Chapter 13 New Dawn

Ahadi's roar rang out over Pride Rock as the sun rose. The prince, was now the new King. Beside him stood his mate, Uru and behind him his two sons, Mufasa and Scar who would insure the bloodline of kings continued. Mohatu's death was a shock to the kingdom, but an expected one. He had long outlived his time, Ahadi was now taking the crown who was older himself. The fate of the kingdom was heavily dependent on the next generation: Mufasa and Scar. They were the future.

Scar's engagement was a welcomed relief to the Pride Lands. Everyone was happily buzzing about the two royal weddings that would take place this year, firmly cementing the future of the pride with the promise of new life.

However Scar himself was full of doubts. He had not been able to sleep last night at all. He could not stop thinking of Chipo. He felt like he was betraying her. Abandoning her to her miserable fate with Dejen… He could not stop reliving their encounters together over and over in his mind. But he had made his promise. And the one who had insured it, his grandfather, was now dead. He was racked with guilt for thinking of retracting his proposal, but at the same time Zazu had already left. To disappoint the pride and his parents… He just could not bear the thought.

Seeing Chipo come to Pride Rock to join the hunting party was another stab in his already tormented heart. She smiled warmly at him. Word had spread quickly of his engagement, so she probably already knew. Before heading out with the other lionesses she stole a moment to speak to Scar.

"Congratulations on your engagement Taka!" She said cheerfully.

"Thank you…" Scar said reluctantly.

"I wanted to give you something," Chipo continued. From between her paw toes she gave him what looked like some kind of rock…

"What is it?" Scar asked.

"It's a small piece of glass," Chipo explained. "I found it by the shore of the Waterhole. It's formed when lightning strikes the sand. The sand is never the same afterwards. I thought I would give it to you, to wish you well in your new life with Adaeze…"

"Thank you…" Scar replied. "I will never be quite the same…"

Chipo smiled at him warmly, knowing what he intended to say but couldn't in front of so many others. She then said goodbye and left with the hunting party. Scar looked down at his little piece of glass. It was smooth and round, he could easily carry it with him between his toes, to remember her always….

When word reached Adaeze and her family they were overjoyed. Adaeze told Zazu that she accepted, of course. She and her sisters were giddy with excitement. They were all going to be married. Adaeze was sad to be leaving her family, but she was excited to start her new life with Scar at Pride Rock. Her and her family would arrive a week before the wedding at Pride Rock. She was still very shy, but Scar was strong and worldly, he would show her the way to their new lives together.

It had been nearly a week of sleepless nights for Scar. He just couldn't face the night, the dreams he had of Chipo, and rest never came to him. When morning came he was exhausted, hardly able to do the morning patrols. Then he would crash all day in the main den. His parents had shown concern for him. He had never been like this before. The one thing that had always solved his insomnia was Chipo. He knew she wouldn't be at the Graveyard but one night he went there anyways. Maybe just being in the place they once shared together would allow him some rest…

Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed saw him arrive at his secret meeting place.

"See," Shenzi whispered to Banzai. "I told you he'd be back…"

Scar sniffed at the ground. It had been weeks since their last hook up here, her sent was long gone. Still he paced, looking for her. Being here made him aroused, excited, and he felt very powerful with his surging testosterone pulsing through him. He paced faster, now slowly running around the Graveyard to all the little places they had been together. He needed her so badly… He wanted to fulfill her and his own selfish desires. When the chuckling hyenas emerged to mock him, he growled and roared at their intrusion.

"Now that's no way to treat a friend," Shenzi said calmly.

"You are not my friend!" Scar growled.

"Well I don't see anyone else around to help you now… Do you Banzai?"

"Nope!" Banzai laughed. "Just us!"

"You know, Chipo came here the first night you got back," Shenzi sneered. "She ran around, much like you are now… She was desperate for her satisfaction… You know what she ultimately did?"

Scar kept growling at her.

