Alright… so I still managed to get the next chapter done in my personal schedule. Up to this point, I'm getting through this surprisingly good. The motivation to write this is still high. The feedback, which to this point was positive, helps a lot. Even if it wasn't that much., but each of your opinions is really helpful. Thanks a lot at this point.
Reldor: Actually… no! He's just an a''''''!
Etain-Skirata: Thanks, like I said earlier, it is really encouraging to read. (Giving the history of my English lessons)
So… here we go.
Chapter 6: The good, the bad and the ugly
Pride lands!
Everywhere animals talked about the kingdom which lay in the middle of Africa and was ruled by king Mufasa, their hearts filled with joy. It was one of those places that seemed like being the closest to what animals could call paradise. Over the centuries, the lions that migrated into other kingdoms told the stories of this place. They told of how rich and green the grass looked, how beautiful the hills and the veldts lay especially when they were soaked by the red light of the sunset. And they told the others about the animals inhabiting this beautiful kingdom. And since Mufasa took his place on the throne, the pride lands flourished even more. It was a time of great joy.
The pride lands had always been the right place for cubs to grow up. Here they had to put up with far less dangers than in other parts of the African wildlife. And it showed on every single day. On one day, the two cubs called Chumvi and Kula had settled themselves in the high grass beside a small boulder as they took this opportunity to relax and just let the sun shine on their fur. It was still early so that the sun wasn't that hot and the two cubs didn't have to lie down in a shadow.
Kula really enjoyed her time with the dark brown cub and for once not having Simba and Nala around. She really enjoyed being friends with them. But today was her day alone with Chumvi. Right now she lay on her back with her head resting just beside Chumvis front paws while the male cub lifted his head up with closed eyes and enjoyed a light breeze. "Hach… life is great isn't it?" She asked and inhaled the fresh air of the landscape.
Chumvi smiled and looked at her. "Yeah! No parents, no duties… just being alone and doing nothing but relax." The male cub dropped to his side scratched his head with his paw. Kula now moved to her feet and jumped straight upon her male friend. "OOF!" Chumvi yelled as he felt her weight on his rips. "Kula… I thought we were going to relax." He mumbled and tried to shove her off of him.
"Yeah well… snoozing time is over. Let's rumble." The caramel female laughed as she held on to him with her paws. "Don't you dare try to escape from me!" She warned him.
Underneath her, Chumvi just could get an opening and slipped out from the female cubs grasp. He quickly rolled to his feet. Now it was his turn to attack. "You asked for it. Let's rumble." With a push by his head, he had Kula falling to the side and now stood upon her. The caramel female had her eyes locked on him as she now was again on her back. This time however, she stretched her arms out in defence. Chumvi quickly jumped onto her and gently laid his arms on her shoulders. "What do you know! I win." He smiled triumphant.
Kula under him held her paws to his chest and smiled whimsically. "Oh dear! Now I have to hear about this from him for the rest of the week." She replied as her head fell to the side. Her gaze fell on a pair of eyes that were set on them with a sad expression. Who's that? She thought as she tried to figure out where she had seen them before. Kula had never seen a cub with two eye colours. One of them was the usual yellow outside with brown orbs like most lions have. The other had a read outside to the brown. For a second, the female cub thought she had made out a beige fur in the grass, but it quickly disappeared.
"Hey Kula! I'm still here you know!" She heard Chumvi calling from on top of her as he showed concern for his friend.
"I noticed by the weight that's cutting off my stomach from breathing!" She teased and swiped the strange sight away. "Jeez, why do you have to eat so much." It was nothing new for her to make fun of Chumvi's so called appetite. Not that he is fat. I would never say that. To be honest, his figure is kinda… perfect. Wait! Did I really say that?
Chumvi at that moment had a different thought. She thinks I'm eating too much. Maybe I should rethink my eating behaviour. Maybe she'll like me being a bit slimmer. Wait… am I really concerned about the way SHE thinks of me?
They both snapped out of each of their thoughts as both realized that they were staring into each other eyes. And just as they stopped staring, both burst out in laughter. Chumvi went off from her and dropped onto his back as he held his stomach. Kula lay on her stomach and punched her right front paw into the ground as she tried to get a hold of herself.
"What are we laughing about?" Chumvi asked as he wiped away a tear.
"I don't know!" Kula said as she tried to that she was blushing, if lions could do that.
Both cubs settled down right beside each other and looked into the distance. "I wonder what Nala and Simba are up to right now!" Chumvi asked as he rested his head on top of his female friends.
