Chapter 5 5: When survival has to be earned

[1st POV] "It is greatly unnerving that Simba is not with us. I thought for sure he would be included," I said while walking at the back of the group. There were four of us, Nala, Jua, Zuri and me. I was walking at the back, just behind Nala, while the two other cubs led the way. We were already further away from the pride rocks than we should be. "Simba is too bossy, he is annoying to be around," Jua said while his eyes focused in front of him. "He goes around talking about how he is going to be king nonstop and that we should listen to him because of it." "And Simba is not really the subtle type. Whatever he does, it always reaches the ears of the King so we don't want to include him." Zuri said while looking back with a half smile. Simba was like a spoiled child as thing stands. He was also constantly monitored by Zazu the bird, so I could understand why he was not invited. But he would be the most excited among us if they did invite him. We walked for a few more minutes, and the distance was getting too far for my comfort. "Are we nearly there?" "If not, I am going to go back now," I said. I was not foolish, I knew how badly Simba messed up whenever he decided to go on an adventure. I did not have plot armour like he did either, so I did not want to tempt fate by any means. In a few years after I was grown, I would explore this world as much as I wanted but while I was a cub, I wanted to be careful. "Almost there, come on!" Jua said and then began running through the tall grass. We all followed him and started running too. It was not long before we reached our destination. "A tree," I deadpanned while walking around said tree and scanning it for anything interesting. "Of course, we don't bring you here just to show you a tree," Zuri said with a knowing smile. "I fail to find anything of interest here," I said. "Look up," she said, and then all of us turned our heads upwards. Among the thick leaves and the complex branches of the tree, there was a half-eaten Impala. The body of the prey was covered in dirt and dry leaves which masked most of the scent coming off from the meat. It was also high up in the tree so the air current was different, making it so that even though I was right under the meat, I could not sniff it out. "Is that a..." Nala asked, but Jua cut her off in excitement. "Yes! It's food! Someone just left it there and we can take it!" he said with excited leaps. "But we can't climb the tree to take the food. Which is why we invite you, Leo," Zuri said, "You just have to climb up the tree and push the body off the branch. And then we can all share the food!" All of them, including Nala, brightened up at the idea. They all turned to me collectively with expectation in their eyes. On the other hand, I was still looking at the corpse neatly hanging on the branch, my mind worked faster than my thoughts. They were cubs, they didn't know better. But I knew. I was not really into studying animals in my past life, but even I knew what a half-eaten prey on a tree implied. Panic finally settled in my heart, regret came right behind. I looked around the grasslands with worried eyes, my ears moved towards every sound around us. "We need to get out of here quickly." I said much to the shock of everyone. "What? But-" "Do you have any idea what you've done!!" I shouted at Jua, he flinched back in fear and alarm. "No predators just abandon their food like that. That is the work of a leopard storing his food!" I said, and then not a second later, my eyes caught movement behind Jua. The cub blurred from my vision as I focused on the moving grass behind him. It took me another second to realise that it was not just moving grass. Atop the blades of grass was a beast perfectly blending in with the surroundings. I got a closer look when he neared us, but even then, it was just a blur of muscles and teeth. "RUN!!!" I screamed, and then the leopard finally released a savage growl. The sound sent shivers up our spine. The vibration unlocked instincts we never knew we had. It was an instinct to run for our lives. We ran as fast as we could, so it was almost despairing to realise how slow our fastest was compared to the leopard. Jua was the nearest to the spotted predator and was the first to be taken away. A blur of motion, stealthy and swift. The only thing we heard was the agonised sound of a crying cub and the snap of a bone. The scent of fresh blood caught my nose as I ran. That scent struck an odd sense of terror in my heart. I thought lions were born kings, I thought we did not know fear, but I guess we do. We ran more, as fast as our little legs could take us. I turned my head to look behind, and I kind of wished I never did. The leopard was much easier to spot as his fur and mouth were covered in Jua's crimson blood. He was running after us again. I thought it would take more time for it to chase us again. I thought it would lose interest after it killed Jua. But the glint of cruelty in its eyes made me confront the truth. It was not hunting us for food; it just wanted to kill every one of us, and wouldn't be satisfied until it did. The instinct to kill a lion cub and reduce the competition for food was the main driving force behind its pursuit. When I faced forward again, I noticed the distance between me and the two other cubs had increased. I cursed under my breath, realising that I was the slowest among us and that I would be the next one to die. At that moment, I was taught a lesson I thought I already knew. It was not always about size and strength in nature. Had survival been based on size, a lot of animals that went extinct wouldn't be gone. My mind worked faster than my legs as I considered what to do. I could try and catch up to Zuri and then trip her so that she would become the next victim. And then what? The leopard would continue its pursuit and still kill me anyway. The pride rock was far enough that the leopard had all the time in the world to kill us. