Emmanuel_Capricorn
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TLK : Chapter 13
🕑 Added 2025-05-07 19:01:27 +0000 UTC[1st POV]
The lions gathered together to form a circle. In the middle were eight cubs, the last legacy and bloodline of the lion king Mufasa.
The lionesses bared their teeth and swiped their paws at the hyenas that came too close. Meanwhile, the hyenas that outnumbered them eight to one slowly surrounded them from all sides.
But still, the hyenas were hesitant to make a move. Surely, they could easily defeat the lionessess if they worked together, but no one wanted to be the first to approach. No one wanted to be the sacrifice for victory.
That put them in a stalemate.
But things were not looking good for us.
Scar was finally done waiting and made the first move. He broke the silence and tension with a roar and charged towards the mothers protecting their cubs.
Sarabi and Sheera quickly pounced forward to meet him, and a savage fight broke out. That was a signal for the hyenas to attack as well.
And thus all hell broke loose.
The fight this time was completely out of my league. It was not like my fight with the leopard. It was not just a fight between two parties; this one felt more like a war.
And I learned that war was messy.
There was chaos and fighting everywhere. I turned my head in all directions and barely saw any coordination between the animals. They were all driven by instinct at that moment and fought like the wild animals they were.
A roar here, a shrill growl there, followed by the eerie laughter and screams of hyenas. The scene was something straight out of a nightmare.
The dirt under our feet turned into dust, and smoke rose. A few seconds into the battle, and I could smell the scent of blood. The others smelled it too, and that only intensified the situation.
The pained scream of my mother easily caught my attention, and when I turned to look, I saw Scar sinking his teeth into my mother's shoulder. He thrashed her around violently before he released his hold to lunge at Sheera.
In a straight confrontation, a lioness stood no chance against a lion. Scar knocked the lioness down on the ground and tore her up. His claws grated against her skin while his teeth searched for her neck.
The situation didn't last long, though, as Scar was not aiming to kill her. If he killed the lionesses, he would have nothing to rule over.
He jumped off her and then ran straight towards us.
Luckily for me, it was not the first time Scar pounced at me, so I reacted immediately. I ran towards him, ready to do whatever I could to hurt him, but then Scar suddenly changed his direction.
He was not aiming for me. He was aiming for...
"NOOOOO!!!!" the despairing scream of a mother synced with the nasty crunch of skull.
My eyes widened, and I felt shock hit my body. I turned around and saw Scar holding one lion cub by the head with his jaw.
The cub's head was already crushed, and blood fell from the maw that bit him.
I did not recall the name of that cub, but I knew he was from my generation. He was a male lion cub who liked chasing insects in his free time. He did not like violence much, which was the main reason why he was lower in the hierarchy among us cubs.
Instantly, the lionesses disregarded their formation and charged at Scar in anger. In just a few seconds, four lionesses were swarming him. Their teeth wanted nothing more than to tear him apart.
But anger was only the downfall in a battle like this. The formation was lost, and the hyenas took that opening to attack the lionesses from behind. Their eerie laughter grew louder; this time, it sounded straight-up demonic.
They were in absolute glee because they were finally getting revenge on the lions that chased them out of the Pride Lands and bullied them for ages.
I took one step back and then cursed out loud.
"Fuck, I am so helpless."
I knew I would be helpless in this situation since I was only a cub, but it was almost impossible to bear the feeling when it finally happened. I could vomit at my own weak and pathetic self.
The hyenas started swarming. They were becoming too much for the lionesses to fight off. If they were not careful, they could lose their lives.
...
And that right there was the game changer.
Because you know what? The mothers loved their cubs, but not more than their own lives. The war that was happening was not a war they wanted to give their lives for.
So... they ran.
For all the masks of determination they put up in the beginning, they crumbled like a castle built upon the sand when faced with real consequences.
The older lionesses and a few others who did not bear cubs started running away from the battlefield. A lion cub could always be replaced, but not their lives. That was nature.
The only law in nature was survival.
