Dearest DJ and Jonny2b

If you hate my story, please stop reading it.

Kisses,

Lucy xxx

God, my stress levels are OFF THE CHARTS!

Today is Tuesday, and the last couple of weeks have been amazingly stressful! I've been doing a hell of a lot of controlled assessments, and they are terrible, but you have to do them if you want to get good marks in your GCSEs. I've had at least one a week for the past 3 weeks, so writing has been pretty far down my list of priorities. Sorry about that.

The reason I didn't upload a chapter last weekend was because it was my best friend's 16th birthday. Amazing fun. We went out for dinner and then partied on down at her house. After we all sat down and watched… yep, THE LION KING! It has been a while since I watched it for start to finish, so it was good to see it again. Also, I'm going to see it in 3D next Friday. So excited for that too! Happy Birthday, Emma. Hope you had a good one!

I also have a review I need to respond to (this could become a regular opener)

Ecuckler (think I spelled it right)

Simba was having a nightmare. Mufasa and Sarabi didn't really have another cub. Simba is going through a very hard time right now. He doesn't know what's going on outside. He has a paranoia that he has been forgotten by everyone he cares about, and this is causing him to have bad dreams about it.

Also, despite what some of you seem to think, I do not, I repeat, DO NOT hate Simba. "Why can't you just progress the story"? I am! I'm exploring the deep psychological turmoil that Simba is in. Do you think writing about torturing (not torching) a lion cub is some creepy fettish I have? NO!

Chapter Eleven: Conflicting Emotions

"Oh brother, I can't, I can't get through

I've been trying hard to reach you 'cause I don't know what to do,

Oh brother I can't believe it's true,

I'm so scared about the future, and I want to talk to you,

Oh I want to talk with you…"

-Coldplay, Talk

Scar was not an early riser, but one morning, he awoke when the sun was just beginning to appear over the horizon, and could not get back to sleep. He looked to his right, and saw Arianna. She was sleeping against the wall, as far away from him as the tiny den would allow. Sprawled across the floor to his left was Simba. He was so battered, you would have thought he were dead were his sides not gently rising and falling in time to his breathing. Scar stood up, and quietly left the den. As he emerged into the main cave, he cast a look towards Mufasa and Sarabi. They were pressed tightly together, with Sarabi's head nuzzled deep into Mufasa's mane. Why wouldn't Arianna be like that with him?

It's because she hates you.

"No, that can't be!" Scar muttered to himself.

Of course she does. You forced her virginity away from her, killed her cubs… who wouldn't hate you? You're a foul, loathsome creature.

Scar's brain continued to torment him. He ran outside, and quickly climbed to the very peak of Pride Rock. He stared out at the desolate landscape. There was no sign of life anywhere.

"Why have you done this, brother?"

Scar jumped and turned around. Mufasa stood there, his face solemn.

"What do you want?" he spat.

"Can't a lion watch the sunrise anymore?"

He moved to stand beside Scar, but did not look at him.

"I wouldn't have put you down as an early riser, Mufasa," Scar muttered.

"I was used to it," Mufasa replied, "when Simba was around."

Scar found himself digging his claws into the ground. There was a moment of silence.

"Are you happy now?" Mufasa spat, "is this what you wanted?"

They both surveyed the barren land.

"It's not that bad," muttered Scar.

"Don't lie to yourself, Taka,"

"DON'T!" he cried, squaring up to Mufasa, "DON'T CALL ME THAT."

"So what if I do?"

"I'll-"

Scar growled. He turned away from his brother and looked out to the horizon. He could no longer tell where the Pridelands ended and the outlands began.

Mufasa continued, relentlessly.

"What do you have to gain," he asked, "from hurting anyone any more?"

"I… I don't know what you're talking about."

"Of course you do," growled Mufasa, "you kidnapped my son, destroyed the Pridelands, forced yourself upon Arianna…"

"BE QUIET!" Scar screamed, "JUST, STOP!"

"Will pretending none of its real make it untrue?"

