[3rd POV]
"They are moving again," Ramirez said while sitting beside the campfire. Although it was searing hot during the day, it was like winter during the night.
In his hand, he had the drone controller with a screen on top. His hand was still bandaged and injured, causing him to lose some fluidity on the drone. The wound had not caught an infection, but it was still like controlling the drone with one hand.
Sitting awfully close to his side and with her head resting on his shoulder was Hana. Her eyes narrowed slightly when she saw that the pride was in formation once more and moving during the night.
"Same strategy, same story. They are travelling during the night. It seems Leo is planning to return to the Serengeti with his pride," she said and then paused.
"That would finally give proof to our hypothesis that Leo travelled hundreds of miles just to settle an old beef," Ramirez said before grinning, "That's kinda badass."
"Remarkable too. Animals are not exactly known to be that vengeful. But I guess higher intelligence means you hold hatred longer too," she said.
"He is not going to be too happy when he returns though," Malik said near the campfire. He was making sure the fire stayed burning while stirring the stew he was cooking.
"The Serengeti is now ruled by different lions," he said.
"Oh yeah? Easy work for Leo," Ramirez commented.
"Maybe," Malik said, "But the thing is there are prides in the Serengeti now. It wouldn't just be like killing challengers or rogues, the females complicate things."
"Prides?" Hana asked, catching that small misuse of plural instead of singular.
They were aware of the Four Musketeers and their pride but we're there others?
"You heard me," Malik replied and tasted his stew. He made a face; the thing he was cooking was still poison to the tastebuds. Tasted like vegetable urine, the lack of meat made it hard to create good food.
Leo ate their meat stock and they gave some too when they interacted with the cubs. So they were out of meat. Maybe they had not thought it through back then.
He added potatoes to make the soup thicker. Maybe he should add some chilli as well. If the food is spicy as hell, you wouldn't be able to tell if it's good or not.
"The Four Musketeers and their pride are not the only kings. They did a very bad job at guarding such a large territory, the other lions are making their pride in the rougher areas," Malik said. "It's in the new update, haven't you guys read the emails? Or are you still busy pondering what you two are?"
The two blushed at the call-out but Hana quickly cleared her throat, being the more mature person because she was older. Although both were still the same in relationship age, this being their first relationship ever.
When you were a nerd and when you were as young as Ramirez, it was expected they had no experience.
"But how are there suddenly that many females in the region? Before there were none," Ramirez asked.
"Females are attracted to safety and resources. If a lion has those, the females just come. But during that phase, they are called territorial lions or bachelors," she said.
"Ok... but where do they come from is the question," Ramirez asked again.
Hana shrugged, "Resources are scarce in the wild. Leo is a huge outlier in the way he could sustain such a big pride. A pride cannot grow that big so even females often leave their birth pride to search for a new one or form an entirely new pride. There are also cases of small nomadic lionesses, often those who leave the pride to protect their cubs from the new king. When they hear a new roar or scent, they are quickly attracted. Even lionesses in a pride will leave and join a new one when they see a better opportunity."
"That makes sense," he said with a smile, "You're so smart."
And there she goes, suddenly being shy much to Malik's disgust. He had the front-row seat to witness the bloom of their relationship and if he saw more, he might just vomit when he tried his stew again.
"Obviously they wouldn't be a large pride. Leo's absence has only been a few months, not enough for prides to thrive," Dr. Tonson added. He was sitting opposite to Hana and Ramirez, still staying near the campfire.
He was barefoot and shamelessly warming his soles near the fire instead of wearing socks. He was looking at his laptop where he watched the same footage Ramirez did. The drone's camera could be seen from different devices.
"Should take them a couple of weeks to return. But after that we are in for another epic tale to unfold. You really can never rest when you follow him," he said.
"I should send an email about this too," he said, making the footage appear in half a screen while he began typing away an email with another.
The group continued hanging around waiting for their evening meal to finish. Everyone was busy doing their own things. Their camp which was almost permanent at this point was starting to feel real cozy to them.
"I guess we also need to start packing if we want to follow them," Malik said after trying his stew again, now it tasted edible.
"So much work to do," he complained.
"Don't worry, I'll help you," Ramirez offered with a smile.
"Thanks."
In another few minutes, the food was done and the crew ate their dinner. They had the stew along with some bread and side dishes like fish paste and sauces. It might not be much but what they were eating was good and nutritious food.
They were eating good due to their driver and cook Malik.
But after they were done and sitting around the fire with full bellies, Dr. Robert suddenly spoke out with visible excitement.
"I just got the result from the institution!!" Dr. Robert said and that immediately got the attention of the whole crew.
More than a week ago, they sent Leo's blood sample along with the blood of Scar and the injured lion's blood sample. It was easy enough to get Leo's blood when they helped him clean his wounds and Scar's blood, well that was just taking it off the corpse.
They sent it into TAWIRI (Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute) and Robert had just gotten the result. But normally, he would just forward the result to the other members but there was a huge discovery.
"Leo shared similar genetics with a few of the lionesses, including the new females he is very fond of. They are probably half-siblings and mother but most importantly, the dominant lion in the plateau," he said.
"The two shared around 23% genetic makeup, meaning they are probably uncle and nephew," Dr. Robert revealed.
An explosion went off in everyone's head.
"Shit... so Leo's father and that crippled lion were brothers," Malik said.
"Probably formed a coalition too and ruled that region in the plateau for a long time," Hana continued.
"But then, there was conflict between the lions and a fight broke out for the sole leadership of the pride," Ramirez continued.
"Leo's father died, and the other brother was also crippled for life in the battle. Young Leo witnessed the whole thing and then later avenged his father's death," Dr. Tonson finished.
Everything came together and fit perfectly like a puzzle.
"Damn... so the plot thickens," Ramirez said with a dramatic voice.
They were not sure yet but with the results of the blood, it would be much easier to create more hypotheses. But most importantly, they finally confirmed Leo's origin and where he came from.
"And the gods cursed the land after the battle between the brothers. Jealousy broke brotherhood, a taboo was committed when someone spilled their own blood and the prosperous land was no more," Malik said.
Everyone stopped and deadpanned.
"What? That makes sense to me. You said Leo had to have come from a rich land considering his size at an early age. But we've seen the plateau is an absolute wasteland," he defended himself.
They sighed and some smiled. Although they wouldn't disagree with that, sudden drought or the pride moving to the plateau afterwards seemed more possible than bringing gods into the picture.
"By the way, which one of the lionesses are his relatives? Or better yet, which one is the mother?" Hana asked with a curious tilt of her head.
"I'm not sure yet, but it should be sample number 7. I'm not sure which one that is. Why do you ask?"
"I'm just curious if Leo is banging his own mother and sisters," she asked, rather innocently.
"What?! How is that the first thing that came to your mind?" Ramirez asked, a bit horrified.
"Hmm? Well it's not common but not rare either to find such cases. I'm more curious about what their offspring would look like," she said.
Many new questions came as few were answered. But the researchers continued their work, tirelessly looking for answers.
One day they would even make a documentary about this whole thing so they needed every bit of information.
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Author : One extra chapter!!