he was christened Taka. Taka was one of the nicest lions I had ever met. He was such a true friend, a great hunter, and was always the happiest of our group.”

            Sarafina chimed in, “When we grew up, we were all the best of friends; me, Sarabi, Mufasa, Taka, and…”she paused for a moment. “…Kito.”

            I looked up from my knees at her. “Who?” I asked.

            Sarabi answered me, for Sarafina had turned her head away. “Kito was Sarafina’s mate, and the father of Nala. He was also Taka’s best friend.”

            I furrowed my brow. “Where is Kito?” I asked, looking around, almost expecting another lion to appear.

            Sarabi lowered her head. “He has moved on. Many, many months before you came to us, when both Sarafina and I were pregnant with Simba and Nala, there was an incident. Mufasa had only recently ascended to the throne. Three rogue lions came into the Pride Lands, trying to take the throne for themselves. Mufasa, Taka, and Kito all went out to confront them. The following battle that ensued resulted in the mutilation of Taka. He was severely injured in many places, including his left eye. That is how he got his scar. When one of the rogues attempted to finish Taka while he was down, Kito took the blow for him, saving Taka’s life. After Taka and Mufasa finished off the rogues, they went to Kito, but…” her voice shuddered a little bit. “…it was too late for him. The damage had been done.”

            Sarafina shuddered for a moment, her face still turned from me.

            Sarabi continued, her voice shaking slightly.

“In Kito’s dying words, he did two things. One, he told Taka of his cub that was to be born, and asked him to give Sarafina two names for the cub, one male, and one female. The second thing he did was give Taka a new nickname. That is when Taka became Scar.”

            I had never before heard this story, not from anybody, not even from Mufasa during all of Simba’s and my lessons. I looked up at both of the lionesses. Sarabi’s eyes shone with sadness, but Sarafina was an even more heartbreaking sight. Tears streamed silently down her face, and she made no effort to stem the flow. Sarabi went and sat next to her, nuzzling her.

sorry. I really am. I know what it feels like to lose somebody close to you.”

            Sarafina looked at me. She nodded, still letting the tears flow endlessly. Sarabi smiled at me, silently letting me know that she would be alright.

            “To make a long story short, Taka has never been the same again. He took the tragedy very hard, and ever since, he’s let his anger consume him. Scar may be uneasy to be around are times, but I know that deep down, Taka is still lying inside, guiding him through his journey. Many times I have seen Taka shine through the darkness that shrouds Scar.”

            A short time later, I found myself wandering the grasslands, thinking about what I had just heard. So Scar was really Taka, a kind and caring lion whose past was shrouded by tragedy and anger. It still didn’t explain his resentful manner towards me. Or why I felt so uneasy near him. I went through tragedy and hardship, but I didn’t shun everybody I knew because of it.

            He has his own way to deal with it. My common sense was kicking in. Not everybody will handle these situations as well as you did.

            But Scar was dealing with more than just the tragedy of the death of a close friend. He was also shunned his whole childhood by his own father, simply because he was not to be king. And during one of Mufasa’s lessons, he had mentioned that Scar greatly desired to be the king. Mufasa had promised him that he would be the next one, but that was before Simba was born.

            The pieces began to fit together in my head, and I soon realized that Scar was slowly, but surely, heading down a path that it would soon be impossible to turn back on. His combination of pain, suffering, tragedy, and strong desire would surely end tragically.

            And again, I found myself overwhelmed with worry over Simba and Mufasa. Without even thinking, I started heading east to the gorge where Scar had mentioned. I didn’t care if Mufasa did not want me present at Simba’s surprise. All I knew was that I could not stand another minute knowing that they both were with Scar.

            A fear of the unknown began to build inside of me as I sped up more and more. Before long, I was sprinting to the east, passing the waterhole, trees rushing past me. Off in the distance, I saw the gorge. Something strange was happening to the air above it. As some large object moved along the bottom of it, dust was rising, creating a semitransparent cloud that hovered over the opening of the gorge.

            I picked up my speed to the fastest my legs could carry me. By now, the dust began rising a mile down the gorge. The area I was headed to was surely deserted by now. The sky was a red-orange color as the sun began its decent to the horizon. It was the color that was often associated with a death, and my fear only increased.

            I reached the edge of the gorge, and glanced back and forth to see if there was a way to get down. I spotted a large pile of rocks that were like a stairway down. As carefully and as fast as possible, I climbed down them. When I reached the bottom, I glanced left and right over and over to see if I could spot a lion anywhere. Instinct told e to go left, so I obliged. I sprinted down about a quarter of a mile, keeping my eyes peeled for anybody. My breathing became heavy as my fear reached a boiling point. As I ran, an object loomed in the distance. As I got closer, it looked like a dead tree that had cracked halfway up and fallen, creating an upside-down “V” shape. Underneath this was a large mound. I slowed down, wanting to get a good look at the object.

            A gasp escaped my mouth. My knees buckled and I fell to them as I witnessed the sight before me.

            The great and wise King Mufasa lay sprawled on his side, his eyes shut. He was dead.

            An image of a flaming Jeep sprang to my mind, and tears filled my eyes. I lay myself across his unmoving side and wept into his mane. For the second time in my life, my father had died. I was experiencing the same tragedy again.

            After what seemed to be an eternity, I looked up. A thought suddenly came to me, and my fear returned. Where was Simba?

            I jumped up and, with no desire to leave the dead king’s side, sprinted off again. I looked back longingly at Mufasa’s body, promising to myself I would return to retrieve it. Then, as fast as my legs would carry me, I followed the gorge.

            Only a minute later, it ended abruptly. Another set of rocks that resembled large stairs lay before me. I glanced downward, and something set in the dirt caught my eye. There were several sets of footprints. One set was small, with padded paws, and I instantly recognized them as Simba’s. Three others with even smaller paws went in the same direction. Instantly, I remembered how thin the paws of the hyenas were, and I gritted my teeth as tears sprang to my eyes again and anger boiled in my heart.

            The hyenas had done this. They killed Mufasa, and had chased after Simba with the same intentions. The thought of my brother in trouble snapped me back to reality, and I rushed up the rocks with ease. All I focused on was getting to Simba, finding him and holding him, never letting go.

            I followed the footprints around the top of the gorge. The landscape had changed now. I was far out of the Pride Lands. There was nothing but rocky barren wasteland around here. Off in the west, where the sun slowly set against a blood red sky, was a long and dune filled desert.

            I almost didn’t see the cliff as I ran so fast following the paw prints. I caught myself in time before I fell, but I had to regain my balance quickly.

I may have stopped myself from falling, but the sight I saw made my heart plummet into the lownd over to see if I could spot a lion anywhere. Instinct told e to go left, so I obliged. I sprinted down about a quarter of a mile, keeping my eyes peeled for anybody. My breathing became heavy as my fear reached a boiling point. As I ran, an object loomed in the distance. As I got closer, it looked like a dead tree that had cracked

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