A New Home
Author's Note: I apologize again for the heartbreak in the last chapter, but it had to be done! Regardless, keep the reviews coming and let me know your thoughts!
Chapter Summary: To take Scar down, Zarifa realizes that staying with the Warrior Pride may help her. Scar forbids the lionesses from leaving the Pride Lands.
"SARABI!" Scar's voice boomed loudly before the sun could rise. Having just returned to Pride Rock a few hours before, Sarabi was shaken from her sleep with a jolt. She had all but forgotten that she had left her daughter with another pride, but Sarabi still instinctively looked around for Zarifa. Instead, she saw the tired but scared faces on the lionesses. Scar was standing on the promontory.
Taking a deep breath, Sarabi got up from her spot and walked with poise to the promontory, ignoring the sneers from the hyenas. At the end of the day, Sarabi was still going to maintain her dignity.
"Yes, Scar?" Sarabi answered, her voice thick with stoicism. Faster than she was anticipating, Scar whirled around and got in her face.
"Tell me, Sarabi…where is your daughter?" Scar asked, loud enough so the whole pride could hear. Sarabi heard Yusra gasp from afar.
There was no sense playing dumb, or trying to deny that Zarifa was her daughter. Scar would see right through her. Sarabi wanted Scar to know that she had fooled him all this time, and she saved Zarifa. She hoped he would know that Zarifa would one day come back to challenge Scar for the throne.
"You will never find her," Sarabi finally answered, defiant. For the first time since Mufasa died, Sarabi felt like she had power.
Scar roared ferociously, and he hit the ground next to Sarabi. She didn't even flinch. She knew that Scar would never hit her. Angry as he may be with her, Scar's unrequited feelings for Sarabi always kept him from hurting her. She broke his heart over and over again, but Scar couldn't help but love her. Scar's body was heaving with the adrenaline of too much anger and heartbreak that he would never admit to having.
"Tell me where she is. Now," Scar threatened with a low growl. Sarabi remained defiant and shook her head.
"Never. I won't have you kill my daughter," Sarabi said, a slight quiver to her voice. The thought terrified Sarabi, even though she knew Scar would never find Zarifa.
With bared teeth, Scar began pacing as a means to intimidate Sarabi. But Scar quickly discovered that it was no use. Sarabi saw right through him. Frustrated and afraid about losing his title, he roared as loud as he could. The hyenas scrambled.
"I am ordering the hyenas to search the Pride Lands high and low for Zarifa. Find her and don't bother bringing her back to me. Just kill her! As for the lionesses, no one is allowed to leave the Pride Lands, for whatever reason. You are all banned!" Scar yelled, spit flying from his mouth.
Sarabi swallowed hard. What had she done?
Cackling loudly, the hyenas dispersed. "We'll find her, your majesty," Shenzi said as she ran wildly into the Pride Lands, searching for a cub that would not be found.
Zazu had tried to fly off to oversee where the hyenas would be searching, but was quickly stopped by Scar grabbing him by his tail. He yelped as Scar yanked him.
"Not so fast, Zazu. I know you were eavesdropping on my conversation with Zira and reported back to Sarabi. You've lost your privileges as majordomo and will now be confined to the bone cage," Scar said, an evil smirk on his face.
"Please Scar, not the bone cage," Zazu begged. Sarabi stepped forward.
"Don't do anything to him," Sarabi warned.
"You're lucky I don't kill him, or anyone else in this pride, Sarabi!" Scar snapped, startling Sarabi. Scar took that as an opportunity to race back to the den, Zazu trapped in his paws.
The lionesses quickly ran to their queen, fear and worry written on all of their faces. They all took turns nuzzling Sarabi, trying to comfort her.
"Sarabi, did Zarifa make it to the Warrior Pride?" A lioness named Visola asked, keeping her voice low. At the mention of Zarifa, Sarabi began to tear up.
"She's safe. That's all that matters," Sarabi said in a breathy voice.
"What if the hyenas find her?" Yusra asked, concern in her voice. Sarabi was shaking her head.
"The hyenas know not to cross those borders. More than they feared Mufasa, they fear fighting the Warrior Pride. They've been training for battle since they were cubs," Sarabi explained. Nala nuzzled the bereft queen.
"Lupita is going to take care of Zarifa. She's going to train her to be strong enough to take down Scar. You need to hold on to that," Nala said, trying to comfort Sarabi in any way that she could.
"But what are we going to do in the mean time? How are we going to survive? We can't even leave the Pride Lands without an escort," Gasira said.
Gasira was right. Being unable to leave the Pride Lands posed as a security risk for the pride. They now had no way of finding help, or any kind of food that they can eat. Their only hope was that a rogue animal perused the Pride Lands that they could hunt, but Scar and the hyenas could prevent them from eating. They needed hope.
Sarabi knew who could help.
