Brothers Before Blood (Lion King Mufasa Fanfiction)

Chapter 35: Scar

    Mufasa woke up a few sunrises later to see his father leading Taka out of Pride Rock. He twitched an ear in surprise as he stepped over Sarabi and Sarafina and padded from the den. He skidded to a halt when he saw Ahadi speaking strongly to his son. Mufasa turned to walk away when Ahadi's voice sounded behind him.

    "Mufasa, it's good to see you. Come here. I think that we all need to talk," growled Ahadi sternly.

    Mufasa plastered his ears against his head before he padded forward. He dragged his paws forward and yawned before he walked up to them. He met his brother's gaze before he noticed a long scar over his eye. His eyes was slightly red and swollen, but it appeared that he could see from it. He had a few others scratches, nicks, and scars all on his body from the buffalo. His body seemed almost smaller than before as well as weaker.
   
    "I don't think I-"

    "Taka, tell your brother what you just told me," ordered Ahadi, cutting off Mufasa before he could argue it.

    Taka flattened his ears against his head. He grumbled to himself before he shifted his gaze to Mufasa. "I tried to have Boma attack you to make you look bad in front of Dad. Obviously, now, I know how stupid that was," he grumbled under his breath and into his chest fur.
   
    Ahadi thrust a paw against the ground. "You could've often Mufasa or myself killed! You could've gotten yourself killed! Was that what you wanted?"

    Taka shook his head. "Not at all! I just wanted to embarrass him, not kill anyone," he argued quickly.

    Disappointment showed in Ahadi's eyes. He looked away from his son as if looking at Taka brought almost physical pain on him. "Mufasa, gather the pride."

    "But, Dad," broke in Mufasa in shock.

    "Mufasa, now! Don't make me ask you again."

    Mufasa ducked his head into his shoulders. He sighed heavily before he strode forward and stopped at the entrance of the den. He glanced over his shoulder as if wanting his father to call him back. When that didn't happen, he padded in. He let out a roar that seemed to rouse everyone besides Maraan.

    "What's wrong," moaned Dorvro as she lifted a paw and rubbed it against her eyes.

    Mufasa reluctantly flicked his head toward the entrance of Pride Rock. "Dad wants everyone outside for a pride meeting. I think that it's important," he croaked.

    The lionesses started to rise to their paws as they talked in hushed tones. Mufasa pinned his ears against his head as he tried to block it out. He stood firm until Uru strode forward with clear worry in her eyes. "Mufasa, what is this all about?"

    "I don't know," replied Mufasa as he looked at his paws. He tried to look away when Uru leaned forward and pushed her head under his to forcibly lift it. Mufasa pulled away and caught a glimpse of his mother's pained gaze. "I think that it has something to do with Taka and the buffalo."

    Uru flinched as Sarabi came up beside her. She stumbled against Sarabi and Sarabi tensed her muscles to catch Uru. "I want to see him," whimpered Uru. "Ahadi can't banish him! He's my son!"

    Sarabi murmured to her softly while stroking her spine with her tail tip. Worry showed on her face as she glanced at Mufasa. Mufasa came on his mother's other side and helped Sarabi lead her forward. It took a while to half lead, half carry Uru outside with the other pride members. Mufasa looked over to Abaku, who was sitting next to Maraan and her two kits. Maraan kept Byrose and Mincka tucked under her, but the excitement was still clear on their faces.

    "Thank you all for gathering so early. As soon as we are finished, I promised that you may go back to sleep as long as you're not on patrol or hunting," Ahadi announced.

    Abaku yawned loudly. "This had better be important, Ahadi. We do need to get some rest," he pointed out with an irritable twitch of his tail.

    Ahadi dipped his head to his healer. "I promise you that this is important, Abaku." He cleared his throat. "We are here because I have found out that there was a scheme to cause harm to Mufasa and it ended up causing harm to Taka. I believe that this was a harmless prank that turned harmful. I don't believe that it was out of pure malice. That being said, there needs to be some punishment dealt."

    Uru let out a small wail. "Don't banish him," she cried.

    "I'm not going to banish him," chided Ahadi to his mate before he looked down to his son, who was trying to shrink almost into the stone by the minute. "Taka, what now scarred your face is a reminder of what can happen when you choose malice on your family and this pride. Taka, from this moment on, you shall be known as Scar. That should be punishment enough."

    Taka stood frozen for a moment before his mouth finally moved. "Scar?"

    "Yes," answered Ahadi sternly. "Scar."

    Scar straightened and turned his head. He looked to his brother to help, but Mufasa turned away. He continued to press against Uru as she sobbed against his fur. Sarabi tried to soothe her with gentle strokes of her tongue.

    "That's all," answered Ahadi as he strode forward. His voice seemed to break as he padded over to his mate.

    Uru stumbled into him and pressed her head into his chest fur. "How could you do this to him," she whimpered, although it was muffled by his thick fur.

    Ahadi sighed heavily. "I had to, Uru. I needed to make sure that he would never do this again," Ahadi explained as he wrapped a paw around her and ran it along her shoulders to calm her down.

    Mufasa gave his parents a little space while him and Sarabi headed to the edge where Scar was. "Taka-" began Mufasa.

    Scar spun around with his teeth bared. "This is all your fault! If you wouldn't have turned them on me, then you would've gotten trampled and not me," he seethed as he stalked forward. He hadn't made it far before he threw his head behind him. "And the name is Scar    "

    Mufasa watched him go hollowly. He opened his mouth to say something, but quickly clamped his muzzle shut. He glanced across the savannah as the sun began to rise.

    "You alright," prompted Sarabi behind him.

    Mufasa sniffed. "What do you think? My brother is never going to speak to me again and I don't know how I feel about this. I'm just lost."

    "You didn't do this to him. He did this to himself," reminded Sarabi firmly. Her eyes blazed as she stood beside him. "It's his fault. Deep down he knows it and I know that you know it too."

    Mufasa nodded ever so slowly. "I suppose. I just wish that I could go back and change things, Sarabi."

    "That's the problem with life, Mufasa. You can't go back and change anything. You can only look forward and do your best with the knowledge that you know." Her shoulders hunched back. "We can only go forward. You must learn to live with your choices. What happened to Scar was not his fault."

    Then why do I feel like it is?