Chapter 6 6: To earn the right to live

[1st POV] The leopard lunged at me and crossed the distance between us in a heartbeat. He was a living missile of pure muscle and fang. I was under no illusion that I could dodge him or suppress him. Being bitten was an unavoidable fate, but if that was the case, I decided where I wanted to be bitten. I charged forward and lowered my head. I offered my scruff, which was the back of my neck. The leopard saw that perfect opening and clamped down his jaw immediately. It was a vital spot for any other animals but for a lion cub, the scruff was meant to be bitten. It was loose skin with barely any pain receptors so that our mother could carry us. But even then, a sharp stinging pain shot through my spine. I felt canines sink into my skin and tug harshly to tear a chunk away. Although the leopard held me by the scruff, the loose skin allowed me just enough movement to fight back. I twisted my head and then bit the leopard by the neck. My teeth clamped down on thick fur and thicker hide which made it almost impossible for me to penetrate. But I gave it my best shot. I flexed my hind legs and started pulling back as hard as I could. The leopard tried to use his claws, but since I was pulling back, he had to use his front limbs to hold himself. With that, I neutralized his two greatest weapons, his jaw and his claws. We continued pulling fiercely at each other, but then the leopard got fed up and increased his effort. He tightened his hold on my scruff and began thrashing me violently. I felt a sickening tear in my skin and the place where he bit started to feel wet. The leopard seemed to be motivated by the taste of my blood as he became more violent. He allowed me to drag him backwards, and his paws came up. His claws made a clear line on my skin as I tried my best to inflict the same damage. But my juvenile weapons were not a match for his defences. Leopards might be predators, but they also evolved to fight against other leopards. Unfortunately, a lion cub was just a weaker leopard. I felt him release his bite for a moment to readjust as I dragged him backwards. I took that opening to the fullest and whipped my head upwards. I bit at his most sensitive part. His nose. My canines tore into his wet velvety nose, and he was alarmed immediately. His body instinctively tried to back away, a big mistake as I had already sunk my teeth into his soft tissue. He ripped his own nose from pulling away. The leopard released a howl of pure agony and then he thrashed around violently on the ground. It must have hurt like a bitch from the way he was reacting. "Pussy," I said while spitting out a small part of his bleeding nose. I turned around and started running back to the tree where we had found the stored meat. My main goal was to survive, but in case I didn't, I wanted to make sure I was the only one dead. The pain stopped the enemy only for a few seconds before he came right for me again. This time, he was really pissed off. He released guttural sounds like he was choking on his own anger. I did not even make it halfway to the tree before he caught up to me. I saw a big rock in the grass, and I jumped up on it, claiming the high ground. I turned around, but I was already greeted by rows of yellow teeth. The leopard lunged at me, I could see the deepest part of his throat as his open maw slowly enclosed my head. Time seemed to slow down just enough for me to realize I fucked up. And then a blur. My body was rag-dolled from the rock and we crashed on solid ground. The leopard moved so quickly and violently that I had no time to think. The only thing that saved me was my instinct as I covered my vitals. I tucked my head and lay on my back, taking the natural position that all creatures take when faced with a stronger foe. The elder brother would often see this technique being pulled by their younger brother. The endless play-fighting between the cubs bore fruit as I executed the next move almost naturally like it was part of my primal instinct. I pushed the leopard with my hind legs, throwing him over my head to roll away. He was lunging for my neck, so his own momentum threw him off to the front. I recovered fast and then ran towards the tree again. This time, a genuine strategy formed in my mind. The last move gave me an idea. What happened next was like a battle between prey and predator. The leopard, driven by instinct, always went for my vitals, so he was easy to predict. I could tell that he was not an experienced leopard. The better way was to bite my legs and slowly drag me down instead of aiming for my vitals immediately. He would pounce for my head and spine, and I would roll on the ground and throw him to the side using his own momentum. The chase went like that for a while as we slowly got closer and closer to the tree. I felt the leopard swing at my legs from behind as I ran. I've seen lions do this, too, while chasing after prey. The aim was to throw off my balance and trip me. But I was no damn deer. Cats were one of the most coordinated animals on the planet, and I had been training. So I easily caught myself halfway into the fall and continued running. Alas, the enemy wanted me dead as much as I wanted to live. A scream, a genuine scream of pain, left my throat as the leopard gnawed down on my tail. I felt my feet wobble from pure agony which only increased as the leopard planted his paws on the ground to pull me to a stop. I tried to wiggle my tail out of his jaw, but he bit me at the very base of my tail. I couldn't do anything, so I came to a stop, much to his glee. I felt claws latch onto my skin as he pulled me towards him. I bent my body and tried to hit him back but to no avail. He bit me at the base of my tail, so I couldn't turn enough to fight back. My mind was abuzz with thoughts as I was being slowly pulled