Disclaimer: I don't own any chars from the lion king, but I DO own Ahdi and Sazifini…woot.

Authors Note: A) I know some of the things in this story don't exactly follow the basic story line, nor the 'royalty line' thing…such as Taka is the younger brother, but supposedly the rightful king, I KNOW! I've gotten a lot of comments about that…so just to let you all know…I don't want to hear about it.

B) The chapters will be short, so don't complain about that either.

C) This story was written about a year ago…so the writing style is quite a bit different from the way I write now…WAY TOO DRAMATIC FOR MY TASTE. As you can tell, I look at this now and say 'what in the bleep was that!' so yeah…complain about that and get a 100 flame.

Chapter 1

Safety

Taka was sitting on the edge of a cliff. He was thinking about what had just happened. He'd just called Mufasa a 'Daddy's Boy', and of course Mufasa had ran off to tell on him. It wasn't the tattling or Mufasa that Taka feared, it was the punishment. If he'd gotten three broken ribs just for talking to him without calling him 'big brother', no telling what his father would do this time…

Taka heard an angry roar behind him and whirled around, his small frame trembling. Ahdi stood in front of him, teeth bared and eyes blazing with what might've been a mixture of hatred and fury.

"Father!" Taka cried, his voice full of unmistakable fear.

"Who are you to call my son a 'Daddies Boy'!" Ahdi roared.

"But…I'm your son, too…" whimpered Taka, his eyes brimming with tears.

"Silence! You were nothing but an accident!" snarled Ahdi, advancing on the cub. Taka backed up, but stopped in almost mid-step…the cliff… Ahdi swung at him and he ducked, proceeding to step backwards. Hid back paw slipped off the edge. Taka drew in a breath, looking back, and then to his furious father. He knew there little to no chance of survival if he stayed where he was now. Gathering up his courage, as much as he could, anyway, when facing his furious father, and then…ran. Right under Ahdi's feet and stomach.

It took Ahdi a minute to realize what had just happened, but when he did, he let out an angry roar, whirling around and beginning the chase. Taka ran with all his heart, running as fast as his feet would carry him, knowing that if his father caught him, it would be certain death.

Ahdi let out another roar, then leapt at Taka, barely scratching his son's tail. The young cub felt the claws, and shut his eyes, hearing only the footsteps of his father and himself as time stood still.

"Taka!" His father snarled, chasing him even faster than before. Taka opened his eyes and veered left, narrowly missing a boulder. His father continued forward, running by his side. He turned to watch Ahdi, who didn't veer left, but leapt over the boulder. Taka gasped as Ahdi stopped, swinging around in front of him, kicking up dust as he did so. The cub gasped as Ahdi stopped in front of him, he skidded to a halt and ran to the right, trying to avoid his father. But he didn't make it. Ahdi swiped at him, his claws picking up the cub up and throwing him nearly three yards away. There was a dull thud as Taka slammed into the ground.

Ahdi walked over to the limp figure. Taka looked up, dazed, but pushed himself to his feet and once more began to run. His head was pounding, and he didn't even know if he was running in the right direction of the pridelands. There was another swipe to his side, gashing it open. He was knocked to the side, tumbling down a hill. His head struck a rock and he cried out. He landed with a thud in a patch of grass, but again got up and continued his flight for life.

His endurance was amazing for such a young cub, but when you're faced with an abusive father who happens to be the leader of the pride you live in, what can you do?

This is it, thought Taka, I'm going to die, and my father's going to kill me. As he was thinking, an antelope ran by, striking his back and gashed side with its hooves. Little by little, his breathing grew heavier.

Taka heard another angry roar behind him. He felt his father's teeth on his back and he cried out in surprise, pain and fear. He was lifted into the air and flung out ahead. He landed with a crash in the shallow end of the water hole and laid there, a log spilling a light stream on top of him. It had since grown foggy and a sprinkle was born.

Ahdi slowly emerged from the mist, first a paw…then another…then his chest, and finally his angry face. Like an evil demon finally achieving his freedom. He looked down at his son, the accident. Taka lifted his head, looking up at his fathers angry eyes. All he could wonder was 'why?' A small tear ran down his cheek as he let his head slide down slowly on his paws, making a slight 'swish' in the water.

Wait! He thought, what am I doing? This is the watering hole! I'm almost home! Bursting through his thoughts, Ahdi finally spoke.

"Goodbye, you loathsome accident…"he said slowly, placing a paw over his sons face.

"NO!" screamed Taka as he pulled away, one claw raking against his face, his left eye. It was gashed so horribly that the scar would remain with him for the rest of his life.

Crimson blood spilled over his eye, all he could see was a red haze. But that didn't stop him from running. The chase was on…again. 'I'm blind.' Taka found himself thinking again. 'I'm never going to see out of my eye again…I'll never see the path out of this dark place…'

"You'll never make it to Pride Rock!" snarled Ahdi behind him. His small tuft of fur was matted down on his face, and he was breathing hard, a heavy pant.

NO! He thought, don't give up! He ran harder, faster than ever before…and in return saw the faint image of Pride Rock. It gave him a glimmer of hope in his dark world. It was like seeing for the first time.

The blood from his eye was strong now; it was all he could smell as it flowed over his nose. His tongue was hanging out of his mouth, now he heard his father's footsteps behind him.

Taka began to see the lionesses form and let out a small sigh of relief. Ahdi let out one more angry roar and leapt forward, grabbing Taka's back in his great jaws. Taka gathered whatever breath he had left and let out a loud, high pitched scream. All the lionesses looked at Ahdi, who immediately dropped him.

Taka ran as fast as he could into the cave. Ahdi glanced around nervously, embarrassed, he muttered "Kids, gotta love'm" before walking as fast as he could into the same cave. Taka was cowering in his mother's paws, and received a glare from Ahdi.

"Ahdi…what happened?" Asked Sazifini, Taka's mother.

"A…erm…hyena attack." He said, almost hesitantly.

"Ooh! Are you okay?"

"We're okay…but the really hurt the acci-erm-Taka."

"Taka looked at his father, his would be murderer, and shut his eyes tight, for now…he was safe.