Emmanuel_Capricorn
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TLK : Chapter 15
🕑 Added 2025-05-08 19:10:36 +0000 UTC[1st POV]
I adapted fast to the new king and easily bent the knee. On the other hand, it took over a month until the rest of the pride completely submitted to Scar.
It was a slow collapse. I was glad that I left early because a whole month was a big portion of a lion's relatively short lifespan. I'd have wasted that for nothing if I followed my mother.
Finally, things were settling, and our new way of life was starting to become stable. A few of the lionesses even gave themselves to Scar, and the king was in full mating mode to create his bloodline.
You could say he was distracted for the time being, and that gave me the time and freedom I needed to grow stronger.
The hyenas grew bolder. They wandered through Pride Rock like they owned the place, laughing with open jaws and brushing shoulders with those who once hunted them like prey. They pushed boundaries. Sometimes they tried to play with Nala and Zuri or even nip at the lionesses to provoke a reaction.
Scar kept them in check, but barely. It was enough to keep order, but not enough to offer dignity to the pride.
As for me, I kept to myself. After the struggle had passed, Scar's rule proved to be quite beneficial for me. Unlike Mufasa, who respected all animals and preached the circle of life, Scar told us that everything was for the strong to take.
That meant we always had food on the table. We had more food than we could eat. This was extremely good for me, and the change in diet was quick to show even after only a month.
At the same time, I also changed things about myself. I was not just eating and sleeping to grow anymore. I was training and exploring whenever I had the chance.
Coupled with the fact that I had freedom,I was allowed to realize and grow to my full potential.
Let's talk more about my training. The concept of training itself was unthinkable for any animal in the world. Why the heck would anyone tire themselves out and do unnecessary labor? The focus of every animal was simply to survive and thrive.
But I could see beyond that, especially when life was so easy under Scar's rule. I trained my body in all imaginable ways. I would climb trees over and over again, jump on top of rocks, or run miles upon miles for no real reason to an outsiders perspective.
Only I knew the reason behind all of it.
Although one thing became clear after training myself and knowing the exact physical stats of my body.
My lack of tail was becoming a huge problem. The larger I grew, the need for balance became more and more vital. And without a tail, it was hard to do that.
I couldn't make tight turns while sprinting, I was having difficulties maintaining my top speed, and it was hard to balance while leaping from place to place. It also had minor effects on many of my other physical abilities.
The lack of tail was a clear disability and I realized quite early on that I was going to be a shitty lion when I grew up.
Well, as long as I didn't do anything about it at least. But you better bet your life that I was going to do something about it.
But what, was the question.
I spent nights pondering over it. I would think of endless ways to compensate for what I didn't have. Until eventually, my persistence bore fruit and I was enlightened.
And you would never guess from where I got my new perspective and idea.
That's right, I got it from observing the ugly hyenas.
.....
"Fuck!!!!" I cursed out loud after I slipped while making a turn to follow my prey. I stumbled onto the dirt and did a few humiliating flips before I fell.
I was nine months old, and I was already struggling to make turns while I was at top speed. It was absolutely frustrating and ridiculous. What would happen when I got faster? Would I not be able to handle my own speed?
I gazed at the other lionesses as they chased after the same prey, but without falling like me. Their tails looked like they were another living being as it shifted and coiled to counterbalance them with every turn.
'How can I do the same thing without a tail?' I asked myself once more, but just like every other time I asked myself this question, my mind couldn't come up with an answer.
I sighed and sat on the ground. I continued watching as the others tried to bring down the prey. But while they were doing that, my eyes shifted from the hunters and fell on the hyenas.
"What the?" I was perplexed by what I saw.
Believe it or not, behind the hunters were hyenas, and they were somehow keeping up with the speed of the lions. No, not just that, they were actually making tighter and easier turns than the lions themselves.
And they had no tail.
I was completely baffled. I never noticed it before, but somehow, they were doing the same thing the lions were doing, but without a tail.
That was a clear indicator that it was possible to run fast and make sharp turns without having a tail. The scene sparked a new hope in my heart.
But how? How do they do it?
The answer came fast: it was because they were not like lions. Their body was built differently, so they used other techniques and other methods to achieve the same thing compared to the lions.