Scar did not answer. Somewhere deep within him, he though he felt resentment for the things he had done. He didn't want Mufasa to sense his weakness, so he said nothing and pushed the thoughts away from him. He secretly agreed with his brother. Dear God, what was this feeling? He looked at him, and saw something which he hadn't seen before. He saw extreme sadness, and pain. He had caused this? With a growl of confusion he stormed back down to the main den. Upon entering, he saw lionesses pushing their cubs back, away from him. Their eyes showed suffering. He ignored them all, and ran up to his own cave. Arianna was lying down, but she leapt to attention when she saw him, backing up against the wall. Scar looked over at Simba, who cowered under his gaze. His tiny eyes were wide and filled with fear, and his tail was firmly tucked between his legs.

Scar turned away from him and swept out of the den. He ran out of the cave and off Pride Rock. He looked around him. There were bones everywhere, but apart from that, there was no sign that anything here had ever been alive. He ran until he reached the river bed. He was so perplexed. Where were these sudden feelings coming from? Could it be that he had shut himself away from all emotion for so long that he had forgotten what it felt like? He wondered if it could have something to do with the past. He remembered the harsh words of his father that had never left his memory, even after all these years…

If you were half the son Mufasa is…

His anger had returned.

I'm more than half the son Mufasa is! He thought heatedly. Now he understood why he had done what he had. To prove to them all that for once… he could be supreme. Mufasa had always beaten him at everything, from cub games to winning the kingship… and now he had won again. Everyone hated "King" Scar more than ever before.

He growled audiably. He didn't care about them. All the emotions he had felt so suddenly were gone as quickly as they had come. He began to walk towards Pride Rock, filled with indifference.

He entered his cave to get some sleep. His earlier conflicting emotions must have been caused by his severe tiredness. At least, he hoped that's what it had been. He didn't want to feel this way ever again. Arianna was gone, but, as always, Simba was still there. How badly Scar wanted to get him out of the way. It would be done easily enough. One swift bite to the neck and it would be finished…

He was reminded of the incident with his own cubs just a few weeks previously. He had just shoved Sarabi from the den, and he turned to look at Arianna. Her eyes were filled with terror.

"Scar, please!"

"Give me that cub!"

"No… no, don't! Stop!"

She tried to shield the tiny creature with her paws. Scar leapt on her knocking her out of the way. He stood over his daughter. She was crying out for her mother. The tiny cries were not enough to break through the stone walls of Scar's heart. It was as if every ounce of emotion had been sucked from him. With a slight snarl, he lunged downwards and sank his fangs into the cub's neck. It's squeal of pain was drowned out by the scream that issued from Arianna. He shook the tiny form in his mouth to make sure it was dead. There was no response.

With that, he exited the den and threw the child, the child he had so brutally murdered, to the hyenas.

And after it all, he felt no regrets. Staring over at Simba in the corner he felt it would be easy to do it again. He had loathed this creature since the day he had found out that he was to be born. He knew he would be a male, just to spite him. For a second, he thought he would really do it, but then the plan would be ruined. He needed an heir. A male heir. A female would never be fit to rule.

All thoughts of sleep had now left him. He exited the den, in search of Arianna.

Em… I feel OK about this chapter. I wanted to show that Scar isn't necessarily as transparent as I made him out to be. He does have thoughts of his own.

Oh yes, this is by far the best set of PMs I have ever got from anyone. (They're from lieder)

Now whenever I turn the television on, I half expect the following message:

"Further episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit have been put on indefinite hiatus, as all the detectives, in addition to the resident psychiatrist and the district attorney, are currently involved in a rather complicted case in Kenya. Charges of double attempted homicide, capital homicide, kidnapping, and first-degree sexual assault have just been filed in district court."

That might not even be an exhaustive list...I don't think it would be hard to convince a jury. The prosecution would be having a field day!

Just for the hell of it I went and figured out how much jail time Scar would be serving at the moment were he caught, tried and convicted in a US court. The total? 1 life sentence without the possibility of parole for the cub killing (AKA you don't get of jail...ever), 25 years for aggravated sexual assault of a minor, at least one year if not more for kidnapping in the first degree, 10 years for EACH instance of assault against a minor (that's got to be 100 years alone), and 5 to 8 years for each count of attempted homicide (there's two of them). Grand total? 40 years, give or take, for the lesser charges, who the hell knows how many years for the bazillion assault chargers...and a life sentence on top of that.

Let's just hope the DA doesn't find him, and yes, now that you mention it, I do have too much free time!

Hope to see more soon!

Thanks for the feedback everyone, it really means a lot!