The male awoke in a strange, peaceful land. For as far his eyes could see, rolling hills of lush grassland waltzed in the breeze. Shimmering mountains drew his eyesight upwards, letting his ears receive the whistling howl of a gentle breeze.
Everything seemed perfect… Too perfect.
"Daddy! Daddy!" A duo of young, high pitched cubs called out behind him, giggling playfully as he slowly turned around. Before he could, the earth around him changed, reverberating between lush grass and dehydrated soil as the skies thickened.
He recognised the view before him. The dry cracked earth, the thunderous echoes of roars, squawks and howls in the distance. A flurry of dust flicked across the horizon, orchestrated by a series of pained cries.
"Daddy! Help!" The two cub's voices squealed, silencing as the male started to sprint. His legs wobbled as he ran, racing along with his heartbeat. His sprinting seemed to go on and on forever, barely moving across the savannah landscape. Every muscle cried out in agony as the lion pushed himself to the limits before collapsing to the ground exhausted.
"I…. I can't…" He barely raised his head from the dusty earth. Weighed down with exhaustion, the lion noticed the ground around him start to break. Cracks and ruptures bloomed across the land like a field of flowers, crumbling the earth with thick claw marks. The skies clouded over completely, masking the destruction beneath. The lion could only watch on, flinging to the earth as the sound of the cubs faded from existence, screaming out one last time as the world fractured.
"Daddy!"
...
Vitani clambered up the ragged ruins of Pride Rock, the sound of shallow, demonic laughter slithering past her ears. Taking the final approach to the summit, she was met with a familiar sight. Scar sat upon a throne of bones and meat. Snuggled up to him, Zira gently licked the Lion God's fiery body, smirking as widely as possible. A fair distance from them, Nuka sat, curled up like the worthless slob of fur he was. Scar and Zira chuckled maniacally as Vitani approached.
"Ah, Vitani..." Scar's majestic, if depraved voice boomed across the land. "So nice of you to join us." He turned back to Zira as she lifted a zebra's leg to his muzzle. Quickly chowing down on it, he turned back to his stepdaughter. A proud smirk adorning his muzzle.
"Father..." Vitani sat, bowing her head in respect of the demonic lion god. He arose from his throne, standing strong and steady before her. His fiery tail scolded the earth as it swayed.
"I require you, and your hunting party once more..." Vitani raised her head, curiosity rising through her mind. She watched as a plotting grin spread across Scar's muzzle. "A means to end all of this."
Vitani's brain clogged, thinking between the demonic lion's words. "The war?" Her stepfather nodded at this, seemingly surprised the lioness could figure out his scheme so easily. "So what are you planning now?"
"Well..." He stood up, strolling towards Vitani with all the almighty worth of a true god. "I want you to attack the Uasilands again." His head arose, forcing his eyes to look down at the bewildered lioness before him.
"Again?!" The young adolescent couldn't help but let her head slide to the side. "You want us to attack the entire savannah's forces head-on?" A hint of irritated sarcasm stained her voice as Scar watched on, slightly irritated at the lioness' reply.
"Yes again!" Scar's impatience only burned brighter than his soulless, spiritual body. "But this time, I have a certain target for you." His smirk grew again as both eyes darted side to side. Zira approached from behind him, laying down by his side as she flickered her attention between her mate and daughter. Scar turned away, looking out at the lifeless horizon, the dead land beneath him.
"I want you, and your hunting party..." Scar's muzzle practically slathered with lava as he spoke. "To bring me Kopa's cubs..." He turned back to his lionesses, a grin as demonic as the corrupting aura seeping from his body. He slithered closer, strutting across the ancient monument's peak with all the confidence in the world. "Preferably alive."
Nuka watched as Scar passed him. He rolled his eyes, inhaling sharply before exhaling. "She always gets the good gig-" Before he could finish his sentence, Scar raised a paw, whacking his incompetent son a few feet, off of the edge of Pride Rock and onto a small overhang, just a few meters beneath. The young adult screamed the entire time, halting with a solid thud. "I'm okay..."
Scar turned his attention back to Vitani, who slightly gulped. She didn't care too much about Nuka. If it were Kovu though... Her attention focused on Scar as she smiled at her, shifting softly as he approached.
"Of course, you won't be alone. You'll..." His majestic voice was halted by the sound of a small group of lionesses. Shabaha, Imara, Tazama and Kasi all approached slowly, bowing to the presence of their superiors as they stood only mere meters away. Scar continued, his voice ecstatic with the girl's arrival. "Ah good, you're all here. He turned to Vitani, smiling widely once more. "Such a loyal gang, don't you think?"
The lionesses arose, smothered in a deep sense of uncertainty. Scar was as deranged as could be. He stood before all of them, nearly growling as he raised his paw. "We'll crush them by taking what keeps them strong." He slammed his paw to the ground, cracking the rock as he pulverised it. "Whittle their will down to nothing but dust." A speck of dust formed beneath his molten paw as his eyes shot upwards, burning up with a signature greenish hue. "Our entire force, snuffing out the light in fire and smoke."