Kula noticed and smiled. "Maybe the same as we are. If they were off to something big, they would have brought us along."
"Are you sure? Those two are not the type of lions that just lie down and relax in the sunlight." The dark born cub replied.
"I'm sure they're fine."
"HEY! Why don't you pick up someone your size!" Simba called down the hill.
"Like… you?"
"Oops!"
The hyenas jumped out of their positions and darted into the direction of the young prince. Simba pushed Nala a little further with his paw so that one of the hyenas' fangs missed her just by inches. "This way!" He said to his friend as the cubs ran and jumped though the path which was covered with elephant bones. Dad was right! I should have never got here. And I definitely should not have brought her along. He thought and punched himself inside. But there was no time for that now. They had to get out of here. The cubs barely made it up another elephant head as one of the hyenas snapped its fangs at them.
But just as Simba and Nala jumped over the head, they looked down an elephant's backbone in front of them that presented itself as a huge slide. "Guess we don't have much of a choice!" Simba said as he leaped of the ground with his cream coloured friend right behind. The cubs rolled down the backbone and at the end of it sailed off into the air.
"Do you see them?" A female hyena called to her companions and growled evil as the three sprinted across their territory.
"No! But they couldn't have gone too far." Another one replied.
Just at this moment, the third one spotted two balls of hair flying through the air and landing hard on a hill made of bones. "Uh he… ha-ha heeee!" he yelled and pointed into their direction.
"Good thinking Ed!" The female answered. The trio picked up speed and arrived at the hill.
In the meantime, Nala followed Simba as fast as she could. Don't fail me claws! She thought in desperation and hammered her paws into the bones. The gap between her and the golden prince was getting bigger and her paws started to slip away. "Simba!" She said as she felt her body drifting backwards. But he didn't hear her. Nala glanced back in horror as she saw the female hyena gaining up on her. No… she wasn't gaining up on her, Nala was loosing ground. "SIMBA!" She once again screamed before she could only shriek up. As the female lion cub turned around again, she looked directly in the eyes of the hyena.
"Hello beautiful!" She mocked her.
Upside, Simba finally managed to get to the ground. "We did it!" he said out of breath. But then he heard his name being called in dispair. "No!" he gasped as he saw his best friend slipping down inch by inch. Oh no! Not on my watch! Simba growled inside and darted back. He bared his teeth as he reached Nala and stretched out his claws. The hyena had her fangs out and bit at Nala. But just in the last second. He struck her right across the cheek.
Nala didn't waste any time and ran straight up the hill and now had Simba right behind her. "Come on, in here!" She called and pointed to a cave which lay just about to their left. She led the golden cub into it but had her eyes widen in shock as she saw what lay just in front of them. She had led herself and Simba right into a dead end.
"If we can make it up the skeleton over there, we can maybe jump up to the edge." Simba yelled and the two climbed as quickly as they could onto the rips of another elephant. They jumped on a piece of left over skin where they could stand and jumped. But the end of the wall was too far and they couldn't reach it until…
SNAP!
The cubs fell straight through the skin and landed hard on the ground. Nala turned around and heard the hyenas mocking them. "Here, kitty, kitty, kitty!"
"Simba! Don't leave me!" She whispered to the golden cub which right away walked in front of her in a protective stance. The female cub was full of fear as she saw her life coming to an end just in the next minute.
"Don't worry Nala! I am not going anywhere." Simbas voice changed immediately. Out of a sudden he was determined, was it out of true courage or of desperation. But he was not going to let her die because of his stupidity. He pulled together all his energy and roared. Well… what you could call a roar. All what came out was nothing more like the sound a kitten does when it screams at the top of her lungs.
The hyenas on the other hand were really amused. "Heh… that was it? Do it again… come on!" The female taunted him as they were barely a few feet away.
Simbas roar left no effect on their attackers. For a moment, he was scared to death again. Every moment of bravery had vanished from his side. This was when he realized that there was no way out of this. But then he looked back and saw his cream coloured friend standing behind him. No… he couldn't give up just like that. He dragged them into this; he's going to get them out of here. He breathed heavily and….
"ROOOAAAARRRR!"
That wasn't him!
"Huh?" All three of hyenas gasped as shrug up as they heard the call of a full grown lion echoing through the cave. And in the next minute, they found themselves confronted with king Mufasa who jumped on them from the side. With his paws he stroke at them as the grey animals tried to get away from the lion.
