Chapter 14 - The cleansing Rainwater.

*** Malaika's story. ***

I still don't know why I let Scar go down into the gorge.

Even though what he said in front of the pride revealed to us what his intention was, none of us protested. Was it because we have really learned not to care for that outcast lion, who never ceased to show to us his dissatisfaction with how the kingdom was run? Or maybe because we could hardly believe that, for reasons known only to himself, Scar decided to sacrifice his own life for the sake of his older brother, whom he had hated?

That is hard for me to determine now. We were all in too great shock after what happened... When we saw Mufasa's opponent die, we all breathed with relief and thought that this nightmare was finally over... But when the real Tufani came forth, the terror caused us to almost lose our wits.

None of us could hear what Mufasa and his brother were talking about down there. The king explained it to us much later... That the 'two had to become one again'. But before knowing that, we thought that letting Scar fight with Tufani, he was sentencing him to a certain death.

We helped our king climb the edge of the gorge to sit with us. He was immediately welcomed by Sarabi, Simba and everyone of us who were so happy that he was alive. But what was going to happen now? None of us could honestly tell.

Nobody thought Scar could defeat Tufani in open battle. As it was later revealed, not even Scar himself thought that. And he was an intelligent lion. In his mind, he figured that if Tufani broke the preordained rules of the duel, those rules were no longer binding. This was why he took Mufasa's place... and this is why he set his plan in motion. Fighting with the power of his mind, not his muscles.

Scar knew he could die. I saw it in his eyes. I also saw that he was ready for it. But what made him do what he did is still a mystery to me, as are many other spheres of that lion's soul, known to none but himself.

When we heard him scream out his father's old saying, that 'the just will flourish like the watered garden, but the wrongdoer will be trampled underfoot like the straw', we thought it was only a form of taunt... What we didn't know was that it was a signal Scar had prepared as a part of a plan that involved the most surprising element-

A pack of hyenas.

We knew Scar demanded them to be let into the Pridelands, and that he chose the gorge to be the site of the battle himself. But nobody connected those two facts until we saw the hyenas. Leading our king to his duel, none of us even noticed them in the distance, but they were waiting- listening for their master to give them his signal.

After Scar said the words, we heard the noise of a great turmoil. Mufasa pointed toward the horizon in the south... What we saw was so strange we didn't even know how to react. A large herd of wildebeests that was grazing peacefully was suddenly frightened by something and sent off running for their lives. Then, they met an obstacle and changed the direction of their escape, and then another time, until they were finally lead straight into the gorge... We later found out it took the effort of the whole pack to make the animals run where they were supposed to.

And they did. The sight of the forming stampede filled us with awe- the cloud of dust, the drumming sound of hundreds of pair of hooves and the splashing water made them look like a moving thunderstorm that had descended to earth...

The only one to react was Mufasa. We just heard him say- 'Scar is down there!' in a terrified voice. And, at once, he began to run.

I think the king understood immediately that his brother wanted to sacrifice his life for him and the pride. That was why he ran so fast, despite his wounds, not paying attenion to his exhaustion and aching muscles... We barely caught up with him.

The two brothers have become one. Each was risking his life for the sake of the other. Before our very eyes, we saw the first fruit born during that rain season.

Mufasa ran right by the edge of the gorge, cutting through the wall of rain. I was probably about the fourth or fifth lioness that ran behind him, and I had the stampede right by my side. The situation was desperate. Down below I saw two figures, one right at the other one's tail, and I gasped... Scar was fast, Mufasa was catching up with him, but how would the king get him out of the gorge before Tufani would reach him?

I heard Mufasa scream to try to get his brother's attention. 'Scar! Scar!' - his voice sounded within the gorge. But Scar didn't hear. He was losing his breath, tripping, slowing down... Tufani already tried to grab him from behind, and where Tufani's tail was, there was also the horn of the wildebeest at the head of the stampede...