"I will seek counsel from Rafiki. He can help us source food, and a strategy to survive. But I need you all to remember this: the pride can't survive without each other. We must not be afraid to fight back. As long as we stick together, Scar will never defeat us," Sarabi said, her statement received by triumphant roars.
Though she wanted to believe that Scar would one day be defeated, the battle just seemed so far away in Sarabi's mind. She prayed to every great king of the past that her pride would survive.
Zarifa forgot where she was when she woke up. She didn't know who any of these lionesses were and she looked around for her mother out of habit. But then the events of the night before came flooding back to her, much quicker than she would have liked. Lupita was suddenly at her side and gave her a gentle nuzzle.
"Good morning, little one. Sleep well?" Lupita asked in a kind voice. Zarifa wanted to lie and pretend that things were fine, but she just couldn't do it. She sadly shook her head.
"The first night is always the hardest. Come on; let's have some breakfast. My mate and son caught it early this morning," Lupita said, ushering Zarifa up from the ground and leading her outside the den.
Zarifa had to admit – their home was beautiful with the vast landscape and the magnificence of Mount Kilimanjaro in the background. Zarifa wasn't sure if she had ever seen the Pride Lands look this full of life.
Lupita's pride assembled around two dead wildebeests and began to feast. Zarifa felt uncomfortable eating from a pride that was not her own. She stuck by Lupita.
"Zarifa, I'd like to introduce you to the King of the Warrior Pride and my mate, Chiwetel," Lupita said, just as a rather magnificent and broad lion stood before them. His mane was bushy and dark brown, but his amber eyes were kind. He gave a slight bow of his head to Zarifa.
"It is an honour to protect the daughter of Mufasa," Chiwetel said. Zarifa's ears perked up.
"You knew my father?"
"Of course. We met many times at the Savannah Summit. He was very, very kind. He was deeply in love with your mother, I could tell. It's because of your father that I finally decided to ask Lupita permission to join her pride, so that we could be together," Chiwetel said, lovingly looking at Lupita, who gave him an affectionate embrace.
"We can both thank Mufasa for that," Lupita said, pulling away from Chiwetel and looking around. "Where's Apollo? Apollo!"
At the sound of Lupita's calls, a cub suddenly came bouncing over to them. This cub looked like he was a few years older than Zarifa, and he was a taupe color that Zarifa had never seen before. What caught Zarifa's attention were this cub's eyes. While he resembled Chiwetel, he had Lupita's mauve eyes. Zarifa couldn't look away.
"Zarifa, this is our son, Apollo. Apollo, this is Zarifa, Princess of the Pride Lands," Lupita introduced. Apollo's eyes had widened.
"You're the princess of the Pride Lands! Neat!" Apollo said, intrigue in his voice. Chiwetel laughed and he patted his son roughly on the head.
"You'll have to pardon my son, Zarifa. There aren't many young girl cubs in the pride that Apollo gets to talk to," Chiwetel said with a wink. Zarifa giggled.
"It's nice to meet you Apollo," Zarifa finally said.
"Let's grab breakfast. The quicker you eat, the quicker we get to start training," Apollo said, running to the wildebeests and began to eat. Zarifa turned to Lupita with raised eyebrows.
"What training?" Zarifa asked as they made their way over to breakfast.
"Our pride considers ourselves to be warriors, protectors of the savannah, so to speak. We train to ensure that we are always prepared to go into battle, should a threat ensue," Lupita explained as she began to eat. Though Zarifa was starving, she wanted to know more.
"Will I get to do some of the training?" Zarifa asked. Her mother was a strong hunter, and so was Nala. She wanted to be strong, like them.
Before Lupita could answer, Apollo laughed.
"You're the Princess of the Pride Lands, we're supposed to be protecting you, you're not supposed to be fighting," Apollo said, his mouth full of meat. Chiwetel scowled at his son.
"Apollo! Where are your manners?" Chiwetel scolded, Apollo cowering. Lupita stood tall.
"Eat up, Zarifa. Once you're done, you can see how we train," Lupita said.
Zarifa didn't wait; she ate until she was certain she couldn't move.
Once breakfast was over, Zarifa followed after the pride as they had made their way over to the base near Mount Kilimanjaro. As they approached, Zarifa could see lions sparring, pouncing and running up trees. They all looked strong and muscular, like nothing could beat them if they tried. Zarifa was in awe.
Not wanting to disrupt, Zarifa sat by a tree and watched the pride train. Lupita and Chiwetel shouted at the lions, urging them to find their strength, to fight with their hearts as well as their bodies. Though he was still young, Apollo impressed with his speed and cunningness, even outsmarting some of the older lions. Zarifa was dying to join.
"You look curious," Lupita said, taking a spot beside Zarifa. The young cub nodded happily.
"This is so different than how we train back at Pride Rock," Zarifa said. "I am going to start training on my next birthday to prepare for my first hunt."
"If you have to stay here longer, I can train you. I'm sure Apollo would like to have a training partner," Lupita offered. Zarifa shook her head, defiant.