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. ... If I continued running, there was no way of surviving this. Strangely, that conclusion brought a sense of peace and calm back into my heart. I knew then what I had to do. No.. I knew what I wanted to do. "Nala!! Zuri!!" I called them as loudly as I could, "Don't stop running and call the adults as fast as you can!!" "I will fight him!" The instinct of survival was fight or flight. If I couldn't run away, then you better be certain that I would give one hell of a fight. "NOOO! Are you insane Leo!" Nala screamed back. "Just go!!" I said one last time, and then I slowed down. When I came to a stop, Nala and Zuri were already far away. Nala screamed at me but she never stopped; her instincts drove her away even though her heart might want to stay. We were of the same pride, we grew up as siblings, and she was probably the one I was closest to among the cubs. But nature was all about survival. In the face of survival, feelings were nothing. I turned around and then locked eyes with the leopard that was closer than ever before. He came at me like the perfect killing machine that he was. To my senses, he was danger materialised. Death itself seemed to run alongside him. But I stood my ground. Death was not a stranger to me, I've died once before. This was my second life. It was a second chance that I was lucky enough to get. To be completely honest, it was a gift, it was an extra. So the chance of losing it didn't terrify me as much as it did back then. I was supposed to be dead anyway, right? Time seemed to slow down as I hardened my resolve. It was not that I did not fear death, but I had a logical understanding of what was at stake. This extra life, I will fucking fight for it. Even if I lost, it meant I was going to return to zero. There was no loss on my side. That put me in a situation where I was a being with nothing to lose but everything to win. The leopard reached me, his yellow teeth bared in full and then he pounced at me like I was prey. I ignored the instinct to run away, to step back or to dodge. I charged at death. As if I had a chance against a fully grown leopard, as if I were on equal ground with this absolute beast. The leopard expected me to run, it expected me to back away, but what it never expected was for me to also charge at it. The leopard missed me as I ran under him. He crashed on the grass, his claws catching green and his teeth biting dirt. We both recovered fast. I turned around once more and locked eyes with him. This time, the leopard paused, recognising something different about me. An easy prey suddenly turned into a fight, and the predator became cautious because of the sudden change. "What do we have here? Aren't you a brave little one?" the leopard spoke, its voice sounding male. So it was a he. When you show your back to a predator, they would immediately see you as prey and attack you. But when you faced them head-on, it was in their instinct to be cautious. Becuase usually, it meant the prey had something it could harm you with. It meant there must be a reason for the bravery. Not me though, the only thing I had was ginormous balls. Also known as courage. The line between delusion and courage was thin, and at that moment I was at that thin line which separated both. "But I wonder, what makes you so brave?" he asked and then circled around me. I did the same, never showing him an opening behind me. I faced him head-on, and we circled around the grass for a while. He sized me up and down, his predator eyes searching for a threat in me. On the other hand, my mind buzzed with strategy. I was a human once and although we were weak and fragile as shit compared to other animals, we dominated the whole planet. This shows intellect was superior to any other attribute. I hoped I inherited some of that from my past life. I was slower, smaller, weaker and inferior in every physical attribute. But I could plan and strategise better. After a while, he stopped circling around me. His eyes narrowed on me like they did previously, and he bared his sharp teeth at me. After sizing me up, he confirmed that I was not a threat to him. "You almost fooled me," he said and then released a growl that sounded so low and guttural it sent vibrations on the ground. I replied with a growl of my own. Well, I tried to roar but it was a growl that came out. But at that moment, my threat did not shy away from his. Whatever I had to do, I'll survive and protect my gift of life. Fuck everything else. .. .. [IMAGE] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------