Marius raced through the grass, which thankfully was higher than himself, but collided with something.
"ACK!" it yelped.
"Ow," Marius muttered, rubbing his head.
"Master Marius?" Zazu queried, "What are you doing out here? You know you're not…"
"Where's Simba?" he asked.
"He and Nala slipped away from me," the hornbill replied, "I lost them."
"I think I know where they went."
"Where?"
"The elephant graveyard."
"WHAT? Oh, this is awful! That's beyond our boundaries! They're in terrible danger."
"I'll go after them…"
"No, young master, you're not even supposed to be beyond Pride Rock. Go fetch Mufasa. I'll track Simba and Nala down."
Marius turned and ran through the high grasses, searching for his father, unsure of where the mighty lion was. Zazu winged his way hurriedly toward the graveyard; hopefully he'd get to them before the hyenas did. Marius looked around desperately, wondering where his father was, desperate to find him before the hyenas found Simba.
"Dad?" he called, "Dad! Dad!"
Without a response, he decided to try Simba's approach to getting Mufasa's attention before moving on.
"Daddaddaddaddadad!" he called.
A huge shadow loomed over him, leaving him shaded, and he slowly turned to who he knew the shadow belonged to.
"Marius?" Mufasa said warningly, "I had expected Simba with that tactic."
He offered a sheepish grin up at the huge golden lion, who, despite his light words, was looking angrily down at his younger son.
"What are you doing in the Pride Lands?" he queried, "You know you're not supposed to leave Pride Rock."
"Dad, Simba and Nala…" he replied, "They went beyond our boundaries, into the elephant graveyard!"
"What?" Mufasa started, "Marius, head home!"
"But, Dad…"
"No! You're not even supposed to be out here, I'll deal with you when I get home. Now, go back to the den and don't move until I'm home!"
"Yes, Dad."
Marius turned and headed back in the direction of Pride Rock, head lowered, ears flattened, at a slow pace. He had never disappointed nor disobeyed his parents.
It was shortly after sunrise when Nala and Zazu arrived, but no Mufasa or Simba.
"Where are they?" Marius asked.
"Simba's probably getting chewed out," Nala replied.
"Marius," Sarabi warned.
"Yes, Mom," he muttered, turning back to the wall.
Sarabi had sentenced him to sit in the far corner of the den, facing the wall, forbidden to talk to anyone until his father got home. The sun had long since gone down and the stars dotted the sky when Mufasa and Simba returned. Both looked happy and relaxed, though Mufasa's eyes hardened a bit as his gaze fell upon his younger son.
"Marius," he said.
Head lowered and his ears folded back, Marius approached to sit at his father's feet, keeping his head down.
"I'm disappointed in you as well," he said sternly.
"I know," Marius muttered.
"But, Dad…" Simba began.
"Hush, Simba," Sarabi shushed him.
"But," Mufasa softened, "Since this is the first time you have disobeyed me, I'll let you off… with a warning. Next time there will be a punishment."
"Yes, Dad," his son replied.
The night wore on without incident, just a night like any other as though to make up for what was to happen the next day…
Marius sat in the den, bored out of his mind, with nothing to do and no one to talk to. Simba had gone off with Uncle Scar, Sarabi and Sarafina were hunting, Mufasa was making his rounds with Zazu and he didn't usually play with Nala without Simba. Suddenly, something pushed him off the rock that he and his parents slept on, followed by giggling.
"Hey, lazy-tail!" Nala giggled.
"Nala!" he growled, looking up at her from the floor.
"Since Simba's not around, I figured I'd come annoy you," she said.
"Oh, goody," he replied.
He simply got up and started walking away, Nala's grin and laughter disappearing, thinking he was leaving, but Marius turned suddenly and pounced on her. They kept playing, their game going from pouncing to tag, as they raced around outside. Nala had pounced on Marius to tag him, sending them both tumbling into a lioness's feet. They looked up to see Sarabi and Sarafina, both with small portions of meat for their cubs.
"Well, nice to see you two getting along," Sarabi chuckled, "Where's your brother?"
