Welcome to Anarudi! This has been something of a long-awaited project of mine, put on the back-burner for a very long time while I wrote Zootopia stories. With The Lion Guard finished, I feel spurred on to revisit this story now, give it a few new touches and post it anew!

A lot of this is new material that I did not add in the previous tries to launch this story. At one point, I opted to disregard the events of The Lion Guard and rework its characters into my story, but that was while it was ongoing and I had no idea where it was going to go. Now it's finished and I can see the whole thing in context, it made sense to revisit and revise this. There are elements that I never got to put across that have wound up dropped as a result.

I hope you guys enjoy it!

Disclaimer: The Lion King, its characters and settings are copyright Walt Disney Pictures.


THE LION KING

ANARUDI

To call the past Season eventful would have been understating it. Zira's plan to overthrow Simba using Kovu as a silent assassin. Kovu falling in love with Kiara, and not going through with the plan. Nuka's death. Zira's attempted coup on the Pride Lands. Zira's death. And the union of the two Prides.

Not to mention Kion's return to the Pride Lands and the Battle of the Lion Guards. Vitani emerged as the new Lion Guard's leader after Kion surrendered the role to her and married the Queen of the faraway Tree of Life, Rani.

Those were among the many seasons of change that adorned the walls of the Lair of the Lion Guard. Rafiki had recently finished placing a painting there of the most recent Lion Guard – that of Vitani, the former Outsider who had taken over the role from Simba's son, Kion.

"Why are you in here again?" Vitani sighed as she came in.

"Old Rafiki's duties involve the upkeep of this record," he remarked. Vitani shrugged and sat beside him, looking at the paintings on the wall.

"It's not a complete picture, is it?" Vitani asked. Rafiki's gaze turned to her.

"Ah, you have been studying," Rafiki nodded, agreeing with Vitani's question.

"I've never brought it up to Simba or Nala," Vitani sighed. "And Kiara… probably doesn't know either way. But there's two members of the Pride that aren't shown on these paintings, right?"

"This is not Rafiki's story to tell," Rafiki shook his head.

"Nobody even mentions either of them," Vitani said. "It must have hurt like Hell. Losing two lions like that. My Mother… went after Simba hard after he banished her. Thought she'd deny him what was most important to him."

Vitani looked to Rafiki.

"If Chaka had the Roar of the Elders," Vitani said, "he could have saved them both."

"Ah… you remember Chaka," Rafiki stroked his chin.

"Mother never allowed his name to be spoken around her," Vitani continued. "If she ever talked about him, she called him the 'betrayal of Scar's bloodline'."

"Simba doesn't like to be reminded," Rafiki added. "But there is a record of it in my tree. Would you like to see it?"

Vitani nodded.

"Then follow old Rafiki, he'll show you."


It took Vitani a few moments to clamber into Rafiki's tree. She had been here once or twice, but had never taken particular notice of the paintings Rafiki had adorned it with. A lot of them were similar to the ones inside the Lair of the Lion Guard, but there were more.

Vitani noticed a painting of a lion cub, a lioness and a dark-furred lion with a black mane.

"You know the story of Scar," Rafiki said. "And you know the story of how Kovu came to be Scar's chosen. But did you ever know why?"

"It is weird that Scar would choose a lion that wasn't his son," Vitani agreed.

"Scar was a jealous lion," Rafiki continued. "He coveted everything Mufasa had. He wanted the throne, and after Mufasa died, he wanted Sarabi. And then he wanted an heir. She refused at first, but Scar was persuasive. And he got what he wanted from her: a cub. But the Great Kings had a sense of irony. They gave that cub the face of Mufasa, and so Scar disowned the cub. Scar did not want to be reminded of his deeds, and he came to believe the Great Kings were playing tricks on him."

"No wonder Sarabi speaks so badly of Scar. I mean… beyond the whole 'killing her mate' thing…"

Rafiki glanced at Vitani, who offered a sheepish shrug as an apology for her insensitivity.

"Indeed. But even though he was abandoned by his father, his mother refused to abandon him. She named that cub Chaka. Scar's search for a blood heir continued to fail. He tried it with Zira after his failure with Sarabi. And that also ended in disappointment for Scar."

"Poor Nuka…" Vitani shook her head. He had died a while ago trying to impress Zira by killing Simba. In spite of Zira's continued neglect of him, Nuka had remained faithful to her until the end. Not for the first time, Vitani had wondered whether he would have remained so if he had been there at the final battle between Simba's pride and Zira's.

