[3rd POV]
(The Kopje : Southern Serengeti)
Leo rested at the very peak of the rocky hill. He had a few females with him whom he mated right then and there. But the other members of the pride simply stayed in their place, looking up at their king briefly from time to time. They studied his body language, his presence, and his character.
Especially for those lionesses who had just joined the pride recently, Leo was still an absolute enigma. He was this invincible lion king who killed kings left and right, who could not be understood as simply as they had understood Scar.
The sheer size of the pride worked against them this time; there were too many members, so close relationships were hard to form. There were groups inside the group, mainly separated into three: the young female favourites like Nala, Tala, Zuri, etc., the native prides who once belonged to the Mbali brothers, and Scar's old pride.
One would think that since Leo was this powerful lion king, living under his rule must be as close as it could get to a paradise for the lionesses. But that was not the complete truth; Leo's pride had its own challenges.
The lionesses found it hard to truly relate to the king. Although flaws were flaws, often they could help in forming a relationship. A lion pride should need each other, but that did not seem to be the case with Leo.
He was like a completely different species to them sometimes. He had his odd way of doing things; whatever they knew, whatever tradition they held was thrown out of the window when it came to him.
He also did not really need them. He could hunt on his own effortlessly; he could potentially feed the whole pride by himself if he wanted to. The only reason the lionesses hunted these days was because he was busy battling other lions and it was convenient for him.
In such cases, the lionesses lacked the feeling of being needed. Leo was too competent, and he stripped them of their purpose. The only thing they could do was go into heat and try with all their might to nurture his seeds.
Without contribution, a house could not feel like home. There was no commitment.
That was the thing the pride was struggling with—trying to find their purpose under the king, not just to be trophies to be flaunted around uselessly. The original members of the pride were faring much better because they went to war for him, but for Scar's old pride, it was even more jarring.
Sarafina, the mother of Nala, was in deep conflict as she looked towards the king. Leo, a lion she had known since he was a cub. But now it was like she was looking at a completely different entity.
"Are you scared of the king?" a voice suddenly came from behind her while she was deep in thought.
She flinched back and turned to see that another lioness had sneaked up on her. It was the unspoken second leader of the pride, Eshe.
"No," Sarafina answered. She paused at her own words to see the truth.
"I just... don't know how to feel. Is it a common occurrence for the Serengeti to mourn her kings?" she asked.
Eshe frowned. "There are no kings in the Serengeti except Leo. Those were just titles they gave themselves in his short absence."
"But if you're talking about lions in general, then yes," Eshe said. "In the one year that I've been under him, I've witnessed the fall of hundreds of lions. More probably fell without anyone's knowledge. The king defeated his foes less than completely erased them from the face of the earth. The vultures in the sky made sure no corpse lingered for more than an hour."
Sarafina gulped. She took a look up the kopje and briefly caught the face of the king.
"Isn't that concerning? All that killing, I mean," she asked.
"It does at first," Eshe admitted after a pause, "until I realised he himself could not help it."
Sarafina blinked at that statement, not at all understanding what she meant. "What do you mean?"
"It's the curse of the strong," Eshe said. "His own strength challenges the strong, and his dominance made him the enemy of all."
"In the end, he only kills the ones who come to kill, so I'm okay with that. It's funny really, lions were meant to be mighty; they were meant to be superior to lionesses. But he has destroyed that perspective completely," she said.
"Other lions are nothing compared to him."
Sarafina argued, "But why does he not avoid it? Why does he not avoid all the blood that could've remained on a body instead of the ground? Why does he need all this territory? Couldn't he be content with one kingdom?"
Eshe frowned. "That is quite the judgment from someone who served a king evil enough to kill his own cubs."
Sarafina crumbled instantly. There was shame on her face and disgrace on her shoulders.
"But to answer the question, asking that of him would be like asking a bird with wings not to fly, or asking an antelope not to run. He can, and so he shall. The world can change first before it changes him," she said.
"You are not serving an evil king like you once did. Trust me, Leo is not some bloodthirsty lion that seeks out violence. I would go as far as to respect you as someone belonging to the pride that raised him, you raised him well," Eshe said and then did a small bow that did not humiliate her, but at the same time, gave a compliment to another.
"And before I forget the reason why I came here. I was supposed to tell you that you will be a part of the group that goes out hunting today," she said.
"We are going to hunt? But we hunted yesterday. We had a full meal," Sarafina asked.
"That is not how we do things here in Leo's pride," Eshe shook her head with an amused smile. "If you are going to be strong like us, the newcomers need to start eating like us."
Sarafina did a double take at the lioness in front of her. In comparison to their frame, they were quite equal, but Eshe was so much bigger than her. Her frame was filled with muscle and fat at the right places.
"I understand," she said.
"Okay then, best of luck on your hunt," Eshe said. "The king should've built up quite an appetite after his battle last night."
With that said, Eshe walked away from Sarafina to inform the other lions who would be hunting that day.
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(Sometime later)
The hunting party set out on the same morning. The party consisted of seven lionesses in total. Most of them belonged to Scar's old pride. They had been quite outcast ever since they joined, but now that they had reached home, it was finally time to let them participate in the pride activities.
This would also be a time to prove themselves. So, although no one said it out loud, the lions knew how important this hunt was.
It was also their first time roaming around their new home, the Serengeti. Most of them were looking around curiously at the prosperous land they now lived in.
