The Fate of Scar 
By Malli

(Note: This takes place after A Brotherly Bond: Part 2)

    "Am so!"
    "Are not!"
    "Am so!"
    "Are not!"
    "I am SO tougher than you!" Scar boasted. "And smarter, and braver, and-"
    "Oh yeah?" Tenoso growled. He pounced, sending him and Scar tumbling 
across the grass.
    "Gotcha! Who's tougher now?"
    "All right, buddy, I was just kidding." Scar laughed.
    Tenoso got off him.
    "You're still pretty slow for a cheetah." Scar teased.
    "ROWR!" Tenoso started to chase Scar again.
    The truth was, Tenoso was pretty slow for a cheetah. Scar was always 
faster and ahead of him when they played games.

    Tenoso and Scar had become best friends recently when Tenoso, his mother, 
Ravini, and his twin sister had moved to the Pride Lands.
Tenoso was new in the area and needed a friend, and Scar hadn't many friends, 
so it seemed perfect for them to be best friends. And it was true, when they 
met, they became best friends quickly, having fun, playing games and 
pouncing. 

    Scar pounced on Tenoso, then pinned him. The cubs laughed and sat up.
    "Hey, Scar, let's go play by where I live." Tenoso suggested.
Scar agreed and so they went. 
    "Do you mind if my sister plays with us?" Tenoso asked Scar when they got 
there.
    "I don't mind."
    "Vana! Come out!" Tenoso called his sister.
    Vana peeked out from inside the cave, but they could barely see her face.
    "She kind of shy." Tenoso explained.
    "It's OK! Come on out!" Tenoso called again.
    Vana stepped out. Scar glanced at her and he gasped, wide-eyed.
She was beautiful. She had emerald-green eyes, with golden fur that gleamed 
like the sun, with brown stripes the color of bark on the trees. Scar 
couldn't take his eyes off her. 
    She stared at him, too. He looked just as beautiful to her, with his big 
brown eyes and dark fur.
    "Hi," she said. "Are you Scar?"
    "Uh......" Scar stammered. "Y-yes. That's me." He grinned an embarrassed 
grin.
    "I'm Vana. Nice to meet you."
    "H-h-hi."
    Tenoso saw the look on his best friend's face and grinned.
    "Scar liked meeting you, too," he teased.
    Scar nudged Tenoso playfully with a paw.
    "Aw, give me a break," he blushed.
    "C'mon, guys, let's go play hide-and-pounce." Scar darted off.
    Tenoso and Vana shrugged at eachother, then followed.

    Vana and Scar also became fast friends. As time past, the three cubs 
would play together from early in the day until deep into the night. Scar's 
heart filled with joy.
    "I have friends," he thought happily to himself. "Real friends."

    Years past. At Pride Rock, Mufasa and Sarabi got married and became king 
and queen. And Scar, Tenoso and Vana were growing up. Scar's baby-brown eyes 
turned to a shade of yellow-green, he was growing a dark mane, and he was 
starting to have feelings for Vana. And not just best-friend feelings. 
Something much more than that. When he was around her, he had this feeling-a 
feeling of warmth, wonder, excitement. A feeling that would fill his heart 
then flow through the rest of his body. A feeling he wanted to experience 
forever. He didn't know what it was at first. But as he spent time with Vana, 
he knew she felt it, too.
    A feeling of blankness when they weren't together, warmth when they were. 
A bond that came between them, connecting them, never to part.
    "Scar," Vana told him one day, "when we're together, I feel no pain, no 
sadness. All the problems in the world are never visible to me. You give me 
warmth in the cold, a breeze in the heat. You make my world perfect." 
    "Vana," Scar purred back. "The sun, the moon, the skies, the stars, the 
heavens-nothing compares to the beauty and warmth that you have."
    
