Author's note: Another disclaimer for violence, this time more of it than Chapter Five. Since the next chapter is really short, I'm going to put it out in a few days, probably next weekend and then I will take a short pause to properly arrange the second half of the story (the first draft is done, but I really need to tweak some things). However, that break shouldn't be longer than three weeks.


CHAPTER SEVEN: LONG LIVE THE KING

Warithi was left brooding on a nearly deserted Pride Rock, boiling with anger and desire to prove himself. Most of the pride was away by now and the thought of them running into battle while he stood in place made him feel the most frustrated he has ever been.

He was especially angry at his father. Every ounce of him was dragging him to come after him, to prove that he can be as good as him. No, to prove he can be better. But Tama and Nguvu were behind him like two guards keeping their eyes on the prisoner with other two lionesses on the other side of the Pride Rock. He thought about whether he should bother with tricking them or just fight them off.

He settled for both.

"Tama! Nguvu!" he called just loud enough for them to hear.

The way they approached him was filled with suspicion.

"What is it?" asked Nguvu.

"I heard someone sneak behind the corner. They must be somewhere behind the Pride Rock now. Let's split up on each side," Warithi proposed.

Tama smirked. "And what? The two of us on one side and you on another so you can run away? I don't think so."

"You don't trust me," Warithi nodded. "Fine. I go with one of you, and the other one goes alone, I'm fine with that. Unless you want my father to come back and see that we did a lousy job?"

"We've got two more lionesses there, we will just ask them to check it."

"We can't call out for them, it's not safe. What if they are already taken out?"

The lionesses thought about it for a second.

"Fine," Tama spoke first. "You go with me."

Warithi had to resist the urge to smirk at her.

...

"Over there!" Kovu halted when he noticed Simba's shelter not too far away and the pride stopped.

"That's the cave?" Scar asked.

Kovu nodded, but Scar didn't even wait for his response. "Remember, we sneak towards it and then we attack. But not too quickly, be very careful."

...

Simba's heart skipped a beat when he saw Scar and Kovu show up in the distance at the cave with the rest of the pride behind them, but he reassured himself and quickly focused. It was time to take Pride Rock back.

More of them came than he expected, but they still had a chance of taking them out. Besides, they were at the point of no return. There was no backing out now.

Simba slowly began sneaking through the grass and the others followed in an equally slow manner. As they exited the grass, they began picking up the pace, but still in a kneeling position to make as less sound as possible. Since the grass wasn't exactly next to the cave, tension was rising in Simba's chest. However, the grass was proving just far enough to sneak up on them unexpectedly. The trees right next to it would be too obvious, as proved by lionesses from Scar's pride immediately searching around there.

With each step Simba's heart raced more and when they finally come close enough for it to be dangerous, Simba ran with the speed of a lightning bolt, jumped at unassuming Scar, digging his claws into his skin, and finally pinning him to the ground with five more lionesses doing the same thing with some other enemies. Still, there were lions and lionesses standing in both prides. The ones in Simba's pride were gathered around Damu with one lioness putting her teeth around his neck and Nala standing in front of him, facing the other pride. Those who were still standing in the other pride could just look as they had no choice.

In the meantime, while Simba was holding Scar down, he thought the feeling would be one of ecstatic victory, but all he felt was an urgent need to get the situation over with. And, at all cost, defend the pride. Scar still didn't allow himself to look surprised, no matter how he felt.

"Are we going to make this a habit, my dear nephew?" he asked Simba.

Simba pressed Scar's throat quicker and harder than the last time. "It's not your turn to speak," he said as he forcefully turned Scar's head in Damu's direction.

"Your choice," Kiara threatened. "Give up Pride Rock or he dies."

Scar forcefully let the air out through his nose and silenced himself as if holding back a laugh, remembering he wasn't in a position to mock.

"Very well," Scar said surprisingly seriously after a few seconds of silence. "You win."

Silence continued. Simba and his pride were standing in uncertainty. Damu's eyes slightly widened with what looked like a glimmer of hope trying not to be overcome by doubt.

But right after that, Scar lifted his legs to throw Simba off and tried to throw some dust in his face. It mostly missed Simba, but the element of surprise made him loosen up a little and Scar somehow managed to turn around on and begin crawling out of Simba's reach. Scar growled as Simba's claws left a bloody trace on his chest. Still, he crawled out of it, got up and stood his ground. He was surprisingly strong for such an old lion.

Timon got off of Pumbaa, ran to a small hole in the ground and yelled into it. "Now!"