The ground was damp and soft from last night's rain. When they stepped through the tall grass, drops brushed their bellies and paws, leaving dark prints behind them. The wet season had painted everything green, and it was not the bright green of young shoots either, but a deep, living colour that clung to the soil and trees.
Mist still hovered above the lowlands. The smell of wet earth hung in the air, and there were puddles every few metres where flies buzzed and frogs and lizards stalked to eat them.
Somewhere in the distance, an unseen jackal barked twice. The group stopped for a moment to listen, but then it quickly fell silent again. Perhaps that was a signal for the jackals to leave.
The lionesses walked again in a loose line, their tails flicking lazily. They did not have to do the tracking, as a few vultures roamed the skies and guided them to their destination.
For these reasons, the newcomers could observe the land that stretched endlessly in every direction.
A young lioness named Dira glanced around as she walked. Her eyes followed the wavering horizon. "It goes on forever," she murmured to herself when they reached a distance where the Pride Lands would've ended.
Nydia, the leader of the group, responded, "We are not out of the southern region yet, but that alone should be as big as your old kingdom."
Now they finally realised just how massive the Serengeti was and just how large a territory their king ruled.
They continued onward. A light breeze passed through the grass, bending it in ripples. A few small birds, mostly larks, fluttered up, chattering as they rose into the grey-blue sky. Far ahead, a herd of Thomson's gazelles grazed near a cluster of acacias, their tan coats blending with the wet grass.
Some lionesses paused.
"Those are too small to feed the pride. The vultures have better prey," Nydia said.
Another lesson learned. Back in their home, they would've hunted any prey they could find. But the Serengeti was large enough for the lions to pick their preferred prey.
They watched the steady movement of the herd for a moment before they continued onward.
Hours passed like that, quiet walking, quiet watching. When noon came, the clouds began to break, and light spilled over the land in wide, pale streaks.
At that point, they finally found the prey they were looking for.
On the curve of a distant river was a giant herd of zebras. There were also other animals there, like a group of ostriches running across the plains.
But before they could move on to hunting, a scent caught their noses. It was the scent of a dominant male on one of the trees.
"We are in the western part of the kingdom. Don't think much of the smell, the previous rulers of this land passed last night," Nydia said.
Her words calmed their hearts but also made them heavy as they thought about their king, who had set out last night and returned in the morning with blood not his own.
Nydia directed the hunt. And with so many prey to choose from, the hunting party was able to take down two full-grown zebras and one calf whose legs were broken in a stampede that followed the hunt.
But the hunt was only a part of their job; the work was not done, as the group had to drag these carcasses all the way back to the kopje. That was going to be a long journey back, especially with the heavy zebras.
That was the main point, though. Leo did not just want them to eat, he also wanted them to train.
By taking turns, they began dragging home the animals they had caught. They followed Leo's advice of gutting the carcass first, taking off their heavy, bone-filled legs and their inedible insides to lighten the load.
The Serengeti was also a plain, so it was not too much of a hurdle to drag the carcasses. It just took a lot of lion power to do so.
Although they finished hunting at noon, they only returned to the kopje in the late afternoon when the sun was starting to set.
The lionesses dropped the carcasses near the foot of the rocks, their jaws sore and paws aching from the long drag across the plains.
For a long while, no one spoke. They simply stood there, catching their breath, their sides rising and falling in rhythm. The evening breeze carried cool air from the river, brushing through their fur and easing the heat trapped beneath it.
Dira lay down first, rolling onto her side. Her muscles trembled with exhaustion, but her face carried the faintest smile.
"It was hard work. But I don't know why I am so fulfilled," she said.
Nydia gave a low hum in response as she sat down beside her. The older lioness's gaze went far, beyond the kopje, beyond the plains. From there, they could see the entire southern stretch of the Serengeti—grasslands glinting in the last light, the river like a thin silver scar cutting through it.
Clouds hung in streaks above the horizon, painted orange and purple. The wind smelled faintly of their king, Leo, and the rest of the pride.
Somewhere far away, they heard the low call of a lion echo across the valley, deep and resonant. Leo had also just returned from a short afternoon patrol.
"That would be him," Nydia said just as everyone quickly got up to greet the king with straight posture.
"No need to be nervous, you all did a splendid job. I'm sure the king would be pleased with the kills."
The rest of the pride up the kopje also came down to share the meal. Each member of the pride gathered one by one around the carcasses. The curious and playful cubs bit at the hides of the zebras, but no one ate yet.
They waited as Leo finally came to them. His presence brought a sense of order to the pride immediately as everyone observed him.
He did not heed anyone among the thirty or so members of the pride. He made a beeline to the carcass. He smelled the zebras for a few moments before he began eating in their presence. He opened up the carcass with ease and ate the muscle and the organs.
For that moment, the pride just watched as their king ate. And after Leo finally had his fill, he picked up one carcass by the neck and brought it towards the hunting party.
He dropped the heavy carcass with a thud. Only when it fell would you realise how heavy it was. The ease with which he carried that thing created the illusion of it being light as a feather.
"You did well," Leo said. He looked at each member of the hunting party before he turned and left.
But that small praise and his permission to let them eat second was everything to them.
Now everything was worth it.
With pride and a sense of fulfilment, the hunting party began eating. They were not hungry in the morning, but after all that activity, they were starving.
The rest of the pride followed suit.
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