Chapter 31 Speculation
"Sarabi!" Scar called out the next evening. It was the moment the lionesses had been anticipating. They had refused to hunt for several days now. The hyenas had started to complain. Scar himself had not had anything decent to eat for nearly a week, along with most of the lionesses. Chipo had had some small things to eat so she could continue to nurse her cubs, but that was it. Sarabi walked up boldly to the King, to confront him and demand answers.
The lionesses stood by in anticipation. They didn't want to fight, but would if they had to. Suddenly Nala appeared.
"Mother!" Nala called to Sarafina.
"Nala, where have you been we've been worried sick?!" Sarafina exclaimed.
"I can't tell you now. Come! We need to challenge Scar…"
"Sarabi is confronting him now… We'll see if that becomes necessary…" Chipo stated.
"It is necessary," Nala spat. "I found our true King…"
A lion's roar that no one recognized rang out across the Pride Lands. All the lionesses were suddenly on alert. The roar had come from Pride Rock.
"You brought a rogue here?!" Chipo said in alarm.
"Come!" Nala commanded. Chipo reluctantly left her cubs in a small cave and followed the lionesses to where Scar was. Before him stood a golden lion. His resemblance to Mufasa was uncanny. But it wasn't him. This male was young and not nearly Mufasa's size. After an exchange of words the lionesses learned that this male was Simba… supposedly. But how was he alive after all this time? Nala spoke for the angry, hungry lionesses that they supported Simba. Scar then asked the rogue a nasty question:
"Who is responsible for Mufasa's death?" Scar spat.
"I am," the golden lion reluctantly replied. Scar passed down his judgement of murder on Simba. Chipo was very confused, as were the other lionesses. If this was Simba, then how had he caused Mufasa's death as a small cub? Was this Scar's secret? Had he let Simba live even though he had committed this horrible act? It didn't make sense…
Scar backed Simba off the edge of Pride Rock's overhang and lightning struck the ground, igniting another fire below them. The hyenas were growling at Simba, supporting their King. But suddenly Simba jumped up and Scar was pinned down underneath him, his claws at Scar's throat.
"Say it!" Simba demanded. "So they can hear you…"
"I killed Mufasa!" Scar yelled. Shock pierced Chipo's heart. She had never questioned the accident that had killed the King and that had allowed Scar to come and rescue her.
It was all for me… Chipo thought in horror.
The hyenas piled onto Simba, attacking him. The lionesses charged in, attacking the hyenas. Chipo wasn't sure about anything anymore but she knew that the hyenas had to go. She joined in the fight alongside her friends and the highborn lionesses. She lost track of Scar in the chaos. But she had faith in him. He was a clever lion, he could take care of himself. The hyenas seemed to dissipate. Chipo could hear roaring coming from above them. The two lions must be fighting at the very top of Pride Rock. But Chipo's concern now shifted to her cubs. She went back to check on them. With the fire now raging, she needed to make sure the place she left them wasn't on fire. They were fine, the fire couldn't burn the rocks they were on. Now it was time to check on Scar. As she went back to Pride Rock she saw Scar tumble down the backside of the large rock formation. The hyenas were waiting for him at the bottom. The hyenas tore into Scar, it appeared as if he wasn't even fighting back. Chipo raced to his side, clawing at the hyenas roaring loudly. She raked Shenzi's back with her claws. She grabbed Banzai by the back of the neck, shaking him viciously. The hyenas ran off, their purpose was gone. Scar lay dying as the rain began to fall.
"Taka! My love what have they done to you…" Chipo cried. His wounds were massive, he was bleeding heavily.
"Zira…" Scar gasped. "It was all for you… My love, I could not ever let you suffer…"
"Don't speak now…" Chipo told him, holding his head in her arms. "We are here now, together like always…"
Simba's roar rang out over Pride Rock. The lionesses roared back in return, but not all of them. Chipo looked down at her beloved King, he was dead.
"Kovu is now the rightful king!" one of Chipo's friends screamed.
"Crap…" Chipo muttered, racing over to the rest of the pride.
"Who the heck is Kovu?" Simba asked.
"Chipo's bastard cub," Nala spat. "Don't listen to them Simba, this is your pride now…"
"Kovu was named the heir!" Chipo's friend insisted. "If this Simba is indeed a follower of the Great Kings he should respect the lineage of the kings…"
"Shut up!" Chipo yelled at her friends. "King Simba please forgive them, this has been a shock to everyone…"
"That's Chipo," Nala growled to Simba. "That's Scar's wife. His most loyal supporter. She had to have known…"
"Known what?" Chipo asked.
