Emmanuel_Capricorn
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TLK : Chapter 108
🕑 Added 2025-08-20 17:23:35 +0000 UTC[3rd POV]
(Nala's Journey : 1 month)
It has been a month since Nala ran away from the Pridelands. She took one week to reach the new land called the Serenegti, and she has been wandering in search ever since.
Three weeks. That was how long she had been searching for the king of this land. At this point, she was starting to doubt that the Serenegti had a king at all.
The only thing keeping her persistent was the death of many lions, probably challengers. She would occasionally encounter their remains, mostly bones. She also stumbled upon a marked area once or twice, although she was not sure if it was Leo's or not.
In short, it was hard for the lioness to stay hopeful.
If Leo and his pride had stayed in one place like a normal lion pride, Nala would've found them weeks ago. But since they were a nomadic pride that never stayed in one place for long, Nala and Leo's pride walked around in circles through the Serengeti.
They never crossed each other's past. It was understandable, but also extremely unlucky for Nala.
The only silver lining to the whole thing was that she had been getting more food than she did back home. Although in the dry season, the Serenegti was filled with life.
It was meant to sustain five or more lion prides, but it only supported one. Said lion pride also hunted buffalo most of the time, so the prey animal this year was quite plentiful and Nala was able to catch three for herself. Two antelopes and one zebra.
Strangely enough, Nala rarely encountered a rogue lion or lions after the Jabari siblings and Oba. She met three or four lions, but never interacted with them.
Leo was literally a one-man army. In an unbelievable feat of pridefulness and strength, he was able to keep out challengers in his territory better than the Mbali brothers.
He and his pride moved from place to place, meaning he was exposed to all kinds of challengers. The rouge could not pull the same tricks he pulled agaisnt the Mbali brothers which was living in the unoccpupied parts of the region. Leo made his presence known everywhere.
This ensured that there was a very low population of rogue males in the Serengeti. Even if there were, they would soon die or be chased out of the territory entirely. Leo's eyes in the sky ensured that as well.
Leo did not need to do this. He did not need to go this far to protect his kingdom. Even if he occupied only a quarter of the region, it wouldn't affect him at all.
But such thoughts never even crossed his mind. Nah uh. His pride had blinded him enough that he would not tolerate some other lions living like parasites in his kingdom.
It might not be logical to fight for lands he had no use for but that's exactly what he did. In fact, he was pushing himself beyond his limits to do just that.
It was kind of like how a man would confront a stranger leering at his wife. Logically, he had no reason to start a conflict for that. His gaze did not hurt the wife, nor did the wife even notice she was being looked at. But the man would come forward, or at least do soemthing to stop the stranger. Even though he didn't have to.
It was pride screaming fuck no, I wouldn't let you do that. And although it was not intentional, It was also destroying a bud before it could bloom into anything else.
Maybe the leering could turn into an assault, maybe the rogue lions could grow and rise to challenge him.
Returning back to Nala, even the males she saw or smelled in the distance were on the move. No, it would be more correct to say they were running.
They were running and injured. It didn't take a genius to figure out they probabaly challenged the king and lost. Now they were escaping.
And Nala figured that if she ran the oppsite direction to these lions, she would eventually stumble upon the one whom they were running from.
The king.
Leo.
And after one week of applying this strategy, Nala finally found the king she was looking for. She didn't see him, but she heard him.
*ROAR!!*
A roar made her freeze. The last time that happened, she was four months old, and it was the roar of Mufasa in his prime.
It was a massive roar, a terrible roar.
All the roars she has ever heard in her life combined wouldn't be as loud. It numbed her ears and rattled her brain.
Yet she didn't make a single move. Nature's oldest survival instinct was fight or flight. But there was something beyond that. When the danger passed a certain threshold, life just freeze.
And that danger was the most dominant living predator on the continent.
The sheer vibration of the roar seemed to shake up the world. All animals stopped and looked towards the sky with fear and respect. The birds flew and cried, and the vultures flapped their large wings in excitement.
Nala did not have to be told anything. She knew that that was the roar of a king. There was no doubt, no question. Who but a king could make such sounds?
Scar was so insignificant compared to that.
When it felt like the sky was starting to fall, the roar subsided. There was a deep silence afterwards but the quiet bore the mark of the king now. It was incredible how silence could remind the heart of someone, something. The roar stopped physically but for many, it continued in their mind.
