Chapter 4 – Planning

Surprisingly enough, we all fell fairly well into the "Malka Routine". Sure, it was dangerous, especially when the two of us had to leave Pride Rock on my patrol nights. Typically, I would stay near areas with denser foliage, so he could hide safely. My chief concern was the hyenas. If one saw us walking together, then the game would be up. So I had to stay constantly on guard. If I smelled a hyena, or saw a paw print, or even thought one was in the area, I'd go the other direction.

The first few days were the true test of the plan. But everything seemed to go smoothly, and no one seemed the wiser that we were hiding a rogue in plain sight. Malka complained to me during patrols how terrible it was hiding in the small hole that Nala and Kula and dug out for him, but he also knew that he couldn't gripe too much about it. We were incredibly lucky that so far our plan had worked. We had to keep hoping that it would stay that way.

A week passed, and we'd still kept Malka successfully concealed. When it seemed that our plan was actually going to work, Malka and I decided that we needed to meet with the girls. One night, during my patrol, Kula, Nala, and Tama snuck away from the lionesses' cave, and Malka and I met them in a shadowy corner of Pride Rock. We had used this section a few times as a secret meeting place as cubs. It seemed only appropriate to use it again now.

We kept our voices down, knowing that we were still in a lot of danger. The hyenas didn't tend to stick near Pride Rock, but we couldn't be sure. We'd kept this up for one week— but we still needed a lot more time.

"I've been thinking," I said, as we sat in a circle, hidden by shadows. I could hardly see the faces of those around me. The darkness would hopefully keep us safe. "Malka, you want to help us overthrow Scar. That's great. But we need a plan."

"This is too dangerous," Tama suddenly put in. "I mean, we're talking about a coup here! Why don't we just play it safe and wait it out? I'm sure things will get better."

I couldn't see Kula's face, but I had noticed that since Malka appeared, the two lionesses had been a bit distant with each other.

"There is no 'waiting it out'," Kula argued. "If we don't take action soon, we'll start to starve. Scar's taking all our food."

"Kula's right," Nala agreed. "We need to start planning to do something."

"But we need to do it carefully," Malka warned. "Tojo, you don't want the lionesses to know. That's fine, but that means we'll have less support to back us up."

I nodded, but I knew the others couldn't see.

"I haven't been idle this week," I said. "While I've been 'advising' Scar, I've been thinking, too. Scar's smart. But his weakness is….well, weakness. He's not a strong lion. I think if we all work together, we could probably bring him down easily enough."

"But what about Chumvi?" Kula put in. "It seems like wherever Scar goes, Chumvi's not too far behind."

"I know," I replied. "We'll have to get rid of him somehow."

"You're not planning on hurting him, are you?" Tama asked suddenly. She probably couldn't see us clearly, but I could feel all our eyes turn on her. She awkwardly added, "Well, you know, he's our friend."

"He's not mine," Kula muttered bitterly to herself.

"No, we're not going to hurt him," I said. "It would be too obvious, too stupid. We'll just have to separate them somehow."

"How?" Nala asked.

"I…I don't know yet," I admitted.

"I think we've spent too much time here," Tama put in, suddenly. Her voice had a weird edge to it. "We should go back to the cave. We don't want to make anyone suspicious."

The others agreed, and the girls left us and returned to their sleeping place. It left only Malka and me.

"You have some pretty good ideas," Malka complimented me. I smiled, and stood, making my way down towards the ground so I could continue my patrol. I didn't know if the hyenas actually told Scar whether or not I was doing my job, but I didn't want to take the chance.

"Thanks," I said. "I've been thinking about it for a while."

"That's great," Malka said as he followed me. We carefully edged down the rocks as we talked. "When you asked me when we first met how I knew whether you really wanted to overthrow Scar, I got a little worried. I was afraid that maybe you'd just decided to give up."

"I think some of us have," I replied. "After all, it's easier to just accept what's happened than to fight it. But I want things back the way they used to be."

Malka nodded, which I saw when I glanced briefly over my shoulder.

"May I make some suggestions?" he asked. I shrugged, concentrating on climbing down the rocks without slipping and falling. I almost succeeded.

"Sure," I said simply, pulling myself up from a brief stumble. Some of my clumsiness had receded as I grew up. But not all of it.

"I think you should use your position to your advantage," he said. "You're Scar's advisor. You don't want to be, but it might help you. You could use it to trick Scar into doing what you want. Maybe even separating him and Chumvi, so he can be attacked."

I snorted softly.

"It's a good idea, Malka," I told him. I reached the ground and started off across the grass. Malka followed right behind me. "But I don't think it will work. Scar hardly listens to me. Don't you think he'd get it if I was trying to trick him?"

