Chapter 9 9: No more scraps

[1st POV] The walk of shame. Nala returned to the pride with a walk of shame. It was late in the afternoon, that exact moment where daylight fought with night. The result was an orange sky and a sun that was slowly turning blood red. The adults immediately started scolding her for what she did. Her mother in particular seemed equally concerned and pissed at her daughter's actions. After she got an earful, she made her way toward me. I was sitting on a dead log from a fallen tree. I was not too far away from the pride, but I was not too close either. Unbothered but I could still see what's going on. "Hi Leo," Nala greeted me. "Hello Nala," I greeted her back with a grin. "You don't look like you had a pleasant adventure." "It was a disaster. I knew following Simba would get me in trouble sooner or later," she said. "I thought you'd learn not to break the rules after what happened last time," I said. "So tell me, what happened?" She walked in front of me and sat down like an obedient housecat before she explained. "Simba and I went to the elephant graveyard. It's somewhere beyond the northern borders. It was cool at first, but then the hyenas came and tried to kill us," she said with a sigh. "Hyenas are scavengers, so it makes sense why they would be in an elephant graveyard. It must be heaven for them," I said thoughtfully. "Yeah, we really should've thought it through before we went there. But luckily, the King arrived not long after and chased away the hyenas," she said, her ears perked up at the mention of Mufasa. "The King is so awesome." She paused, and then her eyes became cloudy as she dreamed about the King. Mufasa really had so much aura, he was already pulling the young Nala. I chuckled seeing that. She shook her head. "I heard that you were the one who asked the King to come save us. Thank you for that, Leo. I don't know what would've happened otherwise." "Well, I'd probably be dead," she added afterward. "The King was the one to save you, I barely did anything, so he should be the one to thank," I said. "Anyways, where's Zuri?" Nala asked, changing the topic quickly. I looked at her weirdly. "How should I know that?" "Oh come on, she's always beside you even when you're a jerk," Nala said. "So? Where is she?" "....She followed the hunters today. Her mother said they're hunting zebras and she wanted to see it," I said. If it's not buffalo, two or three lionesses are enough to hunt down prey. Prey animals were abundant in the Pride Lands, so it was easy enough for the lionesses to take turns hunting for the pride. "Zebras!? I should've gone with her instead of Simba. Why didn't she invite me?" Nala whined dramatically. Hunting a zebra was one of the most difficult things to do as the herd could be massive and they all looked the same. Locking onto one zebra could be difficult when they ran in groups, which often led to failure. To young cubs like us, seeing the hunters take them down was a sight to behold—one that we imprinted into our minds forever. Nala and I hung around for a while. When the sun finally set on the horizon and the world settled into darkness, we heard a roar. It was the roar of a successful hunt. "They got it!!" Nala screamed when she heard the roar of the hunters and immediately ran toward the sound. "Come on Leo! I wanna see it!" she said while turning her head. "I'm coming," I said, but I was not in a hurry like her. She quickly disappeared from my sight while I followed behind at a good pace. In the meantime, I was enjoying my night vision. It felt super weird yet natural at the same time for me. I saw the other members of the pride going toward the hunters as well. It was often difficult to bring home prey when it was killed far away, so calling the rest of the pride for a meal was often easier. Mufasa and Simba also came down from Pride Rock. The two looked like a proper father-son duo as they laughed with each other. Mufasa carried Simba on his thick mane, and they went toward the kill together. I wouldn't say I was not jealous because, truthfully, I was jealous of their relationship. My past life was the only reason why my jealousy wasn't an issue. It was not fair how Simba was treated better even though we were twins. But that was just how things were. If Mufasa cared for every offspring, that would include all the cubs. Even Nala and Zuri were his daughters. So the King simply chose one cub to call his son and loved him like so. I was born later than Simba, so I was not the lucky one. But looking at it from another perspective, I was lucky I didn't share a deep bond with a king who was dying soon. The world was unfair, but it was fair because it's unfair to everyone. I was the last to reach the meal. The other adults were already feasting on the zebra when I got there. Meanwhile the other cubs stayed right behind, waiting for their turn. "You finally got here, Leo," Zuri welcomed me with the closest thing a lion could give to a bright smile. "Hey Leo." "Hi." The cubs greeted me warmly with respect when I got there. But I did not greet them back, I simply walked past them and went toward the meal. Immediately I got growls from the adults, but I didn't give a fuck. What happened today was a warning. The canon had started and I had a very rough future ahead. I was just a cub, there was very little I could do. Mufasa would die, Simba would run away, and Scar would take over the pride. Then the hyenas would become a part of us through Scar, and then there was also the upcoming drought. I needed to grow faster. I needed to eat more. I wouldn't accept living on scraps anymore. "Go away cub!" one of the older lionesses growled out. I was not dumb enough to take a bite near Mufasa or the stronger lionesses. I picked my position near the older lionesses who were at the bottom of the hierarchy. "Fat chance. Move granny!!" I said and went into the crowd of hungry lions. Immediately I was met with resistance. The adults tried to push me away with their bodies, but I was two times heavier than the other cubs, so I was not easily ragdolled. On the other hand, I was small enough to easily slip between them, and sure enough, I got access to the meat after pushing through the hungry beasts. With great fervor and newfound hunger at the smell of meat, I began tearing away at the zebra and started eating. The adults continued growling at me and when I refused to back down, they bit. One of the lions opened her bloody jaw and tried to bite me at the side of my head. I retracted my ears and bore the assault. Of course no one truly wanted to hurt me—it was just a warning. A warning I refused to listen to. When she pulled away, I bit back at the loose skin of her lips. She whined and pulled away from the pain and did not bother me again. The feeding slowly became even more intense as the portion got smaller. The angry adults tore at the meat faster than ever before. I competed with them. I was smaller and weaker but I was rubbing shoulder with them through sheer guts. I was often pushed aside rather easily but I never backed away. After getting up ten or twenty times, the adults gave up and I won my right to feast with them. Perhaps it was the illusion of victory, but it was one of the best meals I'd had yet. There was something raw and primal about feeding like this. I was wrong in my previous assessment—it was not just about eating or displaying the hierarchy. It was just brutal. Strangely enough, it was bonding too. "You little rascal!" one of the lionesses screamed at me. She tore a huge chunk of meat off the bone with great difficulty, but I stole it straight from her jaw. Some of the meat was a little too tough for my young teeth, so I had to get creative. She bit me at my scruff and pinned me on the ground. I struggled fiercely but she overpowered me. But in the end, she couldn't waste time with me and continued eating. I got up and shrugged off the pain before I continued eating as well. I was growing up to be the baddest beast ever. ... ... ... [IMAGE] ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Join my patreon to read ahead of the story. Patreon : Emmanuel_Capricorn