[1st POV]
"So what do you think?" I asked my most loyal servant as I lay down at the top of Pride Rock.
"You ready for one last mission?"
"The mere thought of the absence of your orders scares me more than the tallest orders you can give," Grim replied.
"Then gather up your followers. We will leave as soon as possible."
"Understood." He bowed before taking off with a loud flap of his wings. I watched him soar through the sky of the Pridelands, thinking to myself how lucky I was to have someone like him under me.
The few animals that lived in the Pridelands would make sure my pride didn't starve for a year or so at least. But more prey would be needed for things to continue.
I made my way back to the den. Inside, all of my pride had gathered, 14 females and 7 cubs in total. By no means was the pride small, even though it was nothing compared to its peak. The pride would only grow in the future as well, so something must be done.
I lay down at the highest platform in the cave, the same place where Mufasa used to sleep. I didn't have time to enjoy the surrealness of it all and focused on the main issue.
"We have a problem," I began.
Without having to be told, every lioness gathered in front of me. Meanwhile, the cubs went out of the den to give space for the adults to hold a committee. After everyone had settled down, I began telling them about what I had found so far.
Everyone listened without interrupting. After I finished explaining our problems, they spoke out, asking for a solution.
"So what are we going to do, my lord?"
"You need not do anything," I said. "I plan to deal with this alone. I will travel south of the Pridelands and find all the animals that had migrated away. Then, I'm going to bring them back here."
"In the meantime, it will be your job to keep the pride from falling apart. Every single one of you. There would be no challengers this far south, but you will still have to live without a king for a few months, maybe. Make sure everyone behaves, and I want no discord in my absence."
"We will obey your orders and do our duty," Nala said. "But how exactly does the king plan to return the animals?"
I nodded towards her question. "The same way they were forced to leave."
That left many of them confused, while lionesses like Zuri and Nala had grim expressions.
"The plan includes wreaking havoc in the new home of these animals," I said. "I will bring my army of hyenas along with me. I've already instructed Grim to gather them from the Serengeti."
"I will wreak problems in the foreign land while telling the vultures to spread the word about the Pridelands. By doing that, the animals would naturally migrate back to their old home," I said.
"When will you go?"
"I will leave in the next few days," I said. "The army of hyenas would take longer, but I wish to reach whatever land in the south and get to know the area before the plan begins."
I continued afterwards, setting up ground rules for when I was gone and appointing Zuri and Nala as the unofficial leaders during my absence.
After everything was over, the pride continued with their rest. It had been a long time coming, so everyone was tired. I was in the same boat.
Two lionesses approached me.
I fulfilled my duty as a king. It was every young lion's dream to have a harem, but after so many years, the act of mating had become quite dull. Of course, that was excluding the lionesses I had an emotional attachment to, like Zuri and Nala.
Was I getting that old already? Was this a result of low testosterone?
I chuckled; who would have thought the day would ever come?
Kivuli and Zahra were on the younger side among the members of the pride. I had impregnated them only once, and it seemed they wanted to be pregnant again before I left for months.
They were young, so perhaps a part of them thought there was a high chance that I might not return.
The next few days passed rather quickly. With the help of the vultures, the hunting party was able to kill two antelopes. I made my point further during the meal, telling them that they should hold back on feasting like they used to and to be conscious of the supply of food before I returned in success.
Although I've never gone south of the Pridelands, I was aware of what was waiting for me. It was the same place where Simba had run away, and he told me quite a few things about it.
It was at least a week's worth of journey before I reached the first forest. The geography was also quite different from the Serengeti and the Pridelands, being a forested area filled with trees and whatnot. The land began and stretched for as long as you could go.
Some of the dangerous animals that lived there were crocodiles, tigers, leopards and gorillas. Apparently, some forest elephants also live there. They were different from the African bush elephant that I was familiar with, apparently being a little smaller and living in smaller herds, with tusks that faced more downwards than curving.
If I put aside my main goal and the weight behind what needs to be done, then I could be excited for this journey. It was not rare for me to find new elephants after all.
After three days had passed, I set out on the fourth day.
The initial days of my journey went uneventfully. Even the terrain was nothing I had not seen before. Grim and the vultures were immensely helpful in the journey as always, leading me to watering holes and finding prey for me.
There was no time to be picky at a time like this. After not eating for four days straight, Grim led me towards prey he found.
"Warthogs? Really?" I couldn't help but complain, even though I had no right to be picky at the moment.
The surrounding area was quite devoid of life. It was like the land had experienced the dry season for centuries. There was barely any greenery, and the trees usually had thorns instead of leaves.
I headed towards the burrow that held the warthog. They don't usually dig their own homes and instead use abandoned burrows on the ground. My nose went up, picking up the scent from inside. It would appear the prey noticed me and had hidden inside.
Very slowly, I made my way towards the burrow. I peeked inside, and the sight of crooked tusks greeted me in the darkness.
I could wait for the prey to come out. But that might take days before the warthog starved or needed water. So with great hesitation, I reached for the prey with my arms.