"Not if you do it discreetly," Malka returned. "Just the power of suggestion. Drop a few hints over time. Start to work it out now. Then when you want him to do something, he'll do it without even realizing and fall right into your paws."

I still didn't think it would work, but I appreciated his opinions.

"I'll keep that in mind, thanks," was all I could think of saying.

"I think that's a great idea," Nala said a few days later, when we all met again. I frowned at her.

"Really?" I asked. I still wasn't sold on it. I truly hated my position as Scar's advisor. I didn't really consider it as something to use as an advantage, or for anything except keeping a place in the Pridelands.

"Really," Nala replied. "Think about it, Tojo. You're in a great position to help us out. If you can start planting ideas in Scar's head, then when the time is right, it should be easy to get him to fall into a trap we set up."

I still wasn't sure.

"But I don't even think Scar listens to me," I complained. "And I know he doesn't trust me. How do I know he'd do what I say?"

"Well," Kula put in. "He hasn't kicked you out of the pride yet, so there's that."

I scowled.

"Thanks, Kula," I muttered sarcastically. "What kind of ideas would I be planting in his mind, anyways?"

"You could start some crazy story about a band of hyenas inside the main clan that are plotting against him," Malka said after thinking a minute.

"Wouldn't he just go after them and kill them as soon as I say anything?" I shot back. I still didn't that this was going to work.

"Don't spill the whole thing out all at once, Tojo," Malka told me. "Just give it him bit by bit. Tell him you may have noticed some weird behavior. Then keep him posted on it. As our plan expands, your story can too. Then when it's time, you can tell him that whatever band is meeting somewhere, and he needs to go and see them. When he comes, we'll attack."

"That's such a great idea," Kula said. I could see her shadow turn as she looked towards Malka. "Where did you think of it?"

"My father taught me some things about strategy," he said with a shrug. "I guess it's the only part of learning to be a king that I really understood."

I huffed. I felt some sort of sudden resentment towards Malka, but I couldn't put a paw on what it was.

"What about Chumvi?" I said, trying to point out a flaw in Malka's plan. "He'll be bound to come with Scar when he hears about this 'band of hyenas'."

"That's a good point," Malka said, thoughtfully. "He must have a weakness, too. Some way that we can lure him away from Scar."

I remembered seeing Tama and Chumvi together. Tama hadn't spoken at all during this meeting. I turned towards her.

"Tama?" I asked. "Do you have any ideas?"

"Yeah," Kula snapped suddenly. I noticed that the two lionesses were sitting on opposite sides of the rock from each other. I had noticed a little tension building between the two lately. "You seem to be with Chumvi a lot lately. What do you know?"

I saw Tama's head turn towards Kula's.

"You're his sister," she replied, her voice tinged with a bit of annoyance. "Why don't you tell us?"

"He's changed so much since I knew him, I would think I'd hardly know how he is anymore," Kula replied hotly. "But you follow him around like a lost baby bird."

"Tama, is there anything you can tell us about Chumvi?" I said quickly, trying to stop a fight from breaking out between the two lionesses. We need to be united in this operation.

"Please don't ask me," she replied shortly. I saw Kula stand.

"Why not?" she demanded. "Are you too afraid that your lover boy will find out you've been hanging around with us rebels?"

"No!" Tama snapped, standing as well. "It's just….it's just….just look at you guys! You're wasting all your time bickering about how to take down Scar when the rest of the pride is starving! Maybe if you did your share of the work instead of dreaming all the time, we could actually make the Pridelands better!"

"Tama, be reasonable," I heard Nala say. "We're trying to help. You have to see that."

"All I see is a bunch of lions turning their backs on the rest of the pride, and their own friends. With all the hot air you're blowing, you're probably the reason for this drought!"

The scruffy-headed lioness suddenly leaped to her paws and ran off, leaving the rest of us behind, startled and stunned.

"Let her go," Kula grumped, sitting back down. "She's been like that all week. She's all ga-ga over Chumvi."

"I have seen them together," Nala agreed.

For a while, we sat in a strained silence. Tama's violent words had left us rather stunned, and not just a little hurt. At least, I felt hurt.

"Maybe…" Kula started, a bit haltingly. All heads turned to look at her. "Maybe we shouldn't tell Tama to come and meet with us anymore."

"Why not?" Nala asked. I couldn't see her face in the shadows, but I could hear the puzzlement in her voice.

"Well, since she's been with Chumvi, and she obviously likes him, her loyalties may be…well, it's just that…"

"You think Tama would betray us?" Malka asked. I shrugged and saw Kula's shadowy form shrug as well.

