Then he spoke again. “Because of his valor and sacrifice, your life shall be spared.”

A collective sigh of relief swept over the group of lionesses. The tension had lifted completely. Sarafina smiled with relief, as tears of joy trickled down her muzzle. Sarabi went to help her stand. When she managed to get to her feet, Sarafina rushed forward to Nala, and hugged her, sobbing happily.

I looked back at Taka, and I saw the compassion in his eyes was gone. He was Scar again. His gaze met mine, and he grimaced at me. He turned away and sauntered back into the cave. Zira was standing at the opening, waiting for her mate. When Scar entered, she turned her head to me. Her face was full of malice and hatred as she stared. I returned the look, and turned back to sit with Sarabi, Sarafina, and Nala.

 

 

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

 

 

That evening, a ceremony was held in the Royal Graveyard for Mufasa and Simba. The body of Mufasa remained unmoved, as he had requested years ago when he attained his kingship. Simba’s body was nowhere to be found.

            During one of our lessons, Mufasa had told me that while it was a somewhat barbaric practice, we eat the antelope. Then he told me when lions die, their bodies became the grass. In turn, the antelope consume the grass. He called it the circle of life. Mufasa did not want this cycle to be disrupted, so upon his coronation as king, he had declared that wherever the king shall fall, there he shall remain so the circle of life could take its course.

The ceremony was short and mournful. All of the pride came to pay their final respects to their fallen king and prince. Only Scar and Zira were not present. Anger coursed through me when I saw this. Scar was so great a king he did not require to pay respects to his brother, the king who had preceded him?

 In the graveyard, a large rock was placed near those of my family, and an etching of Mufasa’s symbol was set into the stone. Next to that, a smaller stone was placed and etched with Simba’s symbol of a lion cub with a line drawn over his head.

            The ceremony began with the lionesses humming a mournful hymn that I had never heard before. Rafiki then delivered the sermon in memory of Mufasa and Simba. I paid attention to it intently, listening to the story of their lives and how they lived them to their fullest.

            At the end of the ceremony, the lionesses all, one by one, walked up to the graves, and kneeled to them, paying their final respects to Mufasa and Simba. I was the final one to do so. I walked to the graves, and stared down at them. Memories of both of my fathers and brothers flooded my mind, and I let them. Silently, I kneeled down on one knee, and lowered my head in a respectful bow.

At the end of the ceremony, the lionesses all, one by one, walked up to the graves, and kneeled to them, paying their final respects to Mufasa and Simba. I was the final one to do so. I walkef his valor and sacrifice, your life shall be spared.”

A collective sigh of relief swept over the group of lionesses. The tension had lifted completely. Sarafina smiled with relief, as tears of joy trickled down her muzzle. Sarabi went to help her stand. When she managed to get to her feet, Sarafina rushed forward to Nala, and hugged her, sobbing happily.

I looked back at Taka, and I saw the compassion in his eyes was gone. He was Scar again. His gaze met mine, and he grimaced at me. He turned away and sauntered back into the cave. Zira was standing at the opening, waiting for her mate. When Scar entered, she turned her head to me. Her face was full of malice and hatred as she stared. I returned the look, and turned back to sit with Sarabi, Sarafina, and Nala.

 

 

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

 

 

That evening, a ceremony was held in the Royal Graveyard for Mufasa and Simba. The body of Mufasa remained unmoved, as he had requested years ago when he attained his kingship. Simba’s body was nowhere to be found.

            During one of our lessons, Mufasa had told me that while it was a somewhat barbaric practice, we eat the antelope. Then he told me when lions die, their bodies became the grass. In turn, the antelope consume the grass. He called it the circle of life. Mufasa did not want this cycle to be disrupted, so upon his coronation as king, he had declared that wherever the king shall fall, there he shall remain so the circle of life could take its course.

d to the graves, and stared down at them. Memories of both of my fathers and brothers flooded my mind, and I let them. Silently, I kneeled down on one knee, and lowered my head in a respectful bow.

