Chapter 4: End of the Old..
As Scar and Siagi made it back to Pride rock, the first thing Scar did, was taking the young lion to Rafiki. As he let Siagi down before the old tree, a roar was emitted. Rafiki heard it and hurried out. The old mandrill soon found out what Siagi's problem was and let Scar know what needed to be done to heal the cub. It would take a few weeks 'til the cub would be able to walk without pain and two more for complete healthiness.
"Fine, Rafiki, fine!" Scar snorted as he grabbed the cub by his nape and nearly made the first step, before something stopped him. Siagi. "It hurts, Uncle Scar! Let me down!" The dark-furred lion bared his fangs as he let the cub down and let him climb onto his back, before finally starting the road back.
"Siagi, we have to make an announcement, you know.. I mean, today has been a tragic day and others have no idea. We can't let them down and not tell them, right?" Scar mushily talked. He would need to cover all traces of this being his fault and Siagi would need to know that Scar was much more heartbroken than Siagi.. He wasn't the best actor at times though, yet the cub was young and would tell no difference.
The youngster whimpered at the mention of his father and bigger brother. What would the guys say? Kula would be devastated! Everyone, but Simba, knew that she had a crush on him. She would sometimes prance around and talk about being the future queen. The other days she would tell others about Simba's "heroic deeds" while her eyes would shine with excitement. Siagi wiped another tear from his cheek as he thought about it all. Poor Kula.
The road back to Pride Rock went fast, even though Scar wasn't running nor trotting. Once he had set Siagi down by the cave entrance, he disappeared back to the road where they came from. Siagi figured that he would ask Rafiki more about his injuries and limped his painful way back to cave.
"Moo-oom!" Siagi called out in a cub-mew. "Mooom!" The tan-furred cub sat down and waited.
Sarabi was near and she came soon. Upon seeing her son laying there, waiting and panting she naturally sensed something bad. "Siagi? Dear? What's wrong?" Sarabi layed down beside the cub and licked her face. Upon seeing tears streaming down his face, she flattened her ears against her skull and nuzzled Siagi.
"Don't, Mom! It hurts.. My side's broke.." Siagi whimpered as he looked up into her loving eyes.
"Broke! What do you.. Ribs? Siagi! What happened?" Sarabi flooded the cub with questions and covered him with licks. Siagi shivered and buried his face into his paws. He was about to speak, when...
"Sarabi!" The lioness turned around and saw Scar standing in the caveway. "I have something to tell to the pride.. Would you mind gathering them up before the Pride Rock? If they're hunting, cut it short." So he said and then he left. Sarabi had her ears still lowered and so she sent a questioning glance towards Siagi. "...Siagi?" "He'll tell you, mom.." Siagi answered and soon they were both headed out to find others, Siagi upon Sarabi's back.
Once all the lionesses of the pride had gathered before the Pride Rock, huge wave of confusion hit.
"So what exactly is going on?" Joli, a rust coloured lioness asked, while she was answered to by Nuru, another lioness, that Scar was probably trying to show the 'better side' of him and would most likely make a fool of himself again. Joli replied with a chuckle and some others smirked aswell. The only lion not laughing was Sarabi. She held Siagi close to herself and impatiently waited. She was soon approached by Sarafina, who nudged Nala to sit beside Siagi.
"Sarabi? Are you ok?" Worry filled her greenish eyes once she looked towards Sarabi.
"No. No, I'm not. Siagi came home with a broken rib and Scar asked me to drop all I was doing and rally you guys up. He never gave and explanation and Siagi keeps whimpering, flinching and spilling tears. It can't be ok! Something must be wrong! ... Oh dear!" Sarabi widened her eyes as she looked at Siagi. "Siagi! Siagi! Where's your brother? Your father?"
The youngster kept quiet as he shivered yet again. This was too much for him to take with one day. "I.. I.."
Sarabi felt a sudden pain go through her chest. This couldn't be happening. Something must've happened to them. "Sarafina... What if..? What if.." Sarafina shook her head. "It can't be! Wouldn't he tell you first?" As an answer Sarabi nodded. He would... Yet how was she to know he wouldn't! Scar was unpredictable.. And finally he appeared before the lionesses.
"My dear ladies.." He started, eyeing them all up before continuing his story. "Today I was down in the corge with Siagi and Simba. I had planned them a father-sons day, for Mufasa rarely spent time with them and they were constantly bugging my sleep." He smiled warmly. "Little rascals.. Anywho." He soon continued. "As I went to find Mufasa, I learned that the herd of gnu had been scared off by something and they were on the move..." Scar kept a long pause there.
Sarabi's pupils narrowed down to little slits as her mouth grew dry and her heart beat much faster than usually, panick filled her mind and her paws trembled. Siagi could feel it all, as he pressed himself against her. Nala looked at them both and soon noticed her mother's reaction, not nearly as bad as Sarabi's, but she could obviously sense something.
"I am truly sorry." Scar continued. "Mufasa dived in, trying to save his son from certain doom and yet.." Another pause was left in by Scar. "And yet he not only lost Simba's life to the paws of Death itself, but his own life aswell.."
Nala's eyes grew wide and she got up instantly, running towards the cubs behind her mother. She needed to find and comfort Kula now. She knew just aswell as Siagi how Kula would take it. Before she even made it there, she heard a loud "No!" and sobbing. "Kula.." She whispered as she nuzzled her friend, while tears ran down her cheeks. "I'm so, so sorry.." Tojo and Chumvi had joined them, soon enough even Siagi was sitting between them all. All covered with wet tears and all sobbing.
Scar was not stopped by that. Infact, he didn't even notice. He went on. "As Mufasa is now dead aswell as Simba, I am now titled King, until Siagi grows up to take over himself. So far, I shall rule the pridelands as fairly and as wisely as Mufasa did, for I am his brother and we spent quite some time together as cubs, I learning almost as much as he."
Not many knew that this was a certain lie. Sarabi, being one who knew, bared her fangs and questioned the Black-maned lion before her, as she approached him. "Not many kings have ruled without queens, infact I know none who did. You, Scar, have been alone for nearly all your life. How are you going to rule these pridelands without a female's loving touch added to your.. 'wiseness' ?"
Scar eyed at Sarabi, with a stupid expression across his face, yet he had an answer ready. "Sarabi, dear Sarabi. I have thought about it. Trust me.." He grinned as he got down from his rock and joined the lionesses, soon standing beside the youngest adult out of the bunch, the same rust-coloured lioness who had questioned the meeting earlier, Joli. "I have decided to take Joli as my mate."
All lionesses, including Joli, were shocked to the bone. She was the youngest and prettiest... And that was about it. She had no 'life-school' nor experience. She wouldn't know what to do incase of troubles or emergency and she was definetaly too young to handle the pressure when such situation would arise. A lioness in the backrow bared her fangs and dug her claws into the earth. She had a darker stripe running down her back, making her unique.
"Me! Why in the world!" Joli asked as she backed away.
"Why do you think, Honey?" Scar added a question as he gazed into her green eyes. She stopped and eyed at him weirdly. "Why?"
"You will be my queen. You are all aware of the law which declares that the king has the most power in the kingdom.. This is my power. She shall be my queen!"
Everyone was aware that this was not what the law was made, for no king in history had ever forced a female to become their mate, but everyone also agreed, that Scar had them in his grip and there was nothing that they could do about it until Siagi grew up.