"That Scar killed his own brother! So he could come rescue you!"
"We don't even know if that statement was true!" Chipo protested. "Scar only said that with Simba's claws at his throat! It's speculation only…"
"See, she still supports him, even after his death…" Nala sneered.
"So Kovu is Scar's son, my cousin?" Simba asked.
"No, Scar was sterile. She's never said who the father was…"
"Just some rogue, that's all," Chipo stated frantically.
"That's not true!" Zazu interjected. "Kovu's father is the current King of the River Valley Pride. The rogue that killed King Ahadi and Enu, the Fastest…"
Shock spread over the pride, Sarafina was outraged.
"You saw my family?!" she screamed. "And you didn't tell me?! They are prisoners on their own land under that King! And you go there to be serviced by him?! What the hell are you Chipo?! You were my friend once… But no more, you have done a lot of things, but this! You are disgusting!"
The highborn lionesses started growling in their shared outrage. Chipo's friends growled in return.
"It's not important…" Chipo scrambled.
"Oh really?" Nala growled. "All of this here is because of you Chipo! Scar ruined his marriage over you. You ruined your own marriage over him, causing you to be taken away by your husband. The Scar kills Mufasa, so that he's the King, so he can come for you! He enlists the hyenas to help him so not even his own Lion Guard can challenge him. He killed his own son for you! So that he could have you! You're not that stupid Chipo! You had to have known!"
"No, I swear I didn't know…" Chipo pleaded. "Please Simba it is not what it seems…"
"She was so eager to replace Malka with her own cubs," Nala continued. "She went out and got pregnant twice this last wet season!"
"How many cubs do you have?" Simba asked Chipo.
"Three…" Chipo whispered.
"Two of them are males," Nala told Simba. "She'll raise them to hate you. To avenge her lover's death!"
"No!" Chipo cried. "I won't. I promise I won't. All I ask of you Great King Simba is that they have a place in the pride. They could serve on your Lion Guard perhaps when they're older…"
"Simba," Sarafina told him. "Kovu's father is the largest male lion I've ever seen. That anyone here has ever seen. Even Scar himself said that at one point. Even if Kovu only becomes half the lion his father is you won't be able to control him…"
"I will make sure my sons obey you," Chipo said franticly.
"That is not a risk I'm willing to take," Simba stated. "At the age of two years old, they will leave the pride, as is customary for young non-royal males…"
Chipo was overcome by fear. Her son Nuka would never survive on his own without the pride. Even with Kovu to help him, it would be a death sentence for him, just as being ousted from the pride would have been a death sentence for Scar… Fear was replaced by rage in Chipo's heart. She bared her teeth and began to growl.
"You highborn think you can just take everything from us?!" Chipo raged. "The world does not belong to you just because you think it does! My sons deserve a chance…!"
"Kovu is the rightful King!" her friends chanted behind her. "Kovu, King of Pride Rock!"
"I have spoken!" Simba roared. "My decision will stand…"
Chipo lunged at Simba, her friends behind her roared, but held back. Chipo clawed and bit at the King, Simba grabbed her right ear, but she tore away from him, losing a chunk of her ear. Nala pounced on Chipo, pinning her down. Simba came over, raising his paw to finish her off…
"No Simba!" Sarabi called out to her son. "You cannot kill her. She has nursing cubs, she's the only one in the pride nursing…"
Chipo kicked Nala off her, growling and hissing she backed off towards her friends, her right ear bleeding…
"Your mother is right," Zazu confirmed. "Royal protocol strictly prohibits the killing of a lioness with dependent cubs… Regardless of the crimes…"
"She cannot stay here in my pride!" Simba roared. "Chipo! I hereby exile you and all your supporters from the Pride Lands!"
Chipo and her friends growled, but they stood fast. They did not have the numbers to defeat the highborn. They certainly didn't have the strength needed to deal with Simba. Chipo's eye's glowed red in the light of the lightning.
"Chipo is dead," she growled. "I will hereby be known as Zira! As Scar's most loyal supporter, I vow to avenge his death! The reign of golden kings will come to an end!"
The highborn growled and roared. The Outcasts retrieved their cubs from their hiding places and set out. Their King had lost and now they were no longer welcome in their own home.