-'Scar! Brother!' - I heard another cry. I thought it looked like the black spot in the gorge lifted its head... And then, suddenly, he made a sudden turn. Tufani slipped behind his back as Scar jumped straight at the wall of the cliff in a spot where it wasn't as high, and astarted climbing...

The stampede ran behind his back, but it did not trample over our enemy. Tufani leapt out of the mess of bodies with a roar, attatching himself to the wall right beneath Scar.

I halted, looked down and saw Scar's face- he was frightened... Inch after inch, he climbed the wall using those claws of his he always kept sharp, but the surface was smooth and he began to slip. Then I saw Mufasa crouch on the very edge of the cliff, his hind legs being the only thing that kept him from slipping himself, reaching toward his brother with his paws... The fear in his eyes was indescribable.

I cannot begin to imagine what went through Scar's mind when he was in that desperate, horrible situation. The stampede still raged behind his back, he was attatched to the vertical stone wall with his claws, and unable to pull himself up any more. When Mufasa was finally able to reach him from above, unable to grab his paws, he had to thrust his claws in them... I saw the king's muscles flex as he used all his strength to pull his brother up... But he was unable.

For Tufani was already grabbing Scar's feet.

I have never seen any creature look as much as a demon as that lion, as he was pulling Scar back down into the gorge to die together with him under the wildebeests' hooves, screaming 'kifo, kifo, kifo...'

Some of us tried to throw rocks at him from above, especially Simba, who was carried all the way over here on his mother's back, but all to no avail...

And then Scar did something he was actually supposed to do, according to the rules of the duel. Namely, he attacked Tufani. With unmeasurable anger for the fact that the Raider was holding his foot, he managed to free the other one... and kick the enemy in the face.

Now Scar always walked with extended claws. Some lions considered that 'rude', but this time it actually saved his life. The first kick did nothing but make Tufani even angrier. The second missed its target. The third hit scratched his face.

And the fourth made him fall off the cliff with a scream. To be trampled like the straw.

(On a rainy morning, at the Gorge...)

Scar felt pain in his hind legs. It was because of the long, tiring run. His paws also hurt very much- and that was because they were pierced by Mufasa's claws.

-Let me go, you'll fall with me! - screamed the black-maned lion, still sensing the earth quake under the hooves of the stampede.

-Hold on! - the brown-maned lion screamed back.

The wounds Mufasa received during his duel with Wingu were bleeding- Scar saw the muscles under his brother's torn skin on his right side, as it was being scraped even more by the rocky edge of the cliff.

-Try to... pull yourself up! - the older lion yelled desperately.

Pull myself up...? But why would I do that? Why was he helping me, anyway? Why was he risking his life for me? I am a gonner, a dead corpse. Tufani was defeated- I've done my job. I can go now.

-Don't... give... up... - Mufasa's voice was now only a yelp. He felt Scar's paws slipping out of his grasp.

Tufani is dead, trampled by the stampede... I did my job. I killed him. There's nothing else left here for me.

I will never become king. Mufasa's alive. I saved him although I once desired to kill him... What have I become? Who am I, anyway?

But wait. I am Scar, the prince of the Pridelands. Why am I to die trampled, just as the criminal did? There is no justice in that!

Pull myself up? But how could I do that? I would have to use my hind legs...

And his hind legs were free. No lion was holding them anymore. Searching for a ledge, he finally found ground for one foot, then another...

Scar pulled himself up, wailing with pain. He was able to grab the wall with his paw a little higher, then a little more, each time with Mufasa's help...

And then he found himself lying on the ground, totally confused, surrounded by other lions, aching all over.

And alive.

He saw his brother's brown eyes, so fearful, so filled with concern as during that unfortunate event with the buffalo years ago, when he got his scar and his name... He had promissed his father he would find a way to reconcile with his brother then. It took so long... But it finally happened.

-You... you saved my life... - gasped the younger lion.

-You wanted to sacrifice your life for mine... - gasped the older one.

Overcome with emotions too extreme to describe, they fell into each other's embrace. Both with tears in their eyes, both with sincere, brotherly care and gratitude.

