Chapter 1: A Fork in Fate

I've decided to make another Lion King what-if. This one is about if Mufasa had been a better brother to Taka (Scar's original name) and had allowed him to rule alongside him as king. I've been wanting to do this for a long time. I felt sorry more all the times Scar was seen as the bad guy so I wanted him to change for once.

I do not own the Lion King or any of its characters; whether they are movie, comic or book characters. They belong to Disney and their respectful owners. Naanda, Dwala, and Diku are Sarabi's sisters in the original concept script for the Lion King. Ahadi and Uru are from the Lion King comics.

I don't own the cover image either. Its called "Happy Relatives" by mysteriousharu on devianart. All rights go to them.

Warning: Slight blood and abuse mentioned.

Enjoy!

Set before The Lion King

Mufasa's POV

I could not believe what I had just saw.

My own father, the great king Ahadi, ruler of all the Pridelands, feared and respected by all, had just clawed my baby brother. He had lost his temper at Taka when Taka came into the den and started lecturing my dad on how he didn't care enough about him to teach him on hunting with him. Ahadi had lost his temper, his green eyes glaring at him.

Suddenly, without warning, he unsheathed his claws and took a swipe at his son. There was a scream of pain as Taka collapsed to the floor of the cave, his paw over his eye. Our mother, Uru, also screamed in worry for her baby. She tried to move over to help him, but Ahadi growled and held her back, saying that Taka would suffer for his insubordination. Tears had begun to stream down her red-brown face. I recovered from my shock and went to help my little brother.

But before I could reach him, he stood up and darted past my father to the entrance of the cave, smalls drops of blood staining the ground. I ran after him, away from the cave, away from my crying mother and my abusive father. My brother's trail was not hard to track. He may have been faster than me, but he did a lousy job covering up his tracks. And despite it being night time I could still find him. But worst still, the path he had taken had drops of blood staining the ground and grass. Taka was losing blood! My little brother, the one my mother told me to protect, was losing life's blood. I had to find him. Quick!

I followed his trail to a couple of caves near a brook awhile way from Pride Rock. Here the trail ended. I turned to look at the caves. There were a few of them so I could not pinpoint which one had my brother. He suddenly heard something from one of he smaller caves. It sounded like muffled sobbing. I turned my attention to a small cave on the edge of the brook. The quiet crying seemed to be loudest here. I walked over to it as quietly as I could and looked in. A small lump of red-brown fur with a black tuft lay there, its body racked with shivers. A small pool of blood lay near it, mixed with the pain-filled tears. Taka lay there sobbing, appearing as if he had died inside.

I walked over to Taka, my paws making a clicking sound on the stone floor, as not to frighten him. I then extended my forelegs and wrapped my younger brother in a comforting hug. He squeaked, before looking up at me with tear-filled eyes. The left part of his face was covered with blood and I could see the scratch over Taka's eyelids, where dad had clawed him. He looked so pained and hurting.

"M-Muffy," he asked, almost blubbering he question. I could feel my heart aching with worry and concern for my little brother. I held him even tighter in my embrace. He buried his head against my chest and tears started soaking my fur. I let him do this because he was hurting and needs to be comforted. Plus, I can always take a bath later.

I hug him tighter and start whispering soothing words to him, just like mom used to do when we had troubles or got hurt. She would also rock her body, back and forth or side to side, and it always made us feel better. His muffled sobbing dims to just a light crying and an occasional hiccup. I am still holding him in my forelegs.

We stay like this for the longest of time, until it is around the time where the night starts to end and the sun should start coming up. We break away from the embrace and I lead Taka to the stream of water at the entrance of the cave.

I place my paw in the cold water and lightly dab my brother's face with my wet paw. He winces, but doesn't move away. I continue to wet my paws and wash my brother's face until most of the dried blood is washed off. There is my brother's tears and blood stained on my chest, but it can wait. My brother is more important at the moment. I can now take a good look at my brother's injury. A large cut across his left eyelid. It looks bad and I should let Rafiki look over it so there is not infection setting in.

He looks up at me with tear-brimmed, electric green eyes. His cheeks are still stained with tears and more threatening to spill from his eyes. I quickly wipe them away with my other, still dry paw. I then lead him closer to the water's edge. He then washes the rest of his face and drinks some water to make up for the water loss from the tears shed.

"Feel a bit better," I ask. He looks up at me with a hopeful expression.

"Y-yes I think so," he replied, his voice still a little bit shaky.