And so the ground went crumbling under the hostile pride's paws.

...

Damu's roar was heard just as much as Scar's as a lioness holding him tightened the pressure around his neck. He did, however, use the moment of Nala's distraction to smack the lioness with a paw and make her loosen up. The lioness let out a roar and moved her head forward again to catch him, but it was too late. He was already out of her reach.

While looking everywhere around him, he tried to get a glance at Scar, but all he saw were lions and lionesses jumping at each other, barely making out which is which. There seemed to be a lot of dust surrounding them. His heart raced and he moved like crazy, not caring what he would hit. For now, his only objective was to get out of there. None of these prides no longer needed him anyway, so he thought he might as well take his chances all by himself out there.

He rushed to the trees and when finally among them, he turned around quickly to see if anyone followed him. Smile came over his face when he realized the lioness lost him. He couldn't even see her. He only saw a hurdle of fur chaotically moving around. A lot of his pride seemed to have fallen through the ground and Simba's pride looked to be gaining the upper hand.

Damu thought about giving it a quick glance before turning around and running away forever from all of them. But then, his eyes caught Scar for a split second. Scar being pushed down by three lionesses after a tough crawl out of the hole. The satisfaction of seeing Scar lose brought a smile on Damu's face.

However, as Damu's glance turned left, he saw Warithi running to them, still relatively far away. In that moment, Damu decided that he wasn't going anywhere. He remembered all those times Warithi got the better end of the stick and saw what a perfect opportunity this was to take his heroic role away. Damu rushed back into the battle, with his mind set on killing.

...

Meanwhile, Kovu felt like he could see everything and nothing at the same time. He was one part blinded by dust, one part by all the movements happening around. Growing up in the Outlands, however, he was trained to have good reflexes. Maybe he wasn't as strong as some lions and lionesses, but he could move like the wind. The fact that half of the sky was in shades of blue with the coming dawn only helped him with orientation.

Simba kept his focus on his pride and didn't let the herd blind him. Sometimes he would feel panic in these moments. Dust getting into his eyes, running, quickly-moving herds, difficulty to breathe, it all reminded him of the stampede that his father died in. But when it came to protecting his loved ones, that was all stored away somewhere in the back of his mind. He finally saw Kiara's head pop out somewhere across the field for a moment and he followed that direction, pushing away every lioness that approached him only to get lost in the clash of two big prides. He pushed his way halfway through when suddenly a lion showed up in front of him. Simba growled at him and the lion growled back only for them to recognize one another. The lion was Kovu. Simba and Kovu could see in one another's eyes that they were both looking for the same thing.

"Over there!" Simba yelled out, pointing his head in the direction where he last saw Kiara.

Kovu nodded and turned around. "Watch my back!" Kovu yelled back. "We'll get there together!"

Simba stood puzzled for a moment, but it finally came to him. He had a pride to protect. And he could trust Kovu. So Simba finally put his trust in someone else about Kiara and turned around to immediately smack a lioness jumping at them. He could swear he caught a glance of Nala's smile somewhere in the crowd. He smiled back at her even though she probably couldn't see him at the moment.

The lioness he smacked got back up. This one seemed more durable than the other ones and Simba recognized that it was Scar's mate, Ushindani. She looked at him viciously and jumped again, this time aiming below, trying to knock him off his paws. Simba saw through her intentions and tried to jump over her, but she was too fast and they both got knocked over, left rolling on the ground.

Simba quickly turned around to see if Kovu was still in his sight. The lioness got lost somewhere, but Kovu still stood firm in his position, fighting someone else, seemed like Warithi, only then realizing that he hadn't seen him with Scar's pride when they came. Simba rushed to Kovu's aid when he felt claws cutting into his skin on his left side and teeth digging into his neck. The force of the body jumping at him almost knocked him over, but he managed to stand his ground. However, it took every ounce of his strength to keep standing. If it was someone heavier, Simba would have fallen to the ground easily, but this way he could somehow force all his muscles to stay in spot, helping them out by digging claws into the ground just like his attacker dug claws into him.

Simba's eyes watered from the pain and the earth that got soaked in. He felt like the entire left side of his body was screaming for help. He lifted his front left paw and when he noticed someone was still hanging over there, trying to hold him in place, quickly smacked the attacker to throw him off. The attacker rolled onto the ground, leaving a dust cloud behind him. It was Damu.

