Dylan loved to explore. His favourite places to explore were caves. He loved the wandering around he could do there, seemingly aimless yet at the same time a purpose was there. One day while in South America he decided he was going to explore a new cave. He had only seen it from the outside so far so he was very curious as to what he might find inside. He had been in plenty of caves before so he had a rough guess of what he could expect, however every cave is different in one way or another.
He would ask the locals about the cave, find out the history behind it and what he might be in for. They talked of a lion, which killed anyone who went into the cave. They tried to scare him off with the stories off explorers who went in there and were never seen again, they even said some of their family members went in and their bodies were found a week or so later. The stories never phased the young man, who ignored the stories and planned his day of exploring as usual. He packed a few things like a first aid kit, food, water, clothes an emergency blanket and a torch. He also had a few things to make a fire so he was well prepared for the trip.
He left his hotel room and headed towards the cave, ignoring the locals yelling at him, telling him he was going to die out there. He got to the mouth of the cave and walked in. He got far enough in to need his torch and he clicked it on, shining the light around as he could barely see his hand anymore. "What lion?" he asks himself. There was no evidence of any killings, not any recent ones to say the least, there were no bodies or any bones in sight.
This made Dylan believe the locals less and less the further he had gotten into the cave. There was no soil it was solid rock so the bodies couldn't be buried here if the lion did kill anyone. That was if there even was a lion in the cave at all. This cave was a bit larger than others he had been through so he used caution as he looked around. He didn't want to trip over or get surprised by the lion. He saw a pair of eyes in the corner which made him jump.
Dylan quickly stops dead in his tracks and cautiously shines the light in the direction of the eyes. What the light revealed made him step back and gasp. The locals were right on one thing, there was a lion in the cave. They hadn't made that part up, although the lion was unlike any other lion he had ever seen in his life. Although having said that, it was incredibly rare even impossible to see Lions in South America outside of a zoo. There was an American cave lion but that species was extinct and has been for a long time.
The lion wad lying there with no intentions of moving from the spot it had settled down in. He didn't seem interested in killing or attacking the young man in front of him, however Dylan wasn't going to relax any time soon. Lions are genetically and behaviourally similar to cats as cats are their domestic version. They could be completely fine and placid one minute then attack and be furious as quick as a click of the fingers or a light switch being flicked from off to on.
He feels like he was similar to the lion as they both watched one another while Dylan walked closer. The lion watches Dylan's every move and Dylan watches the lion to see if its behaviour would change the closer he got. "Hey, I'm not going to hurt you," Dylan tells the lion, the hand not holding the torch raised to show he wasn't armed and he truly meant no harm. As Dylan walks closer to the lion he stops every few steps to reassure the lion that he wasn't threatening.
The lion remained still the whole time, but every-time Dylan stopped moving the lion would sniff the air. Even that was not the strangest thing Dylan noticed about the lion. The Lion's coat was more of a pure golden colour instead of the yellow-gold that you'd normally see. The mane of this lion was a chocolate colour like the lions eyes it was also different to the typical lion. It was so very obvious that this was not your average lion.
Dylan wasn't scared or even intimidated by the lion, he was intrigued by it. He had an overwhelming urge to touch the lion, make sure it was okay and comfort it. He had a few questions and alarm bells ringing in his head because of the suspicious behaviour the lion showed. Why wasn't he attacking? Was he hurt in anyway? Dylan wasn't sure how he was going to get his answers but he watched closely as the lion got a little closer to him.
The lion was a lot smaller in size than other lions Dylan has seen. He could see most of the lion's bones which told him that the lion in here definitely had not eaten in a while. Dylan was trying to figure out how he could help this lion out. He knew he had packed a bit of meat he was planning on cooking for his dinner tonight. He could give at least half of it to the lion who looked like he needed it more than Dylan. Dylan could always get more food out of his bag to eat, he didn't want the lion to starve. It is skinny enough now.
Dylan got his bag in the view of the lion, who looks at the bag with suspicion. "Are you hungry little lion?" he asks the lion. He knew that the lion had no way of verbal communication with him but Dylan knew the lion seemed to understand what was going on and there was a glimmer of hope in the lion's eyes. He was hoping that the human would provide food for him. He could probably smell the meat in the bag.
Dylan gets one of his steaks out of his bag and holds it out in front of the lion. He watches the lion as he sniffed the meat which had been placed on the floor now so he could eat it. Dylan could see it in the eyes of the lion that he was so happy and grateful for the food he was given. Dylan smiles at the lion while watching in satisfaction as the lion was eating what was offered. It made Dylan feel happy and like he was doing something incredibly good by feeding the poor lion. He was trying to save some of his food but his hunger took over that.