Nala shook her head and a wave of goosebumps washed over her. Her fur puffed out in excitment and a smile stretched her youtful face.
She ran immediately towards the source of the sound.
But as she ran, she quickly realised that the lion was further away than expected. She ran until she couldn't anymore, and then she jogged lightly, conserving her energy while still remaining quick.
She reached the location in ten minutes or so. But by that point, the place was already empty.
No, not empty.
"......"
Nala was left speechless when she looked upon the swarm of vultures that were in the middle of eating two lion carcasses. They died pretty recently from the smell of fresh blood.
She looked around at the ploughed earth and destroyed logs. She immediately understood that a fight had just taken place and the roar she heard before was probably a roar of victory.
She gagged and held back vomit when one particular vulture dug into the inside of the lion through the back door and pulled out a rope of intestine. She'd witnessed lions similarly tearing at their prey but to see the same thing happening to a lion was quite a gory scene for the girl.
"So that's why I only see bones," she said while forcing herself to look at the vultures, "You ate them all,"
Some of the vultures turned to her and screamed as if to protect their food from her. She finally allowed herself to look away.
She was starting to question if it would be a good idea to see the king, even if it turned out to be Leo. He must be so different now. There was probably no more resemblance to the cub she knew and the lion he was now.
She studied her surroundings for a moment before heading towards the direction that she guessed Leo had probably gone.
She wandered in the vicinity after that. She never actually moved far from the location, fearing that she might be going to the oppiste direction and lose the only clue she had after almost three months of searching.
She walked around nervously through noon and when afternoon came, her sielnt prayers had been answered because she caught a scent.
It was a very intense smell, not in a bad way but not necessarily in a good way either. It smelled like three lions put together, but the scent was only one. There was also a whiff of estrogen and femininity, but those were clinging to the original scent more than anything.
Nala's ears perked up after that. She stands on her hind legs briefly to search for the sound. But it was eeriely silent.
She showed her teeth in a grimace, using the organ at the roof of her mouth and not just her nose to analyse the scent.
"He found me first," Nala concluded.
The lion was able to smell out her scent first, and he was now heading towards her. But strangely enough, he did not come directly to her. Instead, he was circling around her, trying to flank her from her blind spot.
Nala had no idea why he would do that but that's what her nose was telling her and they were rarely wrong.
Nala did not like that one bit.
She narrowed her eyes and began moving. She was not moving away but she was walking in an angle so that the lion could not flank her position. Both of them were moving towards each other but not in a straight line.
Eventually, their movement led them to a rocky hill. Nala decided to take a position there and she chose a perfect spot at the bottom of the hill. It was a small clearing that had no trees growing because of the occasional rock slide that destroyed an trees that grow there.
But beyond that small clearing was a cluster of trees that were nearly dry but not fully. It was still enough for camouflage, but the clearing around the bottom of the hill made it so that when someone stepped out from that treeline, they would be fully revealed.
Nala crouched down there, eyes and posture facing forward. The hill was behind her and around her, so she did not need to fear flanking from the blind spots.
She was pretty sure the lion would be Leo but she was not 'willing to put her life on the line' sure.
She waited for a few minutes, and then the silence announced his presence. It was like in the movies, when there is someone dangerous hiding, it suddenly gets quiet. It is done mainly for the drama.
But for the lion, it was very real. The birds that made nests in the trees, the snakes hiding in the bushes, the insects calling for a mate and even the squirrels running in the branches.
All of them became silent in the presence of the lion. The quiet might as well be a declaration at this point.
And then, he stepped out from the silence.
The scene stole the air from her lungs. The stories she'd heard coming here about how big the lion was, all of them were false.
He was so much bigger.
Weighing at around 380 kilograms, Leo was officially the biggest lion that ever existed in recorded history. His frame was built for power, with broad shoulders, a powerful chest and four muscular limbs that commanded the strength of four lions.
His perfectly designed frame was filled with muscle and necessary fats. His loose skin, which was designed to endure teeth and claws, prevented him from looking like a freak of nature. But when he moved and those skin stretched, it would reveal the supernatural build Leo had beneath all the loose hide.
His mane was drenched in black, his biology hinting at his high level of testosterone. His mane was so thick that it made his head look ginormous. It framed his deadly face, which had countless scars when looked at carefully.
But those scars were faint, as if they were not worthy to truly leave a mark on him. His face was stoic, expression unmoving, like they were carved from stone. But that gave the stage for his eyes to shine.
