[3rd POV]
Five lions stalked a herd of buffalo in the darkness of the night.
Contrary to what most would expect, Cape buffalo were not vulnerable by any means during the night. They were equipped with night vision and had an excellent sense of hearing and smell, and wouldn't be victims of any stalking done to them.
Buffaloes being in a herd was also an excellent strategy of evolution. When most animals were unaware while sleeping, a bunch of animals grouping together meant that there was never a moment when every single member was asleep. They utilised their enhanced senses in such a manner that even if one of the many senses possessed by all members picked up a threat, everyone would be aware of it.
It was only when comparing them with their own selves during the day that you could even say that they were more vulnerable at night.
On the other hand, lions were also made to prey on others. Their paws muffled their movements, they possessed a hunting instinct that told them to move from downwind so that their scent didn't travel, and their night vision eyes were even more remarkable than that of buffalo. The colour of their fur also blended in with the dry grass. And their big black mane hid their entire body as they moved forward. Their mane basically blended in with the dark night itself, making them very hard to see.
They were two sides of the same coin. A predator designed to perfection and a living tank whose entire being was designed not to be killed.
The clash between such different creatures was always a sight to behold.
Leo and his group slowly stalked one of the male buffalo, who was the easiest target. They carried their incredible mass with absolutely no sound. But still, they moved when the insects made a sound or when the wind blew audibly to further hide their movement.
Every single fur on their body was like a finger. When they felt a change in the downwind, they lowered their body to the ground, hiding among the grass so that their scents could not be carried by the wind. They were incredibly patient, and their hunting intelligence would absolutely not be matched by even a species of higher intelligence.
There was never a sudden movement. Someone who observed them casually might not even realise that they were ever so slowly moving to their target.
The lions could tell male from female by scent alone. The hormones carried by the two genders were very different after all.
Soon enough, the lions were within 10 metres of the bull without being spotted.
In that moment, every lion stopped moving. They were already in striking distance, and the only thing they had to wait for was for the leader of the hunting party to make a move.
Leo stepped forward without a sound. One would think that such a giant cat would have trouble being stealthy but one would be absolutely wrong. In fact, he was the best among the five when it came to stealth. Simba, along with Zafar and his two sons couldn't help but observe in awe as the giant seemingly glided along the ground.
10 metres became 8.
8 metres became 6.
And eventually, it was impossible to hide one's presence, no matter the technique. The bull twitched his ears, they turned towards Leo and heard his sounds that would still be imperceivable to human ears.
Leo continued forward.
The buffalo snapped open his eyes and raised his head to look towards Leo. He could see the shadow moving on top of the grass.
Leo kept moving.
It took a while for the brain to process what it was. The buffalo didn't immediately know that he was being hunted by a lion.
Leo kept moving.
The buffalo was confused as to why the shadow didn't react, even when he had clearly spotted it. Usually, predators launched out the moment they realised they were spotted.
But not Leo. He used the confusion, the process time of the brain and everything to close the distance.
The bull widened his eyes, finally seeing the shadow and identifying it as a lion. He reacted quickly, releasing a loud, dinosaur-like sound.
But by that point, it was far too late. 10 metres alone was late already.
When a buffalo lay down to sleep, he usually tucked his legs under his massive body. This was done so that he would be able to react quickly and stand up when he noticed a threat.
But at such a close distance and with such frightening striking speed, that natural strategy became a fatal weakness.
Leo leapt on top of the buffalo. His teeth snapped on the buffalo's leg. But more than the bite, he focused more on his wrestling, making sure that the buffalo wouldn't be able to roll over and get up. With such a massive weight on his legs, the buffalo turned into a sitting duck.
A predator who could perfectly exploit weakness was frightening. But a predator that could turn your own strength into weakness was beyond terrifying.
And that was Leo, who turned the buffalo's sleeping position and massive size into a weakness.
In just a few seconds, the other lions came upon the buffalo and attacked every vital point. Leo grabbed the neck tightly, focusing on wrestling and control over lethality. His bite wasn't really meant to kill, but it was meant to control the head movement of the buffalo so that he wouldn't use his horns.
Zafar took the rear of the buffalo. There was a small sack visible at the end. Naturally, no giant animal would sleep and crush his own balls. But that was leaving a very vulnerable weakness out in the open. The moment Zafar bit on that and tore open the thin flesh, the chances for the buffalo to survive turned to zero. It was only a matter of time.
Zael attacked from the right. Simba jumped over the buffalo and attacked from the left. The buffalo tried to push himself up from the front but Leo quickly adjusted his position and pulled the head down, making it impossible for the buffalo to even get up like that.
Rolling over wasn't possible either because four lions were flanking him.
At this point, the whole herd was alarmed. Some of the bulls came rushing but stopped when they noticed that it was a fellow male that was the victim. The herd still tried to intervene, but Zafar's sons who were not really doing damage on the bull's thick hide bared their teeth to intimidate the herd.
Saving a fellow bull wasn't worth the effort at that point. So the herd focused more on their own survival. Making gruff sounds and whining, they retreated from the scene to move to a safer place.
After Zafar was done tearing away the tissue, it left a bleeding mess. Blood was pouring out from the rear in copious amounts. He left that place and came to the front where Leo was.
Zafar, with his experience, knew exactly what to do next as he attacked the face. His claws left marks, his teeth tore open the soft snout and then gouged out the eyes.
