The road was long: it took them at least another hour to get there, which made them a bit uneasy. Rahisi told them that they would have at least a few hours to find and carry the ash. Once the volcano was surrounded, Mako and Lea guided them through a kind of valley surrounded by black and pointed rocks in which animal bones could be seen.

"Now I understand why you didn't want to live here" Koda told Lea, "This place is horrible"

"I would have preferred to live in the elephant graveyard rather than here ..." Bunga commented. Although he was the bravest, he couldn't help feeling a little nervous from so many pointy rocks and bones

"It was a dream come true when you welcomed me to Pridelands…" Lea commented.

Hearing that, Dan remembered something else:

"Hey, Lea. I'm sorry I misjudged you earlier. It's just… I was a little scared"

The lioness understood:

"Don't worry, it is from the past. Now there is no time: we must save the life of the queen and your mother..."

Mako, looking ahead, announced: "Here it is"

There, in the rocky wall of the volcano, there was a crack wide enough for a hippopotamus (according to Bunga, remembering the width of Beshte) inside, red and orange colors could be seen. Despite everyone's nerves, they came in.

The place smelled horribly of sulfur, and the rocks around it were blacker than night. Other than that, it looked completely deserted, but they had the feeling that someone was watching them.

"This place is horrible" Akira commented.

"Scar! Show yourself if you 're not a coward!" shouted Bunga, but nothing happened.

"Don't call him," Lea said, "We must do what we came to do. Let's take the volcanic ash and get out"

The group moved slowly to the lava pool, always looking around. Bunga, who wanted to prove at all costs that he was still the bravest, was waving his hands in front, as if waiting for Scar's head to come out of there. On the other hand, Rahisi approached slowly, leaning on Mako, to carefully pick up some ash.

But, as Bunga had predicted, as soon as Rahisi had taken the ash, a powerful flame rose from the lava pool and materialized into a lion's head. From the impact and blast that ensued, Rahisi's crosier flew off and got stuck in a crevice. Apart from that, a wall of fire formed that separated Dan and Koda from the rest.

"Bunga ..." Scar laughed, "I already missed your boast of bravery. I can't believe how Kion supports you"

"Boast of bravery?" complained the badger, who was recovering from the impact along with the others, "I am the bravest"

"There is a little line that separates the bravest from the dumbest…" Then, he looked at the rest of the group, "Oh! And who are they? A new lion guard?"

They all looked at each other, Koda and Dan kept looking at the burning lion. Rahisi, meanwhile, was trying to pull out the crosier. Lea, Jabari and Akira tried to help him.

"It's very small ..." he said, noticing the size.

"I'll take care of it" proposed Bunga as he got into the small hole.

"Ah ... I already remembered" Scar continued, as he looked at the rest, "You must be Dan and you Koda ... Nice to meet my great-grandchildren"

"You are not our great-grandfather" Koda warned, "You betrayed the pride and caused great disorder to the cycle of life. Even in death, you continued trying to seize the Pridelands..."

"I only wanted what was rightfully mine..." Scar clarified, "As yours should be ..."

With his gaze, he pointed at Dan. Koda then assumed that Scar knew of the situation, but remembered his uncle Kion's warnings.

"I'm not going to fall for your games, Scar" he said defiantly, "There are bonds of brotherhood that unite us more than blood; Dan is a true brother, and we are one"

Dan was touched by it. But for some reason, he had a bad feeling: if Scar had such terrible power to burn things at will… why didn't he attack them both?

"Hahaha" Scar laughed, "We are one? That superficial idea is typical from Simba, and once it has served him well ... but let me show you the truth ... "

Somehow, Dan's ear caught something crawling under the rocks they were standing on. Following the noise, he realized what it was: the snake he had seen that night and was closing to Koda.

The young lion did not have long to think; but somehow, he knew what he had to do. As he pushed Koda aside, he yelled:

"Watch out!"

The next second, an incredible pain was perceived in his face… more precisely in his left eye, at the same time that he felt dizzy and confused. Then, he fell to the ground. But there were also several screams, the first five were from Jabari, Akira, Lea, Koda and Shany:

"Dan!"

The sixth was from Scar:

"What?!"

The last one was a cry of pain, followed by Mako's voice: "Damn Hatari, you owed me..."

In pain, Dan was able to open his eye slightly and see Koda at his side, concerned. On the other hand, Mako had jumped the wall of fire and now he had the snake crushed in his jaws as drops of blood fell on the ground.

"You!" Scar yelled again, "How is it possible? Why…?"

Dan was confused and felt a wound in his eye. Koda for his part, changed his determined face to an annoyed one. And he turned to Scar.

"I will not forgive you for this..." he said threateningly.

