The Camel's Back

Lava. There was lava everywhere. It burned red-hot, smoking and smoldering, bursting forth from the mountaintop and consuming everything in its path. Taka was watching the scene unfold from the bottom of the Fire Mountain, and though hot ash was pouring from the sky and black smoke choked the air around him, he could still make out the body of a lion, helpless and bleeding.

He had to save him. Taka never meant for any of this to happen, and now his father was lying injured on the mountainside and the sound of cackling hyenas filled his ears and he could already feel the intense heat, though the lava was nowhere near him. If he didn't get to Father soon, it would be too late, and he would never get the chance to say how sorry he was for... everything.

Taka was about to run up the mountain to help the king, but he felt claws digging into his back leg. He slowly turned around, but his attacker wasn't a hyena or even his perfect older brother. It was a lion with a mane like ash and fur the color of the burning lava, but it was his emerald green eyes that cut through Taka like the scar that ran right through this lion's left eye.

This is your doing, Scar's voice whispered in his ear. Your genius. Why stop it now when it's just getting interesting? Let the lava take your father.

No, he couldn't – Father needed his help – This wasn't how it was supposed to happen. The hyenas were supposed to kill both of them, but now that his father's life was in real danger... Taka didn't know how to feel.

Oh, grow up already. You know by now that you'll never be good enough for him, not as long as Mufasa's around, Scar said. The lion sneered as he dug his claws deeper into Taka's leg, preventing him from reaching the king.

But he didn't want his father to die, not like this. Taka struggled and fought against Scar, but the lion's grip was powerful, and all he could do watch while the lava ebbed closer and closer to the lion.

It wasn't too late. He could save him, make it all up to him, if he just –

And he's gone. Scar's laughter was ringing in his ears. Everything around Taka was going dark, and Scar's body was fading away until all that was left were his eyes, glowing green in the darkness. Your father is dead, and it's all thanks to you.

Taka shut his eyes tight. He had let him die all over again. The heat was closing in now, and Taka was stuck in place with a wounded back leg. When he opened his eyes, he saw the lava racing towards him until it was singing his fur off, burning his skin black and crisp and killing him slowly, tenderly.

He jumped awake and found himself shivering on the cave floor, alone in the darkness. He wasn't being burned alive. "Just... Just another dream. Nothing more."

The lion yawned and stretched his paws out in front of him, scraping the cave floor and causing a nearby mouse to jump in fright. She barely had time to scurry away before an enormous paw came down on her, squishing the mouse to the ground.

"Oooh, I really shouldn't be eating this late. I'll get so fat," Scar sighed dramatically, tossing the mouse's limp body up and down with his paw. "But maybe just a bite." He threw the mouse into the air and caught her in his mouth, gulping contently.

Scar rolled onto his back and looked out the front of his cave. It was the middle of the night, with the silvery moon shining over the grassland and the stars glimmering endlessly overhead. They seemed so cold and distant to him, constantly watching and judging anything that he did, but never actually helping. They were a little choosy about which lions they helped, after all.

After a nightmare like that, Scar figured he wasn't getting back to sleep anytime soon, so he sighed and got on his paws. The lion sauntered out of his cave, glancing up at the night sky only once to scoff and roll his eyes.

All of the lions and lionesses and cubs of the Jua Pride were asleep in their cozy little cave, all sleeping beside the benevolent King Mufasa and the beautiful Queen Sarabi, all of them one big, happy, loving family. The mere thought of it was enough to make Scar's insides twist and turn, and he ran into the tall grasses in case he had to vomit up the mouse he just ate.

But Scar did not vomit. Since he was wide awake now, he slunk off through the grassy field, putting more and more space between him and that horrid, enormous, rocky anthill they called Pride Rock. When he reached the grazing plains that lay in the heart of the Pridelands, Scar came across a small group of gazelles that were having a midnight snack and, from the sound of it, sharing some juicy gossip.

He was upwind of the gazelles, hidden on a grassy hilltop overlooking the prey, and they hadn't taken notice of him. Better yet, Scar loved nothing more than hearing the Pridelanders slander his brother.

"...another tough dry season, eh? Waterhole is shrinking fast."

"I know what you mean. It's so hard to get by this time of year."

Ah, so these foolish prey animals were unsatisfied with his brother's current reign? If Mufasa couldn't manage the land properly, then he wouldn't last much longer as king, and then the throne would be his for the –

"Yeah, so it's a good thing Mufasa's laws are working so well!"

"Oh, absolutely. He makes sure my family gets just enough water. Not too little and not too much. And he's so personal with us all."

"He's probably the greatest king this kingdom has ever – "

The gossiping gazelles did not finish their conversation because a lion very rudely interrupted them by leaping down from the grass on a nearby hilltop and attacking them in a frenzy. They had never even seen it coming. If Scar prided himself on anything, it was his excellent stalking abilities.


