A/N: How are you, readers? I hope you've rested enough from the last chapter with its sweeter and comparatively calmer atmosphere, and for any of you that are having exams or are working, I hope you are well!

Remember Nala's half siblings, Amaani and Mheetu? They're back – along with many of the familiar members of our beloved Pride.

Read along as a spark threatens to roar into an inferno. Also, here we shall see some insight into what came before the Unison.

Proofreading credits go to yeti1995.

Amali is owned by Vulaan Kulaas. Lion King is owned by Disney. OCs are owned by me.


"I want to know what happened! It is not possible for her to be dead. We have not found her body yet!" The voice of a teenager at her emotion's peak sharply pierced the air.

The very next morning, as the sun rolled over the East of the Pride Lands, the lionesses in the Pride were gathered around in a group. The sadness from the previous day still hung in the air and the grieving was still fresh. Not one lioness had remembered, or wanted to mention anything about today being the day of hunting. But as they chatted, one of the lionesses mentioned the word 'Kiara', and Amali immediately lost her fragile grip on herself and let her pent up emotions from the day before run free. She was the babysitter of Kiara, and to lose a sister-like figure in her life was as painful as the loss of her parents.

"Amali, silence please." Sarabi reprimanded from where she was sitting.

"Kiara is not dead! Why are you all acting as if she is? We have not found her body!" The teenager continued, oblivious to the underlying tone of warning from her elder.

A loud roar of anguish pierced the air and up stood Nala, who marched up to the young lioness. Tears were spilling from her eyes, and her lips were pulled back in a snarl.

"Enough!" She threatened, growling at Amali. "When Sarabi says not to mention something, you had better keep quiet, or you will have your throat slit!"

The lionesses in the group all gasped. They did not expect this kind of threat to come out from the mouth of their Queen. But then again, who could blame her? She had lost her daughter and her mate, all in the span of one day. Her emotions proved to be one of the most unstable, because just as she sat back down, she started to break down once more. The Queen's mother and two half-siblings came up beside her, nuzzling her and patting her on the back.

In an attempt to justify her own feelings and opinions of the events that had startled the whole of the Pride the day before, Kiburi, who had been sitting to the side of it all, spoke up and voiced her suspicions openly.

"Perhaps, just perhaps, the foolish teenager is right. What if the Princess was not dead? And it was all just a conspiracy? Our King could not have died so suddenly."

A few lionesses gasped and others widened their eyes at the mention of conspiracy. Murmurings started to go around the group as the ex-Pride Landers and ex-Outlanders whispered among themselves. One important thing that had subtly fallen the night before, out of the detection of the lions in the Pride, was the sense of unity. Simba was of Pride Lands blood himself, but Nala was from the Outlands originally. It was only because of the two keeping the Pride in control with their rules that they were united – but now that this small spark of discontent was set off, the formerly separated Prides were starting to drift apart without anyone noticing. Anyone but a few opportunistic ones.

"Oh Kiburi, you Pride Landers talk a whole lot about conspiracies. Weren't they all over and done with when the Unison happened?" Spoke the honey-like voice of Subira. She had caught wind of where this was going to lead and was sailing with it.

"Pride Landers? What about you, the Outlanders?" Kiburi spat condescendingly. "You Outlanders are the ones who caused all the violence in the Unison!"

"I didn't say anything about violence. I was merely speaking of how much some of you loved talking about these funny conspiracies. That was it."

"Be quiet, you filthy, lowly Outlander!"

Everyone in the Pride was shocked to silence. What was it that Kiburi had just mentioned? Filthy? Lowly?

Amaani, Nala's younger half-sister, was the first one to leap up to the defence of her own accused bloodline.

"What the hell did you say?" she snapped.

"Did I not make myself clear enough?" Kiburi sneered. Zira, who felt that she was missing part the action, stood up, pacing slowly in front of the lioness.

"We did not hear you loud and clear, sister," she snarled. "Would you like to repeat yourself so they can hear you?"

Kiburi turned up her nose at the lioness that was pacing in front of her. Did all the Outlanders love to pick fights like this?

"In fact, I will repeat myself, with interest," she said. "Outlanders, are filthy, lowly, and do not deserve a place with the Pride Landers at Pride Rock!"

As much as half of the Pride were shocked by the insensitive words of the lioness, and Zira roared at her, raising a clawed paw, ready to dig it into the flesh of the offending party. But a spilt second before she attacked, a sleek male voice spoke, breaking the tension.

"Arguing about where we belong, are we now?"

The whole party of lionesses turned their attention from the escalating fight to the old, copper pelted lion who made their way into their midst, two cubs following in his wake.

