[1st POV]
(1 week later)
With the amount of ground we were covering each night, I reckoned our return to the Serengeti would not be as fast as when we came to the Pridelands.
This was mainly because of the increase in our numbers. Groups with larger numbers have more issues and therefore could not move as fast. And also because, unlike when we came, we were not in that much of a hurry to return.
I've memorized some landmarks, and we were not able to reach between those that we could before when we first traveled to the Pridelands. So I expect a few weeks at least, maybe a month, until our return.
We were not traveling for as long as we could. The moment we found prey, we hunted it down and oftentimes immediately camped there, not even using the whole night to travel. Due to this strategy, we were eating plenty of food.
It could be said that we ate every day, although it was usually one meal, which was not much when shared across the whole pride.
The reason why I was doing this was mainly because I wanted to fatten the newcomers as quickly as possible. They had been starved for a long time now and needed proper food to return healthy.
I had no mate with Zuri because of this. Fun fact, a malnourished lioness could not go into heat. Perhaps if I tried, Zuri would definitely let me mount her, but I did not want to mate with her until both of us wanted to.
I was able to with Nala soon after we reunited because she had been traveling for months prior to meeting me and was eating good and proper food. The state in the Pridelands was not as bad when she left as well.
So that was one of the reasons why I let the pride eat so much and gave them plenty of time to rest.
I wouldn't complain though, the traveling was not a chore by any means. In fact, I quite enjoyed traversing different regions every now and then. I had accomplished my goal at last and I took the situation as a holiday trip more than anything.
I had plenty of females to mate with, had no lack of food, did not need to ward off other challengers, what more could a king possibly want?
The journey also provided a much-needed time for the pride to integrate with Scar's old pride. Lions were not humans in the way they hold grudges. Although they were at war a few weeks ago, they got along rather easily.
They knew they couldn't help their situation and everyone was doing their duty at the time. Heck, my own pride attacked me when I first took over and that never became a long-term issue.
The cubs of the Mbali brothers were also growing up rapidly. At this point, all of them could be considered sub-adults. The journey and the war, although they had not participated themselves, had sharpened them. They lost that spark of innocence and were entering adulthood.
They also grew up to be big and fierce lions, mostly due to the diet I put them through when they were young. A cub that could feast on buffalo meat whenever they wanted — it was expected that they were all bigger than average.
The pride really needed new cubs soon.
...
Laini, Kesi, Norin, and Kovu. These were the four cubs that Scar left behind. They were all below 6 months old and Kesi and Norin were twins. Three of them were females while Kovu was a male cub.
They were the only members of Scar's old pride whom I considered innocent. They were too young to commit crimes and too young to have been brainwashed by Scar and his twisted ideology.
They were a clean slate, little furballs of potential. If all went right, the female cubs would grow up to be important members of the pride. Kovu, on the other hand, would carry the legacy of his father when he could survive on his own.
I'd like to think that although Scar was a villain in my story, he was not evil personified. Scar actually had good traits that were worthy to pass on, like his sheer persistence and cunning wit.
So I hoped Kovu would carry all those good without any of the bad. As their king and now father figure, it was my duty to make sure of that.
Parenting them was also good practice for when I became a real father and had cubs of my own. Usually, the eldest child became an experiment for the parents, but I was a lion — luckily I had another lion's cubs to practice on.
"Now climb the tree as high as you can. Whoever can climb the highest will get a mouthful of organs in our next meal. And remember, I am talking about my mouthful, not your tiny mouths," I said to the cubs while we stood before a large tree.
The females were a little further in the background, sleeping peacefully because it was morning. The cubs, on the other hand, were furballs of energy that needed constant supervision.
You would think that they would be like babies, sleeping most of the time, but no, they were incredibly active. Even more so than adult lions.
If I were to describe their lifestyle, it would be huge short bursts of energy and a short nap, more bursts of energy and a short nap, and so on. They were not like the adults who are active for quite some time and then sleep for a long time.
Luckily, I was a lion with sheer discipline. I would not allow myself to be lazing around, so the females got themselves a pretty good babysitter.
"Kesi, would you show the younger cubs how it's done?" I asked the oldest cub among them to go first.
Her name literally meant "born of strife," and she was a strong cub, although she was not that much bigger compared to the other cubs.
The little cub nodded her head before she began scaling the tree. I tried not to judge, since they were not me who actively practiced climbing to build strength since young. But even her best effort was quite... underwhelming.
