The Lion King (Written Version) │By Manha Zaman (WriterManha08)

Chapter 1: The Two Brothers

A chattering mouse squeaked into a hole leading to a small rocky cave. It looked around, seeking for food scraps. It washed its face and sat on its haunches for a moment, when all of a sudden, its awareness was provoked as it looked up. It instantly turned around to scurry away from the giant clawed paw that stomped on it, trapping its tail between the fingers. The tiny mouse hanged helplessly by the strength of its tail as the paw drew near to a menacing lion's face.

"Life's not fair, is it?" The strange lion boomed softly.

It glanced behind to catch a sight of an orange-furred lion with a groomed black mane. He had bright green eyes, the left one having a small, thin, pink scar streaking down the eyebrow as its frightening feature. He had quite a slender frame compared to other lions.

The lion continued to talk to the mouse, "You see, I..."

He paused, then loathed out the words, "Well, I shall never be king."

In desperation of escape, the mouse swung up on his paw and ran for his life, passing his fingers, but the lion saw this. He moved his fingers with sync accordingly to the mouse, only to snag it again after the failed attempt of a bold jump.

"And you... shall never see the light of another day." He chuckled lightly. "Adieu." He opened his mouth, laying his tongue out, just below the shrieking mouse.

"Didn't your mother ever tell you not to play with your food?" A British voice interrupted. It came from the red-billed hornbill who stared at the black-maned lion with angry half-lidded eyes.

He took a breath, rolling his eyes, "What do you want?"

"I'm here to announce that King Mufasa's on his way," the hornbill answered, bowing gracefully over one wing at the mention of his king. He then scowled at the bored lion before continuing, "So you'd better have a good excuse for missing the ceremony this morning."

With the lion distracted, the little mouse squirmed out from underneath its trapper's paw and scrambled away, disappearing into the nearby hole at the corner of the cave.

"Oh, now look, Zazu," the annoyed feline griped, positioning his gaze at the bird, "You've made me lose my lunch."

"Ha!" Zazu exclaimed, amused at his loss. "You'll lose more than that when the king gets through with you." He added while crossing his wings huffily, "He's as mad as a hippo with a hernia."

The lion, in return, pretended to be scared. "Oooh, I quiver with fear!" He crouched and bared his sharp fangs towards the startled hornbill as a devious grin made its way onto his face. Zazu quickly realized what his intent was.

"Now, Scar..." he slowly began, backing away, "Don't look at me that way..."

He knew Scar was determined to devour him, as he made him loose his prey. He tried to fly to safety, but all too late. "Help!"

Scar pounced on him. His wide jaws instantly opened wide, confining him in his mouth. Outside the den, on a high stone stood Mufasa who witnessed the whole incident.

"Scar?" His booming voice called out. The scarred lion was caught, but he didn't mind. He looked over his shoulder to see the king who wore a firm face. "Mm-hmm?"

"Drop him."

"Impeccable timing, your Majesty," Zazu suddenly stated, poking his red beak out of Scar's mouth. Accordingly, Scar released the bird out, who was stained with saliva, with a 'blah'.

At last, Mufasa reached the scene. Scar walked up to him, greeting the golden lion rather mockingly, "Why! If it isn't my big brother descending from on high to mingle with the commoners."

Mufasa didn't flinch at his younger brother's deep sarcasm, as if he were accustomed to it. His expression remained unchanged.

"Sarabi and I didn't see you at the presentation of Simba."

"That was today?" Scar breathed in, putting up a surprised look, "Oh, I feel simply awful!" He streaked his claws down on the wall, creating a loud screeching noise that made Zazu cringe terribly. He spared a glance at his sharpened claws, "Must've slipped my mind."

"Yes, well, as slippery as your mind is," Zazu slightly flared his nose and flew straight into Scar's face, "as the king's brother, you should've been first in line!" In doing so, Scar opened his maw and snapped it close in front of the bird's face, who flew to Mufasa and took refuge behind his leg.

"Well, I was first in line," Scar muttered before thrusting his face into Zazu's, who ducked back behind Mufasa's leg, "until the little hairball was born."

Mufasa lowered his head to Scar's level, making a barrier between Scar and Zazu. "That hairball is my son," he held a piercing gaze at his brother, "and your future king."

Scar remained unfazed as he gave him a smile, "Oh, I shall practice my curtsy." He turned towards the exit, walking away. Mufasa's eyes flared up in fury as he warned him, "Don't turn your back on me, Scar."

Scar peeked over his shoulder calmly, "Oh, no, Mufasa. Perhaps you shouldn't turn your back on me." At this, the king roared indignantly and lunged before Scar, blocking his path. "Is that a challenge?!" he snarled.

The orange-furred lion replied, "Temper, temper. I wouldn't dream of challenging you."

Zazu hopped forward from between Mufasa's paws, placing his wings on his hips, "Pity. Why not?"

Scar lowered his head towards Zazu with an eerie smile. "Well, as far as brains go, I got the lion's share. But when it comes to brute strength..." he trailed off, bringing his head higher to address Mufasa with an expression of resentment and anger. He shrugged, calming down and once again walking away, "I am afraid I'm at the shallow end of the gene pool." He pawed down the steps of Pride Rock, leaving Mufasa staring after him.

Zazu sighed, "There's one in every family, sire. Two in mine, actually." He flew higher to stand on Mufasa's shoulder. "And they always manage to ruin special occasions."

The worried king shook his head, "What am I going to do with him?"

The sly hornbill grinned cheekily as a thought flashed through his mind. "He'd make a very handsome throw rug," he suggested.

"Zazu!"

"And just think. Whenever he gets dirty, you could take him out and beat him." Zazu flew ahead of Mufasa, who followed him and chuckled to himself out of wry amusement, returning to Pride Rock as they brushed away their concern of Scar's dark personality.

Although it grew only darker as days and nights passed.