And then it hit. Without a tail, was I even a lion?
The answer came fast once more. No. I was not a lion, at least not in the traditional and physical sense. Without a tail, I was a completely different beast, one that was unique from everyone else.
So then what the hell was I doing trying to learn how to do things like lions do? Why was I imitating their running when I knew full well I was no longer built like them?
And what the heck is a lion? It was not a way of running, a way of hunting, nor was it a way of being. A lion is a species. I could still be a lion and do things differently.
"I see, so that's where I went wrong," I said and then laughed like crazy.
A lion's cub natural instinct was to watch and imitate their parents to learn. But I threw away that instinct as they no longer worked for me. Instead, I started learning things on my own, completely from scratch.
I was no longer imitating anyone. Instead, I was studying everyone.
And that changed literally everything.
...
For the next three months, I spent most of my free time developing my own way of doing things. I relearned how to do almost every action, be it walking, running, climbing, jumping, etc.
For example, I was no longer running like most lions do. My feet were placed slightly wider than they should be, which made my center of gravity lower than other lions when running.
I noticed that the lower center of gravity was what enabled hyenas to make tight turns without a tail. My wider stance also enabled me to keep balance better than ever, even without a tail.
It was not noticeable. No one would be able to tell apart my running style from other lions until they took a much closer look. But these seemingly subtle change in details were what made all the difference.
I invented these techniques, taking inspiration from the other animals around me. I learned from everyone, be it the small warthog that could run unbelievably fast for its small stature, the buffalo that carries their humongous weight, or the hyenas with their ability to make sharp turns.
I took small attributes from these animals, and I was creating my own style and technique that was unique only to me.
Or was it really unique to me? Perhaps I was reinventing a forgotten style of action. Sabertooth tigers were a thing of the past, but they lived at one point in the same type of land that lions do.
They were also one of the few big cats without a long tail, just like me.
Perhaps if those prehistoric predators were still alive, they would move and hunt just like me.
I created the techniques, and in the span of three months, those movements and behaviors were the new normal. And finally, I was able to perform at a similar level to the other lions.
Yet that was not the end. The best part came after I turned one year old. That was when a cub enters its growth stage. It was akin to the explosive body development a human teenager would experience.
With my intense training and nigh-unlimited source of protein and food, my body went through a complete metamorphosis.
Instead of my techniques adapting to my body, my body started adapting to them. The advantage of losing my tail so early in my life showed its advantage. It was akin to someone who lost one arm and gained insane strength on the remaining arm.
I did not know how much my body changed as I grew or which part of me was different from other lions. The only thing I knew was the visible difference I had compared to the other lions.
I grew wider, my shoulder muscles started to develop more than what they were supposed to. This made it so that I naturally had wider space between my legs even without trying.
My hind legs grew extremely large and powerful. This made me lose a bit of that feline shape and instead, I was larger and bulkier. Not just in appearance, but in performance as well. I could jump higher than any other lioness in the pride.
My forelimbs grew larger and my paws were even bigger. At my young age, I already had bigger paws than the average lioness. I guess this was likely due to my need to balance. More surface area means more stable balance, right?
But even still, my changes were not too obvious to raise an eyebrow. I was living in my body, so I noticed, but others wouldn't. To them, I was simply growing bigger and bigger at an almost alarming rate.
My growth got to the point that I caught the eyes of Scar again. He would look at me with measuring eyes instead of mocking ones. His gaze would linger on my form as if to assess my power.
But it was still not enough to make him act. I was not the only one growing as well since Scar had grown much larger than before. His skinny frame was finally filled with meat due to the abundance of food, and he was now slightly larger than Mufasa was in his prime.
His confidence was at an all-time high.
In the meantime, I continued growing. I continued forging myself to be exactly what I wanted to be.
Not a perfect lion, but the strongest one.
...
...
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Image is what Leo is growing up to become. Don't imagine a completely different built lion when I metion the changes.
Author : There is still so much I wanted to cover but the reasons, explanation and the change would have to come later step by step so I ask a little patients.
This was just a briefl summary of what took place instead of just time skipping over it.
Comments
Erebust
Bro is making how own breathing style.
Corvus
Thanks for the chapter!
