[1st POV]
mories flood through my mind and sweep back into the past.
mories I thought no longer held power over , sensations I thought were long forgotten and feelings I thought I left behind. They all returned like a tide and reeled back to where I belonged.
Suddenly, I was no longer king of the Serengeti nor was I the biggest lion in recorded history. I was only a cub standing on the Pride Rocks, greeting the world like I knew what was ahead and that I was ready, even though I had no idea.
It's scary how powerful the mind is. I vividly felt all my senses, all those textures and the taste of the world. It all ca back to .
Standing in front of was Nala, a dear friend from my childhood. But she was more than that in this mont. She was a piece of my true ho. A reminder that I was nearly not as done as I thought I was.
I took a step towards her, and she took all the distance between us. She lunged at and her whole body embraced mine.
She might be the first to find success in tackling to the ground. I did not have ti to care about any of that as I returned her hug. She was small, way smaller than I rebere. She fit snugly between my arms.
I took in her scent that was equally familiar and enticing to . Oh, she had grown, she had really grown.
"I missed you," she said.
'I miss you.' I wanted to say back.
I did not miss her before. Heck, I nearly forgot her existence entirely. It was only when we t again, when she was in my embrace, that I realised how much I missed her.
How much I missed ho.
The Serenegti was nice and all but the mories I had of this land were only that of hardships and challenges. It ant a lot to because I had earned it, not because it was ho. I did not belong to this land, the land belonged to . And there was a difference between the two.
"I can see that," I replied instead. My mind quickly ca to conclude that, unlike the canon story, she found instead of Simba and much earlier.
"Good job, you found ," I said when I sensed her tiredness through the embrace. She must've searched for . A lot.
Whatever the reason was for her search, she could consider it done.
"I can't believe it. It really was you the whole ti," she said, and her tone had a smile.
I raised an eyebrow, sensing there was so context that I was missing. But I didn't ask her anything. I just let her live the mont as she wished. Not to say I wasn't enjoying the reunion hug either.
A whole minute passed as we remained in our position. But eventually, Nala wiggled around on my chest and her eyes looked up at . She blinked clearly once and twice. Her blinks were very noticeable due to the long lashes and the erald in her eyes, which I hadn't seen in any other lion before or since.
"What?" I asked her with a tilt while lying on my back.
"Nothing, it's just that you've grown so much, but you're still the sa Leo," she said.
"You haven't changed at all. It's just everything got bigger and intensified," she added.
I chuckled at her remark, oddly finding comfort in her observation of . Yes, even though a lot has happened, I was still .
"I don't think I can say the sa for you. After all, I didn't recognise you at all," I said.
She chuckled too and slowly pulled away from . I could tell from her hesitation that she didn't want to stop the physical contact but her mind no longer found it appropriate to do so.
We stood up together. I noticed imdiately that I was towering over her. She was very lean, bordering on thin. She was definitely much smaller than the females from my pride.
Although if one took a glance, Nala would look like their size. This was because Nala, as I noticed, had a very nice fra on her. She was longer and taller than most females, with model legs that carried her with a noticeable charm that others didn't have.
She would look very nice and would be much bigger than the lionessess in my pride if she put on so at.
Before things got awkward, Grim flew down and landed between us. Both of us turned to him. Nala was surprised and initially, she got ready to pounce. But she relaxed when she saw unmoving.
"I assu you know each other, my Lord?" he asked.
I nodded, "Yes, Grim. That is Nala, a lion with whom I shared a pride when I was a cub."
"I see, so you are old friends," Grim said and gave an up and down look at Nala before nodding.
"A pleasure to make your acquintance, Nala, old friend of King Leo. Grim the vulture at your service," he said with a respectful bow.
I nearly burst out laughing. Indeed, I was the one who taught him how to introduce himself in such a distinguished manner. What can I say, my bird never disappoint.
"Wow, you have your own Zazu?!" Nala said in wonder while turning to .