"C'mon, lets get going to see Rafiki about your injury," I suggest. He nods in agreement, but as we are about to go we see a shadow figure appear over on the other side of the thin stream.

The moonlight from the half moon illuminates the figure and we see a streak of tawny beige. Its a lion cub. But not one of our own pride members. A rogue, perhaps? We go over to investigate. It is a young lioness. She has a beige pelt color and a tawny brown stripe on her head extending to her neck. She has red eyes like mine and mom's and she also had a notch in her right ear. She does not hear us approach her, as she laps up water from the stream.

"E-excuse me miss, but who are you and what are you doing here," I ask the mystery cub.

She looks up at me startled and then screams loudly. Taka and I, both cringe had the loudness of her screaming, before Taka comes over to her and yells as loud as he can.

"Zira!"

She instantly stops and looks at him before asking "Taka?" He gives her a small smile and nods. She smiles back before her expression turns into one of horror.

"What happened to your face," she yells. I come up to her and wrap my foreleg around Taka's shoulder.

"Begging your pardon miss, but who are you and how do you know my brother" I ask.

She calms down at the sound of my voice. "Oh, so you're Taka's brother he's been telling me about. Oh sorry. Uh, my name is Zira. I'm Taka's friend," she replied.

"Nice to meet you Zira." I say while extending my paw to her. She looks at it before taking it and shaking it firmly. "Nice to meet you too," she says, smiling a bit.

Taka then comes up and speaks. "Mufasa, this is my friend, Zira. Her parent were rogues that got killed by other rogues. She escaped and found her way into the Pridelands where she found me and has been living here ever since. We've been friends about for, say, I don't know, a few months now." His face then turns into a pleading one. "Please don't tell dad, Muffy. You know what dad does to rogues and Zira is just a cub. I thought she could join the pride when your king. Please, please don't tell dad," he pleads.

I look at my brother's begging face. I think about all the things he said. Taka is very smart for his age. He always seems to know stuff I don't know and none of the other cubs our age know. Sarafina, Sarabi and her sisters; Naanda, Dwala and Diku, plus me were always amazed on how Taka seemed to have an answer for everything. I then think about how Taka's wisdom could make him a great king. But dad would never allow it and would probably choose me to be king, for I am the stronger of the two. Why can't we both rule? I see no reason why we can't rule together. Then I get a brilliant idea. Why not make Taka king alongside me? He can rule with me and let Zira come into the pride when we ascend the throne.

"Very well brother. I will not tell father of Zira. When you and I ascend the throne, we will make Zira a part of the pride," I announce proudly.

He and Zira both look up at me shocked. However, Zira's eyes are filled with hope, while Taka's eyes are filled with confusion and disbelief.

"Huh, what do you me when 'we' ascend the throne. Dad is obviously going to choose you to rule the Pridelands," Taka said. I thought I could hear some envy and jealousy in his voice. I shake it off and continue speaking.

"I mean, that you are going to be king alongside me whether dad likes it or not. And when that time comes, we will also allow Zira to join the pride," I explain.

Zira's face has a large grin spread across it and she leaps at me and hugs me. "Oh thank you, thank you, thank you! Thank you so much," she repeats. I grin and hug her back. She leaped very far when she hugged me. She may be of use to the pride as a huntress. Taka is just sitting there, trying to process what has just happened. He shakes his head and walks over to Zira and me.

"Muffy. Do you really mean it? Do you really mean that I can be king with you," he asks. I smile and pull out of Zira's embrace and pull Taka into one. "Yes brother. We will rule together, me and you. Brave Mufasa and wise Taka, ruling the Pridelands, beloved and respected by all. I want you to become king with me. I want to prove to father that you are not worthless. I want you to become king with me because I love you Taka," I say.

His green eyes start filling with tears again. But these tears are not tears of pain, they are tears of joy and brotherly love. He hugs me back. I hear Zira aww at our adorable sight.

"Thank you Muffy. Thank you so much. I love you too," he whispers. I smile. I start stroking my baby brother's head, something both he and I enjoy.

Your welcome Taka. And you too, Zira. Now Taka. Let me teach you the first lesson on being a king. You can listen too Zira. It can help you understand on what it means to be a Pridelander." I look up and point to the last few stars that are visible, since the sun is just peaking out from the horizon and the dawn is starting.

"Look at the stars in the sky Taka. The Great Kings of the past are up there, watching over us," I teach. "And the Great Queens too," Zira asks. "Yep, they're all up there, watching over us. When all seems lost and you've lost your way, look to the Great Kings and Queens of the past, and they will guide you."