Vitani froze, her heart raced inside her chest as a confident smirk spread across her muzzle. She could not help but be pent up by Scar's rally, even if a part of her was terrified. Her eyes met his, a stench of certainty in both their faces. They were going to commit.
"Only a few days... it will be over..." Scar's words caused a flash of uncertainty to brush Vitani's muzzle. Her brain pondered on his words. It was impossible.
"Wait... A few days?!" Vitani queried, as sharp her claws, grinding down at the dry rock beneath her. "It took us a week to get back here." She shook her head. His logic made no sense at all. "How do you expect-"
As the lioness spoke, a bolt of lightning hit the ground beside Scar. The impact caused a few rocks and pebbles, all of different, varying sizes, to slowly arise from the ground. They hovered for a while, swaying and floating into an oval shape. With one final crackle of thunder, a bolt of lightning shot at the epicentre of the hovering, humming rock structure. A flash of greenish energy hot across the central space, reverberating onto a sheet of realm-piercing matter.
Vitani and her hunting party stepped back, bewildered and fear-stricken as they stared into the void lit gateway. A land, barren and bare, unbound by the laws of physics swirled into view. A thick, hoking green-hued cloud seeped from the fracture, causing everyone other than Scar to cough.
"Ah, just in time!" The demonic lion god rested his paw on the gateway, slightly letting his paw enter the boundary. "Those Uasians sure know how to be... precise." Transitioning between realms, his paw seemed to turn to that of... fur? He slithered it out again, seemingly turning the fur back to rock and fire as he left the gateway's interior.
Vitani's eyes widened as she stared into the gateway. It seemed... familiar? A rush of numbed pain rushed across her forehead as her vision blurred. Images of the broken, fractured land, the large, foreboding crystallised structure, gleaming its incandescent greenish hue over every spec of cracked and crumbled earth. A voice called out to her, a voice all too familiar.
"Sis... help..." Kovu's cries were weak, choked in a fit of coughs and near lifeless moans. She saw him, crawling across one of the floating rocky islands, seeped in a sea of thick, choking fog. With a blink of her eye, a droplet fell from her eye, landing with a splat on the dry, thirsty Pridelands' rock face. The vision faded as Scar's voice boomed in.
"Don't you think?" A smug smirk spread across his muzzle as Vitani's eyes darted over to him. She stared at him, the sense of sheer fear sliding away as they stared each other down. She stepped forward, turning her attention to the gateway.
"Ladies!" her hunting party's ears flickered upwards; their faces still weaved with unknowable fear. "Let's go!" The adolescent lioness leapt, pouncing through the portal with little remorse for its effects. Ripples of energy spread across her fur as she pierced the realm beyond, landing with a soft thump on the other side. She turned back, smiling softly at her friends as they nervously watched.
Shabaha was the first, pouncing through the gateway after Vitani. Her sister followed, just before Kasi and Tazama followed. Tazama took her time, analysing the gateway itself before entering. Her fascination in relics of the ancients sparked her mind, even if it had only taken root in the last few weeks.
Once Vitani and her hunting party had entered, the portal blurred, a shallow veil seeped over its surface as Scar stepped away. Zira arose, smirking a confident, devious smile. "We're so close, my lord. She nuzzled up to his cold, fiery body chuckling softly.
"Indeed we are, my love." Scar couldn't help but join in, chuckling softly as he nuzzled up to Zira. As the two cuddled, the gateway opened for just a second, causing a blast to burst from its surface, before closing entirely. The rocks and pebbles fell to the ground in a pile as the adult lioness and her lion god lover turned.
A lump of fur, muscle and bone rested before them, causing both to smirk sharply. The deep brown, dark maned lion arose softly, seemingly getting his footing slowly. He looked over at them, the scar adorning his left eye glimmering slightly.
"Good, I wondered when we'd see you again, my son." Scar smiled down at the lion, who just looked up at him and Zira, a slight glimmer of fear in his eye. He tried to talk, but struggled to, coughing up thin layers of toxic green smoke as his lungs worked overtime.
"Vitani... Sis..." His eyes softly started to close, his body trembling under its weight. He fell to the ground with a soft thud, met only with a snarl from Scar. He and Zira continued to nuzzle, looking over the adolescent with knowing, scheming grins. After a few seconds, Scar approached, leaving Zira behind to watch on, smiling harshly as her mate approached her son.
"I knew you'd return to the fold." Scar spoke softly, standing before the knackered adolescent before him. He lowered his molten paw, spitting small embers of flames over Kovu's body. "Thank you..." He placed his paw on Kovu's forehead, moulding the two together. Scar's molten, spectral body withered and dissipated, consumed by Kovu's physical form. His body shuddered and jolted as the lion god seeped in, taking command of his mortal form. The adolescent lion's eyes shot open, gleaming with a corrupted dark green. A single, hellish smirk spread across his muzzle.
"Finally... It is time..."