Beginning Of The End

Don't you see what you're doing? No. Scar could not see how he was to blame for the dwindling water supply in his kingdom. The angry buffalo, leader of the herd that had lived there for generations, demanded answers. The russet lion, king of his ruins, stood between the hulking beast and the water's edge defensively. It was a fight as old as the savanna, and a problem that had existed long before Scar ascended the throne. Without water, no species could survive.

How could you allow this to happen? Even still, the buffalo was becoming more irate. His calves are thirsty, and he is uncertain where the herds will go next, if they cannot remain here. The king's response only causes more irritation, more anger: It is not the king's problem. Lions must drink, as well. Lions are more important. The buffalo then pawed the dried mud in frustration, and Scar began his retreat. He has fallen beneath the hooves and horns of a buffalo bull before, and the lion does not wish to repeat the experience that had nearly been the end of him. When Taka was a lion instead of a memory.. He was still young the day he received his trademark facial blemish; only a teenager at the time, with a big mouth. Some things would never change. Many said at the time it was a miracle that the prince survived to tell the tale. Unfortunately for the Pridelands, he had.

But now he was king. Even the buffalo knew that to murder the king was dangerous not only for himself, but for his entire herd. The brute could not risk attacking Scar as the lion padded away from him, despite his urges, and both males were still seething with rage. While the buffalo feared for his herd, the lion instead worried about his own hide, and he slipped away to protect himself now that the other was riled up. All the while, Scar was unaware of any observers as he moved briskly away from the buffalo. These were problems he was not prepared to deal with in the sweltering heat of the afternoon.

It was a blistering afternoon on the dried grasslands of the Pridelands, hotter than Ari had ever experienced before. The best way to fight this heat would have normally been a trip to the waterhole. Now it’s best to say a trip to whatever’s left of the waterhole. From her first days till now, she had watched the once glorious are reduce to merely a puddle, and there seemed no way to fix it.

And everyone blamed Scar.

Ari chose deliberately not to think about that, deciding that her father had no control over the waterhole and it was just a time of drought. Still, disbelief managed to creep its way inside her mind now and again.
This day she walked alongside Tasa, her only remaining sister. When they were kids, they might have run happily along the dusty path, joking and smiling. Now they walked in a sullen silence, with only casual conversation to break it. Ever since Giza’s disappearance, they hadn’t been the same between them. Usual sibling time was spent with the hidden fear that the other would one day leave to, and there was no way to fix it. It’s hard to truly tell when someone close will fade away, but easy to see all the time wasted by petty arguments or disagreeable actions.

The tail of the russet lioness swished back and forth, the sound of their paws rubbing against the dirt ground seemed to be the only sound that passed the pair. As Ari finally made an attempt to break it, she became distracted by the sound of her father’s voice echoing by the hole. Ari stopped in her tracks and caused Tasa to as well. “Look over there.” She said, directing Tasa’s attention to the scene. “Is that…dad and a group of Buffalo?”

Ah, Buffalo. One of the most dangerous of the herds. Ari was always told to stay away from them, never make eye contact or conversation. One wrong word would cost someone their life. But, for whatever reason, Scar was not only conversing with the agitated beasts, but arguing with them. This made the peacekeeper inside her go wild. Although they would (hopefully) not strike down a king, who was to say they wouldn’t do it to another lion? Perhaps a younger cub, someone weaker. Ari just wanted both groups to settle down, the last thing the Pridelands needed was another argument about water. When Scar had took his leave, with an angry looking chief glaring at him, Ari decided then would be a proper time to jump in.

“I’m going to go check it out, and hopefully settle them down before anyone gets hurt.” She said with an air of determination. “Who knows, maybe we could be friends.” Tasa looked unsure of the matter, and to be honest Ari was to. But she was a princess, a first born, it was her job to do what she could to keep the Pridelands safe. Fighting was never her strength, but conversation and persuasion seemed to be the only thing she was good at. Ari gave Tasa a comforting smile. “I will be right back, don’t worry.” And with that she ran off down the path, and up to the angry herd.