Afterwards we say our goodbyes to Zira and we promise to visit her more often. My brother and I then start to head towards home. The pride should be looking for us and worrying. I look over at Taka. He's smiling and is very happy. The scar on his face doesn't seem so bad now.

"Taka," I ask.

"Yes Muffy," he replies.

"How's your scar doing," I ask him.

He stops and puts a paw to his left eyes. "It still hurts a bit, but thanks to you it feels a whole lot better. You really came through for me back there. From this day forward, I proclaim this scar as a reminder of how my big brother looks out for me and loves and cares for me," he announces.

I chuckle and hug my brother. "Thanks Taka. I'll always be there for you. I love you, little bro," I say.

"Love you too, big bro. And thank you," he replies. We continue on our way back home. After awhile, I notice Taka is panting and lagging behind, probably from the blood loss. I stop and pick up my brother, carrying him on my back for the rest of the way. Our mother, Uru, is waiting outside of Pride Rock with the other cubs, the girl cubs. They are waiting for us too. They see us and run over to us. A few of the pride lioness are behind them.

Our golden-furred and red-orange maned father, Ahadi, is on top of Pride Rock, but he doesn't come down and instead looks in disdain of me helping my brother. He walks back into the cave. My mother runs up to us and takes Taka off my back and begins to clean his wound with her tongue. The girls: Sarabi, Sarafina, Naanda, Dwala and Diku come over to see if we were alright.

Here's a little info about the girls. Naanda is Sarabi's, Dwala's, and Diku's older sister. She is a deeper shade of brown than Sarabi, has black ear rims and has purple eyes. She is very calm and the peace-maker of her sisters.

Dwala is the second oldest. She is a lighter tan than her sisters and has red eyes like her mom. Dwala has a very sweet personality and yet is fun to be around.

Diku is the youngest sister. She is the same color as her sister Naanda and has blue eyes like her dad. Diku is the trouble-maker of the group. She likes to prank the others and is often a little mean, but she means well.

Sarabi is the third oldest sister. She is a medium brown, she has black ear rims and red eyes. She is calm and level-headed with a sense of kindness in her. She is also my crush.

Sarafina is another lioness cub in the pride. She has peachy tan fur, a cream underbelly, and mint-green eyes. She is a bit shy and doesn't talk much, but she's fun. Sarafina has been crushing on Taka and I think Taka has been crushing on her for awhile too. Then again, he may have a crush on the new girl, Zira. Anyway, those are the girls for you.

The girls start asking on what happened and Taka looks at me with a questioning look. I know he's thinking about Zira and the talk about making him king with me. He asked me not to say about last nights events and I made a promise to not say and so I will keep it. I tell them only on how I had followed Taka to a stream and how I washed the blood off him before taking him back. My mother compliments me and tells me how good a brother I am to Taka. The girls tell this me to. I look at Taka who is looking at me, smiling and mouths a quick "thank you".

Sarafina then walks over to Taka to check on him and asks him if he is okay. Taka replies yes and that he had a lot of help from his big brother. I blush and the other cubs compliment me, telling me how kind I am, how thoughtful I am, and how great a king I'll be someday. "A great king with my brother ruling alongside me" I think.

Mom finished bathing Taka and Rafiki had arrived to look over him. The girls and I stand back as Rafiki applies some medicine for Taka, who is still in mom's arms. The girls start questioning me about what had happened out there. Taka and I have decided we will tell the other cubs about Zira later.

"What happened out there, Muffy," Sarabi questioned.

"Is Taka going to be okay," Dwala asked worriedly.

"Did Ahadi hurt him really badly," Sarafina asked, her voice laced with concern for her friend.

"Pfft, Taka would have gotten hurt anyway. He so clumsy, always tripping and falling off of stuff," Diku replies bluntly.

"How dare you Diku! That is no way to speak about the king's son," Naanda scolds.

"Well its true! Besides, its not like he's going to be king or something. He's too weak," Diku banters.

"Diku! Please stop trash talking my brother. Taka has his strong points. He might not be as strong as me or dad, but he has wisdom beyond his years. Kings require knowledge of the kingdom and how it works," I point out.

"Mufasa's right. Taka is really smart and kings have to be both strong and smart to rule their subjects. Maybe Taka will be Mufasa's adviser someday," Sarafina says, defending Taka.

