For the next few weeks, we got on with our lives whilst the rain continued to fall. Nala and I happily spent our days together, dreaming of the day when the Pridelands would be restored to their former glory. Everyone had got over Yaya's death, and despite what I felt was a slightly lacking feeling of support from some of the lionesses, we all worked together to ensure a brighter future when the rains finally stopped. All trouble with the River Pride seemed to have been put to the back of people's minds, and I saw no sign of either the male or the lioness I had seen before when on my daily patrol wit h Zazu.
For his part, Zazu continued to help me greatly with his advice, though at times I felt he went a bit overboard. I spent a large amount of time with my mother as well, catching up one old times, and telling her all about my life in the jungle after the stampede. She tut-tutted accordingly in line with some of my silly cubbish adventures with Timon and Pumbaa, and still couldn't get over how I'd lived on bugs for a few months until I'd learned to catch my own small prey. All in all, though, she seemed very happy to be with me again.
I noticed, however, that my Sarabi's best friend and Nala's mother, Sarafina, became increasingly more worried looking, even when with her closest friends. I supposed this was to do with Nala's problem, and so it proved, although telling my mother seemed to help her with it, and take the weight off her mind a bit. All in all, things were looking good, and when the rains had stopped, the Pridelands were beginning to look lusher and greener, and many of the old herds had returned to their old stamping ground.
In the evening sunshine, later, Nala, Sarafina, Sarabi and I were lying in the shade of some acacia trees which we had always met at when we were cubs. We had an enjoyable time discussing all our old stories. Sarafina and Sarabi explained to me how they'd behaved when they were cubs, how it was always Sarafina and not Sarabi who would be the better Queen, and how the idea of Mufasa and Sarabi being King and Queen was always seen as ridiculous. Nala and I gave each other a knowing look at that point.
Then my mother got on to the subject of Scar. To me, this tyrant was still something of an enigma. As a child, I'd always looked up to him as my crazy uncle, never once suspecting he had evil intentions. I was carefree and innocent and would have done whatever he said. The only person I trusted more had been my father. But that had been wrong. He'd sent me away, blaming me for the death of my father and racking me with guilt which it had taken ages for me to get over, even after I'd banished Scar's memory.
"He was always a bit of a recluse when he was a child," explained Sarabi, "but it was definitely true that his father gave the majority of her attention to Mufasa, the first born, regardless of his attempts to keep his attention equal. I knew, even at the time. But even when I gave him my sympathy, he threw it in my face. 'Taka doesn't need his brother's fiancé's sympathy' he'd say all the time. He always had a soft spot for me though. I knew it, he knew it, and so did the other three. Often he tried to join in my games, but when it was the five of us together, he'd never speak much. Just wistfully stare as if he were waiting for something to happen. I felt rotten, the truth was I just couldn't face him alone, always deathly worried about what he might try and do, what he might be thinking.
Of course, that was wrong. Any problems he may have had were only worsened by the fact that the only person he ever felt comfortable with never wanted to spend any time with him. But I was a cub, young and inexperienced. I couldn't understand the seriousness of my actions, and if I had understood, perhaps things would have been different. But Taka was never interested in joining our cubbish games, not even when we invited him to join."
"It was true," Sarafina continued, "I never liked him particularly, but I never let him out in the cold. I tried to be open. But he didn't want that. Anything to do with Mufasa he grew to detest, and as time went on, Mufasa and I got closer to Sarabi as her best friend and mate, he got distanced even from her. He spent hours at a time on his own in his cave which he kept until Mufasa's death. As far as I know, no one's ever been back there."
"There's one thing I always wondered though," said Nala, "how did he get his scar?" Sarabi and Sarafina looked at each other. "Well, that was sort of to do with him and Mufasa as well. When Scar wouldn't leave poor Sarabi alone, Mufasa got angry, said he should play with everyone or leave her alone. Well, Scar didn't take too kindly, and despite his measly size, tried to fight him. Mufasa batted him round the face with his claws and gave him a big cut over his eye. He felt terrible afterwards. Mufasa had always tried for poor Taka, no matter how hard it had been, but he'd found it difficult and a struggle. When Taka made a pass at me, after Mufasa and I had confessed our love, and were set for the future, Mufasa just couldn't take it. Scar never forgave him, but also never gave him reason to fight him either."
"Just like he always said – 'when it comes to brains, I've got the lions share, but when it comes to brute strength, I'm at the shallow end of the dream pool.'"
And so it was. Scar hadn't forgiven him, particularly when I was born. And he never did fight him himself. He set up a plan, and gained power by any means necessary, in this case he used the hyenas. In all truth, it was a sad story, and in so many ways I wished that my uncle was in heaven, enjoying whatever had been the best of his life rather than his weak rule as a King.
Speaking of the hyenas, I'd been wondering what to do about them. They'd been very quiet recently. I voiced my concerns to the group. "Oh, I shouldn't worry," laughed Sarafina, "they're probably frightened out of their wits about what you'd do to them if they caused trouble. They've no alibi now, see? And they think you have one hell of a grudge against them. Besides, why worry about them, they're slobbery, mangy stupid poachers," she laughed again, winking.
It seemed the only time Sarafina was ever happy these days was when it was just the four of us. As we were the only four who knew her secret, she tended to become introverted towards the other lionesses now that the Riverpride were our new worst enemies. Nala, on the other hand was taking it quite well. But I had to admit, the remainder of the pride were beginning to worry me. It was often that they refused to comply with all my requests and seemed to avoid my presence when at all possible.
Sometimes I wondered whether it was the way I asked them, but Nala assured me that I never forced orders on anyone, so it wasn't that. It also hadn't escaped my attention that it was the older lionesses who gave me the cold shoulder more than the younger ones. I wondered if this lack of respect was to do with the fact that they still remembered me as a cub, and blamed my reckless actions for their having to live under Scar's rule for so long. Or perhaps they just didn't trust males anymore?
To all intents and purposes, I had become a bit of a worrier. Clearly, the pride was not as tightly-knit as it had been under Mufasa, but surely I was exaggerating the problem. I tended to do that a lot, as Nala and my mother now knew all too well.