The conversation started fine enough, Ari stated that they could all have a drink with no worries. But when she started to defend her father’s actions, they agitation only grew worse. They began to quarrel amongst themselves, bickering and yelling about what to do. She shifted nervously, and tried to calm them down. But it was too late, they were already riled beyond control. And it was then that Ari made her fatal move, to try and get in between the Chief and another so they wouldn’t fight, claiming that there was no need for violence. But the Buffalo was already in motion, and in a blind rage, his target changed from one of his own, to the very lioness that tried to help them. She tried to move, she tried to get out of the way, but there was no hope left for her, and as the horns impacted with her skin and she toppled to the ground, Ari realized her time was up.
Silence, an unwarmable cold, and the numbing feeling of death slowly circulated through her. Her vision was blurred, and she wasn’t sure what was happening around her, all she could do was focus on the labored breaths, doing all she could to make sure they were not her last.

Tasa hated the way the sun bore down on them mercilessly, how it sucked the life out of the entire savannah so there was little haven from its burning heat. She had grown used to such temperatures, growing up in the drought, but today seemed particularly bad. Her mouth was dry and head pounding. She wanted nothing more than to play in the shallows of the waterhole to cool herself off, but ever since her birth the water had been diminishing until it was hardly a puddle now. The realization of the danger of their pride’s situation was making itself known over the past few months, something Tasa was unsure how to handle. The dryness of the air and land around them were normal for the girl born after the time of plenty, so for most of her life she disregarded the drought, little food, and careful conservation of water. The complaints of the other lionesses, mostly against her father, were normal as well.

But now, as the two teens walked side by side on the dry path, it was clear the Pridelands were in danger. They wouldn’t last much longer like this, and had already lost so many. The tawny cub’s sullenness since Giza’s disappearance had barely eased up, and if she wasn’t bogged down by depression and guilt, she was heated in anger. At her father, at her mother, at the other lionesses, at the sun, at the rocks that grew unbearably hot in the heat, at the vultures who always loomed nearby, waiting for another of their pride to fall... and at herself.

Around Ari, though, she tried to be happy, or at least pretend to. The russet cub was so sensitive to things and hated seeing others unhappy and continuously pestered Tasa to cheer up, to see the bright side of things ( “But why would I want anything brighter? I’m sick of this sun!” She had replied once). It got to the point that it was more of a pain to sulk around her sister, so she did her best to be cheerful, even though they both had an underlying fear that the ill fate that had befallen Scar’s cubs would take one of them next.

She did truly enjoy her sister’s presence, at least when Tasa wasn’t in an already bad mood. But where Tasa’s opinion of her father had dwindled since cubhood, Ari’s hadn’t changed. She still held him up on a pedestal as only a few other lionesses did, such as their newer queen Zira (whom Tasa had yet to actually meet past a general glance, though she really didn’t care either way about it). It was annoying, naive, but as much as Tasa wanted to pummel it into her sister that Scar was not such a big deal, a part of her wanted to retain that innocence Ari had. So the topic of their father was rarely brought up between the two.

But when the two young lionesses watched the altercation between Scar and the buffalo leader, Tasa knew Ari would want to intervene. She was always ready to defend their father, while Tasa would rather condemn him. Tasa nodded at Ari’s question, “Yeah, looks like he’s annoyed more than just our pride. Wonder what he did this time.” Though even if he had done nothing, water was so scarce that the level of tension between the group could’ve grown no matter what lion had been involved. “C’mon Ari, let’s go find somewhere else to--” Tasa started turning away, not wanting to get caught up in her father’s problems, when Ari announced she was going to try and settle the matter. “Are you crazy? Did the sun get to you? Those are buffalo, Ari, not some giselle colt. They have the anger management of a hippo.”

