[1st POV]
I returned by morning. My body was definitely feeling under the weather, although the sun was promising a bright day.
It had rained briefly at dawn, so the majority of the blood on my fur was gone. It was like I had never killed anyone in the first place.
With my patrol last night, the South, West, and East regions of the Serengeti were finally mine again. Now the only regions occupied were the Central Serengeti and the North.
But I would put cleaning those at a later date, after I had recovered. The kings that occupied the Central Serengeti especially sounded like a pain to deal with. The Four Musketeers, were they not? I would deal with them once I was fully healed.
When I reached the kopje, I noticed the usual vehicle at the base of the mountain. The scent in the vehicle was familiar, so I headed there first before climbing back up.
"Good morning to you too, Leo," Ramirez greeted me with a camera held against his chest. In the jeep were three familiar individuals: Ramirez, Malik, and Hana — the only woman.
I yawned widely and peeked into their jeep. My height was enough to tower slightly over the vehicle even while standing on all fours. Hana quickly opened a wrapped bar and threw it at me. I caught the snack and made a pleased growl.
Protein bar. They were getting used to my food tax.
"You had a busy night, huh? We heard about it from the other teams," Hana said, to which I responded by standing sideways to the vehicle.
She knew exactly what to do as she began checking my body for injuries. I climbed up the jeep with my forelegs, the vehicle creaking and tilting sideways under my weight. I allowed her to push away my mane and check my chest as well.
"No serious injury, only minor cuts and scratches," she said, talking to me as if I understood her. "Although there are bruises on the shoulder."
That should be due to my fall from the kopje the day before yesterday. Although I landed as safely as possible, it was impossible to escape such a fall unharmed.
"Wait, I have something for you," she said and rummaged through her bag. She took out a few pills and another protein bar.
When she brought them near my mouth, I ate them both.
"What did you give him?" Ramirez asked the question I had in my mind.
"Nothing much, since he's not gravely injured. Some anti-inflammatory pills to help with the wounds and painkillers," she replied simply while rubbing the side of my mane. She got some dried blood on her hands, but it seemed she didn't care.
I leaned into her hand briefly as thanks before pulling back. It was truly convenient to have these humans nearby. Getting my pictures taken was a small exchange in my opinion.
After the check-up, I climbed up the kopje. My pride was spread across the hills and had different locations where they slept instead of staying in one place together. You could see the different groups in my pride — the younger ones stayed together, and so did the older ones. And there was a place where the newcomers stayed.
I passed them one by one in my climb to the peak. They bowed their heads, some coming up to me for their daily dose of affection.
I had some of the younger females follow me up the kopje to keep me company. I lay at the very peak. It had a small cave and some trees to provide shade. It was the perfect place to rest, although small, and could only fit a couple of lions.
After reaching there and finally resting with a few females, I roared into the morning sky. It was a simple reminder to this land who was truly king.
...
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(Central Serengeti)
"I won't lie, this is concerning," Scarface said while he and his brother looked at the group of females that came to their pride after losing their king.
"This makes it the third group to come," Hunter said from the side. "They claim to be from the Eastern pride. The two groups before claimed they were from the Southern pride and the Western pride. The old king is dispatching them so quickly."
"That's at least four lion kings defeated in the span of two days," Sikio added. They were standing in a line. "Perhaps you are right, Scarface. This king Leo is not to be underestimated."
The Four Musketeers had been the main kings these broken prides sought for a new home. They had the biggest and most prosperous land, and they were also the closest since they were at the center. So they had been absorbing the rogue lionesses.
"Let's keep that aside for a moment. What are we going to do with these new females?" Morani asked. "Should we really take more lions in?"
"We don't have other choices, do we? We can't just abandon them and let them roam alone," Scarface said.
"But our pride is nearing thirty members," he argued.
"And we are four kings. We can take them in," Scarface insisted.
He turned and walked away after saying that. The lionesses in question breathed a sigh of relief when they heard they had a place here.
"Do you think the three of you can look after the pride for a while? There are too many variables missing. A king needs to be there to suppress conflict," Scarface said.
"Wait, where are you going?" Hunter asked. The other lions also turned towards Scarface as they saw him walking away.
"I am going to the south. I need to see this lion king," Scarface said firmly.
"What? You're going alone?" Morani asked.
"No need to worry. I'm not going there to challenge him. I just want to see him and see if we can talk things out. If a battle is inevitable, then I'll come back and we'll prepare," he said.
The other kings looked at each other. Scarface was always someone who did things in his own unique way. They had learned to trust his decisions. He was kind of the leader among equals, after all.
"Stay safe," that was all they could say as Scarface left the pride to meet Leo.
...
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