"I've just gotten some bad news, Sire," Zazu called out, swooping down from the sky to land in the grass where King Mufasa was currently sunbathing beside his lionesses. "And you won't be at all happy to hear it."

"Remember that little talk you and I had the other day about getting to the point?" Mufasa said in a droll, yawning and rolling over to look at his blue hornbill adviser. Zazu gave a dramatic huff and ruffled his tail feathers.

"All joking aside, Your Majesty, the news involves... well... your brother. Now, I know you weren't too happy with me spying on Scar before – though I'm telling you, he was meeting with those hyenas, I saw them! – but I wasn't spying on him this time around." Zazu hastily explained. The king raised a curious eyebrow. "I was flying over the grazing plains when I saw some distressed gazelles. When I asked them what the matter was, they told me that last night, your brother was – well, at least they said he was, but you never really know, gazelles are so unreliable half the time – "

"There's a point waiting very, very patiently for you, isn't there?"

"Yes, yes, yes," the king's majordomo said, waving his feathers about in a flutter. "The gazelles told me that late last night, your brother mortally wounded one of them but did not actually eat him. Now, I'm not the brightest egg in the nest, but I do believe that constitutes hunting for sport and is strictly illegal in this kingdom. Unless, of course, you changed the law and forgot to tell me."

The Lion King groaned, but nevertheless sat up straight to give his long-winded adviser his full attention. Mufasa thought about the situation and contemplated what an appropriate response would be, talking it over with Sarabi and some of the other lionesses beside him, before answering Zazu.

"Yes, you're right. That is clearly hunting for sport, and I can't allow it... not even from my own brother," Mufasa sighed. The lion got to his paws and strolled away from their sunning spot. "Where might we find Scar today?"

"Where else, Sire?" Zazu grimaced, pointing with a feather towards a small, distant cave that lay a little ways off from Pride Rock.

The lion and the hornbill were upon the cave soon enough. The spot was all-too-familiar for Mufasa, for he had come here so many times before to lecture his younger brother. And every time he did, their talks begun and ended the very same way.

"Scar."

"Ah, so I'm Scar now? A pleasant change."

"If that's what you want to be called, then I'll respect your wishes," Mufasa said, bowing his head grimly. "But to me, you will always be – "

"We get it. Thank you."

"I did not come here to put up with your bad attitude," the king growled, leaping in front of his brother and causing Scar to jump up with fright. "You have committed a very serious crime."

"Heavens to Betsy!"

"You hunted a gazelle last night. For sport!" Mufasa snarled, bearing his teeth and backing his unfazed brother against the cave wall. "We only hunt when we have to eat, you know that! There is no other excuse to take an innocent life. This law was established years ago by our grandfather, and you dare to disrespect it? To disrespect him?"

"Dear, dear me... however shall I make it up to you? How about I say fifty Hail Mohatus and we call it square?"

Enraged, the king let out a mighty roar, but Scar didn't even flinch. Mufasa narrowed his eyes and spat out, "Do you take anything seriously anymore?"

"Not particularly, no."

The Lion King paced around the cave, keeping Scar trapped against the wall of the cave, but if this bothered his sarcastic little brother, he never let on. Mufasa gave a huff and backed away to the entrance of the cave, shaking his head in dismay. Zazu fluttered onto his shoulder. "You mustn't take it so hard, Sire. As far as I can remember, he's always been like this. Rotten as a week-old wildebeest."

"Zazu. Leave us."

The hornbill seemed a little hurt, but when he caught of glimpse of his king's face, he deemed it best to heed his words and fly out of the cave. Now that Mufasa was alone with his brother, the king abandoned his aggressive stance and calmly sat himself down on the cave floor. Scar looked at him dubiously.

"I'm done yelling at you, brother. Clearly, it's not getting us anywhere," Mufasa gently explained. "So I just want to have a pleasant talk."

"That sounds lovely, but I'm really not interested in – "

"It wasn't a request. Sit."

For once, Scar was caught off guard. He reluctantly sat his rear on the cave floor, opposite his brother, losing any defensive posture he had on the king's orders. Scar was now sitting calmly, but he still refused to meet his brother's eyes. Instead, Scar's gaze lingered all around the cave. He paid particular attention to a few mouse dropping in a small crevice to the right of the king.

"I believe I know why you're acting this way, brother."

"That would truly astound me."

"Are you upset over the sudden loss of both our parents?"

Twice in a row, Scar was taken aback. He quickly regained his bored composure, but it was too late. Mufasa had seen the sting his words made, and he knew he was digging in the right direction.

"Believe me, brother, I miss them too. Father was always there for us growing up, and I... well, I thought him as immortal as the Lion in the Moon. But Father wasn't immortal. It wasn't so long ago that the three of us went on a hunting trip to the distant Fire Mountain and... tragedy struck," Mufasa said. His voiced trailed off to a whisper at the end. "Do you dream about it, too? The lava consuming everything, stealing Father away from us... and it was my fault."