But Ari was determined and simply gave Tasa a smile. Tasa shook her head and tried to stop her, but knew it was no good. Ari was just about as stubborn as she was, especially when it came to this sort of thing. So Tasa huffed and padded on slowly in her wake, close enough to make her presence known but far enough to not be in the buffalos' way. Then, the herd started getting riled. Tasa’s muscles tensed, watching the scene with sharp but wide eyes. “Ari...” She started slowly, watching her sister grow further concerned. But then she took a step forwards into the madness and Tasa’s heart leapt into her throat.

”Ari, get out of there!” Tasa lurched forwards to do something, but she was too far and the horned beasts were too fast. His horn caught Ari’s chest, a gash tearing deep into her skin and muscles, the force of her sending her tumbling back towards the bank, an arc of blood-spray following the buffalo’s horn. “Ari! A deep roar tore from Tasa’s throat, a first for the teen, and she raced towards her fallen sister. A sprinkle of blood had fallen onto her face, but the tawny lioness was growing too numb to notice.

She stood over her bleeding sister, staring down at her with a helpless expression. That was a lot of blood, far too much; and the wound was big, far too big. Her chest tightened and jaw clenched as her eyes narrowed, shooting towards the herd of buffalo who fell silent at the scene. “What have you done you worthless, pathetic beasts!” Tasa growled at them, claws brandished unconsciously as her own blood screamed for retribution. “You won’t need to worry about wetting your tongues ever again once I’m done with you.”

Tasa took a step towards the herd, eyes trained on the chief with a bloodied horn, when she heard a whimper. Anger temporarily dispersed, the young lioness turned back towards her sister, expression falling. “Ari, just hold on, you’ll be okay, just hold on...” Tasa nuzzled her face, hoping she wasn’t lying. “Father!” She called out in the direction she had seen him before. Where was he? Had he seen them? Could he do something to return Ari’s life force to her body? Tasa stared down at her, the blood from Ari’s wound creeping near the tawny cub’s paws. “Just hold on, please.”

The sound of voices carried on the hot breeze, but Scar did not realize it was Ari and Tasa who had been watching. The tyrant turned in time to see the fatal blow. The scene unfolded, seemingly in slow motion, and Scar felt his legs begin to weaken beneath his weight. "No!" But he was too far away to do a thing. Then, Tasa appeared with a fierce roar that only shocked the russet lion even more than what he had just witnessed. It took a good half of a minute before Scar found it in himself to run to his daughters, and an enraged roar escaped his own maw as he first approached the offending buffalo. The herd already knew they were in trouble and the hasty retreat began.

"Get out of here! You will pay for what you have done to the princess! You'll pay with the lives of your children!" He was seething, trembling with anger, and looked very likely to destroy the entire herd single-handedly. "All of them! We will destroy each one!" Already, curious hyenas were begin to gather near the waterhole, after hearing the commotion. Laughter and hungry anticipation began to surface among the canine crowd until their king turned on them. "All of you, get away from here!"

As the gawking onlookers slowly left the trio of royal lions, Scar finally looked down at Ari. A similar expression of helplessness clouded the king's face as he stared down at the pool of warm blood, growing with every passing second. The red liquid touched Scar's paw and he jerked it back in horror. With every labored breath, with every beat of her pulse, the flow of blood from the massive wound suspended for only a split second. Scar had been around long enough to know what this meant. A major artery had been sliced. And there was no saving someone injured this badly. He shoved Tasa away from Ari with a paw, and he turned on her. "What have you done?" He demanded, eyes blazing. But now was not the time to punish one daughter, for the other lay at his feet, life force extinguishing at an alarming pace.

The last time he had felt so helpless was when his own mother had passed from this life to the next. As he gazed upon his oldest daughter, he thought of Uru, the great queen, and the mourning that had followed her death. In all of his life, only his mother had loved Scar unconditionally. Now, he felt as if he was losing her all over again. He felt sorry for himself, but he also felt sorry for Ari, though he was not one who ever felt sympathy towards others. Uru had died from old age. This was entirely different. This was not fair.

