[01/02/2025]
A day later than originally planned, Scar and Nala went out for a walk together. "Where are we going?" Nala inquired after they had been walking for a while. The kingdom's already dark atmosphere was intensified as the path beneath them grew more dim and foggier with each step they took. It made Nala wonder why she had agreed to go along without asking further questions, especially upon their final destination finally being in her sight... "What, the elephant graveyard?!" she gasped. "We could get in big trouble, Simba…" Nala, sounding anxious, continued with a whispering tone, "It dredges quite some horrible memories, you know..."
As no other, Scar obviously was fully aware of which specific memories Nala referred to. "Well, this time, you're accompanied by an expert…" he responded. "—and besides, as you are aware, it's hyena-free nowadays. There's no reason to worry. Trust me." Scar's voice carried a slight, earnest tone as he spoke.
Nala sighed. "I don't know, Scar… Should I?" The young lioness shook her head. The moment Nala considered giving her mate the benefit of the doubt, he led her straight to the one place she dreaded the most—the elephant graveyard!
"You wanted to know me better. Here lies my past," Scar said, turning to Nala. Subsequently, he cleared the way for her by sweeping aside some scattered bones. "Come, let's find ourselves a cosy spot in there," he said as he walked further. "I'm sure the big one doesn't mind me borrowing his old case one more time…" Scar nodded towards the large, mammoth-like skull, its massive tusks towering above them.
"Cosy, that?" Nala, following Scar with hesitation, shook her head. The elephant graveyard appeared exactly as how it still was imprinted in Nala's memories. The giant skull, barren, rocky soils covered in bones… Nala even still recalled the unsettling sounds, like the vultures' screeches, as she had never succeeded in driving out their echoes.
Inside the skull, Scar plopped down onto the chilly, hard ground. "All right, what are you curious about?" he asked after Nala sat as well.
He ain't joking… Nala, focusing her mind, deliberately pushed away the eerie thoughts about her current location. She decided to cooperate with Scar because she assumed that meant the quickest way for her to return to her familiar surroundings. "Tell me about—" the lioness hesitated, "—your childhood. Tell me about… Taka," she finally said.
Upon hearing the name he truly bore, Scar cleared his throat. "Taka…" It was the first time Scar had heard Nala speak his name from the past. "It'll be a deep dig, but I presume I'm able to push through…"
—Flashback little Taka/Uru—
Inside the royal cave, the brown-coloured queen Uru rested, feeling the coolness of the cave walls against her back. Yet instead of keeping her eyes closed, she found herself captivated by her youngest son, Taka, who sat quietly and seemed fixated on something outside. The sun illuminated the spot where he sat, causing his dark fur to appear brightened. With a gloomy expression, the young cub observed his father and older brother playfully pursuing each other outside, clearly having the time of their lives. "What's wrong, dear?"
Taka turned around to face his mother. "Dad hates me!" he stated. With a pair of watery eyes, the little cub fixed his gaze upon his mother, while in the distance, he could hear his brother's playful noises.
"Taka!" Uru stood up and approached her son. "That's not true!" she said. "Are you still bothered by your father's words from the other day? When he explained to you both that Mufasa will inherit the Pride Lands after his ruling period? Taka, it was always the firstborn who's destiny it is to become the king one day," she explained as she sat herself down next to her son.
Showing off his stubbornness, Taka shook his head. "No! Even if I were his firstborn, he'd still named Muffy his heir!"
"Sweetheart..." Deep down, Uru knew Ahadi had always favoured Mufasa over his youngest son. Taka was perceptive enough to figure this out on his own. It broke Uru's heart. Her love for Taka, her precious, was greater than her love for anyone else she had ever known, yet the feeling of being unwanted still lingered in the heart of her boy.
"Look at them!" Taka sighed. "Whenever I ask dad to play, he seems to be too busy!" the youngling called out. He brushed away a tear, forcing himself to show a furious expression instead.