Zazu quickly rushed to the two cubs still standing on the same place as they glanced stunned towards the scene. By now, Mufasa had the trio shoved to the ground as he stood over them and growled in anger. All three of the hyenas babbled wildly in chaos and made the king of the pride lands really annoyed and angrier. "SILENCE!" He ordered and made them stop immediately. "IF YOU EVER COME NEAR MY SON AGAIN…!"
"Oh, this is your son!" The female hyena said in a defensive and tried her best to find a way to talk herself out of this situation. "Did you know that?" She than asked back and turned to one of her male companions which lay right next to her.
"No. Me? I didn't know—No, did you?" He asked back but did a lousy job in denying that he knew all along.
"No, of course not!" the female and both hyenas turned to the third of the bunch. "ED?"
The one called Ed just nodded his head and completely blew the little piece of cover the hyenas had built to this point. Mufasa had enough and let out another ear crushing roar. "Eh heh… toodles!" Banzai said and with that, the trio ran away in the direction where they came from.
Simba watched his father as he glanced after the hyenas and the let out a gasp of relieve. At first, the young prince wanted to jump at him and hug his father in joy. But then he realized what just had happened. Mufasa gave him a lot of freedom as a young cub. Of course he was lectured when he did something wrong. But he never disobeyed him. He never did something that has been this strictly forbidden by the king. But he had to say at least something. "Dad I…!"
"You deliberately disobeyed me!" Mufasa said and cut his son off. He was hurt, in one of the most hostile ways… in his trust. He thought he could trust his son to never put himself in any mortal danger. But he exactly did that.
Simba immediately realized that. "Dad! I'm sorry"
"Let's go home!" Now was not the place to lecture him, the safety of his son and supposed daughter in law weight heavier. He marched forward and for a long time didn't even bother to look at his son.
Behind him, Simba dropped his ears to his head and padded after his father as Nala kept as close to him as possible. "I thought you were really brave!" She said and licked his left cheek. Even though it had no effect on his mood, the golden furred cub gave his best friend a quick smile which only lasted for an inch of a second.
"I am an adult!"
The words still hammered through his mind. Carefully, Mwehu observed the two red marks that now ran over his right cheek. He had settled down at a small waterhole and used the surface as a mirror. He could feel that his head was swollen from the strike which he received just a few days ago. It was his first encounter with the kings' brother Scar. And it was the first time that he really felt pain. The adult lion hit him just across his head when their paths crossed in coincidence. But the pain wasn't the strangest part. It was the fact… that he liked it. He had finally found a superior being to him. Not that there was any chance that he was the strongest lion in the pride lands. He was after all still a cub.
But the fact that the pain and the rage coming from this humiliation gave him something… something to achieve… a goal. Up to this point he was just wandering around through the pride lands, getting into arguments that little kids had. Other than that, he just wanted to be on his own. Now he had a goal. "I'm going to show him. Show everybody that I'm not just a little outcast, a runt, an outsider. I will have my revenge on you Scar, even if I have to go through each and every one of you. He glanced back to the acacia tree where the mandrill was looking at him. Don't even think about reading my mind monkey. I'd really hate to have to run you over too.
Yards away, Rafiki narrowed his eyes and got in contact with the ones of pale-cream furred cub. He pointed his stick at him. You're wrong little Mwehu, I know wat' yur' thinkin'. I'ill show yur true colour. Even if I hav' to let yu' bring me down.
"COME ON… SAY IT!" The scarred cub yelled from his place towards the old mandrill sitting in the tree.
With a quick motion, Rafiki jumped down the tree, branch by branch before he landed smooth on the ground. "I hav' nothin' to say!" He mumbled and still went closer to the young lion. "I rather show yu'." With a quick motion he grasped the cub by his head and made him come face to face once again with his reflection in the water. "I don't know how yu' got dis one but… if yu' don't stop wit' yur' current behaviour, ther'll be much mor' to come." He continued in his calm voice.
At this point, Mwehu could already speak along as how often he had heard the exact same order of words from the old monkey, even compared to the few months he'd been on this world. And for the most part, he didn't even care. But it was the last couple of words that had some influence with him "There will be more to come!" He knew what situations caused his face to be tormented like this even in his young age. And the last ones could have been avoidable. But he didn't care… all that mattered was to get back at him, get back at them. "If I'm going to avoid being tortured like that, I have to be better like them… in any aspect of fighting."
Rafiki glanced after him as he slowly distanced himself from him. "Dat wasn't what I had in mind." He spoke and covered his face with his hand. "It was mor' like… yu' need dem', dey' need yu'."