The psychotic look in the lion's green eyes faded into a look of deep sadness, and he lowered himself to rest beside his dying child. He could not bring himself to lie by saying she would be alright. His voice softened. The eldest princess of the Pridelands' time was almost out. "Ari. Can you hear me? You will be a queen now. Where you are going, you will be a queen. You will be happy there, Ari, looking down." He could think of nothing else to say to offer comfort. Scar had never taught his children about the Circle of Life, or the Great Kings, nor did he especially believe any of it, but now didn't seem like a time for skepticism. Conflicting emotions, some so rare to the lion that he could not give them a name, racked Scar.

The world around the young lioness slowly began to fade. The grasslands that she once played in dimmed from her vision. The warm savannah breeze that comforted her all throughout the years was now cold and dry against her dying skin. Her chest rose and fell in heavy strides, each more painful than the next. The calming sound of the water flowing through the water hole was now muffled and far away. Was this really how it was going to end? Everything that she wished to aspire to, unjustly stolen from her due to fates cruel joke? Ari grew up believing that everything had a purpose, yet now she felt the cold irony of that statement. She was scared, terrified! There was so much more she wanted to do, wanted to see, but there was no hope left for her survival, a few moments of life left at most.

Tasa paced around her, mumbling something along the lines of ‘Hold on’ or ‘It’s going to be okay’, and some other attempts to calm her from the horror the crept closer and closer. She knew her sister was freaking out, and wanted to do nothing more than calm her down. Even if she was dying, Ari still held her sisterly responsibilities first. She slowly lifted her head toward Tasa, and looked at her with a small smile over her bloody lips. “It’s okay Tasa… you don’t have to worry anymore…it will be fine.” She said shakily, doing her best to comfort her frantic sister.

The next few moments were a blur, she saw her life flash before her eyes. Her first moments under the sun, her early days spent happily with her family, her first hunt, time with her mother and father. All of it came rushing toward her at once, and she would give anything to have them back. Anything to lie in the sun again with her family beside her, or even just linger on the Pridelands for just a few more days. Reality was slowly slipping from her grasp and she could do nothing but lye in a pool of her own destruction.

Her vision refocused to the image of Scar haunting over her, with a pained and emotional expression on his face. She wondered if it was honestly that bad as to pull such hidden emotions from the composed King. Her shaking form managed to smile, and slowly begin to relax at his presence. Ari had been told on many occasions, horror stories about her father. But she saw them as nothing but false rumors, even in her last moments he was still the King that she adored and the father she loved. “Don’t…don’t blame Tasa…” She said meekly, knowing that her father’s temper was easily provoked. But she could do nothing more than lend a few words to soothe the searing lion.

Tears fell from her eyes at her father’s words. She would never live to be the Queen of Pride Rock, or grow to surpass Uru, or even bare her own cubs. Nothing but broken promises of the life she would never know. Her eyes met Scars, a quivering and fearful look shattering through the purple gems. A part of her wanted to lay there and speak of how she was scared, how she didn’t want to go, but when there were only a few words left to say, there was no time to waste it on trivial feelings. “I’m sorry Daddy…” She said hoarsely as the numbing cold began to slowly over take her. “I love you Daddy…you will always be my Golden King.”

And with that, the world around her was lost. The waterhole, Priderock, the whole Pridelands, everything faded to black. Ari was still and cold, never again to see the light of the rising sun, lost to the greedy hands of the circle of life, and placed among the stars of the great kings and queens, who welcomed the lost princess with open arms.

She was gone.

