[3rd POV]
During the wet season in the Serengeti, it rained a lot.
No shit, Sherlock, am I right?
That meant clouds were in the sky in huge bulbous chunks. Even when it was sunny, the sky of the Serengeti was filled with white clouds that covered most of the blue sky. They stayed like that, ready to rain upon the land anytime.
But the sky was awfully and concerningly clear when they met.
It was like the land itself was afraid to obstruct this important meeting that would decide its fate.
Leo came from the south, guided by his faithful companion. Scarface came from the north with nothing but his mind and an unknown intention.
They met when both escaped the treelines and saw each other across an open plain. The plain was where a herd of buffalo had grazed a week ago, so there was barely any grass or vegetation yet.
Leo and Scarface looked at each other from across the plains, and both lions were getting a déjà vu. After all, this was not the first time they had met.
A year ago, both lions had gazed upon each other from both sides of the Mara River. So when they saw each other again, that memory came back like a flood to them.
"Funny," Leo commented.
"Hilarious," Scarface said to himself.
Afterwards, they both approached each other. Their eyes were solely focused on each other as they walked, analysing, recognising, and finally remembering. But it was more so for Scarface.
Leo did a quick glance over him before brushing it off easily. Scarface was a well-built lion, longer than most. He was also quite larger than other lions, but not by an absurd amount. He was smaller than Baraka. And compared to his current size, Baraka could be called tiny.
He did not even need to think about whether he could kill the lion before him if it turned into a fight. He did not linger on how he could kill Scarface.
The truth was, he could kill Scarface in any and every way.
On the other side, Scarface was trying his hardest to suppress the absolute surprise and shock he had when he saw Leo.
A lion with a gripping dark mane, so thick and massive that it made his head look like he could eat a lion whole with one bite. His shoulders and chest muscles were so massive that they found a way to pop out underneath that thick fur.
His gait was awkward, like a lion that was not walking like a lion. He had no tail behind him, giving no tell of his emotion or intention to others. The lack of a tail made it almost impossible to relate to him as a fellow lion.
Compared to human standards, it would be like a person with no face, a creature you could not humanise. It was not fear, but the lack of features alone gave a creepy kind of terror when observed.
If Scarface could describe Leo with one word, it would be behemoth. The lion that walked as the enemy was almost twice as big as he was.
But that was not enough to strike fear into Scarface. Leo could be triple his size, and there wouldn't be a single tremble in his steps. Do not mistake intelligence or caution for cowardice.
Because as Leo walked, the lion that walked back was a lion that did not cower when faced with the biggest of beasts and had taken down larger creatures. It was a lion that had killed a hippo.
Both stopped before they reached the other, deciding to put distance between them, around 8 metres or so.
"King Leo," Scarface began and did a short bow. Wait, calling it a bow should be wrong because his head inclined no more than an inch.
Leo did not show the same courtesy; why should he when the other was trespassing? He simply looked at Scar with piercing eyes that were not a glare, but it felt like much more.
"You know me, but I do not know you," Leo said.
"I am Scarface, the first of four brothers, king of the Maasai Mara and ruler of the Serengeti," he said.
Leo's lips peeled back with a twitch. The only reason he did not burst out immediately was that Scarface referred to himself as ruler and not king of the Serengeti. There was a difference somehow.
"I come not as a challenger but as a fellow king," Scarface said, insisting he was equal even though from an outside perspective, he was clearly the lesser beast.
"I have some things to discuss with you, specifically about what you are doing with the Serengeti upon your return," he said.
"Who are you to question what I am doing inside my own kingdom?" Leo said, not returning the same calm as Scarface did.
Leo insisted that they were not equals with that remark, causing Scarface to pinch up his face just a bit, revealing some white in his mouth.
Nevertheless, Scarface continued, "The Serengeti is a large territory, much larger than even the Maasai Mara, which we did not wholly occupy. I was hoping we could come to a mutual agreement regarding this land."
Leo blinked, pulled back his head in wonder. His face loosened up, and there was simply no hostility on his face anymore. What Scarface just said seemed to affect him, and it affected him a lot.
"....what did you just say?" Leo asked, "Are you really implying what I think you are?"
Taking that as a good sign, Scarface continued, "We could split the Serengeti between our prides. We only came to the Serengeti to avoid the harsh season of the Maasai Mara, and we plan to return when it's over. If you can allow us to rule the land in the Northern Region near the Mara River, we would be content to move out of your kingdom. You would have the majority of the land. I only ask you to give us a small land where we could hunt when the dry season hits the Maasai Mara."