"Don't worry, I'll keep feeding you," Dylan tells the lion. The lion quickly finishes the meat. This leads to Dylan to be brave and hold out his hand to touch the lion. He holds his breath as the lion sniffs the hand, he was going to let Dylan know whether or not he saw the man as a threat or not. Even though the lion trusted Dylan in the beginning now was the time where he could easily change his mind and strike. Dylan lets out a sigh of relief once he realises that the lion is not going to attack him,
The lion nuzzles Dylan's hand a couple of times. Dylan lets out a little laugh because he knows that the lion is a lot friendlier than the other lions and he acts more like a cat than a lion. "The locals have no reason to be afraid of you little lion," he tells the lion. The lion nuzzles Dylan's hand again, trying to let him know he wanted more comfort. Dylan pets the lion a few times, building trust and a friendship to the lion.
Dylan decides to get a closer look at his lion. He already knew the lion was on the small and skinny side that was instantly obvious to anyone who saw him. There had to be something else which was affecting this lion. As he looked more closely at the lion's body he saw the badly infected cuts all over and it was now registering in Dylan's mind of the smell they were cause. Dylan knew he had to treat the wounds and do it as soon as, although there was still one problem. He knew how to treat them, but would the lion allow him to do it?
There was no easy way around this, he was going to have to find it out the hard way. He knew this was going to cause the lion some pain but it was going to save his life and make him feel better in the long run. He'd be able to leave the cave and maybe go back to where he came from and he'd be able to survive. This also meant that Dylan will be putting his life on the line, but to be honest he had been doing that since he interacted with the lion.
Dylan was getting an uneasy feeling. He really didn't want to break his unique bond with this lion. However he knew that if he didn't clean the wounds either soon or at all the lion would most likely die from the infected wounds. "Little lion, I need to clean your cuts, please don't eat me," Dylan tells the lion, who seems to be understanding what Dylan was telling him, however this didn't ease the feeling Dylan had.
The lion let out a little whine once he saw Dylan get the first aid kit out of the bag. "I'm so sorry little lion, you'll start feeling better once I am done I promise. "He tells the lion, giving him a few pets to try and keep the lion calm and a little reassured. It took him a couple of minutes but eventually he managed to do it and it seemed that the lion was now more willing for his cuts to be cleaned and taken care of.
There are two cuts on the lion's front legs, the closest wounds to Dylan so he decides to take care of them first. Although the lion could easily bite him here, the lion knew he needed help and this was the only person who has offered help so far. Dylan got the wipes and started on the lion's right leg. The lion didn't like it but Dylan was being as careful as possible to remove all the infection that was there and keep the infection from coming back.
It probably took Dylan about an hour or two but he managed to get all of the wounds cleaned. The lion definitely didn't like it at first but he got used to it before he finished. He also didn't bite or harm Dylan the entire time so he considered it to be a plus point. Once Dylan put the first aid kit away the Lion decided to get closer to Dylan and rest his head on the humans lap. He seemed happy now that he had been feed and his wounds had been taken care of.
Dylan was surprised by this like everything else which had happened during the time he has spent in the cave. Maybe no one else cared about the lion, he couldn't do the wounds to himself. The locals must have been hurting him. No one had died in the cave so if the lion fought back then they would have died from their injuries at home or something. It was their own fault anyway for harming the poor animal. They had angered and hurt it so of course he was likely to get back at them.
"You must have a name, little lion isn't a good one," Dylan tells the lion. He instantly wished he had said something else. How on earth was he going to get an answer from the lion? The lion has no way of communication still so he wasn't going to help. Dylan wasn't even sure that the lion would have a name. He is feared and hated by all the locals and anyone else he had come into contact with so far bar Dylan so why would he have a name other than something nasty.
Dylan suddenly felt like a fool, only lions in captivity and safaris were given names as a way of being identified and this one didn't fit into those categories. This lead Dylan to believe that the lion he started to care so much about didn't have a name. The lion looks to the other side of the cave and gets up, on unsteady paws. Dylan watches his lion carefully, he didn't want the lion to get any more injuries than what he already had.
The lion walks as best as it can in its current situation and makes it to the other side of the cave where there was a backpack, very much similar to the one Dylan had to one side of him. The lion picks it up in his mouth and carries it back to where Dylan was sitting. He drops it on the man's lap and lies down next to him with his head resting on his paws now. Dylan was very confused, was the lion wanting him to go through the backpack, well Dylan can only assume so.
In the bag were some items of clothing which looked like they belonged to a man who was slightly smaller than he was. There was also some blankets and a lot of things that you would find in a bag that you were going to go camping with. The only difference was that there was no tent or sleeping bag and there were pictures. These interested Dylan the most. The all had one man in them who was the same throughout. He had chocolate brown eyes, with the hair to match and kind of reminded him of Adam Lambert. This man had an incredibly gorgeous smile, which made Dylan's heart melt a little.