A dozen or so hyenas chased after the lionesses to continue harassing them. They snickered and laughed among themselves as they enjoyed bullying the greater beasts.
"They're just cubs!!" Scar roared. "Are you sure you want to risk your life for them?"
That further demotivated the lionesses. The fight was quickly losing its intensity as the lionesses left one by one. And each lion was followed by many other hyenas, so the number of animals was plummeting rapidly.
In the end, it was just three lionesses protecting us against Scar and a dozen hyenas.
The chaotic part was over, so I could keep up with the fight a little better with this one. The remaining lionesses were Sarabi, Sarafina, and Sheera.
"Not today, Scar. I've already lost one son. I am not losing another," Sarabi said and bared her teeth in full. She was limping, but she persisted even so.
The other two were right behind her and shared the same sentiment.
"Kill the infant and all the male cubs," Scar gave the order after the three lionesses wouldn't let him pass.
The hyenas stopped circling around the lionesses and turned their eyes on us. They growled like dogs and came charging at us almost immediately.
They were unlike lions or any other feline. The hyenas moved slowly, but they brought a certain feeling of aggression and dread as they came towards us. A criminal gang was the closest thing I could compare them to.
Upon closer inspection, I noticed that their head shape and round ears made them look like some type of monster rats. Their ugly appearance, coupled with their laughter mixed with their growls, truly unnerved me like any other creatures did before.
"Leo, what should we do?" Nala came beside me, and so did Zuri. They no longer had another adult they could hide behind, so they came to their only protection.
Me.
But how could I help them when I couldn't even help myself?
"You heard him, they wouldn't kill you. Just run," I said and burst out to meet the two hyenas that came my way.
I saw with the corner of my eye the newborn cubs dispersing and running away. They were followed closely by other hyenas, and so I knew their fate was sealed.
"We have a brave one," one of the hyenas said with a snicker.
"Look, look, he doesn't even have a tail. Poor lion cub."
I ignored their mockery and charged at them with a small roar. Clearly, they were not ready for the fight I was bringing to them, so they stumbled on their steps.
The first hyena snapped at me with its powerful jaws, but I ducked low and barreled into its chest. He staggered back a step. The hyenas were almost twice my size, so I didn't do any serious damage with that.
But I took that moment to bite at its foreleg, teeth sinking into coarse fur and thick skin. It yelped and jumped away.
"I guess that is Mufasa's blood right there," the other one laughed, circling.
He darted in from my side. I twisted, narrowly avoiding his jaws. His teeth clamped shut, and the sound made me imagine the pain if he got me.
Then another came in low and headbutted me hard in the ribs. I was knocked sideways, but I lashed out with my claws. I managed to leave cut marks on his snout.
I scrambled to my feet, gasping as air was knocked out of my lungs.
A low snarl and then a blur. I did not have enough time to react this time, as one of the hyenas got my front limb. The bite was different from anything I'd ever felt before.
While lions had long canines made to tear at flesh and grip prey, hyenas had teeth that were meant to crush bones. The difference in their bite was clear, and I couldn't tell which was worse.
I bit back at the shoulder. The hyena had a thick hide and fur, he was tougher than the leopard I fought. They were also extremely bulky, it felt like I was wrestling with a mini-tank.
The hyena pulled me fiercely. My claws dug into the ground to remain stationary, but I was dragged anyway, leaving claw marks on the earth. It was not long before another one took a generous bite at me.
This time, the pain came from my hind legs. While biting me at both ends, they started pulling me as if to tear me apart. I released a roar that sounded more like a scream of pain.
I quickly used my experience in fighting and clawed at the eyes of one hyena. I missed, but that was enough to scare him as he let go. Then I twisted my body, and with the flexibility of a cat, I was able to latch onto the snout of the other one.
The hyena released his bite and whined in agony. They moved away from me, giving me time to pick myself up. I released a low growl constantly as a warning not to get closer.
A few seconds passed, and the two hyenas were ready to attack once more; this time, their expression promised something more vicious than last time.