Mwehu turned around at an instant. "I KNEW IT! I knew you would go down this path again. How often do I have to tell you? I DON'T need them." He called back angrily before facing the other direction again.
On the other side of the field, the mandrill kept his calm. He didn't want to play this card. It was a risky thing to reveal this to the mentally instable cub. By giving away this little inside, he would risk to lose his chance of integration forever. But he had to; this situation was getting out of hand. "I see… so dat's why I hear yu' cryin' in yur' sleep some nights."
The cub stopped dead in his tracks and his eyes widened. For a moment, he felt his heart being ripped out of his chest. Never in his life did he show any sign of weakness, he never cried for help, he never called on anyone else to fight his battles, even if he was being tortured for that. Yet this monkey knew something that even Mwehu had no guaranteed prove himself. He only sometimes had the feeling of dry tears across his eyes in the mourning. No reaction, no emotion… no weakness. He thought and walked away.
It was about the same time, that miles away, at the feet of pride rock, nearly the exact same scene took place like the one that just went down at the acacia tree. Just like the scarred cub Mwehu, a cub was looking into a puddle of water which was left over from the rain early in the mourning. Just like Mwehu the young male lion used the water surface as mirror and observed his reflection. But there was a slight difference to what just happened a few miles ago. This cub was deeply disturbed by his appearance. Disfigured… for the rest of my life. And all of that just because of the fact I tried to be nice to a stranger.
His gaze fell on his left eye; there was still the yellow outside that was usual for all lions of the pride lands. But as he got to the right one, he realized that its colour had put on a red taint. That bastard nearly blinded me on that one. He looked down on his throat and noticed the claw and bite marks that nearly went like a collar all around his neck and left red spots on his beige fur. At this realization, he gave his pain a name… Mwehu!
But not only was his face tormented by the events a few months ago. In his eyes, his soul was heavily scratched too. He had gotten to know Kula quiet early; both their mothers had been close friends. Though it was early for a lion cub to think about later relations, he hoped that one day the two of them would be a happy family. But then he met Mwehu and got into a fight with him. Now, just like the lone lion, he was scarred for the rest of his life. And now; his chance to get some sort of attraction from the caramel female was going close to zero. Not to mention the fact that he spotted her earlier with that dark brown cub called Chumvi. Oh how he wished he could change places with him. But thanks to Mwehu, this was over.
It was the day on which the young cubs were presented to the pride by their mothers and got associated with the others. It was on this day that he first met the troublemaker. He was just concerned about him, just asked why he looked so sad and worried. And what did he get, an angry response, a smack across the eye and a bite on the neck. Oh how he hated him.
"JIWE!" That was his mother calling for him. He gave his reflection a short gaze and padded away from the waterhole back to where the pride waited.
Nala had a bad feeling about leaving Simba back with his father. She too felt responsible for sneaking off to the elephant graveyard and tricking Zazu into landing under the rhino's butt. And the impression that king Mufasa made told her that Simba, not only had to sustain a heavy speech, but had to face more serious consequences once he got back to pride rock. For the most time, the cream cub kept her head close to the ground. Only once in a while she looked up to the blue hornbill. But the bird kept his gaze straight ahead as he flew over the female young lion.
"Zazu! I'm sorry for what happened today." She finally said out sadly and let her ears drop to the side. "I know this comes a bit late but… Simba never intended to put us in serious danger. And we never wanted to hurt you." Her voice was weak and her eyes were wet from small tears.
The kings' major-domo slowed down and eyed her. "I'm just glad that you two are fine." He said with a calm expression. "It's not my place to lecture you. For now just get back home and start again tomorrow." Zazu didn't wanted his words to come around as being cold and uninterested in Nala making uo for what the cubs had done earlier. But as he saw how the female lions' head dropped even further he decided to continue. "Nala! You and Simba are the future of our pride, the future of the kingdom we call home. It is my duty to keep you safe. But that doesn't mean that I don't car for you. I don't know what I would do if something happens to you."
Nala took a deep breath. He meant, keep you safe. Not 'out of trouble'. But then she realized what he said before that. The future of kingdom we call home. "So… you were serious with this whole thing of me and Simba being betrothed?" She mumbled in surprise.
Over her, Zazu noticed that and stopped as he landed in front of her. "Yes, your parents have barely settled things. They didn't want to make it official and solid since you two are so young."
So she was supposed to be the next queen of the pride lands. She was supposed to rule the kingdom together with Simba, her best friend. That was really a weird thing thought. But… she kinda liked it. Out of the sudden, the thought of their parents' aranging this marriage made something else come to her mind. "Zazu?"
