One year later, in the Pride Lands...
While the lush jungles of the west flourished, not the same could be said for the Pride Lands, which were located further to the east. Most of the trees started to whither away, swamps dried out completely, and once great, pure lakes that glistened in the midday sun, were reduced to filthy ponds that made a safe haven for the breeding of mosquitoes, which spread irritating rashes across every animal, without the fish to control their population, and in some cases, deadly diseases. This has driven the great giraffes to leave for the southern savannas, as the environment has become much too hostile for a normal life, with the lack of food and excessive encounters with hyenas. The increasing humidity allowed tsetse flies to spread like never before, and many animals suffered the damage their stings did to them. This also meant that the prey was suffering from increasingly debilitating conditions, and that the meat the predators ate was less and less healthy, with the exception of hyenas, who could eat almost anything without getting severely ill.
It did not take very long before the consequences of Scar's poor government started to show, like a reflection in the water that had just settled from a deluge. Earlier, he has disbanded the Pride Land guard, to secure the position that the hyenas hold in his rule, as they often got in the way of the hyenas' crimes, and has even exiled all its members under the threat of death, should they ever return. Upon the mass exile of the once proud order of defenders, Scar has written them off as "primitive" and "holding onto the past", not caring the slightest that he was separating families for the sake of furthering his own devilish agenda of what he called "a new era of tolerance, where lion and hyena come together, in a great, glorious future". This obscenity was yet another cause for some animals, who were the most devout followers of the Circle of Life, to leave the Pride Lands, either in great malcontent with Scar's reign, or in fear of their own lives, with the massing numbers of hyenas. For example, all the elephants that once stood watch over their home have utterly migrated to the southern savannas, which were adjacent to the Kalahari desert. Of all the plant-eating giants, they were the most loyal followers of king Mufasa, and seeing what his brother has turned the Pride Lands into, they could no longer bear the humiliation they beared every day, should they face the hyenas.
With the leverage of lordship firmly within his grasp, Scar also catered to one very important factor that would empower his position among the pride: securing his progeny, to prolong his rule. There were plenty of lionesses in the pride, but his sights were set on the more desirable females. Many have been overly defiant toward him, but there was one lioness in particular whom he could call someone who understood why he was frustrated about everything that happened to him, but she was never a lioness who would hold her guard against anyone, not even those whom she knew were threats, or misbehaving individuals, choosing to empathize with them instead, when they did not deserve it. A lioness who would know nothing better than to defer to others to make important decisions: her name was Sarafina, and she was about the same age as the caniving, greedy king. She knew that Scar was envious of Mufasa, but she did not want to go up in arms against him for that, because everyone else antagonized him for his wrongdoings and amoral attitude towards certain matters, which has come through when he seized leadership. Even in these times, Sarafina has shown that she hasn't the stomach to confront evil and point it out, especially when Scar did something unthinkable: he directly approached her and demanded that she fathers him a cub. That day, to enforce his decision, he 'courted' her with several dozen hyenas at his back and threatened to have her and her daughter, Nala, killed, should she recoil or refuse. Out of fear, the lioness submitted herself to the greedy, scar-eyed king. And so, three months later, she gave birth to a male cub whom she named Mheetu, and whom Scar immediately hand-picked as his successor. However, his laws dictated that the king should have rights to mate with all of the lionesses, to create a large harem, and sow his oats wherever he could manage. But there was no love in his crooked heart for any of them, except for a trace of it for Sarafina. Nevertheless, whenever the tawny lioness was approached by the king, she would feel an overwhelming guilt for what she has done: she cheated on her mate, and betrayed the core of the pride's honor and morality, something that was in dire need for the lionesses to survive Scar's tyranny.
Nala, Sarafina's daughter, did not take lightly to the news of having a half-brother, knowing who fathered him. She was now a two-year old, youthful lioness who resembled her mother only outwardly: she bore her tawny coat and green eyes, and with age, she started to gain more of a build that suited that of a practiced huntress, because adolescence is the most important time of life for lions of both genders to learn how to capture a kill and defend it from scavengers. In terms of character, the young lioness has taken more from her father than her mother. She was not someone who would tolerate injustice or call a wrong person right, not even to save her own hide. She was someone who valued the relationships with the ones she held dear, and was never ready to sell any of them out, not even to buy her future.
