[1st POV]
(1 month later)
It has been two months since I demolished the Four Musketeers turned six. At this point, even their shadow had disappeared. There was not even a whisper of their name in my kingdom anymore.
The wet season was also at its end. The gigantic herds of zebras, wildebeest and even antelopes had migrated to the Masai Mara.
A part of me really wanted to follow them and check the land on the other side of the river. But the land probably had its own kings and shit, meaning more chores for me. I did not want that.
I did not find that exciting... at least not yet.
At this stage of my life, I was dedicated to being a king and a father. Being a father was something I had never experienced before in my past life. Some animals might just be content with seeding and leaving everything to the lionesses but I was not like other animals.
This was huge for me. It has been nearly two months since they got pregnant, meaning we were at the halfway point in the pregnancy. Lion pregnancy lasts between 3-4 months, much quicker than that of humans.
So the cubs were coming soon.
And I was preparing in any way I can. The pride had stopped its nomadic ways in favor of the pregnant mothers. I did not want them to move too much, growing cubs inside them was already taking a toll.
For this, I picked the best area in the Central Serengeti where we would live. It was in the Central Serengeti, touching the northern region. This place had a lake that never ran out even in the dry season and hence, it was also filled with giant prey that did not migrate.
Buffaloes, rhinos, giraffes, elephants. And the hippos shared the lake with the crocodiles too. It was the boiling point of life in the Serengeti.
It was the perfect place to welcome the cubs. At least that's what I thought.
The hyenas had been extremely useful in keeping my territory. They were allowed to unleash their hatred for lions on all the rogues that came. So although I was stationed in one place now and limited patrols, my kingdom was still untouched by frauds.
It was the right decision to keep them around. They took the burden off my shoulders that would have made me basically an absent father.
"My lord," Eshe nudged me slightly to bring me out of my reverie.
I shook my head and came back to reality. The whole pride was surrounding me and waiting patiently for me to begin the feast.
In front of me was a dead buffalo, brought down by a hunting party that consisted of fourteen lioness. It was yet again a successful hunt of a giant without my interference. The hunters were quite proud.
"Thank you for your hard work," I thanked the pride before I dug into the meal.
My jaw ripped open the belly, tearing away muscle and fat of the buffalo just like that. A deep smell of fresh meat and warm blood penetrated my nose, instinctively activating the instincts inside as I began pulling out the organs and eating them.
I bit down a huge chunk of liver but did not swallow this time. Instead, I spat the liver to the side where Kovu stayed in waiting.
His ears perked up and he ate the piece of liver beside me. That was his reward from his success yesterday. He had grown much from last time, and the fact that he was male was starting to show as he blitzed past his female siblings when it came to development.
He was nearly a year old now. He was bigger than a leopard at this stage.
After I ate the organ and lapped at the thick black blood, I pulled off the skin of the buffalo and enjoyed the meaty parts on its neck and shoulder. When I had my fill, the rest of the pride joined in the meal.
They came in hierarchy, the pregnant females ate first, followed by the hunting parties. Finally the rest of the pride. Meals were frequent in our pride so no lions ate too much. The giant was enough to feed the whole pride.
My desire for growth was rekindled by the frequent visit of the humans with their scale. Last time I weighed there, I had reached 450 kilograms. But that was because I ate a huge meal the previous night. But even still, getting to see my progress helped in motivating me to eat and grow even more.
I wanted to be disgustingly big.
I think I was getting the bodybuilder mindset. I wanted to freak out an elephant by my sheer size. Which seemed unthinkable but hey, the higher you aim the higher you fail right?
After eating the meal, I spent the whole day with the pride. I mated with the females as that had become routine. I played with the new cubs, growing awfully fond of them at this point. Perhaps it was the father instinct.
When afternoon rolled, I head out to patrol. My patrolling area had grown bigger and hence took more time. There was something primal screaming at me. I was protective than ever.
Although I had received no report of intruders from Grim, it was still mandatory to patrol. Because at this point, it was not just other lions that I had to be wary of. In the dry season, where every animal was alerted and at their peak of primal instinct, they were very aggressive.
An hour into my patrol and I found one such danger.
"What's he doing here so close to my pride?" I asked out loud while staring into the far distance.
My target was noticeable even from afar, he stood out more than every creature in the Serengeti.
A male rhino. Prime age if his gigantic horns were anything to go by. He was huge, in a way that literally shook the earth every time he ran.
After a second of contemplation, I made my way to the rhino. He was in an open plain, around him was tall stalks of yellow grass but his area was wide open because he had stamped those grasses to the ground. He was easy to spot in that manner.
Upon close inspection and observation, I realised that his appearance here had nothing to do with being close to my pride. No. The rhino was staying close to the lake instead. My pride was also situated where water should be easy to access, hence we were neighbours.
Grim flew down in front of me. I stopped my approach.
"The rhino decided to make a territory here near the lake. Water is harsh and hence, he is going to be very territorial about it," Grim said.
"Is he?"
"Yes, and if you approach more you will enter his marked territory," Grim warned while looking straight at my eyes.
"Is that how he marks his territory?" I said and gestured with my head towards my side.
Grim looked and saw what I already smelled. It was a huge mound of shit. It was literally around 3 metres wide. The mound of shit was so massive it was easy to mistake it as a termite mound from above.
The rhino literally took shits bigger than himself. It was disgustingly impressive.
"I suppose that is a way to mark his territory," Grim said, completely off guard by the pile of shit.
"God damn how long did he take to make that?" Grim said, aghast, "I swear that was not there yesterday."
I chuckled and took a step forward. I walked past Grim who hurriedly waddled in front of me once more to stop me.
"Please my lord, these things are not to be messed with."
I frowned, "Grim, if he is that aggressive, then it is all the more reason for me to remove him. They threaten the safety of my pride."
"Remove? Please my lord, not to doubt but rhinos are immovable objects, everyone knows that. When they mark a territory, they stay there. We could instead move the pride somewhere that doesn't pass through his territory to access the lake," Grim said.
I was surprised at his warning and doubt, but also strangely disappointed.
"You want me to compromise in my own kingdom?" I asked.
"He doesn't know that. For all he cares, that part of the land is his now," Grim said.
"And I'm going to tell him no. Kindly of course. I will just ask him to move somewhere else, far away from my pride and coming cubs," I said, "Don't stop me."
Grim finally relented and made way for me.
Rhinos were endangered animals. They were not like buffaloes that are in the ten thousands. Perhaps there would be less than a hundred rhinos in the whole expanse of the Serengeti, hence I rarely ran into one, much less have trouble with one.
This was going to be the first conflict.
I continued making my way to the rhino.
The gigantic beast quickly took note of my presence. He was pissing in a line, making lines on the earth with his horns to mark his territory. But then he stopped and turned his bulldozer head towards me.
I didn't stop even when he slowly turned his whole body towards me.
Immovable object huh.
What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object?
Perhaps we would find out now.
I roared.
This is my kingdom. Every creature in this earth needs to know that.
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