"Petty." The lion said, shaking his head and siding with his mate. "I expected better behaviour from you, Kiburi. Did you say some naughty things about these lovely lionesses?"

"Lovely? Look at how your mate wanted to attack me!" She cried.

"That was because you wanted to insult us first, Pride Lander!" Zira snapped back at her.

"Shh, temper, temper," Scar mused, sliding his tail over the back of his mate. "And Kiburi, those lips of yours had better be shut or somebody will get badly injured. Now," he turned to look at all of the lionesses as a Pride, "we have more important issues to worry about. Kovu, Vitani, come beside me," he gestured to the two cubs behind him, and they immediately obeyed.

"As a Pride, we are all saddened by the death of my nephew and his daughter," he continued, inclining his head ever so slightly. "But in this time of turmoil, the Pride must have a good King and Queen to lead them through – but that is what the Pride does not have at the moment."

Sarabi gazed warily at her mate's brother. "What are you going on about, Scar?"

"I am now requesting that I be put in power as the ruler of the Pride Lands for the time being. And when the time comes for the heir to rule, I shall step down and let him take his rightful place." He finished smoothly, smiling at her.

The former Queen gasped in protest. "No Scar, the throne is not for you to take. The Queen still lives, and while she does, she is the one who will be making the decisions."

"What is a Queen without her King?" Scar asked, raising his brows. Was this a challenge?

"Scar, this is for Nala to decide."

"Ahh, you have only thought of me – but have you thought of tradition?"

"If tradition must come to be, then Mufasa and I will take the Pride Lands throne for the time being."

"Are you saying this because you simply miss the idea of being Queen, Sarabi?" Subira interjected. "Do not be so selfish. You and Mufasa have stepped down from the throne, and the next in line after Simba rightfully belongs to Scar."

Sarabi felt a growl rise in her throat, and tears threatening to spring to her eyes, but she immediately subdued those emotions. She did not like the accusation that she was power-hungry, and she was even more furious and upset that Scar talked that way about her own son - but for the sake of herself she calmed herself down.

"Then it will be up to the Pride to decide who will be the King and Queen," she said emotionlessly, then turned to Scar, and added, "It will be up to a vote."

"May the best lion win," Scar purred, pulling Kovu towards him and stroking the tuft of fur on the head of his adopted son, "and may the odds be ever in your favour."


"Uncle Mufasa, Aunt Sarabi has sent me here and asked me to report that the Pride has requested a vote for the position of the Pride Lands throne, which will take place this afternoon." The young teenager Mheetu said as he bowed respectfully to the former King, who sat on the very peak of Pride Rock.

Mufasa looked up, his eyes wet from tears that were shed just moments before. It wasn't only the lionesses who were grieving – the former King was grieving over the death of his own son. His son, who had just been alive yesterday. Just yesterday. Was it too much for the other lions to leave him alone for the time being? Could they not see that he just wanted some time to himself?

"Uncle?" Mheetu asked, pulling the old lion out of his thoughts.

"What is it?" he answered gruffly. Mheetu repeated himself.

"You have to be present this afternoon for a vote."

"A vote?"

"Yeah…a vote on who will be the King on the throne now that – you know – yeah."

Mufasa looked Mheetu in the eyes, burning ambers meeting a nervous light green.

"So this is all that you lions in the Pride have been thinking about?" he growled.

"Well, umm…no, it wasn't what it was all about, Sarabi mentioned that because Father wanted to take position as King." When Mheetu mentioned his father, it could mean no one else but Scar.

"So Scar wants to take his place as the King of the Pride Lands? The last time that happened, it was a complete disaster."

"I mean, Aunt just wants to see you so you could…umm…yeah. You just have to be present this afternoon at the gathering area below the promontory," Mheetu quickly finished, not liking any part of this. He turned tail and quickly started the long climb down.

Overhead in the clear, cloudless sky, a pair of curious secretary birds had heard the news about the vote.

A vote? They thought. This would be interesting news to share at the waterhole indeed.


With the afternoon at its hottest and the sun at its highest in the sky, the Pride gathered on a cluster of rocks, with Mufasa and Scar sitting on the highest rock, elevated above all of them. It was time to call for a vote from everyone in the Pride, and to their surprise just half an hour ago, the animals from the Pride Lands had come to attend the voting in of their Monarchs. News carried by the secretary birds had spread like wildfire across the plains. However, they were not allowed to vote by the rules – the lionesses made that very clear. This started out as a private affair for the lions themselves, and even though the other animals had chosen to attend, the voting had to stay private. Also, this was an event that was rarely, if not never, done in the Pride before. It wasn't common for a King to die along with his heir and leave behind the old former King and his brother.

Mufasa looked around at the large gathering, made sure that the whole Pride was present, and stood up to address them from his perch.