The bull struggled violently, twisting his head in hopes of striking Zafar with his horns, but with Leo controlling his head and with cat-like reflexes, Zafar was unharmed as he left scars on the bull's face.
Zafar then pushed his face on the buffalo's neck, taking his time to find the right target. Then he proceeded to bite down on the neck. His target was higher than where Leo was biting. It was a neck where he could feel the pulse and the violent gush of the windpipe. He bit at more vital parts than even Leo.
Right then, Leo released his bite and pushed himself tall, coming face to face with the bull. Then he opened his jaw and bit at the snout. His mouth made it impossible for the buffalo to breathe. Not only was it covered but the teeth caused bleeding which completely choked the buffalo. He was drowning in his own blood.
"MOOOOO!!!! MOOOOO!!!!" he bellowed from the small mouth. They were a different species, but Leo understood that he was crying for help.
But no help came. That was nature's cruelty.
For nearly 20 minutes, Leo and his group wrestled with the buffalo. By that point, the buffalo collapsed from the loss of blood, oxygen and exhaustion. He wasn't dead but passing out like that was the same thing as death.
When the buffalo went limp, they pushed the bull to the side, revealing his softer underbelly. Then their teeth penetrated the weaker hide, putting the buffalo to an eternal rest.
The way they killed the buffalo was extremely safe and efficient, just like Leo had planned. He didn't want any injuries to happen to the lions and he wanted to conserve as much energy as possible for the upcoming battle.
If the buffalo had been a raging campfire, the way they snuffed him out was like taking apart the firewood one after the other and separating them until the fire snuffed out. Splashing water or sand would signify the use of brute force.
After the buffalo was killed, Leo was the first to eat the organs. After Leo ate well, Simba and Zael followed. Very shortly, the rest came to eat the meal.
It was a successful hunt for Leo and his group.
In the morning, they led the rest of the pride to the kill site and everyone got a share of the buffalo. They didn't eat to the fullest but it was enough to fill their stomachs and give them energy to go on for many more days.
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[3rd POV]
As Leo and his group hunted, the Mara Coalition did the same. All animals needed to eat after all.
Their prey was also the Cape buffalo. Although they'd never hunted buffalo in the Serengeti before, it was the only option they had. Prey were scarce during the dry season, especially here in the south.
They had seen the remains of buffalo left behind by Leo and his pride, so they thought they would do the same. Even if they managed to successfully hunt one of the scarce prey in this region, it would be nowhere near enough to feed 16 males.
A buffalo was really their only option. Luckily, there were quite a few herds in this region for whatever reason.
Early in the night, the Mara Coalition set out to hunt. They were 16 males, the biggest coalition in history. So they were confident in taking down a buffalo.
Hunting a buffalo was all about power and numbers. They didn't really need to stalk or chase after buffalo. The pride bulls would proudly fight back any predator they saw. But because of this, it was necessary to fight the aggressive bulls to eat.
At least that was what they knew from their lives in the Maasai Mara.
The lions didn't bother to stalk carefully. They lay low on the ground while slowly advancing towards a herd of buffalo.
Buffaloes weren't scared of lions, so they would be alerted but they wouldn't run like other prey.
But contrary to their expectation, the moment the herd spotted the lions, they released a loud bellow and ran away from their grazing ground.
All of the lions were stumped.
"What the hell happened?" one of the lions asked, dumbfounded when he saw the giants running away at the sight of lions.
"Maybe it was because of our number?"
"That must be it. Next time, only three lions will go first and strike a buffalo. The rest can follow up after that."
The buffalo ran far away. But as they were giants, they couldn't move far before they had to rest and recover. The lions caught up to them once more after three hours of following them north.
This time, they sent only three lions while the rest stayed behind, beyond being spotted by the buffalo.
But still, the moment they spotted the lions, they ran away. The three lions followed suit, quickly singling out one of the buffalo. They tried to slow him down. Usually, this was when the bull would be angry and stand his ground to fight.
But not the Serengeti buffalo. The bull kept running even with three lions hanging on his body. Eventually, the lions lost their grip or were stomped on by the hooves. All the buffalo escaped.
The Mara Coalition could only moan in frustration.
They followed the herd once more. And after another two hours, they caught up to the herd again. This time, they only sent one lion who was good at stealth.
History repeated. The moment the lion attacked and revealed his presence, the tired buffalo ran.
The whole coalition was left unable to comprehend the situation. Were the buffalo in the Serengeti different from the ones in the Maasai Mara? This was completely different from how buffalo would behave.
What the hell could be the difference between the Maasai Mara and the Serengeti? Buffaloes were not prey to lions like smaller herbivores. A lion pride would usually never go hunting buffalo. That was reserved for a last effort type of situation.
But the buffaloes in the Serengeti acted like they were regular prey to lions and reacted to lions as such.
They were afraid of even a single lion?
Why?
You couldn't tell them that at some point, a single lion used to hunt these giants, right? But that was the only conclusion that made sense. Animals didn't simply fear something just because, there was usually a reason or past experience for how they react to things.
The coaltion was left with a mix between hunger, dissapointed and pride at being so feared by the buffaloes.
Only Scarface and Baraka seemed to realise the truth. They had grim expressions on their faces. The coalition was hungry, but they had only lost energy during this hunt.
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