"Why don't you just join them? I'm sure they'll allow you to play with them!" Uru suggested.
"No, I'd rather stay here, with you..." Drawing nearer to his mother, Taka found solace as her paw gently rested on his back, enveloping himself in her tender touches.
Uru gave her son a small lick on his head, where a crest of black hair grew. "I love you, my little baby," she whispered.
Taka, glancing up, said, "Mama… I'm no baby anymore!" A tiny smile shone onto his face; Uru's pride…
—End of flashback little Taka/Uru—
"Scar? Are you okay?" Carefully, Nala gave the lion next to her a nudge. A look of frozen shock had settled on his face.
With a swift movement, Scar wiped away an upcoming tear that threatened to blur his sight. He couldn't remember the last time Uru, his beloved mother, had crossed his mind. "Ah… yes, it was just… odd," he stuttered, confused. For a moment, while sharing his childhood memories with Nala, the warmth of the sun and the playful energy of his younger self seemed to envelop him, pulling him back into that simpler time. "Do you recognise the feeling of—being at two places at once?" Scar continued. He had experienced the event as if his soul, the lion currently known as Scar, had been projected back to his childhood. Projected to his own Taka from the past.
"It sounds like you and Uru were thick as thieves," Nala said.
"We were," Scar said. He realised if, back in the days, he hadn't been so busy competing against Mufasa, perhaps he had seen to his mother he truly meant the world. Scar flickered his eyes, turning his gaze to Nala and grabbing a sense of his current reality. "I couldn't catch the thing you said right after I finished my childhood talk," he said, the tone of his voice still a tad vague.
"I said you must've been very cute as a cub," Nala answered, slightly feeling embarrassed.
Scar smiled. "Nala, all cubs are cute," he responded, frowning. "Well, all right then... Combining your fairness and my cuteness, no doubt our cubs shall be extra, extra irresistible!" he jokingly added, bringing himself sharply back down to earth again.
Nala looked away. The chaotic sounds all around them caused her to experience the silence between them as less awkward. Subsequently, Nala regained her focus on Scar. Her focus halted upon one particular eye. Now was her chance to ask him the question that had been lingering in everyone's minds for years, a matter which, to this day, still sparked countless gossip among the residents of the Pride Lands. "How did you get…"
"Ah, the scar..." Scar finished Nala's sentence while he touched his scarred eye. "Well, I guess I can tell you about that," he paused, "but not here. It's a long story. Night is falling. We shouldn't be here while it's dark..." Scar's body language gave away his sudden nervous state.
"Why not? I remember from my last visit to this place, hyenas posed the only threat. You said…" Nala responded, slightly feeling off by Scar's sudden change in behaviour.
"My fear doesn't involve something in the state of living, my dear..." Scar vaguely spoke with a slight shivering voice, glancing over his shoulder. Obviously, Scar was already known for his strange and unpredictable actions, yet his current behaviour was far more outlandish.
"What—what do you mean?" Nala asked, almost whispering. She started to feel worried because of Scar's acting. Then why did he bring me here? Nervously, Nala scanned the area. Her mind conjured up images of creepy little vermin, their tiny bodies wriggling and squirming, emerging from the skull holes surrounding them.
"This is a graveyard. Let's just say, due to certain unpleasant experiences, I nowadays don't feel comfortable wandering around graveyards at night..." Had someone predicted years ago Scar would ever say something similar, the lion probably would've laughed that someone in the face. Back in the days, during Scar's and Mufasa's childhood, Rafiki had often shared stories with them starring the dead kings of the past. Scar, still Taka at that time, usually had mocked Rafiki, calling him a silly baboon full of nonsense. The young lion never would've imagined years later, he would accuse the newer dead kings of the past of haunting him in his dreams while confronting him with his past self. "The absolute last thing I need is to be chased by a bunch of furious, dead elephants!"