"Aw, he went somewhere with Uncle Scar," Marius answered.
"Time to eat, you two," Sarafina said.
The two cubs took a break to eat, Marius absorbed in eating, until Nala nailed him with a scrap of meat and a food fight broke out.
Sarafina and Sarabi were in the middle of giving their cubs a rigorous, much-needed bath after their food fight, when Scar returned in the evening, followed by a saddened Zazu. Scar sat on stone by the foot of Pride Rock, mournful himself, to break the worst news they had ever heard, something a family hopes never to hear…
"Mufasa's death…" he began, "is a terrible tragedy, but to lose Simba who had only begun to live…"
"No," Marius muttered, "No… Dad… Simba… NO!"
"Hush, Marius," Sarabi clutched her younger son close as he wept into her fur.
"So it is with a heavy heart that I assume the throne…" Scar went on.
"Scar," Sarabi objected, tears coursing down her cheeks, "With the loss of Mufasa and Simba, Marius would be next in line!"
"The Pride Lands, ruled by a king," Scar returned, "those that call these lands home, never even knew about? He is non-existent as far as the kingdom knows."
The lionesses fell silent, knowing he was right; with Marius unknown to those in their kingdom, he had no right to the throne and he was still a cub yet. Scar continued with his speech as hyenas emerged from the darkness, their eerie laughs filling the night. Sarabi and the lionesses retired to the den as they mourned their losses, Zazu behind them.
"Zazu," Sarabi said to the hornbill.
"Yes, my Queen?" he bowed.
"How did this happen?" she asked.
"As Scar said," the bird answered, "There was a stampede in the gorge and despite Mufasa's efforts, both father and son perished."
"No," Marius moaned again, his tears flowing anew, then broke away from the pride, "NO!"
"Marius!" Sarabi called after him.
He fled all the way down to the gorge, looking around him, the ground covered in hoof-prints.
"Dad?" he called, "Dad! Simba? Dad, Simba! DAD! SIMBA!! ANSWER ME!"
He stopped, tears coursing down his cheeks, his pale blue eyes glistening.
"Answer me," he whispered.
With his head down, he began walking through the gorge, his pace slow, teardrops falling to the ground. A golden paw met his eyes as he neared the broken tree, and when he looked up, there lay Mufasa, his once neat mane disheveled and bloody.
"Dad?" Marius gasped, pawing his father's arm, "Dad?"
The king's body was cold with death, various abrasions marking his body, a good number of his bones were probably broken. As Simba had only hours prior, he wedged himself under Mufasa's huge paw, laying beside his still form. For awhile, he simply lay there, crying into his father's thick mane, until he fell into an exhausted sleep. As he dreamt, he saw himself on a ledge watching Mufasa struggle up the rocky wall, calling to Scar for help, then grabbing Mufasa's paws and throwing the king to his death.
"NO!" Marius woke, rising as Mufasa's paw fell limp to the ground.
Marius gazed around, his eyes puffy and red, then at his father's still form; he and Simba had died in the stampede. Yet Simba's body was nowhere in sight, but on the ground were small pawprints that were not Marius's own. Near to the king's body were larger prints beside the smaller ones that must have been Simba's. He followed the prints, eventually larger prints followed Simba's, the prints of hyenas. Scar had lied, Simba had been alive, had survived the stampede only to be pursued by hyenas. But had Simba survived them…?
Marius looked back in the direction of the Pride Lands; the hyenas, Scar was in league with them. He looked back to the prints, wondering if perhaps Scar had had something to do with the hyenas' pursuit of Simba. He didn't want to think his uncle, a part of his family, would have done something so treacherous. But Marius had always sensed something about his uncle, perhaps an underlying deceit, a hidden evil. Marius again looked back toward his home; he would not, could not stay in these lands, not with Scar reigning. Marius's life could be in danger; he would leave, run from these lands, at the same time abandoning his family. He wouldn't be gone forever, he'd come back when he'd grown into an adult. Then he'd return and fight Scar for the throne; he could survive on his own, his parents had taught him to hunt and he could do so quite well.