But the fight ended there.
"That's enough."
Scar said and slowly walked forward. He came between the two hyenas and towered over me.
Behind him, I could see my mother and the other lionesses trying to fight off the hyenas. My mother tried her best to come to protect me, but she was stopped each time.
It didn't matter what she wanted, just like how mine didn't matter. We didn't have the power to back up our desire. We were equally helpless before the scarred lion.
I locked eyes with him. The fresh blood on his jaw told me that he had just killed another cub. It seemed this time, it was my turn.
But he didn't attack me.
His eyes tore away from mine, and he gave me a thorough look. Eventually, his eyes stopped at something behind me. It only took one second to realise he was looking at my back which was without a tail.
Something flashed in his eyes, something humiliating for me.
It felt familiar. I just didn't want to acknowledge it before, it was always there.
"So prideful and daring when you are still less than nothing," Scar said, and the words made my heart tremble.
"Leave this one," he said coldly while walking past me.
I was completely paralysed on my spot, my mind analysed the light I saw in his eyes, and the conclusion broke a piece of me.
The dark amusement he always had towards me finally made sense.
'Was that...'
'Was that fucking pity?'
No, it was worse. He saw himself in me. A broken lion that could never reach the heights that other lions could.
He killed the infant cubs to make sure the lionesses go into heat quickly, he killed the male lions so that they wouldn't threaten him in the future.
But me?
He thought of me as less of a threat. A lion that would be lucky if he even survived to adulthood.
I was a crippled potential like him.
And with the small goodwill I cultivated, it was enough for him to spare me while he slaughtered the rest.
...
The expression I made must be the ugliest thing in the world. Raw rage boiled in my heart, and the small pride I'd built up with my achievements so far was completely crushed.
But it also taught me an important lesson.
Indeed, what was being the biggest among literal cubs. What was barely surviving a leopard's attack while losing a tail. Those were nothing.
I realised then that I've been taking too much pride in what I could be, instead of seeing myself for what I was.
A cub. A seed. Nothing more.
"Great thank you," I said with hollow chuckles. I wonder if Scar could hear me.
Gone was the small illusion I was living in. I was no fucking main character, I was not destined for greatness. I was not going to grow into a lion king.
If I was, I would be the crowned prince, and animals would gather at my birth. I would be favoured by Rafifki, I would not have to fight for my own survival, and I wouldn't lose a fucking tail and become incomplete.
I was none of that.
I had to claw myself up there despite staggering odds. Whatever I want to become, I have to turn myself into that.
A Lion King.
..
After that subtle shift of perspective, something changed in me. Pushing down the urge to fight and earn recognition now, I planted the rage and humiliation in my heart, so that one day they would grow into something much more than just feelings.
My mind came back to the real world and I saw Scar walking up to the Pride Rock before he stood at the very peak.
With a bloody jaw that took the lives of innocent cubs and ended a dynasty, he released a roar.
An unworthy roar, but it bounced through the kingdom of the Pride Lands without a challenger.
It was not a mighty roar, but it was the most memorable in my heart for everything it represented.
It was the end of an Era.
Scar became King.
My determination evolved.
But the goal remained the same.
And so, my story began.
A lion that was not a born-king but a forged King.
..
..
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Author : So this was one of the many reasons for the lost tail. It was so that Scar sparing Leo could make sense realistically. It also symbolises how he was not born king, how he was not perfect. He is imperfect, he is flawed, but the story will cover how he turns those imperfections into symbols and flaws into strength.
All those who joined my patreon and support this story despite the shit its getting on webnovel, you have my utmost gratitude.
And tell your thoughts on the image. What do you think of that as adult leo, a bit more savage and beastly.
Comments
Sneakyfox
What are they even mad about? The tail? Also I feel like we already went through this hate cycle with the Tai Lung story
Van Raven
on which platform are the haters? gotta leave a good review to balance it out
Corvus
Dont care about the haters. Your story is amazing. Also, Leo is looking great👍🏼
