one of the bigger males. It was a bit of a struggle to kill it, once the others scattered the male began to thrash about, determined not to be dinner. Growling, Amadi found the neck of the creature, but not after being gashed by one of the tusks.
Wincing, he thought about pulling away. But this would be his first kill ever without the help of a pride; he was determined to prove himself to Taj and to himself. Teeth already in the creatures neck, he clamped down hard, killing the beast. He sighed and pulled back, trying to find where the blood was coming from. His face? He ran a paw over his right eye.
Wow, he thought to himself, I'm lucky I didn't loose my eye. Thinking nothing of the wound, he picked the warthog up by its throat and carried it to Taj.
Taj was not awake, but Amadi nudged him with his paw, proudly displaying his kill. Yawning, Taj sleepily looked up at Amadi. "Wow, look at that. You're a hunter after all." He chuckled, standing so he could see Amadi's face. "What…What happened to your eye?"
"Oh, the warthog got me. But its fine, I can see. Must be nothing." He said after dropping it.
"I don't know, Amadi, it looks really deep!" He said, moving close to Amadi's face to examine it. "I'm surprised your not in pain, go check out your reflection."
Amadi walked to the water and looked in. Blood stained one side of his face where a deep gash ran down from his forehead all the way down to his jaw line. He gasped slightly and stepped into the water, dunking his head in to wash it off. As he surfaced, more blood ran over his face, dirtying up the wet fur.
He smirked, and that smirk turned into a smile, and then into a laugh. Laughter became hysterical, and he didn't stop until Taj joined him in the water.
"Haahahahaaa, look Taj. Grandpa Simba was right." He said, unable to stop laughing. Turning, he looked at Taj. "I am just like Scar."