"She went back to the Waterhole and took a nice, cold, bath…"

Scar's eyes lit up. "The Waterhole…" he muttered.

"Yes Scar…" Shenzi teased. "The Waterhole…"

Scar took off in the direction of the Waterhole.

"You'd think he would have been able to figure that out himself…" Banzai huffed.

"Can you think strait when you're like that?" Shenzi snapped.

"No…"

"Exactly… There's no thoughts left in your head when your needs are that urgent…"

Scar raced over to the Waterhole. He didn't see anything but that didn't detour him. He walked around the Waterhole, his erection gone, but still longing. He still didn't see anything. Scar reluctantly went to Chipo's den. He saw Dejen, dead to the world.

"Taka?"

Scar nearly jumped out of his skin. It was Chipo.

"I didn't mean to scare you!" she whispered.

"No, I'm sorry, I shouldn't be here…" Scar stumbled.

"You can't sleep can you?"

"No…"

"I can't sleep either," Chipo confessed. "I want you to be happy. I keep telling myself that, but it never works! I just want you for my own. The nights are the worst. During the day I can at least distract myself. But at night I'm just alone with my thoughts. They won't give me peace. I… I don't know what to do…"

"I don't know what to do either…" Scar admitted. A dangerous thought entered into his mind. "But there is one thing that always works…"

"If we keep doing this… we're going to get caught…" Chipo stated. She knew it was wrong. But she didn't have the will to stop it. She was hopeless for the red handsome lion with the black mane…

"Then let us wish that each day, will not be that day," Scar replied. "And when we are found, let them tear us apart then. Because I cannot live another moment without you…"

"Will it be worth it?" Chipo pleaded. "I never stopped loving you. My love is stronger now than ever knowing I might lose you…"

"Yes," Scar replied confidently. "I love you more than all the world. I cannot deny my feelings for you, no matter how hard I have tried. I would tear down the world for you if I could, so that we might live together. But I cannot do that. So I will give you what I can… If you are willing to accept it…"

Chipo gave Scar a passionate kiss. The two then made their way to the Graveyard to resume their paused affair. Shenzi smiled and shook her head. Those two are going to get themselves killed if they're not careful…

"He's going to the Graveyard again, Sire," Zuzu reported to Ahadi.

"He's still depressed?" Ahadi thought. "It doesn't make any sense…"

"At least Taka comes back and goes right to sleep…" Zuzu tried to reason. "Maybe he just needs to get some energy out with a walk before he sleeps…"

"Yes, but why go there? Of all places. It's not our territory. He could get hurt if the clan snuck up on him…"

"Sire, you worry too much," Zuzu assured him. "Taka is a grown lion. He was a rogue for nearly a year! I'm sure he was in more danger then than he is now. He can take care of himself, surely…"

"I just wonder what he does there…"

"Well Sire, I cannot see very well in the dark, I cannot follow him…"

"I do not mean for you to follow him," Ahadi stated. "He's restless. He doesn't want us watching him. Hopefully Adaeze will settle him down…"

"I'm sure she will Sire," Zuzu said confidently. "She is so sweet and agreeable. Nothing could possibly worry him with her in his life…"

"I hope not…"

Mufasa and Sarabi were married just after the first rains of the wet season. Everyone at Pride Rock was overjoyed. The following week Adaeze and her entourage arrived at Pride Rock, in preparation for the next royal wedding. Adaeze wanted to immerse herself in pride life so that she would not be so sad when her family left after her nuptials. The days were mostly casual, but she noticed a pattern. Scar left the den at night for several hours, then returned. She had not seen him do this the first time she had been at Pride Rock. She asked him about it, he told her he just liked going for walks before he went to sleep. But still it bothered her. She followed him once, but when she saw him leaving Pride Rock's territory she stopped dead in her tracks. Was there some unseen threat? Did the hyenas need to be run off? Adaeze was even more confused than ever.