"Dear loyal subjects, I am speaking to you today, not as your King, but as a common lion of the Pride.

"I am sure all of you have heard the news that befell the Pride Lands yesterday," he retold the bad news without missing a beat – the behaviour of an experienced King.

"Today, my brother and I stand before you, the Pride, and ask humbly of you to cast a vote. This vote will mean a lot for the future of the Pride Lands, because each and every one of them will count towards who will become your next King."

He turned to Scar, who stood up and continued from where Mufasa left off.

"My dear Pride members, you are going to have to vote carefully. Each member of the Pride may only vote once, and this does not count in the young members of the Pride who have not reached the age where they can run off without parental supervision. You know who they are. They will have to be kept in our sight. Lionesses, please hand them over to Zira, she will hold on to them for now.

"Ahh, and before I forget – I am not getting any younger, you see – due to the sake of being fair, two lionesses, namely Sarabi, and my own mate Zira, cannot participate in the vote."

Mufasa stepped in and continued, explaining the procedure.

"Behind us, there are two rocks. One is red, just like the rocks that lay near our borders that line up with the Outlands. The other is golden, just like the rocks that lie near the border of the Pride Lands, at the Gorge. The red rock represents Scar, and the golden rock represents me, Mufasa.

"Each of you, now holding on to a blade of grass, will place their blades behind the rock you have chosen. While Zira holds on to the cubs, Sarabi will stand witness to the casting of votes. Subira will be the first to cast hers, and she will then stand witness. Sarabi will then leave the witnessing and Kiburi will take her place.

"The voting may proceed."

The first one up was Subira, and she strode up to the area behind the two brothers. It was out of view, and obscured even more by the leaves of an acacia tree. On the barren ground lay the pair of rocks, one red and the other gold, and both were under the watchful eye of Sarabi.

"Place your blade of grass behind the rocks so that no other lion can see it," she instructed. That way, the voting would be fair.

Subira nodded, cast her vote, and went to take her place beside Sarabi.

"Next!" Sarabi called out, and up came Kiburi, who went for her obvious choice of Mufasa. She then replaced Sarabi as witness, and allowed the old lioness to re-join the Pride in front of the rocks.

One by one, the lions and lionesses came up to cast their votes. Most of them had mixed reactions on which rock they should place their blades of grass behind, and the voting took longer than expected. Some knew who they wanted to respect and look up to as King, but others had to think very carefully. Respect in the Pride was not a light matter.

A lioness who had her own internal emotions to battle with was Nala. Here she was, the mate of the fallen King. Having come from the Outlands, Nala had fallen in love with a lion from the Pride Lands. But where did her loyalties truly lie? Was it to her old ruler from the Outlands, which she used to address as King Scar, or did it lie in the father of her one true love, the old King Mufasa? Letting the other lionesses and lions go past her, she allowed herself some time to think. Slowly, the votes started to pile up, and when the time came for her to vote, she was the last Pride member in line. Up she went, studying the two rocks. One as red as the lands of her old home, and the other as golden as the sun in her new one.

And she cast her vote.

When the last blade of grass fell onto the pile, it was time for the tedious process of counting it. Subira and Kiburi would each have to count the votes for the red and golden rock respectively, and then exchange their piles to each other and count that one, and make sure the numbers from their counts for each rock matched. The fool proof idea was improvised by the two contending brothers, who wanted to ensure that the votes were fair.

It was Subira who came up in front of the brothers, her posture proud, with only her head inclined slightly. Kiburi came up behind her, her stance showing evident arrogance. It seemed like only a thin line of mutual respect was holding the two back from clawing at each other's faces.

"Scar, Mufasa. Kiburi and I have finished the counting, and here we hold the results."

"Give them here," said Scar, "let's skip the formalities and be out with it already."

As the pair of lionesses started the climb up to where the brothers stood, both brothers exchanged a glance that showed everything they were thinking of.

The Pride and the animals that had gathered around held their breaths. Whatever the result was, it was not going to be pleasant.

My dear readers, I hope you have enjoyed the chapter and the very slight reference of what happened before the Unison. But now I want to do something that I have never done before, here in my first story on the site.

I am going to place a blade of grass into your hand. Now, a vote is in your hands. Will it be Mufasa and Sarabi, or will it be Scar and Zira that takes the Pride Land throne?

Cast your vote carefully, it may count to how the politics in the Pride Lands play out. Think carefully!
For Mufasa, type 'Gold' in the start of your review.
For Scar, type 'Red' in the start of your review.

Don't forget to vote – but more importantly, don't forget to leave me with your thoughts. Remember, the choice is in your hands, readers!

EDIT 23/6/2013: Voting is now closed. Sorry!