Scar x Zira: The Lost Heir

Chapter Six

Herds of zebra and antelope scattered as they saw Zira wandering through the tall grass, her eyes fixed on the distant figure of Pride Rock. She had rested for the night near the border of the Pridelands and now she walked with a brisk, rejuvenated pep in her step.
Normally she would've used the cover of night to sneak through the lush savannah, but now she didn't care. She didn't try to avoid popular hunting grounds or hangouts. She just made her way towards Pride Rock with no fear and no hesitation.
Wildebeest eyed her fearfully and elephants trumpeted and stamped as she passed. Cape buffalo lowered their horns and made mock charges at her but she just ducked out of the way and swatted at their faces with her claws. Many of them left with bloody faces.
Monkeys threw rocks at her and the best she could do was to duck out of the way and keep her head down. Jackals barked and yipped at her and cheetahs hissed before backing away.
With all of this noise, someone's bound to hear me.
She couldn't have been more correct.
A roar that sent shivers down her spine echoed across the Pridelands and drilled its way into her ears.
She looked up to see Mufasa bounding across the savannah towards her, his eyes bright and deadly. She smiled a crooked smile and waited patiently for him to come up to her.
Soon he was right in her face, his teeth bared and his eyes boring into hers.
"I thought I told you to never cross the Prideland's borders again!"
Zira's smile widened.
"Oh Muffy! If only you knew how useless your exile order was!"
He frowned, confusion settling onto his brow.
"What do you mean by that?"
"I've been crossing the borders ever since you exiled me. Do you honestly think that passing a silly little order would keep me away?"
"Yes! That's what it was meant to do! You're too aggressive to be part of my pride and you know that just as well as I do."
"Be that as it may, I still have a right to stay in my homelands."
Mufasa scrutinized her carefully, his eyes slowly moving over her body. His gaze stopped on her lower abdomen.
"You're pregnant."
Zira hesitated and looked away from him. Then her muscles tensed and she met his gaze yet again.
"And?"
Her voice was so sharp and bitter that it made his ears flatten back against his mane.
"Am I to assume that it is my brother's cub? Or have you been a little... promiscuous?"
Zira's claws dug into the ground and she fought the urge to smack him across the face.
"I don't think that's any of your business."
"It is if the cub is my nephew or niece. So is it Scar's or not?"
"What do you think?!"
Mufasa hesitated and looked away.
"I don't know, Zira. I don't know what you're capable of anymore."
Zira stared at him for a long time, her jaw clenched and her eyes smoldering.
Finally she spoke, her voice lifeless and blunt.
"You're the uncle of this cub."
Mufasa met her gaze again and they both stood in silence.
She dropped her gaze suddenly.
"I never asked for this Zira."
"And you think I did?!"
"You could've been part of my pride. You could've stayed."
"I love Scar! I would never abandon him!"
"I would have let you stay with him! You didn't have to..."
He trailed off and looked at the ground.
"I didn't have to kill off that lioness."
Mufasa sighed and closed his eyes.
"You don't know what it's like to be ignored, Mufasa. You've always been the adored prince and the respected king. I needed a moment to let everyone know that I was here... I wanted to be accepted."
"Zira..."
"But no! You had to exile me! You had to keep me away from everything that I loved! Everything that made me who I was!"
"You killed another lioness!"
"She was no one to you! She was just as aggressive as I was."
"Killing a member of the pride doesn't get you any more acceptance than you originally had! How did you think there would be no consequences?!"
"I was justified! I needed to make my mark on the pride!"
"None of that was justified! You had no right to tamper with the circle of life!"
Mufasa's voice was a harsh roar that thundered all around them and shook her to her very core.
"I had every right! You will never understand my motives, Mufasa! So just leave me alone!"
"You were the one that wandered into the Pridelands in the first place! All of this is your fault!"
Zira roared and tried to push past him but he was too strong. He shoved her back, careful to avoid her vulnerable abdomen.
Zira snarled in frustration and bared her teeth at him.
"Let me see Scar! Where is he!?"
Tears began to stream down her cheeks and she tried to close her eyes for a moment.
She roared again when the tears wouldn't stop and her claws dug into the soft ground.
"I need to see him! I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE!"
Mufasa backed away from her a little as she seemed to lose all control. This wasn't the Zira that he remembered.
He remembered the devilish little cub that he grew up with, sly and daring. The young lioness who always stood by his brother and snarled at anyone who questioned her decisions.
Now she stood before him, angry and bitter, barely hanging on to tiny threads of sanity.
He wasn't sure why he stepped aside to let her through, but he did.
"He should be back at Pride Rock."
She hesitated for a moment as she silently scrutinized the situation. Then she nodded and walked past him.
He followed right behind her as a precaution but, for some strange reason, he knew that she wasn't here to make trouble.
She was only here to fix what was left of her fragile life. How could he take that away now?