"I don't follow. How was it your fault?"

"Well, I couldn't have known the mountain was going to erupt, but it's like you said to me that day..." Mufasa sighed, looking up at the sky outside the cave. "The animals that live around the Fire Mountain are dangerous... elephants and hyenas and who knows what else. I went to help you with Boma, and in doing so, I left our father to die. His death is on my shoulders."

Scar gulped but otherwise remained motionless.

"And if losing Father wasn't enough... now Mother is gone, too. I know what she said before leaving on her journey, about how she had to do it," the Lion King said, the smallest of tears glistening in his eye, "but I still wish she hadn't gone. It's been ages since she left, and if Mother hasn't returned by now, then I imagine... she never will. It all feels so sudden, and I honestly haven't had the time to sit down and reminisce, but I'm sure that's all you've been doing. Reminiscing."

"You dare mention Mother?"

Now it was Mufasa's turn to be caught off guard. He had been hoping for a heartfelt confession from his brother, an emotional talk where they would bond over the lost parents, but now, Scar was snarling and baring his fangs.

"It's your fault she's gone, you fool. You got Father killed, you said so yourself, and Mother left the Pridelands because of our father's death! If it wasn't for you, then she wouldn't have gone on her stupid journey, but now she's... she's..."

Mufasa was silent, bowing his head and giving a quiet prayer in remembrance of their parents, one that his brother did not join him in. At last, Mufasa raised his head and spoke. "I know you're angry with me, but remember, it was her choice to make. I wanted her to stay, but she felt she had a duty to fulfill."

"Don't talk down to be like I'm some immature cub! I don't want your pity and I don't want to talk about my feelings," Scar growled out, turning his back to his brother. This irritated the king, but he let the insult slide. "If you want to exile me for killing that gazelle, then go ahead and do it."

"I can't. We don't exile cubs."

Scar whipped back around as though he were about to roar, but he thought better of it. Instead, Scar sauntered around the cave, circling his brother with a sneer on his face. "Of course not. I'm sure Father would be happy that at least one of us has grown up... Now you'd better be off. Don't you have a k-k-kingdom to r-r-rule?"

This caused the Lion King to roar, but Scar had returned to his bored demeanor, and Mufasa's roar did not faze him. The king could see that it was useless to continue the conversation, so he turned to leave the cave. Scar gave a very exaggerated sigh of relief, but this did not anger Mufasa as it might have once.

Before the King was gone, he looked back at his brother and said, almost to himself, "...There was a time when I would have done anything for you, brother."

"I'm tearing up," Scar grinned, then flopped back down on the floor of his cave. The king left with his head hung in defeat.


"Sarabi and I didn't see you at the presentation of Simba."

Prancing over to the cave wall, Scar's eyes went wide with feigned surprise. "That was today? Oh, I feel simply awful." At the last word, Scar reached up to scratch his extended claws down the cave wall, creating a shrill screech that made Zazu shudder at the king's feet.

Scar, meanwhile, was casually admiring his claws. "Must have slipped my mind."

Zazu did not hesitate to shake his wing feathers at the scrawny lion. "Yes, well, as slippery as your mind is..." The blue hornbill fluttered up, getting right in Scar's face, scowling at him. "...as the king's brother, you should have been the first in line!"

Scar snapped his teeth together, sending the bird soaring back behind the king's paws in fright. The lion bent down to glare at the majordomo. "Well, I was first in line... until the little hairball was born."

Mufasa did the same, bending his head down to face his brother. "That hairball is my son, and your future king." The grand lion now raised his head, towering over his brother's measly form. This display of power only amused Scar, as he titled his head back with a devious grin.

"Oh, I shall practice my curtsey." Scar turned his back on his brother, beginning to saunter away, whipping his tail around irritably.

"Don't turn your back on me, Scar."

"Oh no, Mufasa," the lion threw at him, now that he was a safe distance away, "perhaps you shouldn't turn your back on me."

The Lion King gave a terrible roar and dashed in front of his little brother, growling and snarling, but at this point, he did not expect a reaction from him. "Is that a challenge?" And of course, Scar was unfazed.

"Temper, temper... I wouldn't dream of challenging you."

Zazu now came out from hiding behind the king, glaring up at the rude lion and scoffing. "Pity. Why not?"

"Well, as far as brains go, I got the lion's share, but when it comes to brute strength..." Scar went from sneering at the king's majordomo to scowling at the king himself. He now slunk away from his brother and said, as though he were bemoaning his very existence, "...I'm afraid I'm at the shallow end of the gene pool."

Scar did not give his brother or the hornbill a chance to respond, instead going off down the rock and trudging away through the grass. As he left, he heard Zazu saying something about there being "one in every family," but he cared very little for the opinions of birds, so Scar continued on his way.

