[1st POV]
(1 month later)
(3 years, 4 months old)
Two months have passed since I took over the pride, and things have fully settled into normalcy.
Even the ghost of the old kings was gone now, their name had not been mentioned for weeks at this point. All the females carried my scent and my seed, with no remnants of the old king to be found in their bodies or minds.
Their previous rule and management were forgotten as I changed many things inside the pride. From the hierarchy, the favourites, the hunting style, the hunting schedule and even the way of living.
The pride was not only mine, but it had been moulded in my image and in my liking.
And the cubs, the last legacy left by the old kings, had also forgotten about them. Their admiration was all on me, and I stood as their idol. It was my legacy that they wanted to be apart of, not dead kings.
"When I was your age, I fought with a leopard and won," I said to the cubs that gathered around me.
There was a total of ten of them. Six of them were around eight months old now, and the other four were nearing their sub-adult stage. There was three males among them, two from the eight months old batch and one from the older group.
"Your age is not an excuse to stay mediocre. You have to start now if you want to grow up like me," I said with a wise nod.
Was it weird that I liked interacting with the cubs? They were so innocent and pure, unlike nature, which was cruel and unforgiving. They would also be the last batch of cubs for a while, so I wanted to spend time with them while they still retain their innocence.
After long consideration, I have decided not to have any cubs as of now. Until I took back the Pridelands, the young would only be a vulnerable weakness rather than joy.
You might question how I was going to avoid having a cub when I had such a sexual lifestyle, but the answer was in our biology.
Lions had a very low fertility rate. To impregnate one female in heat, lions had to mate for as many as 50 times a day for a week straight. So if you were not actively trying, it was almost impossible to have a cub.
I was also only 3 years old, meaning I was still not fully mature sexually as I should be.
These days, I avoid impregnating a female by cycling through them. There were many eligible females, so I would pick a few of them and mate with them before quickly moving on to other females the next day. This ensures that no female gets a chance to become pregnant.
That was the strategy I came up with after finding out that I had a horrible pull-out game and in the times that I did pull out, the females became pretty mad. Something about wanting my essence inside them, and that that was the whole point of mating. Yes, it seemed only creampies were accepted among lion society.
Not complaining, though.
"But how? How did you fight a leopard when you were a cub? Were you not weak and small like us?" one of them asked.
"I was, but it's not just about size when it comes to a fight. Otherwise, how could I take down a buffalo alone when they are triple my weight?" I said, teaching them.
"But it was a very difficult fight nonetheless. I lost my tail in that fight, while I took an eye from the leopard," I said, and the cubs oohed at the story.
It kinda reminds me of the time I would tell this to other cubs when I was young. They would never get tired of hearing it back then as well.
"I lost my tail to the leopard, and that was one of the worst things that happened in my life. So I do not want to hear about someone trying to cut off their tail to be like me again. Is that understood?" I asked, to which the cubs nodded. Some looked down in knowing shame.
Yeah, that actually happened a few times, and their mothers complained to me. It was equally hilarious and concerning when I first heard it.
"Then what can I do to be like you?" another voice came, this one had a hint of maturity. It was not a deep voice yet, but it was getting there.
I turned towards the male cub who was nearing his sub-adult stage. Zael was his name.
He looked me dead in the eye and waited for my answer. I would say he was the one I liked the least. He did not have the charm of a young cub when I first met him, and right now, there was a spark in his eyes. A budding pride.
But I smiled all the same, "Give yourself to activity. The more you use your body, the stronger it will get. Learn how to move, learn how to run, learn how to hunt and learn how to fight. Again and again until you no longer want to do it. Then do some more,"
"Also eat as much as you can, and sleep as much as you can," I said, and my eyes were locked on his the whole time.
He gave a thankful nod before looking away with thoughtful eyes. I, too, focused back on the younger cubs who were jumping excitedly, for I had revealed my secrets to them.
I chuckled, knowing was one thing, but putting those into action was another. A lot know what they should do, but still die without doing.
I entertained the cubs some more after that. We had a funny duel as well, where it was my paw against six of them. It was a good time pass while I waited for news from the lionessess.
All of whom were nowhere to be found at the moment, becuase they were all out hunting. It's why I am babysitting in the first place.
I separated them into two groups. On one side, we have the older lionessess and the younger ones who were not expert hunters yet. So they were out hunting normal prey. There were eight of them in total.
On the other hand, we have the prime lionessess. They were great hunters with a hundred per cent success rate ever since they learned to work with the vultures as well. But I did not send them to hunt any normal prey; they were out hunting a buffalo. There were ten of them in total.
I heard the sound of faint roars and growls in the distance. From the sound alone, you could hear that the females were struggling greatly. But the fact that I could hear them means they were at least successful in executing the initial plan, which was to lead the target buffalo away from he rest of the herd.
They've seen me hunt a buffalo alone numerous times, so they knew what to do and the question is, could they do it?
A few minutes after hearing that, I saw Grim flying towards me from a distance. I told the cubs to move away and that I had work to do, and they followed my orders obediently.
"So?" I asked Grim when he landed beside me in a flap of wings,
"They were nearly successful. But then the buffao realised they weren't you, so they ganged up on them," he said, and I shook my head with a sigh.