But on the outside, I showed a satisfied smile when she reached halfway and the second branch of the tree.
After seeing that, a burst of motivation filled her and she tried to climb higher. But it would seem she bit off more than she could chew because I heard the crack of her claws slipping from the bark of the tree.
"Uhhh... my Lord," she said, trying to sound calm even though she wanted to scream.
And then she fell.
But I reacted quickly. I stood on my hind legs and righted my posture by pushing on the tree with my front legs. When I stood like that, I was able to reach her. I was very tall for a lion.
"Got you," I said while pushing her small body on the tree with my head.
The press made her stop. My thick mane provided a cushion although I was literally pressing her on the tree. And with a gentle twist, I snatched her by the scruff and brought her back down.
Right, nothing to fear when I am around.
"Okay, who's up next?" I asked, and then the two other cubs excitedly followed.
They did well too but they could never quite reach as high up as Kesi did. But I would say they did a pretty good job nonetheless.
The last cub to try and climb the tree was Kovu. From his expression and posture, I could tell he would rather be anywhere on earth than here.
His siblings had posed quite the expectation to surpass, and I could see that he feared being the weakest.
"Go on, cub, show me what you can do," I said.
With a gulp, Kovu approached the tree. He first planted his paws on the tree, his claws digging into the bark.
And then he lifted his hind legs and latched onto the tree. Now he was off the ground.
And then... I tried my utmost best to hold my laugh.
He simply latched onto that tree, not knowing how to pull himself up. Actually, when he planted his hind legs on the tree, his level dropped a bit, so he was lower than he would be if he just stood straight.
Even after waiting for a few seconds, nothing happened. He tried, I saw his shoulder muscles moving, but he simply did not know how to climb, and he was too weak to carry his weight like that.
In the end, he even closed his eyes and just held his position, as if thinking if he hung on long enough, he would automatically rise.
"Hmmm," I hummed and put my paw between the ground and the tree. For what it's worth, I had to twist my paw sideways to measure between the ground and his butt.
But my vertical paw was a bit much, so I actually ended up pushing him up the tree a bit.
"Okay, this is sad," I said out loud, and he widened his eyes and fell on my paw.
The other cubs laughed at him and his ears fell. His small frame was able to fit on my paw, so I brought him up to my eyes.
"You are going to be quite the piece of work, huh?" I said as his eyes shied away.
"But don't be sad. It just means you have more things to achieve compared to the others," I said. "And that will make you stronger."
With those words, I put him back on the ground and turned to the proud cub, Kesi.
"It seems the oldest gets the organs next meal. Good job," I said and patted her head before I did the rest with the others.
...
///////////////
(2 weeks later)
After a total of three weeks of traveling, we were very close to the Serengeti.
Nala told me that it was around this region where she met the lions who died under my jaw a few months later. She met Oba and his new coalition here.
The wet season of the Serengeti had affected this region as well because it was full of green. The land was prosperous enough to hold a pride actually, perhaps there was a king in this region.
After hunting down a lone antelope, I decided to camp here for the rest of the night and day. The pride shared the meal as usual, the lionesses who ate yesterday skipped this meal so there would be more for those who had not eaten yesterday.
Zael was also eating the meal this time, so quite a number of lionesses decided not to eat because lions in general eat way more than lionesses.
While he ate, my eyes lingered on him. He had been acting quite strange throughout the journey. I did not know exactly why I was getting the feeling, maybe because he was very proactive in every interaction the pride had.
Like the sudden affection you would give to a family member that would die soon.
But I thought nothing of it. The interaction between us was quite limited due to us both being adult lions at this point.
He was not of my blood, and that created an unspoken barrier, especially when we were both grown.
After we had our meal, the pride slept under the thick bushes and trees. I too sat down with a satisfied belly, but a little further from the pride because I was not ready to sleep just yet.
And that was when it happened.
Zael came up to me, and without saying a single word he sat down close to me. His body rubbed against mine, more muscular and thicker than all the females.
I looked at him but he wouldn't look back.
Animals did not talk much, they did not need conversation to just socialize. Much of that is spoken with the language of the body.
But after an hour or so had passed, he finally used words.
Because what he said next could not be conveyed with body language alone.
"I think it's time," he said.
I turned to him and finally, his eyes looked at me.
"I think it's time for me to leave the pride."
..
..
..
[IMAagE]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Author : Double chapter