The rain washed their blood and tears away, and finally they were able to smile. At least for a moment.

The sound of banging hooves vanished somewhere far away, but only to be replaced by a howl which suddenly filled the air- a mournful, vicious, wild cry... The cry of lions.

The Raiders waited until the stampede ended, and then saw what was left in the gorge. And what they saw filled them with a rage so strong that it could no longer be controled by anything- for they have lost their leader.

-They are coming over here... - Scar whispered with horror in his eyes.

The lionesses stood and wailed. But their king would not let them be left alone like that.

-If they wish to, let them come - Mufasa said bravely. - We will not give up without a fight.

-We're outnumbered! And you're wounded! - his brother said to him.

But then, for a change, Mufasa was the one to send him a witty grin. After that, he roared.

-Who are you calling for? - Scar asked, completely surprised.

The king smiled, as if giving his whole pride a sign not to lose hope just yet.

-'Plan C' - the answer came.

As the Raiders were walking toward the entrance to the gorge from its eastern side, from the south west, from behind a hill, came another group of lions. A very large one.

-Is that...? - gasped the prince, genuinely impressed.

-Yes. - Mufasa said. - Our allies from Lake Fuhaji. You have Malaika to thank for that.

Scar immediately looked toward the lioness, who turned her face, blushing. Looking back at the king, he smiled and said:

-Well, in that case, we need all the help we can get.

And this time Scar roared, directing his summoning call toward the south.

-Will the hyenas fight for us? - the king asked, understanding whom his brother was roaring at.

-They will fight for me. And for themselves. And for the rich, abundant Pridelands which you have promissed they will share in. Yes, for that, they will fight.

The Pridelanders awaited their allies' arrival, hoping it would happen before the Raiders would find their way out of the gorge on its western side. But, even though the two groups came from the south and south west, they did not head north, toward where the lions were, but joined together and turned toward east- toward the gorge's entrance.

-Where are they going? - asked the outraged Mufasa, thinking that his soldiers have abandoned him. The Pride was also looking at the scene, unable to understand why they were not preparing for an attack. But Scar knew something else- and it made him smile most delightfully.

-When the two become one... - quoted the prince. - Brother, it seems that both of our armies have decided to disobey our orders and act on their own accord.

-Why are you laughing, then?

-Well, tell me... It's rain season. We've had storms for days now. But what on earth happened to all the water? Why isn't the gorge filled to the brim?

Mufasa was confused. He didn't know what that had to do with anything.

-Alright, I give up. This is all too much for me... Just please, tell me- what is going on here?

Scar smiled even more, and pointed toward the southern entrance to the canyon.

-Look!

Mufasa strained his eyes. It seemed as if there was a large pool of water over there... blocked by a dam created from fallen trees and other rubbish that clogged the tight passage to the canyon.

-Are they doing... what I think they're doing? - asked the king, slowly realizing that, with a little luck, he wouldn't have to fight again that day after all.

Scar observed the scene with pride and content.

-Who would have thought- lions and hyenas, working together... Yes, what you're thinking is correct. They are tearing down the dam.

All the Pridelanders gathered at the edge of the gorge to see what would happen. Down below, standing in ankle-deep water, were over three dozen lions of all shapes and sizes, growling at them and taunting them. They weren't expecting anything.

The dam did not break suddenly. It took Shenzi's pack and Arauna's pride several minutes to get rid of the largest tree trunks, first letting out a small stream, then a larger one, and then finally a whole river that did not swipe the rest of the lumber, but carried it on very slowly. The Raiders were not hit by a tsunami. The water rose gradually, first to their bellies, then to their necks... And then first fallen trees started to appear. The lions, growling in fury, were trying to climb them to save their lives. But the trunks, carried by the merciless current, banged one against the other, crushing the animals attatched to them. Other Raiders drowned. Few managed to grab the walls and attempt climbing, but they slipped. Only one climbed as high as to almost reach the Pridelanders- a young male with a dark brown mane...

Mufasa pushed him back into the raging river below.