But then, he felt his brother's paw stopping him. When he turned around, he couldn't believe what he was seeing: Dan had a scar on his left eye, but now he was surrounded by some kind of glowing aura.

"Wait… Koda…" Dan said as he got up, "Give me a moment…"

Koda watched Dan stand up and walk past him, struggling with the pain of the wound.

"Brother ..." he muttered.

"Scar, I'm sorry about what happened between you and your brother…" he shouted to Scar, "But I want to tell you that… your brother forgives you: I know because he is in me. He told me that he would have given his face to receive the scar instead of you ... and, as you can see, I have done that for my brother ... "

Then, his voice changed, to another that Scar recognized.

"Taka, I'm sorry brother" he said.

"Mufasa?" asked Scar.

"Yes, I'm talking through Dan. He and Koda are true brothers and I can assure you that they won't make the same mistakes that we did. I do not hold a grudge; I know that one day you will understand it too..."

Finishing the sentence, Dan felt terribly tired of fighting and collapsed on his back. On the other hand, Scar, who had been rendered speechless by those words, said:

"You…it's not possible" he said.

Koda, as he was seeing his brother unconscious, but with that spirit, cleared his mind and remembered the words of his uncle Kion:

"Don't fight fire against fire... "

Standing next to his fallen brother, he said to Scar:

"I no longer feel hatred towards you: just pity. Look how my brother was able to defend me and receive a scar for me. I'd tell you that you're evil and it's time for you to go... forever this time. But I'm not the one who should judge you..."

Koda breathed in the air, and blew. The sky was then covered with clouds and the great lions of the past appeared, also blowing next to Koda. Instantly, the clouds gave off rain, a purifying rain that extinguished all the fire in that place, in Outlands and Pridelands...

Shany, taking advantage of the disappearance of the fire, approached the unconscious Dan.

"Dan ..." she said.

"Shany ..." Dan replied weakly.

"You can't defeat me..." Scar yelled as he disappeared, "Somehow, someday… I'll be back"

But, just at that moment, Koda got surrounded by some kind of glowing aura like his brother. But this one was different, because it was another lion who was in him.

"No, you won't this time" Koda said feeling Askari speak for him, "This time you were forgiven by your own brother. The cycle of hate has been broken and the cycle of life will continue. This time it is time for you to rest in peace forever..."

Finishing those words, the immense head of fire disappeared into the smoke that was released from contact with the heat. In what was left of the lava pool, now dry, was Scar's mark of evil, but this time it was disappearing… forever. Koda's glow disappeared.

On the other hand, Bunga finally reached for the crosier.

"I got it ..." he said. But, instantly, the whole place began to shake and collapse. The exit through which they had entered was blocked.

"Bunga, where is the old entrance?" Jabari asked. It was their only hope and surely the lava outside had disappeared.

"This way!" Bunga led them.

Mako offered to take Dan, while Lea took Rahisi. They all rushed towards the exit, but it was blocked.

"Leave this to me..." Mako said leaving Dan with Shany.

The young lion climbed onto the rock and using his hind paws he pushed the rock with all his might, unlocking the path. Without wasting time everyone left the place. Just when they reached the outside, a rock blocked the entrance and, now, the place was inaccessible.

(Dan's Pov)

Dan felt terrible… the pain in his eye was unbearable: it reminded him of his tragic and painful past again: his parents had dead, the other children teased him, he had an uncle selfish and ambitious than hunted animals...

But then, it all stopped and felt a warm light enveloped him and gave him the rest of memories: his best friend Shany, his new parents and grandparents, his new brother…

"Don't worry, I will protect you and relieve you ..." a voice told him.

"Mufasa ..." he muttered.

"Thanks Dan, you made a huge sacrifice"

"But, the snake venom... the scar…"

"Don't worry about the venom: as long as I'm here, nothing bad will happen to you..."

Then he slowly opened his eyes.

"You woke up?" Mako asked, "Wait guys, Dan has woken up"

They were near a large flat rock supported by a smaller rock formation. The border between Pridelands and Outlands.

"Dan, are you feeling okay?" Shany asked him.

"Yes, I think so…"

"Don't you have any discomfort?" asked Bunga who already knew the symptoms of the bite, "No desire to roar at us?"

Dan touched his injured eye; but, he hardly felt any pain.

"I think not" he said.

"It's UnBungalieveable! You are immune to the snake's venom like me!"

Dan was not sure about that, but he managed to ask:

"Ah... do we have ash?"

"Yes, here it is ..." Rahisi replied holding his crosier, "Let's hurry, we must go back"

Author's Notes: What a turn of events, or not? But, it seems Dan is fine. However, they still have to hurry.