"I'm not saying she will," she replied. "But…I guess I'm saying that I don't want to give her a chance to."

"I think Kula may be right," I added, agreeing, though it broke my heart to say. "I thought Tama was with us. But if she's with Chumvi, I don't think she'll be loyal to us anymore."

"You don't know that for sure," Nala argued. But her voice sounded uncertain.

"You heard her," I said. "She's pretty upset with us. I just don't think we should include her in any future plans."

The silence came again, as heavy as the darkness that hid our faces from each other. It hurt more than anything to think that we'd lost another friend. Our little group was beginning to dwindle.

"Tojo," I heard Nala say. I turned to look at her, or at least, at her dark form.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"When you….when you start telling stuff to Scar," she said, her voice faltering a little. "Be careful. Don't let him find out what you're doing."

I smiled reassuringly, though I knew she couldn't see it in the darkness.

"Don't worry," I told her. "I'll be fine."

"I think we should go back," Kula said. "Goodnight, Tojo. Goodnight, Malka."

Kula stood, and as she passed Malka, she stopped and rubbed against him. He returned the gesture.

"Goodnight, Kula," he said. As Nala walked passed me, I stopped her to rub against her like Kula had. She didn't refuse, even rubbed her head against me, too. My heart thudded in my chest. Maybe I was finally getting through to her.

Once the girls had gone, Malka and I walked back down to the ground.

"Tojo," he said. My ear flicked to the side. "I don't want you to think that I'm trying to take anything away from you."

I frowned. I had started to feel somewhat jealous towards him. I'd had all these ideas, and then he just came in and took all the praise from the girls. But I decided to cover it up.

"I don't think you're taking anything away from me," I replied. I saw him let out a breath, as if in relief.

"Oh, good," he said. "So, you don't have any feelings for Kula, then?"

Kula? I thought. He's not talking about the planning at all!

"No, of course not," I replied, possibly a little gruffer than I had meant. "Why? You like her?"

"I think I'm starting to," he replied. "She's changed a lot since she was a cub, though. She used to be so…well, she used to be such a scaredy –cat, if you know what I mean."

The way he had usurped my position amongst the girls did annoy me, but I couldn't help but smile and agree with those words.

"Yeah, I know what you mean," I agreed.

"She's so…strong now," Malka said, almost dreamily. "I really admire that."

I laughed softly. So I couldn't be mad at Malka for long. That was a bit infuriating, but who cared?

But then I frowned suddenly.

"Malka," I said. "Don't take her away from us. We need her."

Malka looked at me as if I'd grown two heads.

"Take her away from you? What are you talking about?"

"You said when you first came here that your father was upset because you couldn't find a mate. You're not planning on abandoning us and taking her with you, are you?"

Malka shook his head firmly.

"No, Tojo," he said, gently. "I'm here to help you. So I like Kula. But I'm not going to abandon you just so I can steal a lioness. You're my friends. A friend wouldn't do that."

I sighed and looked down at my paws.

"Sometimes…" I said softly. "Sometimes I forget what it means to be friends."

I got back to the royal cave just before the sun rose. I was looking forward to sleeping for a while before I started my duties. Today I'd start planting that story about hyenas in Scar's brain, the story that Malka had spoken of, about the band of traitorous hyenas. I still wasn't sure if it would work, but I'd at least try it.

First, though, sleep. Yes, sleep sounded good.

I wandered wearily into the darkness of the cave, looking forward to curling up and taking a nice cat-nap. But as soon as I stepped into the cool sheltered room of the royals, I realized that there wouldn't be time for napping this morning. Something was wrong.

From where I stood, I could see Zira lying on her side, her back to the front of the cave, her sides rising and falling raggedly. Her harsh breathing echoed across the rocky walls. Scar stood near her, looking down at her prone form. I saw her paws extended before her, her claws out and digging into the hard stone floor.

Chumvi stood nearby. He looked grave.

"What's going on?" I asked, not expecting him to reply to me. To my surprise, though, he did.

"Zira's gone into labor," he said. It was weird to hear him speak without the typical roughness and anger.

"What?" I asked, hoarsely. "But it's too soon! She has at least another few weeks!"

"I know," Chumvi replied, his voice low.

Scar heard us over Zira's rough breathing and spun, his green eyes wild.

"Get out!" he bellowed at us.

"S-sire," I stuttered. "Let me go and find Rafiki! He can help!"

"Why would I let that stupid monkey get anywhere near my mate?" Scar yelled at me. "Get out!"

