Chapter 8.
This is the eighth chapter. There will be a few changes to the chase scene. Hope you enjoy it. Please review.
Simba ran for several seconds before he heard the sound of several footsteps. At first, he thought it was more Wildebeests, but when stopped and he looked behind him, he saw four Zulu warriors, 3 of whom looked very familiar. He then kept on running, before he tuned left against the Gorge wall and noticed a path that sloped upwards. Seeing a chance of escaping, a moved to it, and started to crawl up it as the Zulu's closed in. He sped up his crawling as the lead warrior began stepping up the slope with their bare feet. Simba approached a narrow hole in the wall which looked big enough for him to crawl through, and when he went through it, he fitted fine. The following warriors however, (who have all been stepping up the slope), had to crawl through the hole, one by one in a row, which gave Simba a bit of time as he reached the end of the hole and found himself on a high ledge, and got up to his feet. He'd barely stood still for more than five seconds when the lead Zulu warrior started moving out of the hole. Simba began running again, going along the ledge as the warrior sprinted after him, the other 3 not far behind. Simba came kept running along the ledge until he saw that it came to an end, so did the gorge. Simba stopped right by the edge of the ledge as the warrior came up close to him. Then suddenly, the rock right under Simba and several smaller rocks around it gave away, making him and the warrior (who had been standing on two of the smaller rocks) fall down, screaming as they fell.
Shenzi, Kamari, and Azizi, who had all just gotten out of the hole and saw what happened, stood in silence for a few moments. Then they walked slowly to the edge and when they reached it, they all looked down, but didn't see Simba or their fallen warrior friend. Just a lone tree jutting out of the rocky end of the Gorge wall and a lot of rocks down the wall. "Go down, and make sure he's dead." Shenzi said, before turning around, leaving Azizi and Kamari on their own. They both looked over the edge, Azizi a finger width away from Kamari's left-hand side. "Seriously?" Kamari asked irritated. "Oh, I'm sorry." Azizi said as he then moved a couple of steps away from Kamari, but maybe an over the top distance. "That's a good distance, right there." Kamari said, before Azizi could do any more. "Yeah, okay." Azizi said calmly, before they both looked down. "No kid could survive a fall like that. Listen, we're gonna go back and tell her we went down there and stabbed him." Kamari suggested. "Uh-huh. That's perfect, because I am desperate to stab him." Azizi said, missing the point. "We're not gonna stab him! Simba is dead. That's all she and Scar ever have to know." Kamari said, before he tuned around. "Works for me." Azizi said, looking down one last time bore turning around. However, unknown to them, Simba WAS alive, hanging onto the bottom roots of the jutting out tree, before setting his feet on a small thin ledge and then started to slowly climb down. Sometime later, he had climbed all the way down and walked through a bunch of bushes fore he saw nothing in front of him but empty land. No idea in mind, taking his uncle's words to heart, he decided there was only one thing he could do: Leave and never go back. He made that choice as he set off into the unknown.
Back at the capital, and at the palace, Scar, now dressed in black long trousers and a black suit, stood in the balcony room with the doors closed, in front of Sarabi, Nala, Sarafina and several of their friends and members of the palace staff, and a few press reporters. They were all wearing black clothes, as Scar said it would "help the moment". Sarabi was looking down at the floor, fidgeting her fingers on her diamond wedding ring. "Mufasa's death is a terrible tragedy. The greatest leader our young nation has ever known. To lose a brother… such a deep, personal loss. And little Simba, who had barely begun to live over a decade, a kid whose blood held our future. It's also too much to endure. I only wish I had gotten to the gorge in time being there to save them both. And so, it is with a heavy heart, that I must… assume the throne." Scar said, telling them his version of what has transpired, before walking to the doors and opening them. "Mufasa and Simba are gone, which means I… am your king. But I must admit, I cannot bear nor carry this burden alone. So, I will need some help, to ensure… the safety of the country." Scar said as he grabbed a red flag pole he had placed there earlier and began walking across the balcony. As he walked those inside looked behind them to see several Zulu warriors come up the stairs and down the hall and into the room, surrounding them. Some of the warriors went out past the doors and stood on the balcony. "Nala, stay close." Sarabi said, as she and Sarafina got close besides Nala. "And so, from the ashes of this tragedy, we shall welcome the dawning of a new era! A great, and Glorious future!" Scar cried out as he unfurled the flag and placed the bottom of the flagpole on the balcony stone barrier and held it as the wind revealed the flag: Red, with the gold outlining of a lion's head in the centre, crowned with a golden star above its main.
Over a Rafiki's house, in view of the palace, Zazu and Rafiki (who had barely aged, but with slightly more grey hair) watched from the lounge window as a least dozen Zulu warriors stood in the palace courtyard and could just see Scar unfurling his new flag. "Oh, dear, this can't be good." Zazu said to himself. Rafiki didn't say anything before he walked over to see the mantle piece to see the picture of baby Simba, before touching it and moving its front slowly down onto the mantel piece.
Meanwhile, Simba was slowly walking across nothing but dry land. He was in the Kalahari Desert, but the further he walked the tired he became. He had no water, and the hot sun was making him parched, and his head began feeling dizzy. The sun was also making his skin get notably brown. Time seemed to slow down, and he had no idea how long he'd been walking, but he had choice but to keep moving. Finally, his suffering over took him, and his legs gave away, making fall to the ground. He made no attempt to move or stand up, as he quickly loses consciousness, and blacked out.
So, Scar is now king and Simba's suffering. Wonder what happens next? Please wait. The next chapter will be out soon. Hope the changes I did made sense, and I hope you understand Scar's new flag. I don't really know much about what being in the desert dos do you, but I hope I didn't get Simba's symptoms wrong. The Kalahari Desert is in most of Botswana, parts of Namibia, and South Africa, so let's say the Pridelands is close to Botswana. Please review, especially Arwen the Storyteller.