Their eyes met before Damu ran away to disappear in the small part of the crowd that was still left. Most of the battle was now scattered around the clearing, away from the hole, and everything could be seen a little clearer. Partially because part of the Scar's pride deserted the battlefield. Simba wanted to chase after him, but he also saw Kiara fighting Ushindani right ahead.

"What are you doing here?!" a yell was heard from Scar. He was on a major distance from Warithi, but the anger in his voice made him loud and clear for Warithi to turn around. Kovu used the moment to knock Warithi over. Warithi got back in the fighting position again immediately after falling, but visibly more distracted.

"Who is protecting the Pride Rock?!" Scar continued to yell, spitting out blood. Warithi's lack of answer was enough for everyone to realize what had happened. Pride Rock was free for them to take back. They just needed to hold on a little longer to fight them all off.

"There are still three of them..." Warithi unsuccessfully defended himself.

Simba was eyeing Scar who quickly turned his attention towards Kiara, not even listening to Warithi anymore. It felt like time froze in a second. Kiara was still far from his reach. Kovu was fighting Warithi well, but he was clearly more capable to go defend Kiara than Simba was. Kovu had a few scratches here and there, but nothing critical. Simba, on the other hand, could hardly stand. And just as Warithi lifted himself up with his back paws to smack Kovu, Simba made a leap of faith, knocking Warithi over to his side with brutal force.

"Go to her!" Simba shouted at Kovu. "Go!"

But Kovu didn't have to be told twice as he jumped over them and rushed towards Kiara with a terrifyingly determined speed. Simba's eyes kept up with his leaps and runs. Time felt like it was slowing down. That's when Simba finally started to accept the inevitable: One time he will leave them and they will take care of each other because they have to. And that time could very well be now. He took a good look at all that. His pride, fighting fiercely, winning, not backing down, getting up every time they got knocked down. He looked at Kiara, no longer his clumsy little cub, but a brave, strong and powerful lioness who was every inch his daughter. He took a look at Kovu, the future king, that still insecure young lion who didn't even have any idea of how much he holds within himself, how much potential for greatness there is within him. Kovu, who he knew would love and protect his daughter at all cost. Who he knew his daughter would be safe with. He looked at Zazu, the most loyal friend he could ask for. He looked at Timon and Pumbaa with Timon, as usual, riding on Pumba's back, with their hilarious self-serious battle cries. Pumbaa with his moves he usually did only when someone called him a pig, which must have been a terrible mistake for anyone who called him so. They didn't do much help to the pride, but they moved a lot which, miraculously as always, stopped them from getting seriously injured. And finally, he turned right to look at Nala, his other half, the one who was there for him on his darkest days. The one who helped him heal, the one all his achievements wouldn't exist without. And with all the pride he felt looking at that, he directed all of his strength into fighting off a struggling lion he was pinning down.

Warithi was still very strong, but distraction made him weaker. This was it now. He desperately had to prove himself to his father, whatever it took. So he managed to reach one of Simba's many wounds on his left side and dig his claw in it. Simba roared, but forced Warithi down even harder, like pain made him react with more force. Warithi didn't loosen up, though, and as Simba couldn't take the pain that long, Warithi wiggled out from under him successfully, jumping on his paws and turning around to face him. Both lions growled at each other while circling around.

Both lions jumped at one another at the same time, each equally determined to win. But one with an intention to protect.

...

Kovu's eyes followed Scar as he got closer and closer to Kiara, each step of the way forcing him to go faster. Kiara was unassuming, still fighting Ushindani, taking no notice of a confident half-smirk on her face. As Kovu finally got closer, those tables were turned; Ushindani couldn't see Kovu's smirk either.

Just a little closer…

Scar's heart jumped a bit when he noticed a shadow on his side. His look slowly shifted to his left. Too slowly.

A blink of an eye later, Scar's body was pushing the earth, making a long, messy trace in it. And Kovu was standing on top of him.

Kiara still didn't know what just happened behind her. She only knew something surprised Ushindani and she used that moment, smacking Ushindani hard across her face, the force of the smack making her stumble and roar. Next thing Ushindani knew, she was lying on her side, thrown by Kiara, hitting her head hard against the ground. Everything started to spin. She wanted to get up, but every inch of her body begged her to stay down. There were only shadows ahead, but she could make out just enough to know Scar was on the floor. She lifted up one paw to reach out to him and dozed off, letting it fall on the ground.

...

Simba landed on Warithi's body, as he managed to grab him in the air and turn him towards the ground. Everything happened so quickly that only when Simba was on the ground did he realize the pain he was in. As Warithi fainted, with tiny drops of blood sprinkled on his mane, and as his claws let go of Simba's chest, Simba felt a strong stinging sensation. Next thing, he felt warm blood sliding down.