I shrugged, "He is better than Zazu,"
Grim was pleased with my reply, maybe too pleased, "You heard him. 'Better than Zazu.' In a way, you could say Zuzu is like instead. Considering I am at the higher pedestal of greatness,"
"Cool," Nala smiled.
She walked around the vulture while observing him in wonder. anwhile, Grim was posing like so kind of model to be idolised. His chest feathers puffed out till his neck and his breasts ca up in a huff.
"You look hungry, Nala, let's get you sothing to eat first and then you can tell exactly what happened to you," I said and then eyed Grim, "You know what to do,"
"Always," Grim said and then took off into the sky. It was late in the afternoon and the sun would set soon, but I did not care about that.
The pride could wait for one night. I had an old friend to catch up with.
"Follow ," I said and so we both set out towards the nearest buffalo heard under Grim's guidance.
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If this were a Disney movie, we would be singing and shit like Simba did with her in the story. Her company felt extrely refreshing. The females of my pride did not have the sa effect on .
It felt genuine, for lack of better words. It felt real.
It was because I had to earn my relationships with my current females, anwhile my bond with Nala seed natural. I suppose it was similar to how a rich man would feel. The new friends he attracted due to his wealth compared to his childhood friends, when he had nothing.
After living for nearly half a year with the pride and dignity of a king, she was able to bring out the childishness in that I thought was no longer there. She leapt on from behind, trying to take down like so kind of buffalo.
She ran and I chased her. It was a reminiscence of my childhood. I rember never being able to catch her due to the bulk I had as a cub. It was the only victory she had over and she used to keep reminding of that.
Grim flew above us, guiding us to the nearest buffalo herd. But he had to make circles in the sky multiple tis because both Nala and I were easily distracted.
I showed her around the Serengeti, pointing out the difference between here and the Pridelands. Unfortunately, it was the dry season and there was not much to see. But you'd never guess that with how intrigued and interested Nala was to everything I showed her.
After weeks of searching nonstop, she never got ti to appreciate her new environnt. So she was glad to finally discover everything beside . Those were her words.
I shared her emotion; it felt like my first ti touring the Serenegti even though I had patrolled this land more than a hundred tis. It really brought back the adventurous side in , the young cub that went out day and night to discover every inch of the Pridelands.
"What?! How is it possible that you are faster than now even though you are much heavier?" Nala asked in genuine concern when I caught up to her in every chase.
Although I denied it, I was a chubby little cub when I was a cub and in my earlier youth. So that slowed down. But now, my bulk was mostly just functional muscle so of course I was faster than her. Maybe if it were a long distance, I would lose, but in any other races, my sheer acceleration vastly surpassed hers.
"Am i faster? I feel like its you who just got slower over the years," I teased her.
"Don't be so smug," she growled with no teeth. "I bet I can climb trees better than you now since you got so ridiculously huge,"
"Is that a challenge?" I asked while moving my face close to hers.
"Is it?" she asked back.
We stared at each other for a few seconds before we turned towards the nearest tree in synch.
And so the climbing competition began randomly in the middle of the hunt. I'll say this only once but I lost the challenge. Not because I was a worse climber, though, the branch snapped, unable to support my weight.
Nala had her laugh, and I had my grumble as I rubbed the place where I fell. Being so heavy ant you fell harder than most.
Due to shinnegans such as that, it took us hours until we reached the herd of buffalo. It was already dark and the only sources of light were the stars and a half moon in the sky.
It was early in the night so the buffaloes did not sleep yet. But they were laying down and getting ready to do so.
Nala and I were completely silent even though we were all noise previously. I abandoned the jolly feeling I had monts ago and shifted into full predator mode. My mind was only focused on the hunt and my prey.
"Those are buffalo," Nala whispered to my side, her voice sounded concerned and a little down.
"Yes," I said, obviously.
"So how are we going to do this?" she asked.