And I recoiled immediately.
"REEEEEE!!!!"
Warthogs entered their burrows backwards precisely because of this. Rows of tusks shot out at me while I barely dodged.
In a fight or flight situation, warthogs were one of the smaller prey that always chose to fight.
I roared as the little tank charged at me. It was nowhere near as powerful as a buffalo, but its compact frame and impulse power were out of this world.
But I was calm, tanking its futile attack while trying my best to take it down.
The whole thing proved more difficult than I'd like to admit. Imagine a large lion wrestling with a warthog that was way smaller than it. Dust rose, and the little warthog, which was thicker and heavier than it had any right to be, slipped out from my grasp, injured.
It began running.
"Fuck!" I cursed while running after it.
What followed next was a rather comical scene. The warthog was more familiar with the terrain than me. It broke my ankles multiple times during the chase, leaving me in the dust.
Until eventually, after nearly an hour of chasing, I had the warthog between my jaws.
"I feel like I wasted more energy chasing it than I would get from eating it," I said to myself. Grim landed beside me, barely holding in a laugh.
Good thing none of my pride saw that. Lest my grand kingly image be broken.
Fortunately, that was the last time I had to hunt a warthog.
My next meal was a Kudu. The prey this time was large enough to last me the rest of the journey.
In total, it took me two weeks before I reached a land that finally looked habitable. It was by no means my final destination, but I could rest here for a bit.
Simba told me a long time ago that it took him a month to travel from where he was back to the Pridelands. I suspect I could make the journey faster with my scouts, but I would still need a little over a week before I finally reached where he once lived.
My journey continued after hunting and filling my stomach. I rested for one day before continuing my journey. Travelling was tougher in the sparse forest, but it was much better as it had plenty of water sources and prey.
And after another week of journey, I reached my destination.
..
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[1st POV]
"What do you think, Grim?"
The land I found myself in was so different from the Serengeti and the Maasai Mara that it didn't even seem like they were on the same continent.
It was not a wide, golden ocean and open plain like the savannah. Instead, it was more like a living vertical city. Green piled on green until the sky was a distant idea. Where the Serengeti and Maasai Mara threw their horizons like an open hand, this place seemed to fold in on itself.
Tall trees knit together into a roof so thick the forest floor received only flickers of light even in broad daylight. It was more like the Amazon than the stereotypical dry Africa.
"I can't see shit, my lord," Grim said with a downcast expression as he perched atop a green tree.
I chuckled. Indeed, everything was covered in trees, and one could barely see anything from above. I had thought of this before, as Simba had told me as such. It was also why I decided to bring hyenas along with me.
"I can smell that this place is filled with life," I said, my nose twitching. "You go back for now, Grim. See how long it would take for the hyenas to reach here. I will explore this land alone for now."
"As you wish, my lord."
I watched with amusement as Grim began to climb on the branches of the tree. He couldn't just take off as the roof of the forest was filled with so many obstructions that he couldn't even open his full wingspan.
But eventually, Grim took flight.
I shook my head and went into the forest.
Traversing the jungle alone proved to be quite a hurdle. It was not an open plain; the forest floor was wet and uneven. The roots of trees made it easy to trip when you moved around.
This was something I didn't account for. I wonder if the hyenas would even be useful in the land.
My plan was simple. I would spend a few months terrorizing the ecosystem of this land, mainly through overhunting.
I assumed I wouldn't have to do too much. This assumption came from the fact that prey animals usually lived longer than lions. Zebra, wildebeest and antelopes all had longer lifespans. I was sure there were animals here that used to live in the Pridelands. The moment they saw those hyenas go savage, they would be reminded of the past and know immediately they needed to migrate to some other place.
But even if that was not the case, introducing new predators was a good way to wreck the ecosystem and force the animals to develop new behaviour in response.
I will admit I only had a rough idea. The details and logic of what I was trying to achieve remained to be figured out.
Maybe I should go with a kind-hearted king and invite the animals to my kingdom by holding a campaign? But that seemed more ineffective than what I was trying to do.
I continued to travel through the forest. Again, one of the reasons why it was difficult to move around was that my vision was extremely limited. I couldn't see far at all from where I was.
It would be immensely easy to get lost, so I had to use my other senses, like my sense of smell and hearing.
Eventually, after a few hours of walking around in the forest, I discovered something very interesting.
A distinct scent on a tree, including scratch marks. It was exactly how lion kings marked their territory, but this was no lion.
The scent was different, something I hadn't smelled before.
And it smelled faintly female. I could tell that much. What kind of big cat had females that claimed territories?
Maybe a different species of lion or maybe a tiger, like Simba had told me before.
He had said he fought often with tigers in the jungle.
I did not know what custom they followed, but I decided to follow my own.
I roared.
..
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Author : Okay, gimme a day or two. i wasted some time to draft out the arc and do some research so you'll not get a chapter tomorrow.
But ya, this ain't going to be a hiatus. Just a day or two break. You can see that I will be updating chapters on patreon if you're concerened.