Adaeze also pursued a closer relationship to Chipo. Chipo however seemed to shy away from her now. When she pressed her, Chipo became even more distant, now avoiding Adaeze. This greatly saddened her, she had hoped befriending the young lioness would bring her closer to Scar and his family. Another unusual thing was that Ahadi and Mufasa didn't seem to like Chipo all that much. She was rarely in their presence, but when she was, her head was held low and she avoided looking at them. They on the other hand, gave her hard glances. It was unsettling. Why was Chipo allowed to join the pride if the royals didn't like her? Adaeze asked Uru what all of this meant.

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about it," Uru assured her future daughter in law. "Taka was a bit taken with Chipo for a while but that's all over now… He has you after all…"

"Taken?" Adaeze questioned. "Where they… in love?"

"Oh, I wouldn't say that…" Uru said flippantly. "He was just… hopeless for her for a short time... That's why my husband and son are a bit protective…"

"Hopeless?" Adaeze asked bewildered.

"All torrid affairs are my dear…" Uru said shaking her head. "It took a while for him to accept that fact and move on from her. You will do a world of good for Taka. He will settle down more once married to you. Most lions do…"

Adaeze was at a loss. An affair? A hopeless obsession? No wonder Chipo had turned cold towards her. It was one thing to visit, quite another to be betrothed for marriage. She must still have feelings for him…

Adaeze went to the main den to ask Scar for a walk before sunset. She saw him looking at something that looked like a small rock…

"Hello Taka!" Adaeze exclaimed. "What's that?"

"Oh this?" Scar said, holding up the piece of glass. "This is a piece of glass. Chipo gave it to me as an engagement present…"

"Oh… Say, why don't we take a walk before dark? Maybe that way you won't need to take one to go to sleep?"

Scar smiled and agreed. He took her down to the Waterhole, walking around its perimeter. She asked about Scar's affair with Chipo…

"Yes it is true," Scar admitted. "But that was a long time ago. She and I have moved on…"

Adaeze smiled. She so very much wanted to believe her love. A nagging feeling remained.

"Is that why Chipo and Dejen don't live at Pride Rock?" Adaeze questioned.

"Possibly," Scar theorized. "Their den is just over there…"

In the low light, Adaeze could see the dark shadows in the distance: the Graveyard.

"Taka, why do you go to the Graveyard for your walks?" Adaeze questioned. "All these lands are so beautiful, why go there?"

She must have followed me, Scar thought. "It's more peaceful there. Nothing distracting, just… silence…"

"You're going to go there tonight then? Aren't you?" Adaeze asked with her big blue eyes looking up at Scar.

Scar smiled down at her. "I won't if you don't want me to," he replied. "But it really does help me to sleep…"

"Have you always been this way? Unable to sleep?"

"Ever since I got back from being a rogue, yes," Scar replied sternly. "One cannot rest easy when out on your own. Mentally reassuring myself of that, clams me for sleep…"

"Do you think the Pride Lands are in danger?" Adaeze asked concerned.

"One never knows what lies in the dark, unless you go looking for it…" Scar stated. "There is no imminent threat… But that could change at any moment."

Adaeze's face shown with worry.

"Do not fear Adaeze," Scar reassured her. "I will protect you and the pride the best I can. That is why we have the Lion Guard. But I cannot protect, what I do not know. So can you promise me never to follow me at night again?"

Adaeze nuzzled Scar's thick black mane. It was warm, comforting, with a strong beating heart underneath. Scar had more important things to worry about than an old fling having feelings for him. All he wanted was to protect Pride Rock, and being a former rogue had taught him to do just that, albeit unconventionally. Adaeze silenced the nagging thoughts in her mind.

"I promise Taka," she whispered in his ear. He knelt down and kissed her before returning her to Pride Rock. Chipo awaited him at the Graveyard. He was becoming too predictable. He would circle around to the Graveyard tonight, coming from the other direction. It would take longer, but hopefully it would detour anyone from following him in the future.