Chapter 28. Return

They slept well and after they awoke they ate and drank their fill and then started their journey back. If Afasa ran alone he could get back to the pride lands in half a week, but since they were traveling in a group, it would take them at least a week, maybe even more.

As they were traveling Asafa seemed lost in thought, this didn't go unnoticed by Nala or Ayana.

They understood that this was a great moment in Asafa's life.

He would return to his birthplace and home, fight his uncle for the position of king.

But they were unaware of the fact that Asafa was thinking about how he should expose the fact that Scar killed his own brother.

Asafa had so far avoided telling Nala and Ayana that Scar killed Mufasa, he had only told them that he and Simba escaped while falsely believing that they were guilty for their father's death, but he never told them that Scar directly killed Mufasa.

After a week, they finally reached the pridelands, and in the horizon they could see the pride rock.

"So that's your home, the place you're king?" Timon said as he looked around. The whole place seemed so... Dead and gray.

"My kingdom is prettier!" Hamu said.

"This place seems so blue!" Pumba said

"Pumba water is blue, not this place. It's gray at best!" Timon corrected.

"But I meant.." pumba tried explaining but he got cut off.

"No butts! You have enough of that already!"

"Oh... I see." Pumba said.

"Which way should we take?" Imani asked as she looked around.

Everyone turned to Asafa, but his sight was on another place.

"That way!" Asafa said as he looked at the great rift, where his father had died.

"That's a long way, it's better if go right." Nala adviced.

"It doesn't matter, there something I want to see there." He said, not explaining.

They all nodded then followed him.

Soon, they arrived at the begining of the rift that's when Asafa slowed down and started walking with heavy steps.

It wasn't until they reach a third way in to the rift that they stopped by a big rock that was in the middle of their path.

Asafa walked closer to it and just stared at it, reminiscing about that day.

"Asafa... Are you okay?" Ayana asked.

"What's going on kiddo?" Timon also asked as they noticed his sombre mood.

"It was a sunny day when my uncle Scar brought me and Simba here." Asafa said.

Everyone perked up at this, especially Nala and Ayana as they weren't familiar with this story.

"He told us to wait here, because our father had a big surprise for us, one to die for." Asafa said.

The crew listened on waiting for the rest of the story, but Nala caught onto some hints by his words and started frowning while getting bad feeling about this.

"Me and my brother competed in our roaring while waiting for our father right here." asafa said as he chuckled at the memory of his brother, while walking up to he big rock.

"That's when the ground started shaking, and the rift started to fill up with wildebeests running for their life, it felt like there was a million of them."

Asafa then started walking in the direction he and his brother ran.

The crew followed while Nala and Ayana looked at eachother in shock. Scar had told a similar story, but he never told them that he was the one that brought Simba and Asafa here.

They realised that something was wrong, very wrong.

As they continued walking down, Pumba asked them "and what happened then?" Not understanding that the story Asafa was telling was the death of Mufasa.

"We ran for our lives but our small legs could only take us so far before the wildebeests caught up to us." He said while pointing further down the rift at another rock with a broken, dead tree beside it.

"We reached that place and climbed up." Asafa said.

Soon they reached the half broken, dead tree.

"Our father then ran down into the horde of wildebeests to save us, he picked up Simba while I climbed his back." Asafa said with a bitter smile.

They continued walking, but both Nala and Ayana looked bloodthirsty at this point, they realised that Scar had lied about the story, and that it was his fault that the accident had happened.

But they weren't yet aware that it wasn't an unintentional accident.

Soon they stopped as Asafa looked up the side of the rift, the cliff.

"See those marks? My father climbed up there and left us on that rock right there!" He said while pointing at a specific rock.

They all looked up at the marks made from Mufasa's claws and the rock where Simba and Asafa had been dropped off, they looked like they could see the scenes in their minds.

"Father continued climbing up as he couldn't fit on the rock. Simba tried to climb up as well but I stayed as my eyes couldn't leave father." Asafa said.

At this point the crew understood that this story was the story of that day, the day Asafa's father died. They all listened closely.

"When he reached the top, a pair of claws gripped his claws, holding tight, I'd recognize those claws anyday, anywhere." Asafa said.

"Scar!" Nala said in understanding, and Asafa nodded in confirmation.

"But if Scar was there, how did Mufasa die?" Ayana asked what everyone was wondering now. They'd never guess that Scar would kill his own brother.

"Indeed, my uncle was there, holding into my father.... But he was also the one to pusg off my father, right down to the horde of wildebeests." Asafa dropped a bomb on them. Everyone's eyes widened, aghast at what they had just heard.

Nala and Ayana was the most shocked at this as they grew up hearing a whole another story. That Scar had found Asafa and Simba being mischievous again running towards the horde of wildebeests and getting themselves into trouble, so he hurried to get the king to save them. That's when they accidentally got Mufasa killed and then they also died in that horde.

Now it made sense how Simba and Asafa had lived throught this day, Scar lied.

When they came back to their senses, they realised that Asafa had walked further down.

So they hurried to him still shaken by what they had heard.

"And right here, I found him laying... Without a breath." Asafa said as he stood where his father died. Yes, his goal was with visiting this place was to explain what had happened on that day.

Both Ayana And Nala came up to him and rubbed their heads against him to show empathy. The crew also came up to him and showed care.

"Asafa, Scar is an usurper, a corrupt king and a traitor... You need to punish him." Ayana said lastly with a dangerous flint in her eyes.

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Pssst! Gimme some stones man, I need those stones, I gave you an extra chapter... What? No, I'm not addicted to the stones, no I just want them to... to... to throw at Scar, yes, that's it! Now give it before an accident happens! 🔪