"Pfft maybe. Hey, why are you defending your brother so much Mufasa. I know he got clawed and all, but your being extremely sensitive to him today. Is there something you're not telling us," Diku asks. Did I mention she was a real head-butter? Always butting into other peoples conversations, eavesdropping on them. Sometimes she acted with flawless acting skills to cover up her spying ways. And when she was asked to spill, she acted like she didn't know and told them nothing. She always seemed to have a knack for getting information, whether they liked it or not. She might be asked to spy or be an espionage agent someday for the pride.

I quickly thought up an excuse, trying not to reveal too much of what had happened. "W-well, I, uh, I was worried for Taka when he got hurt and when he ran away so I was concerned for his well-being and went after him. You see, despite our differences, I care for my brother and I went to go help him in his time of need. I'm just worried about him and I wanted to see if he was okay," I explained. It wasn't a full lie. I really did go after Taka because I care for him and I was worried for him. I just didn't include everything else that had happened. They would know about it when we were ready.

"Hmm," Diku said, not sure, but she looked convinced.

A yelp distracted us from our conversation. Rafiki had just applied the last bit of healing ointment to Taka's eye, but it stung on the fresh wound and so Taka had cried out in pain. Uru had given him a reassuring lick to the head. Rafiki was now giving her instructions for Taka and when to see him for more ointment and when the wound would heal, and all that stuff. He then picked up his staff and waved goodbye as he headed back to his tree.

The other cubs then ran over to Taka to see for themselves if he was okay. Mom says that he would be fine and he just needed to rest and rebuild his strength. She then picked Taka up by the scruff of his neck and started heading to the cave. I gave Taka a reassuring smile when I saw him look a bit disappointed and a bit tired. He smiles back with sleepy eyes. I don't blame him. He had had a rough night. First he got hit and lost some blood, then he and I were up for the rest of the night bonding as brothers. And also seeing and meeting Zira, of course.

The other cubs and I watched them disappear into the cave before we decide to go off to Watering Hole to play. On the way, I ask if it would be okay if we could include Taka more in our games. They all say yes, except for Diku who just snorted and kept walking. We play all day until the sun goes down. By then, I am exhausted. I was up all night with my brother and played all day. I was ready for bed.

We head back to Pride Rock. The girls head to their mothers for bed. I see Taka in Mom's arms in the den. I then see my father enter the cave.

He looks at Taka and sneers before picking him up roughly and moving him to the cold rim of the cave. Mom starts to object to this action, but a growl from father causes her to relent.

Poor Mom and Taka. They both suffer the worse of my father's rage. I get less of it because he's training me as his heir and to be the next king.

I watch as he then goes deeper into the cave and chooses a comfortable spot before falling asleep. I look towards my Mom, seeing her crying and shedding tears. I turn to see Taka shivering at the edge of the den. I walk over to him and hug him while laying down next to him.

He looks up and smiles before snuggling closer to me. Our shared heat is better than being cold alone. We'll both rest here for tonight, together. Our Mom sees this and wipes away her tears and smiles at our display of sibling love. I can tell she is so happy at the thought that we look out for each other and love one another.

"Goodnight boys," she calls.

"Goodnight Mom," we call back, before falling asleep together. I have a feeling that things are going to get better from now on.

Aww, I just love sibling love. It makes me feel all warm and toasty inside. I wanted to make it to show how much Mufasa loves his brother and looks out for him, and how Taka loves Mufasa back. Pure, sweet sibling love. I'm going to make more chapters of this, so don't worry my readers. Also I made King Ahadi the bad guy in this story. I think that Ahadi, by ignoring Taka and even hurting him at some points caused Taka to become evil and to become Scar. So it made sense for me to make him the bad guy, though it probably will only be temporary.

Also, I didn't know on what to make of Sarabi's sisters personalities, so I kinda made up individual ones for each sister. Naanda: peacemaker, calm, level headed, and she's also the oldest. Dwala: Sweet, kind, sort of silly, and is the second oldest sister. Diku: Trouble-maker, mean, prankster, loyal, and is the youngest of the four.

I also included my theory on how Zira came to Pride Rock, cause I didn't see her in the first Lion King movie. So in my theory, she lost her parents to rogues, found herself in the Pridelands where she found Taka, was invited into the Pride and became Scar's queen and gave birth to Nuka for him. When Simba came and overthrown Scar, Zira was so heartbroken she swore to kill Simba for killing her mate and so was exiled for it, along with the rest of the Outsiders.

I will continue this my readers. I won't let you down. Have a Happy New Year and hope your Christmas was awesome. Sincerely, v.t.7