"B-but…" I tried, but Chumvi was suddenly shoving me towards the outside.

"You heard him!" he snapped, the anger back. "Get out!"

I had no choice but to leave the cave. As Chumvi and I stumbled out into the sunlight, the ragged breathing of Zira faded into the background. I was happy to leave it behind. That sound scared me more than I cared to admit.

Chumvi stopped pushing me once we got outside. Now in the morning sunlight, we stood quietly beside each other, staring in, straining to hear anything. It was the closest we had stood together without fighting for a long time.

"How long has this been going on?" I gathered the courage to ask.

"Not long," he replied. Once again, the anger had left his voice. But though his face and voice held no emotion, he was hardly friendly. He was simply preoccupied. I decided not to push my luck, and remained silent.

We stayed there for a long time, just watching and waiting. Despite the animosity I felt towards Scar and Zira, a lump formed in my throat. I didn't like the royal couple. But their cubs were innocent. I worried for whatever life was being thrust into this world in that cave.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Chumvi said softly. I looked at him once more, but I couldn't tell if he'd meant for me to hear, or if he'd just said it to the wind. I decided to keep quiet, just in case.

The sun rose behind us. Chumvi barely noticed, even though I knew he should be gathering the lionesses to hunt about now. We both wanted to see what would happen.

It was a long wait. Eventually, I heard some sort of noise. My ears twitched forward, straining to place the sound. Chumvi did the same. I heard what sounded like crying.

"Do you hear that?" I asked. He didn't reply, but he stepped forward, towards the mouth of the cave. I followed, my heart in my throat.

We inched our way inside, making sure that Scar wasn't going to throw us out again. But as my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I saw that he had his back turned to us as he sat over Zira. She had stopped gasping. In fact, she was speaking to him. Over their voices were the sounds of mewling—cubs. More than one. This explained what we had heard outside.

"They're both scrawny," I heard Scar snap. "The younger one doesn't even look like a lion. He looks like a hyena."

"But the older one…" Zira tried to calm her mate. "Look at the older one. He looks stronger, better, than his brother."

Scar snorted.

"Yes," he consented. "He'll do for an heir. At least you gave me males and not females."

The king's voice sounded so heartlessly calloused. These were his cubs he was talking about! Utterly shocked, I hung back. Chumvi stopped a few paces in front of me. If Scar knew we were there, he didn't show it.

"What will we call them?" Zira sounded tired, but her voice had that pleasant pitch of someone desperately trying to avoid an argument. Scar grunted.

"The older one, the good one, we'll call Kovu," he said roughly. "The younger one…I don't care. Call him anything you want. He's worthless to me."

Scar stood abruptly and turned. When his eyes landed on us, they flashed.

"What are you two looking at?" he snapped. "Chumvi, why aren't you gathering the hunting parties? Get moving!"

He stalked past us and out into the sunlight. Chumvi turned and followed quickly, disappearing after his king. I was left alone in the cave with Zira and her cubs.

She lay dejectedly on the cave floor, her two new babies lying nearby. I had never spoken much with her, but in this moment I almost felt…sorry for her. Scar had looked forward to these cubs, but on their arrival had snubbed them because they weren't up to his "standards." I felt for Zira—I really did. It must be hard to love someone who lacked the ability to love in return.

I approached her cautiously, but her eyes were closed. I stayed far enough back so that I wouldn't disturb her, but so I could also see. I saw the two cubs, nestled near her body, wet and mewling. Now I could understand what Scar had meant. One of the cubs was much smaller than the other, and already looked scrawny and underdeveloped. They were both premature, but the brother—apparently the older and more "superior" Kovu—was larger by far. I craned my neck to see them better, but Zira's eyes snapped open and she looked up at me. She gave strained snarl, and I took a step back.

"What are you looking at?" she hissed. I pressed my ears back against my head.

"N-nothing," I said quickly. She snarled again

"Get out and leave me alone!" she roared. Flinching, I quickly turned and ran out of the cave. I wasn't scared of her, or scared she'd do anything to me. I wasn't really even scared that her cries would draw Scar's attention, and he would do something to me. I just knew I needed to let her be. I knew it would be better for me to leave.

I didn't see Scar again until later that day. I had no idea where he had gone, but he came back not too long after High Sun. As he stalked back to Pride Rock, I approached him.

"Your Highness," I said. He did not look at me, just continued to walk.

"What is it, Tojo?" he asked gruffly

"I…I need to tell you something," I said. He spared me a brief glance.

"What is it?"

"I heard some hyenas talking today," I said. He snorted, already annoyed by my talk.

"So?" he growled. "Hyenas talk. That's what they do."