At this time of day, most of the Pridelanders had already gone to the watering hole to drink their fill, so he knew it would be mostly deserted by now, and he was right. The only animals there were a handful of gazelles, eyeing Scar fearfully.

He realized they were staring at him, so he said, "Boo!" and sent them fleeing.

Now that the waterhole was his, he laid down on the waterfront and gazed at the water. The night he'd attacked the gazelles, the watering hole had been much smaller and drier, as often happened during the dry seasons, but under Mufasa's wise leadership, the kingdom was now flourishing again. The thought of his kind, wise, noble brother's rule was enough to make Scar vomit into the water.

When the waters were clear again, Scar caught sight of his reflection in the water. He admired it for a moment, paying particular attention to his slick mane and beautiful fur color, but his favorite feature by far was the scar through his eye.

When he looked at his scar, he no longer heard the voices in his head.


"Hey, Uncle Scar, guess what?"

His eyes went wide when he heard the voice of a certain lion cub prancing up to him. Did these royals always have to ruin his alone time? Scar rolled his eyes and groaned, "I despise guessing games."

"I'm gonna be King of Pride Rock," the cub bragged, sauntering to his side.

He rolled his eyes and muttered, "Oh, goody."

"My dad just showed me the whole kingdom, and I'm gonna rule it all, heh heh!" As he said this, the cub had run over to the edge of the cliff to gaze at his birthright.

Scar couldn't help but notice how precariously close the little snot was to... Perhaps he could make it look like an accident? But that would still leave Mufasa alive, and his brother would no doubt have another cub to replace him.

Enveloped in the shadows, Scar dismissed that particular temptation and settled on saying, "Yes, well, forgive me for not leaping for joy. Bad back, you know."

He then flopped to the ground to demonstrate just how weary he was. Scar didn't know what else he'd expected the brat to do, but it still set his migraine off when the dim-witted little cub jumped on his head.

"Hey, Uncle Scar? When I'm king, what'll that make you?"

"A monkey's uncle."

"Heh heh!" The cub laughed again and rolled off of him, laying down in front of him with a stupid grin on his face. "You're so weird."

Scar gave the cub a grin of his own. "You have no idea... So your father showed you the whole kingdom, did he?"

"Everything!" the brat said, following his uncle to a ledge that overlooked their kingdom to the north.

"He didn't show you what's beyond that rise at the northern border?"

The cub sank to the ground with disappointment all over his face, and Scar knew he had struck gold. "Well, no... He said I can't go there."

"And he's absolutely right! It's far too dangerous. Only the bravest lions go there."

"Well, I'm brave!" the snot-nosed brat insisted. "What's out there?"

"I'm sorry, Simba. I just can't tell you."

"Why not?" he asked, running over to his uncle's side. Scar couldn't keep himself from grinning, but he turned into a concerned smile just in time. He was so very good at playing these things off smoothly.

"Simba, Simba, I'm only looking out for the well-being of my favorite nephew." Scar explained ever-so-gently. He ever threw in a little pat on the head to really sell it, which Scar thought was pretty impressive on his part.

As he was patting his head, Scar noticed that he had his claws drawn, and they were so very, very close to the brat's eyes. If he didn't go for the eyes, then it would just take a simple crush of his paw and the cub would be no more... but Mufasa would certainly suspect him, and so Scar threw his paw off when the cub said, "Yeah, right. I'm your only nephew."

"All the more reason for me to be protective!" No, no, he couldn't implicate himself in the murder, so obviously, the cub would have to go about putting himself in harm's way. "An elephant graveyard is no place for a young prince – Oops!"

As Scar covered his mouth with his paw, the brat gasped in delight. "An elephant what? Whoa..."

"Oh dear, I've said too much!" Scar said dramatically, lingering over his words like a particularly juicy piece of prey. "Well, I suppose you'd have found out sooner or later, you being so clever and all..." He now pulled his nephew near him affectionately and said, in a voice like a mother ostrich, "Oh, just do me one favor – promise me you'll never visit that dreadful place."

The cub grinned. "No problem."

"There's a good lad," Scar said, shoving the brat off and sending him on his way. "You run along now and have fun. And remember... it's our little secret."


AUTHOR'S NOTE: Well, here we are. We've reached the conclusion of Taka's storyline, progressing him from a childishly immature cub to a murderous lion... and everyone's favorite Disney villain. Honestly, I'm really gonna miss writing Scar. He's way too much fun. Also, if you don't understand why Scar stuttered at Mufasa to mock him, I've recently added a new element to the Taka/Mufasa story where Mufasa has a childhood stutter that he overcomes. That's what Scar is mocking him for here. The change is mostly in Chapters One, Five, and Nine.

Thanks for reading! Reviews are always appreciated.