"Zira convinced Scar that perhaps it was best that he adopted an heir rather than trying to produce one. Scar agreed, and so, Zira found an Outsider with Scar's blessing. And that Outsider bore Scar the heir he so desired. With that, Sarabi knew Chaka was in danger, and so when Nala was set to leave the Pride Lands to look for help, Sarabi asked Nala to take Chaka with her and to another land, one that was friendly to them. Nala found a place for Chaka in a friendly pride and continued to search."

"And that's when she found Simba."

"Correct! Now, the rest of that story, as you know, is history. Simba returned, the truth about Scar's murder of Mufasa came to light, and Scar died that night. Set upon by the very hyenas he once championed after he blamed them. Pah! Talk about being thrown under the elephant! The hyenas must have carried Scar's body away, because it was never found. That clan would pick a carcass clean and leave nothing behind."

"Gross," Vitani winced. She understood the need to eat, but Shenzi's clan always took things to the extreme.

"You know what happens next. Now it was safe, Nala brings Chaka home. But not before Zira tries to stake her claim."

Rafiki's stick tapped the painting depicting Zira's first attack on Simba following Simba's denial of Kovu's claim to the throne, and Zira's resultant exile.

"But even then, there's parts of the story missing." Vitani said. "At least in the cave. I know what happens next. I remember Mom… Zira talking about it."

"Yes, Simba and Nala give birth to a son. The worst thing for Zira was to have a rival male heir, and so she plotted to change that. And so she entered the Pride Lands. Do you remember the boy's name?"

Vitani thought about it, racking her memory.

"Kopa?" She answered.

"Yes. He was young, and he was destined to be the next King," Rafiki continued. His stick tapped the next painting along, showing Kopa, a cub with a swept-forward mane tuft. The painting had been smudged by a hand.

"Zira found him, and attacked him, but they were spotted by Chaka, who gave his life to try and save the cub. Unfortunately, Zira threw Kopa's body in the Zuberi… they never found him."

Rafiki mournfully moved on to the next painting – a depiction of Zira and Simba fighting.

"Simba almost killed Zira, but he was stopped by Sarabi. She did not want to lose both her sons. And so, Simba told her to leave or be executed. That morning, Nala had found out she was expecting her next cub. What a cruel irony fate has – the same day, they lose Chaka and Kopa."

"I wish I knew them," Vitani said solemnly.

"They live in us," Rafiki answered.

"Zira told us to never mention Chaka or Kopa again. She was so angry when she found out that Simba and Nala were expecting another cub… and that changed to elation when she learned that it was Kiara who was born first."

"Ah, how Zira must have thought the fate of disappointment fell upon Simba," Rafiki stroked his chin in contemplation. "Simba is not Scar, and Mufasa's Law was back at the time, so Kiara could be the rightful heir."

Rafiki turned back to Vitani.

"The rest is history."

"To think this all started with that Mark."

"The power of the Mark has ended with Kion's cleansing, but the legacy of it still remains."

"I know… I know my family is descended from Kosa. It's scary to think that he's part of us."

Kosa was Vitani's grandfather, but Vitani had never met him, since he was killed by Scar long before she was born, after he infected Scar with the Mark of Evil in an attempt to blackmail him into helping overthrow the Pride Lands.

"Sometimes it is what we do, and not where we come from, that makes us who we are. Kosa's shadow did stretch long over the Pride Lands after he tricked Scar and gave him the Mark of Evil, but the plot has ended, and we have unity in the Pride Lands after so long without it."

"Yeah, sure," Vitani replied. "How many died to get here though? Chaka, Kopa, Nuka, Mufasa… too many. I guess it makes sense why Simba's so protective of his children,"

"Too many, yes," Rafiki nodded in agreement, "which is why we must live to make sure that they did not die in vain."


Agony. True, unchecked, full-blown agony. That was what he felt as fire seared over him, burning into his skin.

Thought had fled him as he limped away from the rocky monolith. The creatures had mostly fled when the fire started to consume them. Had they stayed, the rains might have proven to be his downfall, because he was still alive, despite the grievous injuries he had sustained.

The pain was unbearable. He wanted to be taken by the black stillness of death. And yet, somehow, by some miracle, or perhaps by some curse, he was not.

The pain was so intense, his injuries so bad, that when he wandered, he didn't know nor care where he was. He didn't know or care what had happened. And eventually, he succumbed, but he would not die.

Instead, the agony took his memory, and very nearly took his sanity with it. He forgot everything: his name, where he was from, what he had done with his life.

All he could remember was the pain, the fire, those creatures tearing at him.

A voice called to him. He couldn't make it out, but it called a name that he had forgotten, a name that he had forsaken. Maybe the pain had finally driven him mad.

But one day, the agony subsided a little, enough for him to come back to himself, even though what was lost was not likely to return.

And for the first time, he heard that name clearly.