"No thank you. I won't be here that long. My mom will be coming back for me any day now," Zarifa answered with confidence.
Before Lupita could say anything, the sound of a baboon singing loudly stopped her and in turn silenced the training pride. Zarifa knew that sound from anywhere. It was Rafiki. She saw him walking towards the pride.
Excited, Zarifa ran over to him.
"Rafiki, you're here! Are you taking me back home? Where's mom?" Zarifa asked, barely able to contain her elation.
The solemnness of Rafiki's face and his raised hand stopped Zarifa.
"Princess, it is my deepest regret to inform you that the queen cannot come back for you anytime soon," Rafiki announced.
Zarifa's heart stopped and her breath hitched. She tilted her head in confusion.
"What are you talking about? Why can't she come for me?"
"Scar has forbidden the lionesses from leavin' Pride Rock, includin' your mother. He has also ordered the hyenas to hunt for you, and to not stop until you are found. It is in the best interest of your safety and the future of the Pride Lands that you live here," Rafiki said.
Zarifa felt tears building up behind her eyes, but she knew that the whole pride was watching her and held the tears back. Moments like this, Zarifa wanted her mother to hold her. Her mouth felt dry.
"Why can't I visit her?" Zarifa asked, her voice breaking. Rafiki sighed and he gave her a gentle pat on the head.
"In time, I will escort you to visit your mother at the border. For now, you mustn't go back. I'm sorry princess," Rafiki remorsefully said.
The tears were freely falling from Zarifa's eyes. She only agreed to stay with the Warrior Pride because her mother told her it would just be temporary. Now it was going to be indefinite, and Zarifa didn't want that. She wanted her mom. She wanted Nala. She even wanted Zazu. She just wanted to be home.
The royal family was suddenly at Zarifa's side. Apollo stood back, unsure of how to comfort Zarifa. Chiwetel and Lupita each nuzzled Zarifa in an effort to comfort her.
"We're sorry Zarifa. I promise you will have a place here with us," Lupita offered softly. Zarifa bite down hard on her lip and shook her head.
"I need to be alone," Zarifa said as she scampered off, aware that the entire pride and Rafiki were looking on with sympathy.
Night had fallen, but Zarifa couldn't sleep. She tiptoed out of the den and walked towards a trio of trees. She sat down on a bedrock and looked up at the moon. She sighed, wishing that her mother was with her, and that she didn't feel so alone.
"Zarifa?" A voice shook Zarifa. She turned, shocked to see that the voice belonged to Apollo. He sat down beside her.
"Can't sleep?" Zarifa shook her head.
"I'm still getting used to being here," Zarifa said sadly. Apollo followed her gaze up to the moon.
"Looking up at the moon?" Apollo asked. Zarifa nodded with a sad smile.
"My mom told me a story about how the moon and it makes me happy."
"What did she tell you?"
"She said that the moon is the Queen Mother, the first lioness ever born. She looks over all of us, to make sure that we're all safe. My mom told me that if we should ever be separated, to just look up at the moon. She said that means that she'll be looking at the same one and it means she loves me," Zarifa said, trying to hold back tears. She didn't want to keep crying, but what else could she do?
To her surprise, Apollo nuzzled her. Zarifa looked over at him, and his eyes were gentle.
"I'm sorry that you can't go home yet. I can't imagine what you're going through," Apollo said. Zarifa smiled weakly and shrugged her shoulders.
"I do get it, though. Since I was old enough to understand, mom told me that I had to one day challenge Scar for my rightful place for the throne. If I don't do it one day, what hope does the pride have?" Zarifa asked, but wasn't looking for a real answer.
Apollo put a paw over Zarifa's and his eyes looked determined. Zarifa couldn't help but look into them. He was such a demanding force; it was hard to look away.
"Than being here should be good for you, then. You can train with us, become a strong enough fighter to challenge Scar and save the Pride Lands. You and I can train together. I will be there to watch you win," Apollo said, overwhelming Zarifa with a strong sense of power.
She had never been around any boy cubs. Any cubs that had survived past infancy in the Pride Lands promptly left the Pride Lands to find shelter somewhere else, probably to save themselves from Scar's wrath. Though it had only been one day, Zarifa liked being around Apollo. She felt understood with him. She gave him a sweet smile.
"Thank you, Apollo. I would like that," Zarifa said. Apollo nodded and yawned.
"I don't know about you, but I'm exhausted. C'mon, let's get some sleep before we have training tomorrow," Apollo said as he got up and headed back to the den.
Before getting up, Zarifa looked up at the moon one more time. Though she was heartbroken, Zarifa was going to make sure that every night her day would end with her looking up at the moon, knowing that somewhere in the desolate Pride Lands, Sarabi was looking up at the same moon too.
Her heart full and determined, Zarifa walked back inside the den. She was going to beat Scar if it was the last thing she ever did.
To be continued…
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