When Scar finally came to their side, letting a fierce roar tear from his throat not long after her own, Tasa was trembling. Whether from fear, or rage, or pain or all three -- she couldn’t tell. As the king promised death to the herd of buffalo, Tasa stood beside her father, ears pinned back on her head as her growls backed up her father’s threats. For once, this was something they could agree on. This was an act she would follow through proudly at her father’s side. The lioness, barely more than a cub, lusted for their throats. All of theirs. Blood for blood. A massacre for the price of a princess.

As the hyenas lurked closer, Scar turned on them as well and Tasa followed his example. When the hungry, pathetic dogs did not move quick enough, the pale princess bolted for them. She covered the distance in four powerful strides, snapping her jaws as the closest creature who yelped and turned tail. She paced a short line, roaring and growling at the disgusting creatures she only wanted to tear apart, knowing they lingered only so they could feast on the dying lioness.

Her father had moved to Ari’s side, and once again his younger daughter followed suit, stalking back to hover over her bleeding sister. Tasa did not realize she was speaking until Ari hushed her frantic You’ll be okays and Just hold ons. Her sister smiled -- smiled -- and spoke to calm her while Ari herself lay on her death bed. Her throat ached with pain the pale lioness tried to swallow. “Y-You idiot... w-why...” She shook her head, a few stray tears falling into the dirt. She leaned closer to stare into her sister’s dulling eyes. “P-Please, don’t leave me... not you too.” But Ari was fading, eyes seeing things Tasa could not.

Scar suddenly shoved Tasa away from her sister, glowering eyes focused on her. All the hate that had been given to the buffalo was suddenly thrown instead into her face, as if this was somehow her fault. “What have I done?” She repeated incredulously, sinking quickly back into anger. “What did you do to make the buffalo so angry!” She would not stand for this, could not stand to once more be blamed for the death of a sibling. This was not her fault. This was not her fault! She could do nothing! But perhaps if she had stopped Ari in the first place... maybe if she was closer to the water... if she had only...

”Don’t... don’t blame Tasa....” Ari spoke softly, ever the peace keeper. Ever the older sister, even if Tasa had never treated her as one. She wished she could take it all back. She wished she could crawl out of her mother’s womb with the knowledge she had now, that life in the Pridelands would be far too short for her to be a troublemaker, for her to find amusement out of ignoring, pushing around, and messing with her siblings. She wished it had not taken the disappearance of Giza for her to realize she loved her sisters, even if she hated them as well. Love and hate were intertwined for Tasa, she could no longer separate the two. It seemed only natural to hate the ones she loved. But she wished she was different, a cub who understood the difference, a lioness who’s heart was not heavy and blackened with loss. Perhaps then Tasa could have truly loved her family; perhaps then her family would not be falling apart.

Scar swore Ari would be queen. He had promised it before: Ari, Queen of the Pridelands. That was supposed to be her destiny. But once more her father had lied. Tasa’s heart ached at the promises he whispered to his daughter. Would she truly be happy after this? Would she actually be a queen while her body lay motionless on the ground of the Pridelands? Was there anywhere for her, for any of them, after this life? Tasa could foresee nothing but darkness. A deep, constant void of nothingness. What awaited her sister once her eyes no longer shined? Tasa hoped, prayed even, that her father was right, because she knew nothing about life beyond death and felt only a cold, aching fear for her sister. Because Scar had lied before.

With her dying breaths, Ari still believed the world of her father. He could still do no wrong. Tasa could not decide if she was glad for this remaining innocence, or further betrayed that their father could fool event his most loved child. Tasa had been frozen a few steps away, watching as Ari breathed her last and Scar lay beside her. How could Ari have been so stupid? Letting herself believe her father was worth even the dirt on her paws, dying for his own failures. How could he let another of his children fall because of his own short comings?

