question, and he did not hesitate to start telling the whole story.

“It goes back a few generations. I remember that it was my great grandfather who discovered this land after he was forced to leave his original place of birth when he was adolescent. His name was Mohatu. He was very wise and noble and he knew his responsibilities when it came to right and wrong. He would never back down from anything; he only went where his heart told him; and he only did what his heart desired. He was also very strong in his senses, and so he was more than capable of leading a pride.”

At this point, Kovu was listening carefully. He knew that proper kingdom ship is reliant on family legacy, and this was what Simba was getting on to.

“And so,” Simba continued, “he found himself a mate when he arrived here, and they both started to form a pride; which is still where some of our Originals descended from. When he and his mate grew into adults, they grew some decent numbers in the pride, and they were capable of taking on just about anyone. Not long after, they then gave birth to several cubs, one of them was a male by the name of Ahadi; and as the only male out of the litter, he was chosen by Mohatu to become the next king. Ahadi grew very strong and his father trained him to become a good king with an open heart, and after Mohatu and his mate died some several years later, Ahadi took over the throne, with his mate Uru. Ahadi was very much like his father: Noble, wise, strong, and loyal; and Uru became a lot like him when they came together. About a year after they became the leaders, they had a litter together; consisting of two males: My father, Mufasa; and my uncle Scar.”

Simba stopped for a moment. Thinking about his father hit his heart once again. It had been a long time now since he lost him; or he was really stolen from him in his own eyes; but he still missed him a lot. He stayed silent for a moment, thinking about his father as well as the terrible things that happened between him, his father and his treacherous uncle. Kovu also noticed Simba’s pondering state.

“Simba?” Kovu asked, frowning in confusion.

“Yes, yes; sorry.” Simba immediately replied, snapping out of his state. He then continued with his story. “So starting out, both Mufasa and Scar got along great growing up together. They both looked up to each other as important family connection when they were away from their parents; and they had their fair share of good times with the games that they played and the friends that they made with the pride. They appeared to be a force to be reckoned with as they worked together to become what they would describe as a ‘powerful tag team’. But things would soon change when Ahadi stood up to them when they were a couple of years older and made his tough decision: which of his two sons was to be the Future Lion King of the Pride Lands. Naturally he chose Mufasa because he was stronger and more loyal; and that was when his education to follow on would begin. Scar took it quite personally, as you would, and he became jealous of his brother. So he tried to fight his brother to become the chosen one, but that would be cut off by Ahadi, who in fury scratched Scar across the eye, giving him a permanent scar. Uru, on the other hand, was very defensive at this and took Scar aside to comfort him. From there she began to look after him. So now you know how he got his name in the first place.”

At this point Kovu was confused at how Scar got his name is the first place, meaning that he must have been called something else beforehand.

“So you’re saying that his name wasn’t actually Scar when he was born?” Kovu asked curiously.

“Not in the first place.” Simba replied, “His birth name was, and to some still is, Taka. He had always been known as Taka; but he was given the name which accounted for what he got by Ahadi. He thought of it to be just a nickname for him, but Taka eventually didn’t mind the idea of being called Scar, because he thought that it somehow suited him better. Well, he did turn evil, and so I assumed that it might have suited his evil side.” He then decided to get back on point. “Anyway, it seemed that he felt bad for what he did, and he just had to accept that his brother was the chosen one; which supposedly put them both back on the same page eventually; or so my father thought. So they grew up together with nothing but good intentions and care for each other, as good brothers should always do. When they became adults, my father became mates with my mother Sarabi; and they built a special bond that would eventually see them vowing their eternal love for each other. As a result of that; including the fact that he saw great wisdom and nobility in her eyes; he let her stand beside him as the future queen of this kingdom. Ahadi and Uru eventually reached their time two years after Scar and Mufasa were fully grown. They died a month and a half apart from each other; and even before their time came, they stepped down as the leaders when their health was deteriorating and passed the torch onto Mufasa and Sarabi. Half a year later after Ahadi and Uru passed away, mother and father had me, and the birth ceremony took place; which happens with every new prince or princess in the royal family after they have been born.” Simba then decided to stop from there since he had already given some much information to Kovu, and he thought that this was enough. He remained silent for a moment before Kovu spoke up again, still interested to hear more about Scar.

“So what happened with Scar?” He asked. “Did he find a mate or anything?”

“I’m not really sure. My father never really knew much about Scar’s activities because he was always so discreet. Apparently he spent most of his time away from Pride Rock and was up to other things out in the Pride Lands, or even beyond the border of the Pride Lands, like the Outlands or the elephant graveyard.” He gestured to the shadowy place in the distance near the northern border of the Pride Lands, which was the location of the eerie and creepy elephant graveyard. Kovu spotted it and he immediately knew what he was looking at because he had ventured there a couple of times for hunting and training sessions with his mother. “My real guess is,” Simba continued, turning back to Kovu, “that Scar was meeting up with the hyenas in the elephant graveyard every now and then, because he had formed an alliance with them and they agreed to help him out on a large plot to kill and take over. Why he had formed with them, or vice versa, I don’t know. Anyway, that is the end of that story.”

“But what were the hyenas doing out in the elephant graveyard, anyway?” Kovu asked.

“Well, Ahadi had banished them from the Pride Lands while Mufasa and Scar were still only cubs. To him, they were nothing but pesky scavengers who kept trying to steal our food and claim territory; and so as a result of the competition between them and us, he sent them out of this kingdom for good and promised the death penalty for returning. The hyenas roamed there because it was the closest location to Pride Rock that they could find; and Scar would not have had to travel too far to meet up with them.”

“I see.” Kovu said. At this point he realized that Simba had reached up to the point where the story had started two days ago; when Simba went talking with Kovu for the first time. It was there that Kovu had heard the shocking story of Scar from Simba’s own mouth. “The rest I think you already told me.” Kovu concluded.

“Yes, I did.” Simba remarked, looking at Kovu for a second and then continued to stare out to the horizon. He then decided to get on with the next part of the lesson. “Now come with me out into the Pride Lands and I will show you how to become a good king.”

“Okay, but before we go,” Kovu said quickly, eager to get something off of his chest, “can I ask you a question?”

“Sure. Fire away.”

“I just never fully understood, but why did you banish my mother and her pride from here in the first place.”

“They just didn’t belong here, because when your mother learned that Scar had been killed, it almost destroyed her and she blamed me for his death.”

Kovu then became surprised and confused at what Simba had just said. This was something that Simba had failed to mention to him two days ago.

“You mean that you didn’t kill Scar?” He asked.

“No. I tried to reason with him, but he suddenly attacked me. We fought for a few minutes until I threw him off of this very edge and down behind Pride Rock.” He gestured to the edge where he and Scar had fought. “He managed to survive the fall, but the hyenas came to him and attacked him in vengeance, because he betrayed them.”

That is not what my mother told me!

“I never knew that.” Kovu exclaimed in shock and surprise. “My mother kept telling me how you brutally slaughtered him.”

“No, I can never do something like that, because I am not like Scar; and Royal Protocol states that the king is not to kill anyone regardless of the circumstance.” Simba replied. “The only time when the death sentence does apply is when either exiled individuals return to the Pride Lands or they draw royal blood; and only a pride