After the ceremony, I found myself wandering northward to my stream. As I did, I felt more alone than I had ever felt in my life. I had only traveled this way by myself one other time. That had been the first day I went to the stream. Every morning afterward, Simba had always accompanied me. It felt strange going alone, like I had forgotten something important, and needed to go back and get it. But I knew I could not retrieve Simba from where he had gone.

I looked around at the Pride Lands. Their beauty had somehow diminished. The trees and grass were still green, and grew enthusiastically, but somehow, they seemed darker. I looked up, and saw that gray clouds were covering parts of the sky, and had completely covered the sun.

I finally reached my stream, and released a sigh of relieved, for the hyenas had yet to reach this far into the Pride Lands. Already, they had covered the entire southern and eastern lands, and were progressing westward. More and more hyenas came from the Elephant Graveyard with every passing minute. I knew it was only a matter of time before they reached the northern area.

I removed my shoes and socks and dangled my feet over the bank into the water’s edge. I stared into the rippling water, and memories swam in and out of focus in my subconscious. I saw Simba swimming up and down the stream. I remembered him asking me questions about the customs of humans. I remembered all the times that Mufasa, Simba, and I would roughhouse. And then, the memory of Mufasa’s broken body swam into focus, before being replaced with another image of a steep cliff that led into a large patch of thorns.

Something clicked in my mind, and I snapped my focus away from the rippling water. Simba had fallen from this cliff to his death. His footprints were clearly heading over the edge of that cliff. Yet Scar had told us that Simba had been trampled to death.

Slowly, my mind began to work the situation. Realization slowly came to my mind. Scar had told us something completely different than what had really happened.

One thing became very clear to me; the pride did not know what really happened that day in the gorge. Scar had lied. Why was unclear, but Scar was definitely hiding something. As my mind worked faster and faster, trying to unravel the mystery of it, an eerily possible idea presented itself to me. Was it at all possible, that Scar had played a hand in the deaths of Simba and Mufasa?

My mind was racing now. It made sense. Scar deliberately took Simba to the gorge, and refused to have me accompany them. Why? He did not want the chance of another person witnessing the event, and possibly surviving. He knew I did not trust him, and he knew it would be harder to remove me from the picture. Eliminating two family members who, to an extent, trusted him was easier. I knew that Scar had held a role in the accident that occurred in the gorge. I was unsure of what that role was and of the job it consisted, but Scar definitely played a hand. Now I was sure that what had occurred was no accident.

Scar certainly had motive enough to commit such acts. All his life, he was in the mindset that after Mufasa stepped down, that he could take over. That was, of course, until Simba came along and pushed Scar aside as next in line. It all made sense. Scar needed to eliminate the obstacles in his way in order to attain what he had desired for so long.

But I had no proof to base my theory on other than my claims that Scar had lied. Surely by now, the paw prints I had seen had been blown away or covered up, so there was no way to show that Simba had fallemyself wandering northward to my stream. As I did, I felt more alone than I had ever felt in my life. I had only traveled this way by myself one other time. That had been the first day I went to the stream. Every morning afterward, Simba had always accompanied me. It felt strange going alone, like I had forgotten something important, and needed to go back and get it. But I knew I could not retrieve Simba from where he had gone.

I looked around at the Pride Lands. Their beauty had somehow diminished. The trees and grass were still green, and grew enthusiastically, but somehow, they seemed darker. I looked up, and saw that gray clouds were covering parts of the sky, and had completely covered the sun.

I finally reached my stream, and released a sigh of relieved, for the hyenas had yet to reach this far into the Pride Lands. Already, they had covered the entire southern and eastern lands, and were progressing westward. More and more hyenas came from the Elephant Graveyard with every passing minute. I knew it was only a matter of time before they reached the northern area.

I removed my shoes and socks and dangled my feet over the bank into the water’s edge. I stared into the rippling water, and memories swam in and out of focus in my subconscious. I saw Simba swimming up and down the stream. I

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