"Yes!"
"Does mom know of what happened today? Does the rest of the pride know what happened?"
Zazu eyed her again. "The only ones who know at this point are your parents. And for the interest of all, we're going to keep it that way." The bird smiled and made the cream coloured cub feel a little better. Yet Nala knew she had to expect a similar heavy tongue-lashing from her mother as well as her golden furred friend.
"You know! There's something I realized today." Tojo yawned from his spot on top a rock in the middle of the veldt as he looked down on the group of cubs that he called his friends. "Without our prince and his partner in crime, the pride lands are as half as exiting as with having them around." On the ground were Kula and Chumvi who lay right beside each other, both gave him a gesture of approval but tried their best to not move any more muscles then necessary.
To his right laid Tama on a slightly smaller boulder with the same bored expression as the ogre coloured male cub. But her reaction to Tojos statement was a sly grin and a shook of her head. "For once, I enjoy having Simba and his antics not being a part of the day." She said a bit mocking and lifted her head to receive a slight breeze that ran over the landscape. The sun was already setting and the group of young lions spent the evening hours just staring into the sky until the older lionesses called for bedtime.
Down the boulder, Chumvi pulled his head up and face the tarnish-orange female with a glance of disbelieve. "Come on, Tama! Why do you hate Simba that much? Beside him being a bit cocky about this whole future king thin, he's pretty harmless."
"I don't hate him! It's just his antics and his behaviour that sometimes annoy me. In a different situation, the two of us could really get along well." She said in defence. Indeed she held nothing serious against the young prince. Of course she would never admit it, but she was a bit jealous of Nala spending so much time with Simba instead of her, however someone would interpretive that.
Just a few feet away Jiwe walked past a small tree and spotted the group sitting together aside and on top the two rocks. His glance wandered on the dark brown cub lying beside Kula in the grass. A small growl went out of his muzzle. But due to the distance, none of the others noticed. He decided to make a stop before he went closer to them. "Uhm… hey guys! Can I join you?" All of their heads tilted up and the group looked at the newcomer.
"Yeah of course Jiwe!" Kula said with a slight smile and immediately lit up the beige furred cubs' mood. He gladly padded over to them and dropped right beside the caramel female. He made sure that his fur came in close contact with Kulas and Jiwe made sure that the cub on the other side of her noticed. She gave him a quick nod. But then her gaze fell on Jiwes right eye and that it was tainted in red. For a quick second, she narrowed her eyebrows, but didn't pay any more attention to it and looked away...
The beige cub caught this and for a second frowned. But he didn't want to get hat road right now. "So… uhm Kula! I was wondering… if…"
"NALA!" Tama called out and all the attention of the group turned towards the young cream furred lion that was accompanied by Zazu and walked right up to them. Right away, they stood up and quickly met her halfway from their hang out place.
Jiwe stayed were he was with an open mouth as he realized how he just had been ignored by all of the others, especially Kula. "Sure! Don't mind me. It's not that I had anything important to say." The beige furred cub let out another growl and got to his feet. Quietly he walked away from the scene while the others stood by their female friend.
At this point, they had no idea of what happened to Nala and Simba during the day. So of course all of the others were asking their questions at the same time making it hard of the female cub to understand any of them. "Jeez, guys calm down. You're acting like a bunch of little cubs that get in contact with their mother of the first time in weeks." Nala giggled as she signed them to settle down. Tama and Tojo gave her a mischievous glare as to say… we are cubs. Nala was just about to tell them about the elephant graveyard when…
"There you are young lady!" A stern and upset voice interrupted the scene and Nala shook her head up. Her eyes fell immediately on Sarafina and Ni who approached the group of little lions and right away darted forward to the cream furred cub. "I guess you all head back to pride rock!" Sarafina ordered the rest, which they did without any further arguments. Kula and Tama gave her a quick nudge with their heads as they followed Chumvi and Tojo back to the prides home. Nala on the other paw sat down with dropped ears and stared towards the ground. A second later, she felt Nis' paw on her back as the male lion had settled himself right beside her. Sarafina took a deep breath, checked if the three of them were alone, and started.
"What in the great kings' name were you thinking? You and Simba were lying directly into our faces when you said you were going to the waterhole." She spoke with the same disappointment that Nala realized in Mufasas voice earlier. At first Nala wanted to respond that she didn't knew where Simba was taking her. But that didn't change the fact that they tricked their mothers into letting them run off.