But he wasn't going to allow himself to fall. Not yet. And so he backed away from fainted Warithi, limping and barely dragging himself, but somehow making it. There was almost no crowd anymore. A lot of Scar's lions have fled by now. He could faintly see Kovu pinning him down and hear Scar saying something, but it was all really distant.

"Leave, Scar!" Nala suddenly rushed to the front, yelling fiercely. "You lost this battle..."

As she moved farther from Simba and closer to Scar, her voice got lost for him. Not completely, but just enough to make it difficult to make out what she's saying. Still, as long as he could hear her voice, as long as he knew she was there, he could stand his ground. He couldn't fall down now. Not now that they were winning.

...

At first, all Warithi could feel was pain. Horrible, piercing, unbearable pain, as if rocks were hitting his head repeatedly.

He could barely see. It was like all of the shapes blended into a shapeless mixture, with shadows running through. He was going to get up, but then he realized that someone's paw was pressing him down, claws cutting into his side.

"Stay silent. Last thing father needs is to hear you scream like a little cub now," Damu whispered in his ear.

Before Warithi panicked, he remembered one thing before he fell on the ground and passed out. His father saw him. But he wasn't proud. In fact, he looked very disappointed. It was like he renounced him with that one look. And the thought of disappointing his father being the last thing he ever does made his heart race, but his whole body went stiff when he felt Damu's teeth cutting deep into his neck, piercing through. Warithi began shaking, but Damu wasn't hurt as much, and therefore, was stronger. For the first time in their lives, Damu was stronger.

Warithi's desperate attempts to roar turned into desperate attempts to catch a breath. But, just like before, he was distracted. Distracted by the thought that his father's disappointed look being the last thing he'd ever see of him. That his final actions would be the ones of disappointing Scar.

With that in mind, Warithi's body loosened up and his look went blank, with one tear rolling down one of his cold, lifeless eyes.

...

"Scar, give it up! You will lose everything!" Nala shouted.

"I will not give up until I see all of you dead!" Scar growled aggressively and Kovu pressing his throat with his paw in response only made him roar more wildly.

Suddenly, a different voice was to be heard. "Father, we have to retreat!"

All heads turned to Damu, panting not too far behind.

"Warithi is dead... And mother might be too!" he proceeded, not giving anyone a notice but his father.

Scar looked in the direction of his mate, seeing her lie on the ground, but still breathing. He roared and smacked Kovu, who roared back but leaned on the side enough for Scar to wiggle out. Kiara stood in the fighting position again, but Scar passed her right by, not even looking at her. As he got to Ushindani, he nudged her with his snout to what she opened her eyes slightly, but closed them again. Scar wiggled his head under her and lifted her up on his back. He didn't appear to care about the battle at all anymore.

Suddenly, he turned his head and yelled.

"Retreat!"

Everything froze as all the remaining fights stopped.

"What are you waiting for?! Retreat, I said!" Scar screamed even more harshly, his voice slightly breaking.

The remaining lions and lionesses finally picked up their cue and ran. Scar seemed to wait a little more, staring at one spot. It was the sight of Warithi, lying down on the ground, covered in blood, beyond saving. There was no helping him. His son, and his heir, was dead, lying in the puddle of his own blood.

"Damu, help me out!" Scar yelled as he finally started running, to which Damu turned around and Scar swiftly shifted Ushindani from his back to Damu's. Damu stumbled but managed to keep his balance while still running.

The pride became smaller and smaller as they ran away farther into the distance, away from the Pride Lands.

...

Simba must have lost consciousness since at some point he just felt Nala nudging him and when he looked around again, everyone from Scar's pride was gone.

Nala looked worried to death.

"Simba, are you okay?" she asked. "Can you walk?"

Simba smiled at her. For a good few seconds he just looked at her, admiring all of her.

"Yes..." he muttered out, clearly showing that what he just stated was a lie. Still, he tried to turn around and walk, but it was hard to resist the draw of the blackness, luring him to sink in.

Focus now, he told himself. Or was it his father? Suddenly, he was a cub again, learning to pounce. But now he was learning to stay up. To remain a king for a little while longer.

Thinking about this, he noticed the first light of dawn breaking in the east, illuminating the beautiful land that was regained by his pride. Simba wanted to completely take in this extraordinary moment of light, all the beauty and wonder of his land.

But the dark was so irresistible.