Nala was a great friend to Simba during his life in the Pride Lands. The two have spent hours on end every day exploring the Pride Lands in search of fun things to do, and they went along better than anyone else in the pride. Their closeness has grown partly out of their families being on excellent terms, and partly because they had many things in common. They were both boisterous and impatient, finding it difficult, if not impossible, to stay put for a long time. They were also very fond of adventure, and had a tendency to resort to mischief to get in a position where they could have their way. One example of this was when Scar informed Simba of the elephant graveyard that lay beyond the northern borders of the Pride Lands, which immediately caught the golden cub's attention, as he was eager to prove his courage to all the world, to show that there was much kingly about him. Therefore, he invited Nala to come with him to the place, but not without being watched over by Zazu, the red-billed hornbill who served king Mufasa as majordomo. The two cubs managed to shake the bird off, and during their frivolous banter, they encountered a sign that the place that Scar has mentioned was right in front of their noses. No sooner had Zazu caught onto them when they started to explore, but they were all taken by surprise when three spotted hyenas ambushed them. Shenzi was their leader, and along her side were Banzai, an aggressive, reckless male, and Ed, whose only means of communication was laughter. Unbeknownst to either of them, the lowly scavengers have been sent to kill Simba under Scar's orders, so that he would secure the place he had in line for the throne. A chase ensued across the parched wasteland, and just when the three hyenas cornered the cubs, Mufasa came to the rescue, thanks to Zazu's timely warning of their whereabouts. Since then, Nala has been scolded by her mother, and even warned that she should be careful about whom she makes friends with, noticing that Simba is flighty. But none of that stopped her from spending time with him, because he was the most amusing of the group. His supposed death took a heavy toll on her, because it was an untimely experience of losing someone you not only played with, but held as dear as a sibling. Over the past year, she has mostly avoided contact with Scar or the hyenas, staying mostly within the vicinity of Pride Rock as per her elders' instructions, because the savannas, just like now, were filled with rank upon rank of voracious spotted hyenas whose gluttony had no boundary.
The young, tawny lioness was seated upon a small rock overlooking the river, that was growing smaller and smaller as days went by. She was looking into the shallow water, trying to resist taking in all the discord that was sowed around her. Deep down, she loved her mother, but knew that her honor demanded that she doesn't endorse the relationship that Scar had with her. It was mostly because she betrayed her mate by doing so, regardless of doing it directly or indirectly. It was also because Nala knew that Scar only gave her mother more attention because of her looks more so than the relationship she had with him, and that he treated every other harem lioness the same way: there was no love for any of them, only lust. As a slight breeze blew into her face, she shut her emerald-colored eyes and heaved a sigh, her head plopping down like a falling fruit. She was too young to summon the strength she needed to bare these times, and there were very few who could console her, or even remotely understand what she was going through. Ever since Mheetu was born, she refused to have any conversations with her mother, so the only ones who were there were her friends, who were all around a similar age as she, and included both youthful lions and lionesses, who were just as disdainful of Scar's reign as she was, and in some cases, for similar reasons. As she was preparing to leave, she could hear a boyish voice behind her, calling for her by name: "Nala?"
By the very sound of this voice, Nala knew that it was Mheetu. Caught by surprise, she was wondering what the youngster was doing out here all by himself. He usually spent his days in the company of the other cubs, or Sarafina. He rarely spent any of his time with Scar, because he was too busy running the kingdom. It seems that he made an exception today, but surely it wasn't without a reason. Slowly, she turned her head to the little cub. His fur was slightly lighter in color than Scar's, but he had a fairly slender face, much like the latter, and the little fuzz on his head was combed back, though it was not as slick. He shared eye color with his mother, however, and was not as thin as Scar was. The young lioness broke the silence first: "Mheetu? What are you doing out here, on your own?"
"Just going out for a bit on my own." the little cub replied: "It's a little stuffy back in the den."