His eyes, the colour of the sun, yellow that bleeds orange, were the most expressive eyes she'd ever seen. They were intense, and they seemed to possess the power to communicate with a gaze.
So even before he could speak, Nala realised two things. No three.
He meant no harm. He was only curious, even though his posture was always ready to end a fight.
He was unquestionably the king. He looked at the world like someone looking at the audience from a higher stage.
He did not recognise her.
"Have the rouges gotten so audacious as to start their own pride in my kingdom?" he asked. He was trying to sound kind, although failing in her ears.
"Who are you?" he asked and then cricled.
Right then, Nala finally caught a glimpse of a short tail that all but confirmed that the lion in front of him was Leo. The short tail had grown perfectly to match his build; it no longer looked awkward on his lion frame.
Instead, it looked like it was always meant to be that way and that he was not defromed.
"Haaah~" She released a loud sigh, and then she laughed in a whisper. It was more like half a laugh.
She felt her knees going weak, her heart overflowing with joy and relief. But she did not know how to translate those into action or words.
"Lioness, I am being nice, but I won't be for long if you laugh at me," he said.
"Sorry, I couldn't help it," she said, "It's just... It's been a long time. And you have grown so much while we only grew a bit,"
The look in her eyes, the familiarity in her voice. The way her shoulders relaxed even though Leo was trying to be more intimidating after the intial laugh. All of them finally jogged his memory.
He couldn't be blamed for not remembering her. After all, even Simba did not recognise her and fought her before she pulled out their childhood wrestling move. And only then did they recognise each other.
"Oh..." Leo blinked owlishly.
Nala laughed at how expressive his eyes were, even though he had not changed his expression.
Leo would never forget or not recognise his Zuri, so that left only one other lionessess.
'Mom?'
Kidding.
"Hi, Nala," he said at last.
"Hey Leo," she replied.
"It's....It's been a long time," he said again.
"That's what I said," she replied again.
Leo swallowed. But before the silence got awkward, he took a soft step towards her. That was all Nala needed to launch herself at him like she would do to her prey.
Leo nearly blew her head with a swipe on instinct, but held back just in time. Nala tackled him into a hug, but Leo did not budge.
So in a funny sequence, he intentionally fell on his back way after she tackled him. That caused her to laugh out loud, her body never touching the ground again as he was wide enough to hold all of her.
His arms wrapped around her and he gave her licks on her head. She laughed, which also turned into a sob as she buried herself in his embrace and cried.
A lion, especially a lioness, was never meant to wander alone for a month. So all that isolation, she poured it out into his familiar warmth.
"I missed you," she said. And godamn was his giant presence quick to fill up the empty spaces in her heart.
"I can see that," Leo said and then patted her back, "Good job, you found me."
He could guess why she was here already. And while he wanted to feel the reunion wholeheartedly, a worry was born in his heart immediately.
What changed from the canon story so much that Nala would come looking for him this early?
He pushed those thoughts away as much as he could and focused on giving solace to the lioness that fought so hard until now.
..
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Author : This might not be as clean but it's long so I don't wanna edit all. I feel like I am taking things too slowly so I will quicken the plot progression from next chapter. Details are alwasy better but my writing speed doesn't afford so much detail.
I feel like we have been in this strange arc for ages now so lets really push forward to exciting parts.
Comments
CliffsGreat'sSeed
When's the next ch
Ursine
MAS CAPS PORFAVOR ❤️🙏
Isabel Guillermo R.
The documentary, that point of view is essential to see everything from another perspective, please don't leave it.
Emmanuel_Capricorn
They will take it. And that will develop into another plot and the next arc lol. I think I'm spoiling too much.
The_Jonbergdahl
But i have a question before you said leo and the pride will leave for the pridelands and then come back but how will he just leave his land and come back because if he leave will not other lions take over the land when he is gone?
The_Jonbergdahl
Please post the next chapter today
Elle
Well technically they’re not wrong. They’re half siblings😅🤷🏻♀️
Ozerist
Great chapter
LucasZ
Man, that was cute, now I'm curious about two things, the reaction of the lionesses in the pride seeing Leo arrive with a "foreigner" and them acting so friendly at first, and the researchers witnessing this meeting between the two and how long it will take for them to understand that they are "relatives"
THEBADger
First. love the chapter and I’m looking forward for more