'Askari…'


"Askari!" a voice called. The lion jilted upright, his breath coming in ragged gasps. He looked around, searching for the source of the voice that had woken him.

Askari was an old lion, bearing heavy scars across the entirety of his body. His mane was messy, his dark fur was patchy in places and completely missing in others. His left eye was milky, and the surrounding socket was patchy, and he could only see out of his right eye, which was emerald in colour.

Every time he had that dream, the pain of it echoed throughout Askari's body. His eyes caught what he was looking for: stood before him was another lion. His fur was beige, and his mane was a golden-brown colour. He too bore scars, though they were lesser than those Askari carried – two scars were atop his muzzle. His teal eyes betrayed concern for the heavily-scarred lion.

"You were shivering in your sleep," the lion said. "Was it the nightmare again?"

"Nightmares are for cubs, Tanabi," Askari brushed off Tanabi's concern as he struggled to his feet.

Askari had found Tanabi during a failed hunt several seasons before. A cheetah had made a kill, and Askari had attempted to poach the kill only to be driven off by said cheetah. Bemoaning that he was going to go hungry yet again, Askari had gone to the bank of the Zuberi River to drink, only to find an unconscious, injured cub there. In his starved state, Askari had briefly considered eating the poor cub, but had discarded the idea when the cub awoke. Unable to tell him anything, not even his own name, Askari had named the cub 'Tanabi'. Tanabi had always assumed that Askari had saved his life, and had stuck with him ever since.

Even as the seasons passed and he had grown older, Tanabi had not felt a need to go searching for his old life.

"If I really mattered to somebody, they'd have come to find me," Tanabi had told Askari when asked about it.

"What if they thought you were dead?" Askari had asked.

"Then they would have come searching for a body," Tanabi had shrugged it off.

Tanabi had come to believe that he owed Askari a life debt, and Askari didn't have it in him to refute that. Askari had told Tanabi that it was enough that he hunted, and so Tanabi hunted for the both of them.

Speaking of which, Tanabi had brought a gazelle he had taken.

"Ah, breakfast," Askari commented.

The two ate in silence, occasionally glancing at each other. The elder lion didn't eat much these days – there was little point as the pain he was in was enough to dull his hunger, and Tanabi was a young, healthy lion who needed the food more than him.

Not for the first time, the wonder of whether he had been selfless like this before he lost his memories crossed Askari's mind. And, as always, there was no answer to that. Nothing, except silence.

Across seasons, the pair had moved between the prairies, meadows and jungles, always looking to stay out of the way of prides who had laid claim to certain territories. Askari was too old and too damaged to fight, and even if Tanabi was young and strong, he was but one lion. In either case, neither had any desires in taking over a pride for themselves.

Once breakfast was done, the two lions meandered about their temporary home. That was their day-to-day life: simply getting by. No trouble, no worries.

"One day, you're going to want to find a home," Askari piped up.

"Not this again," Tanabi rolled his eyes. Every once in a while, Askari brought this up. And every time, Tanabi answered the same. It was almost as if they were running through a script at that point.

"I'm old, Tanabi," Askari continued. "And I'm dragging you down."

"I owe you for saving me," Tanabi pressed. "So, I'll stay here as long as that takes. Besides, like you said: you're old. You can't hunt on your own."

"I don't want your pity," Askari replied. "And one day soon, I will probably die. What will you do then? Wander the lands as a rogue?"

"I'll cross that river when I reach it."

The pair walked on in silence towards a river running between the borders of the prairie and the jungle. As they approached, they heard a voice.

"… a long way back," a female voice spoke. "I could run it and be there quicker, you know?"

"Fuli, you know I have to make visits every once in a while," a male voice replied. "It's the arrangement between our two prides."

Askari and Tanabi hid themselves behind a nearby bush. They saw, on the banks below, a young male lion and a female cheetah.

"Besides, I get to see how everybody's doing," the male lion added. "And to make sure that nothing bad has happened."

"Vitani's gang are the Lion Guard now, Kion," Fuli pointed out. "It's their job to protect the Pride Lands. Besides, since Zira's death, there haven't been any major threats. We probably see more action at the Tree of Life than they do in the Pride Lands."

The name Zira stirred something in Tanabi – a small uneasiness, almost a fear. He didn't know why, exactly, because he couldn't connect a face to the name. Maybe it was somebody from his previous life.

Askari, on the other hand, had no reaction to the name. He seemed completely unfamiliar to anybody named Zira.

"Anyway, I'll be glad to get there and see Kiara and Kovu again…"

"Aha! You just want to check up on your sister and make sure Kovu's not putting the moves on her!" Fuli said confidently, a grin on her face.

Another name, and another feeling of familiarity washed over Tanabi.

"Ergh, don't make me think about that sort of thing," Kion grimaced.

