The Lion King: The Retold Continuation

Part I, Chapter VII: The Lion's Memories, The Lioness' Upbringing

Zira looked up at the evening sky. The stars shined brightly in the cloudless night.

Simba was staring up too while he sat on Pride Rock. In the silence, he closed his eyes, letting his father's words slip through his mind. "Look at the stars. The great kings of the past look down on us from those stars..."  A breeze blew at the King's large mane, Simba felt the powerful presence of Mufasa go through him as he was cooled down.

His eyelids flung open that instant, and his head dropped down. I can't do it..., Simba thought. But he was the one who took back the kingdom. It was Simba who returned to do what was right. Simba who was able to remove his evil uncle Scar and take back the throne that was rightfully his. But as powerful as he was now, there was always something missing in Mufasa's son. It was Mufasa.

Though Simba came to know and accept that Scar was the one who actually commited the crime, the one who murdered his own brother in the act of jealousy for the position of being ruler that he had craved, Simba still held some responsiblity for his father's downfall. If Simba hadn't ended up in the gorge that day, Mufasa wouldn't have suffered an early death. It may not be a must for him to hold onto part of the guilt, but it felt fair that he should.

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Conversely, back in the Outlands, Zira didn't view Mufasa in the stars. It was Scar who she felt the presence of. Contrasting Simba's chilly breeze, Zira was brushed with heat from the surrounding air. Why was she so devoted to what Simba viewed as an evil ruler? Zira looked down and closed her eyes. Scar's words swept into her thoughts. "It may have taken a while, but I wanted a ruler to be above all before. It's time for a change, and it's going to make these new generations better." Zira was told those words directly by Scar himself.

She reopened her eyes and raised her head. It wasn't a smooth ride through her younger years. Both her parents were part of the unlucky group of lions that had passed away as a result of the famine brought on when the hyenas were brought in. Left an orphan at only 9 months of age, which was 5 months after Simba's presumed death, it was Scar who made his choice to fill in parenthood role for her. As king, Zira was filled with everything Scar taught: you can never show weakness when in charge, you need to keep any power that is offered, life means you need to find every way to rise above all. And because Scar also gave Zira the attention that she had craved, Zira became Scar's devoted companion. When someone is given the attention that they had wanted, they often over look their partner's negatives and feel obligated to defend them at all costs, all because they're getting what they craved. And so Zira was manipulated far.

What she saw in Simba was a murderer who had thrown the ruler she had worshiped off Pride Rock, leaving Zira holding onto that ongoing hate that would eventually lead to her desicion to take down Simba's first son, Kopa. Though she was caught in the act when the time she waited for came, Zira was sure that the severe injuries she had manage to inflict were fatal, as Kopa was already unconcious and very faintly breathing when Simba banished her on the spot. But on top of that, Simba also declared that he would take her children, Vitani and Kovu, away from her, saying that because Zira tried to take his child, he will seperate her from her cubs. Eventually, Zira managed to gather her own group of followers, consisting of both other lionesses and hyenas. And unable to let go of the past, she vowed to one day take back Pride Rock and rule the kingdom herself in the same practice Scar had.