“How could you,” Tasa whispered to the ground, eyes shut painfully tight as she tried to control her tears. Her head snapped up and teeth bared at Scar, flame returning. “How could you! She was trying to fix your mistakes. She was always trying to convince everyone that you were more than the sun and the moon, and this is how you repay her? Letting her die?” Her voice rose until she was screaming. Scar had beaten and broken her mother. Scar had left Giza for dead. Scar ignored and neglected the rest of his pride, even his sons, and now he had let Ari die for him. Their father had lead her to believe he was the world, something worth seeking pride from, that their blood was somehow better than others. But what good was royal blood when it was being swallowed by the earth? What point was there to be a child of King Scar if all it meant was destruction? “You’re ruining us!” Tasa screamed at her father -- who had long lost the tender title of “daddy” -- unable to care about the consequences. “You’re ruining all of us, and you don’t even care!”

Scar didn't seem to notice that Tasa was by his side the entire time when he lashed out at the hyenas. It was the only time in her life that father and daughter were ready to fight together, for a cause they both believed in, but Tasa's presence was ignored - as it always had been, from the day Heshima gave birth to the disappointing litter of four. Throughout her life, Scar had gone to great lengths to avoid the palest cub. Was it the color of her pelt that never appealed to Scar? It was true that Ari reminded him of his mother, while Tasa was the spitting image of her mother. Heshima had been missing from the den for days at a time, along with Kifu, and both mother and son frustrated and annoyed the dark king. But it wasn't Tasa's fur that made her the target of Scar's rage. She was simply too much like Scar for the king to like, accented with memories of her mother and all the promise that had died along with Heshima's loyalty.

Now, as Ari breathed her last, assuring Scar of the love that would die along with her, it was too much for the lion to bear. The second her eyes closed, Scar wobbled on his paws, almost falling down. He saw nothing but red. Now, Tasa turned on him. The screams of the lioness roused the suspicion of more hyenas that were wandering the lands, ever vigilant for trouble or intruders, and the winged scavengers were instantly aware of the loss of life. The smell of shed blood was heavy on the warm air that day. Something within Scar's mind snapped at that moment, knowing he would have to fight to protect his daughter's lifeless body from the hungry vultures, and that he would have to get rid of yet another of his offspring soon, if she was not careful. She had always been outspoken, the opposite of her oldest sister. Ari hadn't deserved to die, but why did Tasa deserve to live?

"What have you done?" He demanded once again. Tasa had the nerve to suggest that Scar could have saved Ari, but he was in no mood to argue. There was nothing Scar could do to stop the bleeding. At least Ari had not lingered on, suffering. Now she was gone. Scar could hardly stand himself, and the presence of his surviving daughter only upset him further. Ari had been the good one, and yet Tasa was the daughter that remained. He turned on her quickly, pressing his face close to hers, forcing her backwards. His breath was hot, sour and overwhelming as he inhaled and exhaled haggardly. "Who do you think you are? Screaming at the king? You're nothing to me. You're nothing."

It was Ari's dying wish that Tasa not be blamed, but that didn't matter. Nothing mattered now. The lion spit in the face of his daughter as he spoke harshly, dark lips pulled back to expose his jagged fangs. "You've killed both of your sisters now! You were with her! You could have stopped her! I couldn't have saved her, but now... Not only the buffalo will pay. Your mother is next. She should have been watching." For a brief moment, the sadness overwhelmed Scar again, and his head fell. He wrestled with emotions he loathed to see in others, saw as a weakness. For the first time, Scar felt like a failure. He couldn't keep his Ari safe from the world, and the world was an unfair, ugly place. "She should have been..." His focus fell from Tasa, back to the fallen princess. He wanted to move Ari away from the blood, but he couldn't touch her. The thought of touching her blood made Scar gag, and he was not normally known for his weak stomach.

What would become of them now? Tasa blamed the state of the kingdom on her father, just as nearly every member of the pride did. Perhaps they didn't say it to his face, but Scar knew they were all against him. Only a few still believed in Scar when the day had started, and that number was now one less. What would he be without subjects? But Tasa was not worth keeping around, not in Scar's mind.