[1st POV]
I knew there were other rouges like me in the region. How could there not be? The territory that the Mbali brothers ruled spanned far and wide.
Their kingdom was so vast that even the Pride Lands would pale in comparison.
But I have never encountered another rogue so far, which was not surprising considering I've been here for only seven months or so. In the rare instances that I caught their scent, I turned the other way and left them to be dealt with by the three brothers.
I couldn't do that now. The rogue lion was heading straight towards me. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that he was heading straight for the buffalo that I just took down.
*ROAR*
My ears twitched as I analysed the sound of the roar. One could tell much about a lion just from his roar. But this one in particular was hard to tell and understand.
The roar held power, no doubt. The lion was full-grown and healthy. There was a sense of command and authority in the roar, but it felt forced, like the lion was trying to prove himself or something.
My ears twitched again in wonder. The best comparison was looking at an unfinished painting. There were colours, paints and shapes but none yet refined. In the end, I determined that the rogue was exceptionally young.
Right then, Grim flew back from a distance. He landed in front of me with a gust of wind. I could tell from his eyes that something displeased him greatly.
"It is a rogue male with a dark mane. He is alone, no other lion for miles," Grim said. His neck twisted in a force of habit.
"Is he big?" I asked.
"Average," he answered without missing a beat.
An average-sized lion was approaching me by himself. I could not force myself to be concerned about that. It was precisely because of how unthreatening it was that Grim was displeased.
If you were going to interrupt the feeding time, at least send Baraka or Hulk.
I lowered my head to continue eating my food. The roar in the distance quieted down when the lion was close enough to smell because that meant the rogue was smelling me too.
The smell of the carcass overpowered the smell of the lone male for me, so he went unnoticed for a while. He was probably stalking and observing me. I hoped he would leave after seeing me.
But I gravely underestimated the arrogance and the recklessness of a young lion. Despite seeing my size and despite seeing that I probably took down the buffalo alone, he still approached me.
And not in a timid way, mind you. He strolled towards me like he owned the land.
I growled while eating. The vibration was strong enough to travel through the ground. It was a clear warning that he was not welcome here. But the rogue ignored any warnings and continued walking.
At that point, I looked up from the carcass to lock eyes with him.
"Mind sharing?" he asked as his pace slowed down.
I stared for a while and answered, "Yes,"
I very much mind sharing my kill. As it stands, Grim was the only creature that I shared my meal with. The rest of the vultures, including other animals, had to wait until I had my complete fill and abandoned the carcass.
"Well, that's too bad," he said, "I didn't want to kill you."
Grim who was perched on top of the buffalo, turned towards the rogue and froze right then and there. I was very much the same, caught off guard by the sheer audacity.
"Kill me? Young blood, do you realise I took down this buffalo alone?" I asked in return.
"Maybe, but that only makes you weak," he replied with confidence, "The kill is fresh and warm. I know you expended all your energy to take down the bull. You likely suffer injuries as well. Is that why you remain there, hiding behind the carcass instead of confronting me?"
"You are tired and injured and you don't want to show it," he added, "Just leave while I still give you the chance."
Thats....
That was actually a smart deduction if I were being honest. It sounded like something I would do. Attack a lion after he hunted a big prey, expending most of his strength and possibly suffering injuries.
What better time to strike, right?
Grim and I shared a look at each other, somewhat intrigued.
"What is your name?" I asked.
"Mbaro," he answered, "But that is irrelevant. Leave now, I am getting impatient."
Mbaro was a strong name, which made me wonder if he was also a descendant of Mbali like the Mbali brothers. Perhaps he was a grandson?
I could tell that Mbaro was one of those rare lions that had the smarts to thrive. Perhaps he would be someone like Roku. But unfortunately, fate brought him to me.
Now the lion circled around me. His tail tensed and swaggered with each step, his ears were facing me and his eyes never left mine as if entering a staring contest where the one to look away first submits to the other.
A low chain of growls left his throat. He shook his head to puff out his mane, and he stood tall with his chest out and prideful.
Meanwhile, I was looking at his display of dominance with an increasing level of anger and annoyance. What he was doing was the closest thing to trash talk for lions.
He scraped his paws on the ground, displaying his long and sharp claws. It was at this moment that I had had enough.