"Let me guess..." Nala said, turning herself completely towards the young rascal, and panning toward him with a teasing grin, easily figuring out the truth from his gestures: "My mom sent for me, didn't she?"
"What? Nah, I was just going to get some..." the cub started to deny, but just because he was a poor liar, he gave up on it and started telling the truth to her, his head held low: "Okay, she did... but she wants to see you, because she's worried about you."
"Isn't she, now?" Nala asked, still reluctant to revisit the point that she made to her when she found out that Sarafina's new cub was her half-brother. She turned her head away in contempt, still bitter of her mother's actions, whispering to herself: "She didn't care when she cheated on dad..."
However, Mheetu could make out some of the whispered words, and he would tilt his head to his left, curious about what Nala was talking about, looking at her with a raised eyebrow. Nala noticed this, and hastened to cover it up, as if it was nothing of importance: "Oh, never mind.. I had a bit of a rough day, and I could use something to lift me up." saying this, she got up from her seated position and stretched herself, before she moved to leap off the rock she was standing on. Quickly, she was followed by an ever inquisitive Mheetu, who tagged along until he stopped in front of the teenaged lioness.
"Can I help you with that?" he suggested, grinning from ear to ear, curious on getting to know his half-sister.
Feeling overpowered by the cub's spunky nature, and interested in doing something different from her regular routine, she decided to allow the youngster to come with her, so that they can get used to one another. Smiling, she lowered her head to meet his eyes and whispered: "You can: follow me and keep quiet."
"Okie dokie!" Mheetu said, walking to Nala's left, looking at her incessantly. He thought that she was beautiful on the outside, but was curious of pealing back that lair, and wanting to see what was underneath, and so far, he was having fun studying his half-sister. At first, she seemed disinterested in him, but the boy could see that he has gotten some attention from her: whether he was fun or boring to her, he was about to find out. Nala, on the other hand, was clueless about what to speak of with him. She felt that it was not appropriate for her to talk about her family ties with him unless he asked her to, since she didn't want to create so much tension between them right from the start.
"You know, I was thinking something.." Mheetu started, trotting beside Nala as he started to speak out a simple question: "If my mom is also your mom, does that make you and me brother and sister?"
Nala's left ear twitched at this inquiry, because she hoped that the cub wouldn't ask such a question, to begin with. Alas, she was prompted to explain: "Well, yes, and no. Scar wasn't my father, unlike to you. My dad's..." she stopped for a brief second, to think up some kind of cover up, because in her opinion, Mheetu didn't need to know what their mother had done to Nala's father: "...he's dead."
Mheetu then lowered his head and formed a sad face, because being a cub, he had a greater desire to empathize with others than to further his will. He spoke out: "Well, I'm, uh... Sorry about that..." After this, another moment of silence would ensue, as they treaded the savanna, whose grass reeds have grown very sharp, due to the span between rains and droughts only increased ever since Scar ascended the throne. As much as the young cub could judge: he could see that his half-sister was in a no better mood than most of the pride. With the living conditions they had, the cub felt pretty much the same, and couldn't blame anyone else for it. It was dry, it took long for food to get to the pride, animals of all sorts and ages were getting sick, and none of the cubs were really allowed to go far outside Pride Rock without an escort. You weren't free to relax in whatever way you knew best, and every day passed under pressure.
Suddenly, the two could hear the yaps and laughter of hyenas no more than 20 yards in front of them, as well as what sounded like the snarls of a premature lion. This immediately earned their attention, and urged them to inch just a little closer to have a better look. They found one of Nala's peers, Tojo, being bullied by Shenzi, Banzai and Ed, as he tried to save some food he saved under a fallen log. To be expected, the greedy hyenas seized every opportunity they could take to steal food from any lion other than Scar. From what they were seeing, it seemed that Tojo was cornered, with no way out.
"Thanks for sparing us the trouble of sniffing that out ourselves." Shenzi said, eyeing the young lion viciously, closing in with the other two hyenas, closing the gap between his hide and their bone-crushing jaws. The savage female then said once more: "Now hand it over."