"Come, let's go home," Scar whispered, taking the lead. "Stay close." Nala obeyed, remaining close behind him. With fog thickening and daylight making way for dusk, Scar, unfortunately, missed seeing the downhill they were closing in on. Until… he stepped right into it. "ARGH!" At a rapid pace, Nala and Scar rolled down the sandy hill. From Nala's throat also came a shrill scream, echoing in reverse. Seconds later, Scar landed on his back, hitting the abandoned soils and absorbing the blast for Nala, who fell on top of him.
"Nala, are you all right?" Scar asked after taking a breath. Other than a rapid heartbeat, Nala hadn't made a single movement. Scar's voice sounded hoarse, strained from Nala's paws pressing against his neck and chest.
Nala, alerted by Scar's rough voice, hurried her paws sideways towards the ground. "What the—" Nala gasped, breathing for air. She attempted to rise but froze upon glimpsing their surroundings. The place, dark and villainous green, was full of hot geysers. Furthermore, it appeared like a dumping ground for the bones from creatures smaller than elephants. Nala's heart skipped as she discovered the source of the heat she had been feeling on her body since the moment they had crashed. Their fall landed them only metres away from a massive, green lava puddle. "Where… are we?" Nala stuttered.
Scar coughed, glimpsing around as well while narrowing his eyes. Who would've thought… "This place is where I… Be Prepared—" He struggled to find his words, trying to ban certain happenings out of his mind. "I spent quite some time here in the past. Let's leave it at that…" he finally said. "It's not superfluous to add, but here it's really required to mind our steps…" The black-maned king pointed a paw in the direction of the lava puddle and the surrounding geysers. "They explode when you least expect them to. I used to find my peace around them." At least, at times I wasn't immensely annoyed by hyenas! Scar sighed, images of the past flashing through his being. "However, don't worry, I still remember every step." Yet as soon as he had said that, Scar, spotting Nala's expression, arches his eyebrow. Whereas fear was evidencing the lioness' muzzle still seconds ago, it had been replaced by a playful smile. "Want to share your thoughts?"
"Oh, it's just that our position reminds me of something from my past…" Nala started, blushing and wondering if now was the moment to share a memory involving Simba, as unpredictable Scar could be. "Pinned ya!" Nala recalled when she had last pinned—as she liked to call it—Simba, not far away from the place she and Scar were currently at. A child's innocent game, from which even her brother Mheetu received the worst of.
"My… Is this a challenge?" Scar responded, grimacing as well. "Anywhere else I would've jumped at the chance, but here, the risk of a lava or geyser bath is just a little too high..." Blinking, Scar forced his focus to wander off of Nala's eyes, whose pupils appeared to become wider each time the earth trembled and she heard the geyser sounds in the distance.
"You find that relaxing?!" Nala gasped, her body twitching.
"Uh, Nala…" Hating to spoil the moment, Scar cleared his throat. He realised their current position brought them nowhere. "I don't want to complain, but unless you wish this to become our new home, you need to get off of me..." he shared. While Nala quickly responded, Scar took his time to rise, his back slightly cracking. "We're good to go," he finally said. However, a few cautious steps later, the earth shook beneath the lions' paws as two geysers near them exploded once more.
Nala nearly leaped onto Scar's upright mane. "I can hardly see anything. This is a minefield!" Nala's voice shivered and without realising, she leaned herself as close to Scar as she possibly could. "I think we... need to spend the night here," she whispered, glimpsing Scar from the corner of her eye.
Scar rubbed his head against Nala's, helping her to bury herself into his mane deeper. "I suppose we have no choice. Let's see… where—" Scar turned his head. "There, in the back," he said, his eyes glimpsing a stone step-up as he started to guide Nala towards it. "This will do," Scar mumbled as they both settled themselves, being safe from the geysers and the lava. "Stick with me." Unlike her previous avoidance of the king in the royal cave, Nala now appeared to desire his protection. The circumstances, however, clearly demanded the sudden change. With Nala laying curled close to him, Scar had sensed her need for protection and rested his head on her body. "Sleep well, dear."