Leo just stared.
"I'm contemplating whether you are brave or audacious," he said. "You want me to give you a part of my kingdom for nothing? Is that what you are negotiating?"
"Not for nothing, it will be at the price of no conflict," Scarface replied sharply, "And if you want more, we can arrange a piece of land for you back in the Maasai Mara where you and your pride could hunt when the dry season falls on the Serengeti."
"Absolutely not," Leo said. Anger and aggression returned on his face tenfold. "How dare you even suggest such a thing?!"
Scarface pulled back, taking a single step back out of caution and also to load his legs, ready to explode at any moment. The tension rose quickly, and it was going to overflow or explode soon.
"I am being rational here. You have nothing to lose; any lion pride is capable of thriving even in one-fourth of this land," he said.
"The Serengeti is mine! I earned it through blood and hardships you can't even imagine. And I have kept it through more corpses than you can count. I will not give even a single inch," Leo said with a growl.
"Greed can be blinding. Are you really going to reject my proposal? Is it war that you want? I took you to be wiser," Scarface said, not backing down.
"You are the foolish one. So utterly foolish and arrogant," Leo said, "You negotiate as if we are equal. Perhaps your proposal sounds fine from that perspective, but here is the truth, Scarface."
Leo paused before he declared loudly, "You have nothing to give me, you are nothing. You talk about giving me part of the Maasai Mara? If I want, I could take your kingdom away from you like stealing prey from a hyena. No, easier."
"The world gives everything to the strong, and it gave everything to me," Leo said.
This time, Scarface lost his cool. How could he not? He was a king with his own pride and ego. He could not take such disrespect lying down.
"So it's really bloodshed you are after," Scarface said.
"No, not at all," Leo replied, "Killing bores me. Although utterly foolish, I acknowledge your intention, Scarface. So I propose you and your pride leave the Serengeti as soon as possible. Return to your little kingdom, bear through the dry season like everyone does, and be grateful I do not take everything I could."
"I'm afraid I can't do that. How could I keep my pride starving when I know a way they could never hunger?" Scarface asked.
"You accuse me of greed, but you are the greedy one," Leo said, "Wanting more than you can have is greed, and that is what you are doing."
"And you are not greedy because all this land is within your capability?" Scarface asked.
"I am satisfied with far less than I can easily acquire," Leo replied.
"Your arrogance knows no bounds."
"Well, many tried, but no one has told me otherwise; no one could show me my limit," Leo said, "My patience, on the other hand, has bounds."
"It is only through my absence that you even ruled for as long as you did. Now that I have returned, leave," Leo said in a tone of finality.
Scarface bit down his anger and his urge to strike. Even in rage, he was still smart enough to know he stood no chance against Leo. When push came to shove, he would fight, but if avoidable, he wanted to avoid conflict now. That was always the plan, after all.
"If you truly believe your words, let me be the one to put them to the test," Scarface said, relaxing his body and hoping that would also release a bit of his anger.
"We do not want war, but if we need to go through war to get what we want, we will. Like we always did," Scarface said and shifted his body to turn.
"Where do you think you are going?" Leo said.
That stopped Scarface mid-action as he turned to face Leo. By that point, Leo was already going into battle mode. His eyes were now glaring, and his mane came alive, growing bigger, and his teeth were bared.
"Do you think I will let you go just like that? After you basically declared inevitable conflict?" Leo asked, "After I killed you here, I reckoned it would be easier to kill three lions than four."
"And I reckoned three lions would have a much easier time taking you down injured than fully healed," Scarface said, not backing down in the slightest as he stepped forward and faced Leo fully.
He knew his place, he knew his strength. The only reason he came to meet Leo so quickly, even though he suspected the rumours were true, is that if Leo was truly this powerful lion, there was no better time to meet him than after fighting three lion prides. Leo should be at his weakest possible.
He also did not come here only to propose the deal. He came here scouting, and the reason it took him more than a day to meet Leo was that he was studying the terrain in case of a conflict.
Whether Leo tried to kill him here now or whether he let him go, Scarface had already planned that the enemy would lose in both cases.
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[IMAGE]
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Author : Writing animal talking is always hard. But trying to have this serious kind of vibe to this somewhat usual comedic and badass story is even harder.