"You know the law, kid. All the meat in the Pride Lands is the priority of the hyenas." Banzai added, smirking voraciously, looking first at the young lion, then back at the meat that he had stashed, as Tojo recoiled as much as he could. However, he suddenly felt a strong urge to stand his ground for once, and to at least try and stop injustice for once in his lifetime, because he has had enough of being pushed around by those unworthy of it.
"No! I won't let you starve the pride anymore." Tojo bayed, now standing his ground firmly, snarling at his captors, who sneered at his frail attempts of self-defense: he was outnumbered threefold and there was no way that he would hold up very long, and his reaction was only met with confident laughter.
"Let him have it." Shenzi ordered coldly, thinking that the youthful lion has finally crossed the line, and that it was time for him to be taught a lesson. Nala and Mheetu hid in the grass, keeping out of the hyena's sights, but still watching what was going on.
As Banzai made the first lunge, snapping his jaws right in front of Tojo, the lion struck him strongly on the muzzle, sending him backwards. Immediately afterwards, he was attacked by Ed from behind, but he managed to leap onto the second assailant, forcing him to the ground, then growling viciously at the other two. Seeing this rather powerful display of defiance, the other two hyenas lunged into Ed's defense without hesitation, gnawing at wherever they could reach on the lion. Noticing that Tojo won't hold up very long against them, Nala couldn't watch this any longer, and therefore, wanted to get out of there as soon as possible: not only because of herself, but because of Mheetu. She grabbed him by the loose skin on his nape as any lioness could, and carried him away from the sight, as the hyenas made short work of Tojo, leaving him unable to fight.
"C'mon, you two. Let's take him to Scar.." Shenzi ordered to the males, as they carried the youthful lion, now faint, back to Pride Rock. The female hyena, on the other hand, grabbed the piece of meat that Tojo was hiding and carried it all herself, securing it for the trio, and any other hyenas that wish to eat.
"What were they doing out there?" Mheetu asked Nala, frightened by the scene, as they hid behind a large rock together: "Why were they fighting with that lion?"
"I don't know, Mheetu.." Nala said, hanging her head low in shock of what's come to pass so far. Eventually, she would gather the courage to tell the cub what she thinks about this, and it was not a very pleasant opinion: "It's just.. Hyenas are going to look for any excuse to attack young lions, or even grown ones when they're together in a clan. They do it for pleasure."
"I.. I don't understand why they'd do that." Mheetu said, with a worried expression on his face, as he could not fathom that any creature was capable of such sadistic behavior, because he, like most youngsters, believed that other animals should be helped, not taken advantage of.
The tawny young lioness heaved a sigh, as she lay on her side, and said: "Neither do I..." As she shut her emerald-colored eyes, she could feel something snuggling itself under her left paw, nuzzling her face. It seems that Mheetu wanted to take refuge with her from situations like these: how could Nala deny him when he was so innocent? He had no desire for harm, no greed... nothing like his father.
"Promise me you'll protect me when they come." the beige cub uttered, as he looked at Nala's eyes. She smiled gently at him, and gave him a small lick to his cheek, and one to his chest, to remove some filth from it. Then, she pressed him next to herself with her paw.
"Always..." she whispered, as the two started to snooze off in the shade, no one pestering them, or standing in the way of the affection that they were sharing. They didn't want to destroy it because their fathers were different lions: they wanted to protect it, nurture it and embrace it, because it's clearly something that made them both proud of one another. This also gave Mheetu hope that she and her daughter would make amends and rekindle their relationship eventually, because he was not one who could easily bare the notion that discord existed among the members of their family. Today was a great relief for him, because from his half-sister he got more attention than even his own mother, not to mention his father. He was willing to do anything for her now: be it a simple errand, or a grand adventure. He knew that they were growing inseparable.
Voila! Mheetu is here, and in a new manner of origin. I think it's more drama-arousing if he is Scar's cub rather than the cub of Nala's father, whom we are yet to meet in the not-so-near future. If I were to choose a voice for him, it would be Alexander Gould (Nemo in Finding Nemo).