Chapter 29 29: New home

[1st POV] "....." Holy shit. Humans. For a moment, I froze completely as my brain went haywire, thinking of other things and saving no brainpower to control my body. But then I shook my head and shrugged off the useless thoughts that orbit my mind. I started thinking logically instead of just being surprised. Of course, there were humans in this world. The animated movie never extended further than the Pride Lands, but there was a whole other world outside that. There were humans, other animals, other continents and the whole thing. And it was not surprising to see humans in such a thriving region as this one. From the vehicle and the tent, I guessed they were researchers. Humans have endless curiosity that wants to study and learn everything in the world. They were not poachers or hunters, so they wouldn't interfere with anything. They would most likely just observe. Everything was fine, there was no need to panic at all. But even still, it was ironic for me to meet humans like this. I felt equally excited and fearful. I pushed my nose out and took in the scent of the surroundings. I was tracking the smell of water, so I didn't focus on other scents. But now that I've taken in the air around me without tracking anything, I could smell the unnatural smell of mosquito repellents and other human smells. There were five distinct scents, which means there were likely five people inside the tent. Curious, I slowly approached their camp. "Are those cameras?" I said upon taking a closer look at the car. There was a bunch of equipment on the vehicles, but the thing I recognized was the camera. Perhaps they were not only researchers but photographers as well. A group of wildlife photographers. "Oh fuck me...." Something said. Something that was not me. I stopped and stared at the man that just spawned out of nowhere from the front of the car. The man was a black and he was sitting in the driver's seat. I could understand him as well. It felt odd but two years was nearly not enough for me to forget English. I huffed out a chuckle seeing the blood drain from his face. He was frozen on the spot and I could almost smell fear on him. We locked eyes. He looked at me with wide terrified eyes while I simply observed him, getting increasingly amused. I moved towards him ever so slowly. "Guys.... Guys.... GUYSSS!!" he screamed with a straight face, trying not to rile me up even while he panicked. Someone seemed to hear his call as there was movement inside the closest tent. Another man came out with annoyance clear in his movement. "What?" he asked and when he saw me, he froze much like the first man. "What is it?" another movement, this time it came from the next tent. A woman walked out wearing sunglasses. She also froze much like the people that did before her. For a long time, we all just stood there. No one made a move. They were too afraid to make any sudden movements while I was too amused to do anything to shift the dynamic. "Don't worry, I've tried monkeys and I didn't really like the taste. I'm sure you taste similar," I said and laughed out loud. They did not understand lion language, but they heard my deep huffs which I called a laugh. They seemed even more unnerved by the situation. "I told you we should've hired a ranger just in case," the black man on the vehicle said with a frustrated, fearful voice. His tone was hushed like a whisper but the volume was shouting. "Just stay calm, if it wanted us dead we would already be," said the man in front of the tent with a careful, timid posture. I turned my body towards him and I took three steps forward. My eyes carefully observed him. It was strange seeing a human from an animal's perspective. They were... ugly. Like worms. In nature, strength and survival was beauty. But humans did not have claws, fangs or fur. They looked so vulnerable that it was a little strange. That made them unappealing. "Oh god, please don't eat me," the man said — or was it a man? Upon a closer look, I realized that he was very young. Probably a teenager. "I'm too young to die, I can't even drink yet," he said with a shaky smile. I ignored him and turned to the final human. It was a woman, but unlike the previous two, she was looking at me with awe and wonder. I noticed she had taken off her sunglasses. I barely saw a flicker of fear in her eyes, interesting. I walked towards her. The man flinched and trembled when I walked past him and went closer to the woman. Her breath hitched when I stopped in front of her. I was close enough so that she could feel my massive presence. The fear in her increased, but so did the wonder and amazement. I blinked at that, confused. If it was my past life and I saw myself, I was sure I would be shitting my pants right now. At my current size, I was easily twice her weight. Even when she stood upright, I reached her chest while standing on all four. "Oh wow, look at you..." she said and swallowed with a shaky breath. "You're unlike anything I've ever seen before, so different in body structure compared to the rest. Does it have something to do with your tail?" she asked herself to deal with her nervousness and panic. She slowly moved her hand down to her pocket and took something out. I thought it was going to be a gun or a weapon, but strangely enough, she took out a small note and a pencil and started scribbling on it. Crazy bitch began sketching me on her notebook. I guess she was one of those girls insanely passionate about certain things. I heard movement to my side and we both turned to look at the third tent. I saw a small head peeking out from the tent. It was an aged man from what I could tell. He looked at us for a few seconds before silently pulling back into the tent and zipping the entrance closed. As if that was going to stop me. I shook my head and turned away from the woman. I looked around the camp one last time before I walked away altogether. Although meeting humans was interesting, it became dull when they were that scared. Besides, they were still part of nature, so nothing too groundbreaking. Instead, I focused back on the watering hole. My priority should be quenching my thirst and catching a meal as soon as possible. I left the humans to their own devices and walked to the watering hole. The place was a little different from the one we had in the Pride Lands. Instead of a lake, the watering hole seemed to be the leftover of a massive river. I'd assume it was a river during the rainy seasons and dried up during the dry seasons. There were some animals on the edge, taking hesitant sips of the muddy water. I did not see any crocodile on shore, but from the behavior of the animals, I assumed there were crocodiles in the water. The prey animals moved away when I came close. I drank the water while keeping a keen eye on the water surface. If I saw the simplest wave or movement in the still water, I would move away. The crocodiles here could be like the ones back home. They could be aggressive to all creatures that came too close for all I knew, an opportunist predator thag will eat anything. Therefore I was cautious. After I was satisfied, I walked around the watering hole. I was on a constant lookout for opportunities. I was not exactly in top condition and I was tired from the travel, so I would prefer if there was a sick, old or injured prey that I could take down easily. But even better, if I saw another predator eating food, I could steal it from them. Nature said all was fair, and stealing prey from other predators was definitely not beneath me at this point. I laid down under the shade of a tree near the watering hole. I panted to cool my body heat under the searing temperature of the savannah. My eyes were in a constant lookout under the shade. I would hunt after I cooled down and rested. The region was still completely new for me. I did not know where most herds graze, I did not know where the prey sleep, I did not know their routine or their routes. That would make hunting much more difficult and I might need to put even more effort than I usually did. "Hello." !!!! I heard a voice coming from the top of the tree. I looked up to see a big mean-looking vulture sitting in one of the branches. "Hi," I said back, unsure. "You new around here?" it asked me. Strange, I never really talked to birds before. The only one I could remember talking to was Zazu, but he was eaten not long after Mufasa was killed. He was trying to be sneaky for Sarabi and that did not work well for him. Scar ate him but didn't even swallow. He threw the bird up after chewing a few times. The disgustingly brutal scene was still vivid in my mind. "Yes," I said. "Ohhhh...." he said. I felt like my answer was exactly what he wanted to hear. "This is gonna be a good meal," he whispered to himself while looking at my form up and down, just like how I would look at my target prey in a distance when I hunt. "Anyway, welcome to Serengeti, new blood," he said with a wide, unsettling smile. ... ... .... [IMAGE] --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Auhtor : Yes, Serengeti is a real place in Tanzania. The fictional Pride Land was actually inspired from this region. The weather is looking good today and if things go smoothly I'll upldoad tomorrow. .. Join my patreon if you want to support the story and read ahead. I promise upto 10 advanced chapters there and but currently there are eight. Patreon : Emmanuel_Capricorn