"I know," I said. We were walking the path up the side of Pride Rock. I had to quicken my pace to keep up. "But these ones were talking about…I don't know. It sounded strange. Like they were talking in some sort of code or something."

Scar rolled his eyes dramatically.

"I can hardly pay attention to every strange thing a hyena says," he replied. "And you have better things to do, too."

"I just thought you should know," I said. "It was weird."

"Which can only be expected from hyenas," Scar was done this conversation. "Anything else, Tojo?"

He stopped in front of the royal cave and looked back at me. I sighed and shook my head.

"No, sire," I said. Scar turned from me.

"Fine," he sniped. "And you will sleep outside the cave tonight."

He disappeared from my sight, and I turned, making my way back down the Pride Rock.

See, Malka? I thought. I tried. But I don't think he's gonna take the bait.

At our next meeting, though, Malka had other plans.

"No, Tojo," he told me. "You're doing great. I like what you did—telling him just enough without spilling out the whole story. Then, slowly start giving him more details. Not right away—wait a few days, then give him something else. Then make the details stranger and stranger until he's really suspicious. Then we've got him."

"But you still don't know how you're going to lure Chumvi away," I pointed out. At these meetings, I still wanted to show the girls that Malka didn't have all the answers. I wanted to keep some position of pride in this group.

"Not yet," Malka agreed. "But it's okay—we'll get there eventually. After all, we're not in a hurry. The longer we think this through, the better it will be."

"It shouldn't be too long," Kula added in. She'd been less argumentative since Tama had stopped coming. "We don't want to risk being caught. Especially you, Malka."

"I know," Malka agreed. "But just keep holding on. We need to get everything right before we can start working. Trust me, guys. Scar will rue the day he ever crossed us."

Unfortunately, things didn't go quite as planned. I had been working up to dropping a little more poison in Scar's ear, but I wouldn't get the chance. At least, not for a while.

Kovu got sick. Only a few days after his birth, the cub refused to eat, developed a fever, and cried constantly. Zira did everything she could think of, but could not get him to nurse again. His condition worsened over the next few days. I frequently pleaded with Scar to send for Rafiki, but the king continued to refuse. He claimed that he would never allow the "fake shaman" to touch his son, his precious heir. The other cub, whose name I didn't know, was cast aside in the ordeal. All attention was showered on Kovu, as the tiny infant fought for survival. One night, I even saw Scar go out onto the King's Rock, and pray to the stars. I had never seen Scar ask the so-called Great Kings for anything. Seeing it almost frightened me.

In the end, it was all for naught. Barely a week after his birth, Kovu died. Scar's heir perished.

The Scar I saw after the cub's death horrified me. Zira mourned heavily for her lost son, but Scar's reaction to Kovu's death was unlike anything I'd ever seen. He was uncontrollably furious. He blamed Zira for Kovu's death and accused her of murdering him. He then told her that her second son was hideous and unfit to be the next in line. In a fit of rage, he told Zira that the living cub would never take the throne, and from now on would be called Nuka – because that's all he was. Just a stink.

After that, he disappeared for a few days. He left Pride Rock. I didn't know where he went, nor did I care to find out. For a while, I even thought he might have left for good.

During his absence, a distraught Zira allowed Rafiki to give the dead cub a proper burial. Or, at least, she didn't attempt to stop him when the old mandrill came to take the body away. The pride members mourned for him. Yes, he was the son of the lion we hated. But Kovu could not choose his parents. It was not his fault that his father was the way he was. So we mourned for him. We mourned for him because he might have been a better king than his father. We mourned for him because he was as much a promise to us as he had been to his parents. We mourned because we did not know what else to do.

Eventually, Scar returned to Pride Rock. He acted the same as he had always acted, as if nothing had ever happened to him. Zira saw his attitude and struggled to act the same. Meanwhile, poor Nuka had to learn to live with the bare minimum amount of care. Zira nursed him, but since Scar saw nothing promising in him, she refused to give him love either. I often heard him crying for his mother, only to be ignored or pushed away. I had to admit, the cub was ugly. But seeing him treated the way he was made my heart hurt. No cub deserved that. I found myself wishing that Nuka would contract the same sickness and die, too, if only to spare him from the complacency of his parents.

Seeing Scar's hideous attitude towards poor Nuka made me even more determined to aid in his downfall. Despite my initial misgivings, I continued to give Scar the fake story about the hyena cult. He seemed unaffected, but I refused to give up. A king who would give so little love to his son deserved to die. My heart had hardened against Scar. One day soon, we would have what I had dreamed of for so long: freedom.