"What's going on right now?" I asked again.
"Two bachelors are going after them, neither being their initial target, so they are uninjured. The pride is leading them to you," he said.
"Oh, so that's why I heard them. Not because they were successful but becuase they were running towards me for help," I said and couldn't help but chuckle.
Well, hunting a buffalo was not easy after all.
"Any deaths?"
"None," Grim answered quickly. At least no one died, that's good. What doesn't kill them would only teach them.
Perhaps they would have more luck next time.
"Help them bring the buffaloes to me," I said, and Grim flew out into the sky once more.
In the meantime, I got up and began stretching as a warm-up. My muscles were tight, so I loosened them while I waited.
With the guidance of Grim, it didn't take long for the lionessess and the buffaloes to appear on the horizon.
The lions were taking turns slowing down the buffaloes while they ran. A few lionessess would latch themselves onto the bulls while the others ran. And then they would switch, and the cycle repeated.
But the moment they saw me in the distance, all of them stopped fighting and they came running towards me.
The buffaloes bellowed and began stampeding right behind them. When they were not slowed down, they could gather momentum, so they were moving behind the pride like unstoppable forces of nature.
But the lionessess were much faster so they were in no danger. They quickly reached me and ran past me one by one.
They slowed down when they passed me because they knew the danger ended from there. On the other hand, I slolwy walked forward.
In just a few seconds, all ten lionessess ran past me, and it was just me and the raging bulls.
I did not have to do anything. When the short-sighted eyes of the buffalo finally saw me, they panicked and came to a stop. Their legs went stiff, and they slid on the ground, shoving up dirt in their attempt to slow down.
They stopped around twenty-five metres away. I stopped as well.
For a moment, we had a staredown. The buffaloes bellowed into the air, their nose releasing smoke while they ground lines on the earth with their hooves.
I released a low growl and then walked up to them. This time, my body was ready to explode. It was not a simple stride, more like I was stalking them in plain sight.
That was a clear tell that I was not going to let them go,
In a fight or flight situation, Buffalo always fight. So one of them shook his giant head with its deadly horns before charging at me. I shot out right then as well, not away but straight at the bull.
Buffalo hunting 101: Never allow a buffalo to gain momentum.
I closed the distance between us in a heartbeat. But I was light on my paws when I neared the buffalo, becuase trying to meet the living tank with brute force was courting death. Literally.
Another Lesson: Buffalo has a very linear force of power. If you step out of their path, you can avoid any danger.
The tricky part here was confidence and calm in the face of death. And I had that in spades after hunting close to a hundred buffalo.
I stepped to the side at the very last second, my feline reaction in full display. I latched my claws at the side of his face so I tear a line while I dodged to the side.
The buffalo felt the pain, and he turned his head to avoid getting more damage from my claw. Coupled with his instinctual urge to jerk his head towards me, there was a sudden change in the direction of his momentum.
I slammed my paw at the side of his shoulder and that was the final blow. The buffalo released a scream as he lost balance and he had a mighty crash on the ground. His behemoth body shoved away dirt upon his fall.
I reacted immediately. My jaw opened and I lunged, not at his neck, but at his legs. With my trained jaw that surpassed the bite force of any other big cat, I easily broke the thin bone of the buffalo.
His bone was made to hold up his huge weight, but a crushing force from the side easily snapped it. It was like spaghetti.
There was a roar of agony and then I immediately pulled away. Right then, the other buffalo came in charging at me but he missed completely. His attack instead landed on his fallen friend.
He quickly realised his mistake and turned to me. But in doing so, he stomped a few times at his friends.
"Truly a definition of stupidity and power," I commented. The jokes about bulls being dumb and having a small brain were absolutely true,
The bull again charged at me and I closed the distance again. This time, the bull barely got to start, so he barely had any force behind him. But that also caused him to be able to balance himself better.
I latched onto the head of the buffalo, my hind legs creating lines as the bull surged forward.
Another thing was that buffalo were not all that scary when you knew what you were doing. He was more powerful than me but I was also not some predator he could ragdoll at this point.
The advantage I had in wrestling was that I could stand on my hide legs and use my front to grapple. On the other hand, the buffalo could only move forward with no hands.
And when you were aware of those advantages and used them, suddenly it was not so difficult to take down the beast.
...
A bellowing moo, and then the buffalo crashed to the ground. I immediately mounted him and clamped down on his mouth and nose. My jaw dug into his skull and I began suffocating him.
I held him down with my weight. He was lying sideways so there was no way for it to stand up. His neck muscle was strong, but not soemthing that could help him escape.
He thrashed around violently but I controlled him. He choked on his own blood that was in my mouth. His resistance only made him suffocate quicker and before two minutes passed, the buffalo was out cold.
After I was done, I walked back to the other buffalo. With the injured leg, he could not get up. He was surrounded by the lionesses again and they were sucessful in taking it out this time.
I guess it was going to be another feast with these two bachelors.
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[IMAGE]
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Author : Long chapter and last slice of life before the next arc. No goals this time though since I am in no position to give myself more work.
Maybe when I'm healthy again.