'Could it be that I knew these lions?' Tanabi thought to himself. He started to get up out of instinct. Askari noticed and pulled him back down.

"What?" Tanabi asked.

"We're hiding for a reason," Askari pointed out. "The less we have to do with other prides, the better. Staying on the outside is how I've survived."

"Weren't you telling me that I should find someplace?" Tanabi raised an eyebrow.

"They're headed for a pride," Askari replied, "and that's unlikely to be welcoming to a young Outsider lion like yourself. Whoever's in charge will probably think you're challenging them. No… better to wait until the chance comes along to make your own place."

"Tch. Yeah, like that'll happen," Tanabi rolled his eyes.

"You're young and have your whole life ahead of you," Askari reminded him.

"Let's not do this again," Tanabi suggested. "They'll hear and we might as well not have hidden from them."


Tanabi's hopes for not being heard were in vain. Fuli's ears had twitched as she heard the exchange.

"Hey, Kion…" Fuli whispered. "Keep walking, don't look around, but we're being watched. I can hear them talking in the bushes on the upper bank."

"I forgot you have better hearing than me," Kion replied. "What did you hear?"

"Two voices," Fuli answered. "Sounds like two males."

"Probably from nearby prides. We're almost at the border, and if they were going to attack us, I think they would have by now. Unless… you don't think they're planning on ambushing us?"

"It sounds like they're trying to avoid us. If they were part of a nearby pride, they wouldn't be hiding."

"No need to use the Roar, then."

"Nope, unless you wanna blow a pair of scared kitties out of their hiding place."

"Point taken."

As Kion continued forward, Fuli made a point of glaring in the direction she had heard the voices.


"Uh-oh, spotted," Tanabi grinned sheepishly as he watched the cheetah walk away.

"Was that an attempt at a bad pun?" Askari raised an eyebrow.

"Uh, no?" Tanabi replied. "But that cheetah definitely heard us."

"Well, since our hiding place is compromised and they're gone anyway, we should leave."

The pair left the bush and headed down the river bank.


Three hyenas stood over a rocky outcrop. One female, and two males, one of which had a dumb grin on his face with his tongue sticking out of his mouth. The female stood at the front of the other two.

"Aw, why'd we have to come back here?" one of the males asked.

"We're going to take back what's ours," the female answered.

"Yeah, sounds great, Shenzi, but… we ain't got no clan."

"That's what we're taking back, Banzai," Shenzi pawed her own face in frustration. "When we left, we left behind the clan."

"Yeah, but how are you gonna challenge the current matriarch?" Banzai asked. "I mean, uh… no offense, but you're not a cub any more."

Shenzi whacked Banzai with her paw. The other hyena started giggling madly.

"Shut up, Ed!" Banzai growled. Ed put his paws on his mouth as if trying to supress the laughter, but it was no good: he burst out laughing again.

"There's a few in that clan who might be swayed into helping us," Shenzi said. "And once we oust that bitch, we can do whatever we want again."

"But ya heard about how she's friends with Red-Mane," Banzai pointed out.

"Well, if Simba wants to come and say hi, he's welcome to," Shenzi grinned darkly. "That whole family's been nothin' but a thorn in our butts since we first laid eyes on 'em. I'd love to repay the favour."

"We killed Scar, though, right?" Banzai said. "We don't gotta get involved with Red-Mane again."

"He's gonna stick his nose into our business sooner or later," Shenzi said, "and I still got scars from when he was a cub to repay." Shenzi rubbed her left cheek, the memory of the sting of small, sharp claws returning.

The three hyenas exchanged glances before descending from their perch, heading towards the Outlands.


TIL in writing this chapter that female hyenas share names with female dogs and wolves – hence, 'bitch'. Should be obvious who Shenzi is referring to here.

Anyways, names 'n' stuff:

-Tanabi is a pretty common name for fan versions of Simba's son. I can't find the exact origin though. I imagine a lot of 'well, imagine my surprise lol' reactions later. And as if the cover artwork doesn't make it obvious just who Tanabi is.

-Askari – Swahili for 'police officer'. The name also comes from the lion who discovered the Roar of the Elders and founded the first Lion Guard. It should be obvious who this Askari is. Why not use the universally-accepted 'Taka'? What father names their son 'dirt'? I had changed his name in prior versions of the story also, but according to Ford Riley, who wrote for The Lion Guard, Scar was given the name Askari after the founder of the Lion Guard.

-Chaka – Arabic origin name meaning 'chakra'. One of the ideas poached from the 2019 film is that Scar was after Sarabi, though perhaps not from the start, but definitely after taking the throne – after all, he had to have everything that was once Mufasa's. Chaka is the result of that union.