I turned to her, "You don't have to do anything, just watch."
And then I stood up from the thin grass where we were hiding. The buffalo had bad eyesight already and were compeltley blind in the dark so no one reacted.
I cracked my neck and then shot out like a living cannon. A roar escaped my chest in a shattering explosion afterwards. The buffalo that could not see , now knew exactly what was coming after them.
It was a lion attack.
But contrary to what Nala was expecting and even what their own biology was expecting, the buffaloes bellowed loudly, stood up, and then ran.
Often considered the most aggressive animal in the savannah with the biggest kill count, a year of my constant hunting and slaughter had changed them in ways that nature could not. When they saw or heard , their instinct was not to fight anymore.
It was to run.
Just run.
The small herd scattered imdiately. It was nightti so they could not see each other. In panic, they went in all directions.
I could've taken advantage of this and gone after the easier mbers. The mothers, maybe the juveniles. But how could I do such a thing with a lioness watching ? I made a beeline for the biggest bachelor.
I rushed past all the other buffalo and targeted him.
Seven seconds was all it took to be right behind my prey. I did not lunged just yet and simply observed the rhythm of his sprint. I counted the beat of each giant step and tid my attacked accurately.
Right when the bull was about to plant his hind hooves on the ground, I lunged forward. But unlike anything people would expect from a lion, I did not attack up. I did not jump on the back of the buffalo.
Instead, I strike at his legs. My jaw snapped shut on the right of his hind legs, right above his hoves. The pressure of his own weight and the bite force of my jaw which was enough to crack bones, made sure the bone snapped all the way.
The bull bellowed a cry of desperation as it fell a mighty fall on the ground. His own montum worked against him when he hit the ground as his body scraped the earth for a few tres.
I was imdiately on top of the bull. While he was disoriented and dizzy, my jaw found his neck and my fangs invaded his vitals.
The aim was to suffocate the buffalo, not to kill it with a bite. So instead of tearing, I focused my whole effort on clamping down hard. I was biting like a crocodile.
The clamping of my jaw pinched his windpipe and clogged the main artery in his neck. Air and oxygen were cut off from his brain and he could not even make a sound.
Buffaloes were powerful beasts, but at death's door, they beca monstrously strong. He struggled fiercely and the ground itself buckled under his resistance but I remained an unmoving mountain above him.
He was strong but I was strong too. I t his power head-on. Gravity was on my side, giving the edge I need to keep the buffalo in place.
My right claw punctured his inner chest. The hide was soft enough to latch on and I used that to control him. I tugged at his body, making sure he was on his back more than he was on his side. That made him equivalent to a turtle on its back shell. He helplessly waved his limbs around wildly.
My left claw, on the other hand, raked at his nose. My huge paw could cover his snout entirely and that made sure he could not take a single breath of air.
The ground stirred up into smoke as his struggle beca fiercer every second he got closer to death. His long and curved horns got multiple tis but the force of his head movent alone was not enough to do harm to .
After thirty seconds of violence, the buffalo passed out. He was not dead but passed out, his brain lacking oxygen and blood.
What I just did was akin to choking out soone for humans.
Finally, my jaw began tearing at his neck. I pulled back and forth multiple tis but I still could not tear out a chunk of flesh; that was how tough the skin was.
But the damage was done. His arteries were torn and he began bleeding out. That would ensure he never woke up from his unconscious state.
I pulled back and panted afterwards. I took a second to admire my work. After probably killing hundreds of buffalo, I was now a master of my craft.
A proper giant slayer. Could I still be called with that title when I was a giant myself now?
I turned towards Nala after that. I saw that she had followed in my chase but did not intervene; she probably didn't even know how to.
She stayed ten tres away from , her head peeking out from the tall yellow grass.
The reaction she had was exactly what I wanted. I felt my pride swelling even bigger.
"Co on, Nala, dinner is served." I said.
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