I stood up and stepped over the carcass before heading towards him with slow, deliberate steps.
In that moment, it finally clicked in his mind how big I was in comparison to him. I would say he was around 180 - 190 kilograms. He was smaller than Roku. On the other hand, I had gone beyond 250 kilograms.
His gaze moved away, losing the staring contest in the process. He took a look at my body and musculature. He took in the sheer space that I occupied with my presence. He looked at my width, my huge paws and my mane, which was easily two times bigger and darker than his.
I came slowly and absolutely. Like the flow time that will eventually bring you death.
If he were as smart as I think he is, it was about time he realized he fuck up badly.
But pride won over logic. Ego suppressed intelligence as the lion continued baring his teeth and actually took a step to close the distance faster instead of running away.
That set off the fuse.
I exploded into action. There was no mercy in my attack. I had every intention of tearing him into shreds. The goal was not to chase him away or even kill him.
I wanted to hurt him. A punishment fitting for his insolence.
The lion roared and charged at me before folding like cardboard when we clashed. The strength difference between us was honestly ridiculous. Perhaps the gap was as much as the buffalo and me.
His intelligence went out the window the moment we fought, proving that strategising while fighting was something unique to me. He was full of aggression, driven by instinct. He reminded me of Makali in this regard.
On the other hand, the same could be said for me, but not for the same reason. Every attack I decided to throw worked. I did not have to plan for shit. If I wanted to claw him, I did. If I wanted to bite him, I did. If I wanted to pin him down, I did.
He was simply no match.
I mauled him for a few seconds. I strike his face with my paws and my claws tear down lines across his face. His eyes were badly damaged in the process. He was not experienced enough to dodge like the Mbali brothers.
I opened my jaw and bit his neck. His mane got in the way, but I clamped down hard and pulled a chunk of his mane. Then I attacked the same spot once more to get a better bite.
The chain of growls turned into fearful whispers. His pride was swallowed by fear. I tore off his mane and he can't do the same.
After doing it a few times, I really liked tearing off his mane. It felt like I was stripping away his pride and dignity. So I continued doing it.
His claws came up to try and claw me. But how could he do damage where the horns of a buffalo failed? His bite did not even reach my skin due to my mane. My thick and loose hide did not even have to protect me.
He was inexperienced. Not only was I able to overpower him physically, but also technically. It was like a trained fighter against an untrained woman.
After a minute of continuous mauling, he managed to slip out of my grasp. His mane was messed up and half bald. Blood dripped off his body and he bolted off faster than he ever did in his life.
"Get over here!" I roared and exploded right behind him. I caught up almost immediately, and I clamped down on his tail.
I stopped and he also stopped. Then I used my legs to exert power and tug at the tail as hard as I could. His body slid right back to where I wanted him, which was under me.
I pushed him down from his back. He struggled like a housecat when you tried to carry him forcefully. A flurry of limbs and trashing around that was ultimately futile, other than some scratches.
"This is the difference between pride and arrogance," I said behind his ear before I opened my jaw wide and clamped down on the back os his skull.
The front skull was one of the toughest bones in the body but the back of the skull was much more fragile than that.
My tired jaw was still able to exert enough pressure to crush the skull. I heard a nasty crunch and the lion froze before his body trembled and spasmed. It was the soul leaving the body.
I pulled back with a bit of surprise. I was not expecting to kill him that easily.
I licked my lips and tasted the blood of my own kind. It tasted wrong and horrible but that did not stop my heart from exploding with a sense of euphoria.
Was it wrong to like killing my own kind? The lion was weak and took barely any effort to kill. But the sense of pride and euphoria was comparable to that of killing a buffalo.
Was that a part of biology? Was that how lions evolved? Were we meant to kill each other like this until only the strongest survive?
Questions after questions but I embraced the beast I was all the same.
It was my first time killing another lion and I found out I kind of liked it. The consequences of that were still unknown.
I roared in victory over the dead body.
Then I dragged the dead lion back to the buffalo carcass. I dropped it right beside me as a kind of trophy and warning.
Then I resumed my feast.
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[IMAGE]
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Auhtor : This is the extra chapter. I will upload the next chapter in a moment.
Give stones. Lets get number one this week as well.