Scar x Zira: The Lost Heir

Chapter Eighteen

A few weeks later...

Scar sat on the edge of Pride Rock, the wind gently tousling his mane and cooling his fur. He relished in the feeling as he looked out over the bustling savanna.
This will all be mine soon.
After the hyenas' failure with killing Simba, he had gotten after them and made it clear that this coup was to everyone's advantage.
He laid out the plans so that they were absolutely foolproof this time around, and the hyenas agreed to it yet again.

This time, he would come out on top.

He felt a presence behind him. He turned to see Mufasa walking towards him with long, silent strides. He came up beside him and sat down.
"Hello brother," he said.
Scar avoided his gaze, his body tense.
"To what do I owe this visit, Your Majesty?"
Out of the corner of his eye Scar could see Mufasa's sad expression.
"I just wanted to talk to you. You are my family, after all. Besides, we haven't talked civilly in..."
"Years?" Scar spat.
Mufasa lowered his head in shame.
"Yes, years. I know that you hate me, Scar, and you have every right to. It's not fair that only one of us got to be King."
Scar nodded slowly.
"But we need to accept what has happened in the past and we must move on. I want us to be close again, but that can't happen until we forgive each other and mend what's been broken."
Mufasa looked for a reaction in his brother, but Scar just stayed blank and distant.
"You can't fix what's broken, brother. You can't take away the scars of the past with a few sympathetic words. You may be able to fix everything else in the Pridelands, but you can't fix our relationship... you can't fix me."
His words hung in the air like a heavy weight. He stretched and turned to look at Mufasa.
"If you need me I'll be in my cave. I hope you will realize that this bond cannot be mended, as you say it can be."
Mufasa put a paw on Scar's shoulder, but for some reason he didn't flinch away.
"I won't give up on you, Taka."
This time he flinched away.
Don't ever call me that again.
He wanted to snarl at him, but instead he moved out from under Mufasa's heavy paw and he looked down at his own skinny paws.
"Maybe you should give up on me," he muttered.
Mufasa shook his head.
"Not as long as I'm alive and well. I'll never give up on you, even after I die."
Scar turned his back to his brother and started to walk away.
Then he stopped and gave Mufasa one last glance. This time it was sad and full of guilt.
"Like I said," he whispered, "I'll be in my cave if you need me."
He walked away, and Mufasa watched after him until he was gone.

He remembered when they were innocent cubs, always romping and playing with each other like brothers should. Then Scar (or Taka, at the time) kept getting into more and more trouble with Zira and he distanced himself from Mufasa as he got older. He started to hang around the hyenas and that's when their father, Ahadi, lost it. He was the one to give Taka his scar.

Mufasa lowered his head as he remembered that fateful night.
Then he remembered the next day, when Ahadi declared that he would be King. He could still feel the shock, and he could still see the burning hate and betrayal in Scar's eyes as Ahadi walked away.

He stood up and walked back into the den, where Sarabi was sleeping peacefully with Simba curled up in her paws.

At least I have them.