The cub didn't respond and kept her head towards the floor. "I don't know mom. Simba told me about this really cool place and we…"
"And you thought you could just run off, loose the bird and get yourself killed." Her mother interrupted her and gestured wild with her front paws.
"Where exactly did you get the idea to go to the elephant graveyard anyway?" Ni asked calmly from beside the little cub. His voice was a little more calm and diplomatic. But Nala still noticed that he was exactly as upset as her mother. "I know that Simba went into this knowing about the place but… where did he get it from?" The cream male kept his calm voice.
Nala thought about it but realized that Simba never told her about what happened earlier the day. "I don't know!"
Sarafina realized and sat down still with her stern impression. She knew that one day the two cubs would do something really stupid that would get them in serious trouble but… she believed it not to be this life threatening. Not to mention that she and the prince abused her and Sarabis trust. "I see. Well in that case, since grounding you two would only keep you two together for the whole day. I think it might be the best idea to keep you and Simba separated for quiet a while." She called out.
The heart of the cream furred female sank immediately into her back legs and her mouth flapped open. With wide eyes, she glanced at her mother ready to protest. "But mom, I definitely learned my lesson, we will never do something that crazy again. Please don't do this mom!" She pleaded almost in a crying tone. "I… I'm really sorry."
Sarafina kept her face and. "As much as I love to see you two having fun together, there has to be some sort of punishment for your act." She said but changed her expression to a more genuine one. "Ni! Would you excuse us for the rest of the evening?" She said gently and the male lion stood up. He quickly nuzzled Nala and then for a longer time Sarafina before he gave them a good night greets and walked away. The lioness lay down in the grass and looked at her daughter. "Come here Nala!" She said.
The cub padded over to her and settled herself down in the lionesses' front legs where she curled up to come muzzle to muzzle with her mother. "Nala sweetheart! Never ever give me the creeps like that. You're the most precious thing to me. And just the thought of you being ripped away from me like this, would be the end of me." She said now with concern and caring. She moved her head forward and nuzzled her gently.
Nala felt a tear running down her cheek, and returned the gesture. "I'm sorry mom!" She once again said and buried her head in Sarafinas fur. "Mom!" She groaned. "Is it true that Simba and I are betrothed?"
Sarafina looked at her and nudged Nalas nose with her paw. "Yes! You are supposed to be Simbas wife and future queen." Nala smiled over this and the two lionesses shared a long and loving embrace as another day in the pride lands came to an end.
Even though the news of the young prince and his best friend ending up as hyena food was kept low across the prides, there was one lioness that heard of the incident and gritted her teeth that it didn't work. The night had already settled over the African savannah as the lioness settled herself at the border to the shadowlands. In the distance, she could already make out the silhouette of the kings' brother coming closer and closer. The male lion was walking fast paced. Yet it didn't seem to be in anger. Zira finally caught a look at his face which showed determination and optimism.
"I told you these stupid Hyenas couldn't get the job done." She said as he was only a yard away. She waited for a reaction of him but received none. "Scar, are you listening." She never liked being ignored, not in a situation like this. "HEY! I'm talking to you!" She once again called at the brown/red lion that had just passed her.
With a quick motion, Scar got right in her face and snapped his fangs closed just inches away from her muzzle. "Don't forget your place Zira!" He warned her in his gentle yet threatening voice and turned his body to the side.
Zira snapped back a little but held her gaze on the kings' brother. "So! The hyenas blew it. What now?" She then asked as she could be sure to have his full attention. "Guess we have to think of other recourses than those scavengers!" Again, Zira made clear what she thought about the arch enemy of the lions having a part in the takeover of the pride lands.
But Scar had other things in mind than the doubt of his most loyal 'friend'. "Oh this is were you are mistaken Zira." He said smiling evil. "Today may have been a defeat. Those three stooges were unable to eliminate the young prince and his cupid. But! I already made a deal with the hyena clan. And they will help me become king. There just are a few alterations more to be done. But I have all of them on my side."
Zira saw the blinking in the lion's eyes that she had seen so often over the last few days and what made her very comfortable about their plans going to work. "So… when does this new plan take action?" She continued to ask and walked up to Scar who now had his back turned to her. She rested her chin on his shoulder.
But the male quickly moved away and came once again eye to eye with her. "Patience, today's events may have shaken up the pride and our precious king. Let's just lie down for a little while and let grass grow over this thing." Scar started to walk back into the direction of pride rock with Zira right behind him. "And once the little prince as able to walk again on his own…. We strike!"