    They became husband and wife. When Tenoso looked upon the lovestruck 
couple, he smiled. He was glad that they were experiencing
true happiness. Little did any of them know that something would soon come 
and tear them all apart. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    "Vana, may I ask you something?"
    "Sure, Scar. What is it?"
    "Well, I've always wondered....." he paused for a moment.
    "What?"
    "Well, who your father is. And where he is. You never talk about him."
    Vana looked down sadly.
    "He disappeared when Tenoso and I were young. Everyone assumed he was 
dead." A tear rolled down her cheek. "It hurts talking about him."
    "Sorry." Scar nuzzled her.
    Before they could blink an eye, there was a deafening "ROWR!"
    An enormous cheetah leapt onto Scar and pinned him down with his claws 
outstretched.
    "You!" the cheetah snarled. "You and your brother almost KILLED me!"
    Scar's eyes widened.
    "Tono?"
    Vana gasped.
    "Father?"

    Scar jumped up at the sound of the word.
    "He's your father?!"
    Tono went over and nuzzled Vana.
    "I have missed you, Vana."
    Vana backed away from him. "Don't sweet-talk me! I heard the true story! 
You lost you temper, and YOU were the one to provoke the fight! Not Scar or 
Mufasa!"
    "Yes!" Scar yelled at Tono.
    Tono got in the young lion's face.
    "I could kill you," he said, grabbing Scar with his claws, "but I'll let 
you go, on ONE condition."
    "What?"
    "Stay away from my daughter."
    He let go of Scar and started to pull Vana away.
    "Come, daughter."
    "Scar!" she cried, reaching out for him.
    Tono pushed Vana ahead of him and forced her to start running. Scar tried 
to catch up, but they were too fast for him, and he was too late. They were 
gone.

    Scar ran back to Pride Rock. He rushed up to Mufasa and bowed.
    "My brother. Has Tenoso's family left?"
    "I'm afraid to say, yes. A cheetah who said he was their father took 
Tenoso, Vana, and Ravini with him. I'm sorry. Tenoso was your friend, wasn't 
he?"
    Scar got in Mufasa's face. "IT WAS TONO!"
    "Tono? But I thought he was dead!"
    "Well, he's not. But I can change that." Anger gleamed in Scar's eyes.
    Mufasa grabbed Scar to restrain him.
    "Scar, I don't like this side of you. Calm yourself!"
    "I'm not a cub anymore, Mufasa. You can't control me anymore! I WILL kill 
him, and get Vana back!"
    "One more word and you will be exiled to live with the hyenas!"
    "Then so be it. If you really cared about me then you would let me KILL 
Tono once and for all!"
    "You're crazy, Scar!"
    "Am I? My wife is gone and you don't care! If you think I'm crazy, then 
fine, brother! I will never look at you again with loving eyes! We are no 
longer brothers, but ENEMIES!"
    With that, Scar darted off.
    Mufasa sat with tears in his eyes.
    "Goodbye, brother." he said with only a whisper.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    Scar arrived in the elephant graveyard.
    "How could I be such a fool?" he thought to himself. "How could I let 
myself fall in love with Tono's daughter? Is fate trying to be cruel to me?
    He buried his head in his paws, weeping softly.
    He heard a sound. He wiped his eyes and sat up. Three hyenas walked out 
of the shadows.
    "What do you want?" the female, Shenzi, growled.
    "Do not fear me. I want to be your friend. My name is Scar."
    Banzai, one of the males, cocked an eyebrow.
    "Should we trust 'im, Shenzi?"
    The third hyena, Ed, just laughed stupidly.
    Shenzi hesitated, then smiled.
    "Yeah."
    She walked up to Scar and shook his paw.
    "Nice to meet ya'," she said. "I'm Shenzi, this is my pal, Banzai, and 
his brother, Ed. Welcome to our clan."
    "Thank you." Scar smiled at them.
    Ed laughed again.
    "This is where I belong." Scar thought. "THESE are my true friends."
    So he lived with the hyenas in the Elephant Graveyard. He never saw Vana, 
Tenoso or Tono again. 

    A few months later, Shenzi ran up to Scar.
    "Sir, I just came from Pride Rock. The queen, Sarabi, has given birth to 
a cub! A prince, named Simba!"

                            THE END

~~~Malli