down. I reminded myself that my only goal was to survive, fuck everything else. "Ahhhhhhh!!!" I screamed as I put power on my hind legs once more. I used every bit of strength I had to run away from his sharp grasp. The enemy tightened his jaw and also pulled back to match my strength. And then what I expected happened. A crush of bone, a snap of tendons and a tear of muscles. The tail is one of the most sensitive parts of a lion. It helped us balance our movement, make sharp turns, and distribute our weight. So when such an important part came off my body, it was the same as losing a limb. I bolted out and almost fell. The importance of my tail was made evident almost immediately as I couldn't run as fast or as stable without my tail. But it only took a few moments for me to adjust. Blood marked my trail as I ran. The leopard was still busy with my tail, so I had enough time to reach the tree way before he did. At first, I struggled to climb the tree. I fell more than twice, but I persisted and eventually reached the top. It was a tall tree, and by the time I reached the branches, the leopard had already reached the same tree. And I kid you not when I said the cat with spotted fur literally ran up the tree. But that didn't matter to me anymore as I leapt down at the leopard. The giant cat was in the middle of climbing, so he had no way to dodge or block. His four limbs were busy hanging onto the trunk of the tree. My claws found his face. My right paw missed its mark, but my left paw managed to gouge out his eyeball. Blood immediately came out of the eyehole along with an eyeball. The leopard howled in pain and we both fell from the tree. If I couldn't damage him because of his thick hide, I would just let gravity do the job of breaking his bones. I recalled the talk I had with Nala back in Pride Rock, I wouldn't die even if we fell from a height because I would use her as a cushion. Being the one currently undisturbed by a fresh wound, I was able to manoeuvre during the fall and landed on top of the leopard. A deep thud resounded as the leopard hit the ground. I heard the sound of broken ribs and cracked bones, much to my utter delight. The leopard lay on his back and thrashed around rapidly from the pain. I jumped off his body and then lunged at him to attack. I aimed for his vitals. He instinctively covered his neck and soft belly but that was fine. They were not the vitals I was aiming for. Instead, my jaw went towards his lower end. My eyes locked on his balls. I couldn't give a fuck about what those balls entailed. The only thing I knew was that it would hurt as shit and that it was one of the few body parts that I could tear with my canines. So I gobbled those balls and chewed them between my teeth. They were even softer than expected as I bit right through them. This time, the sound released was the most pained. The leopard quickly got up and then tore off his own balls in my jaw as he ran away. His testicles hung and dragged behind him as he fled. I barely stood upright as I watched him run away. I felt something build up inside my chest as I watched the defeated enemy. Surprisingly, it was not joy, it was not relief and neither was it anger. It was... It was Pride. I felt pride like I had never felt before. It was raw, it was undeniable, it was Mine. The feeling overwhelmed every pain, every ache and fatigue. I planted my paws on the ground and released a sound from the deepest pits of my stomach. ROAR!! My first, proper fucking roar. I couldn't even release another one as adrenaline began slowing down. But I imagined my roar echoing in the air. ... But I couldn't rest just yet. I saw at the very end of my vision, the leopard stopping and turning around. He didn't return, he dared not return. But he was there, waiting. 'Waiting for what?' I asked myself before I noticed a pool of blood under my paws. The blood was mine. I didn't even realise it but I had suffered many injuries during the short battle. I didn't even feel it when the leopard was chasing me, but my body was cut open so much that I was completely drenched in red. Every time the leopard pounced at me I thought I threw him off me, but it was not that simple. His claws had been cutting open my skin, his teeth always leaving a mark. In every interaction, I always left with a wound. I looked like I could collapse at any moment. And I felt much worse than I looked. The leopard did not want to fight, but he was waiting to see me fall. Perhaps he wanted to finish me to get revenge for the nasty injuries I left him with. Maybe he just wanted to see me suffer like he was. "Coward," I mumbled and started moving towards the leopard again. I was acting like I still had a fight left in me. When you are weak, fake strength. The leopard, being scared enough, also moved back the same distance I moved forward. I stopped when I felt like my legs would break at the next step and stood my ground. I did not collapse for a minute that felt like an eternity. And then my saviour came in the air. It was faint and far away, but I could hear a roar in the distance. The leopard heard it too. He would not be able to escape with his injuries if he waited longer, so he started retreating once more. "I remember your scent!" I shouted at his back with all my remaining energy. "If you survive that, I'll see you in a year." It was a promise. By that point, I would be big and strong enough to overpower him the same way he did to me. And then I would finish this battle. He disappeared from my vision and I finally lay on the ground and waited for my parents to come. I couldn't pass out though, lest they would abandon me, thinking I was dead with all my injuries. .. .. .. [IMAGE] Six month old cub = 15-25 kg Young adult Leopard = 30-62 kg Don't forget to vote stones. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------