Some of the pictures had names written on the bottom as they were Polaroid style. The female's name didn't really matter to Dylan as he probably would never find the woman. The male's name was Danny, whether or not it was short for Daniel or it was his actual name Dylan wouldn't know. He looked at the picture then back to the lion a couple of times and even held the picture to the lions face. The eyes were the exact same in every tiny detail Dylan could see. "So your name is Danny?" Dylan asks the lion, who nods his head. So the lion was a human before but somehow was turned into a lion, who would do such a thing?
Dylan had no idea how long he'd been in the cave. He was now too far away from the entrance to get an idea of what the sky looked like outside and he had become used to the light that the torch on the floor combined with the one on his phone seemed to bring the cave. He was considering going back to his hotel for the night but he didn't want to leave Danny on his own and he decided eventually that he was going to spend the night with his lion so the trust wasn't broken.
Dylan soon had a small fire going and was cooking some meat for himself and he had given the other steak to Danny. Danny had become really friendly within the short amount of time he had known Dylan. It was probably because Dylan was actually helping him and making him feel less hated and alone. Dylan had accepted him straight away and hadn't intentionally hurt him like the locals had done when they saw him.
Dylan was starting to get really tired now so he guessed that it was night time now. He took one of the blankets out of Danny's bag and snuggled up under it, really close to his little fire so he'd stay warm during the night, or until the fire went out which ever one came first. Danny surprised Dylan once again but lying behind him and draping his paw over the man protectively. Dylan felt touched by this action and managed to fall asleep within minutes.
This quickly turned into a routine which lasted for weeks. Dylan would go to the caves in the morning, his backpack full off stuff he'd need for the two of them for at least a day or two. He'd change the dressing on Danny's wounds and help out in any way he could. Then he would either spend the night with Danny or go back in the morning or he'd go to his hotel and return to the lion early the next morning. They'd become really close in the short time in which they had gotten to know each other.
The locals were always curious and nosey. They wanted to know why Dylan kept going back to the cave and why he hadn't gotten any life threatening injuries from the lion. Dylan would never answer them, he say he hadn't encountered a lion so it must be dead. If they really needed or wanted to know what Dylan was up to it was pretty easy for them to follow him as he wasn't covering his tracks, however they didn't do this so his lion and him remained undisturbed.
Once again Dylan had stayed in the cave overnight and once again he had cuddled up to his lion as the fire had gone out long before he fell asleep. However, something was different once the morning came around. There was no longer a man and a lion lying together on the cave floor. There were now two men. Danny looked almost exactly like he did in the pictures, there were only a few minor differences due to time passing. He was asleep and now only in boxers so he was shivering quite a bit. On the plus side, all his wounds from the locals had healed up now and only left little scars which would probably fade with time.
It was Danny's shivering which had woken Dylan up that morning. He was in shock at first to see Danny was no longer a lion and now a human. The fact that he was so cold concerned Dylan more than the fact that he was human at that point. Dylan had managed to take his t-shirt off and put it onto Danny who would benefit from the body heat the shirt had more than the size. It was a little bit big on Danny but Dylan was sure it wouldn't matter now.
Dylan quickly grabbed Danny's and his bags and took the other blanket and Danny's trousers out of one. He would probably need something from his own bag to help Danny but for now he managed to get the trousers on him and pulled the smaller man closer to him so he shared his body heat with the male. He covered Danny with the second blanket as well and tried to tuck it tightly around the shivering form. He thought he should probably take Danny to a hospital as he was showing signs of hypothermia.
Dylan still had his emergency blanket in his bag so with his free hand he managed to get it out and cover Danny with it. He tucked it around Danny and tightly as he did with the other blanket so he could start getting warmer. He was also going to try and wake Danny up if he could. It would help him find out how bad the hypothermia is. "Danny wake up dude," Dylan says, rubbing the smaller males back in hopes that he'd respond.
Danny does manage to wake up, he is confused yet thankful that Dylan was once again caring for him and trying to help him get warm. He felt different somehow but he hadn't woken up enough to realise what was going on. "What's going on Dylan? "Danny asks, surprised that he could now talk again, yeah his voice sounded bad from misuse but they knew lions couldn't talk. "I woke up to you shivering and obviously you are human again and most likely have mild hypothermia," Dylan says.
Danny chooses not to dwell on the hypothermia and snuggles into Dylan, happy that he was able to do it. "It's good to be human again," Danny says with a smile. Dylan also smiles, his little lion is such a cute human. "I bet it is, how long were you a lion for then?" Dylan asks. "Three or four years I think. I guess dumping a witch is a bad idea," Danny replies. Dylan was hoping that the hypothermia was going away as Danny wasn't shivering as much and he felt slightly warmer.
"You dated a witch? That'll explain why you were a lion then." Dylan says. Danny had a little pout, he didn't like being a lion. "Yeah she wanted me so she used a spell on me, I dumped her once it had worn off and that was the revenge I got when she got mad. She said I was going to be that way until I died or-" he said, cutting himself off. If Dylan hadn't found him and helped then he probably would have died by now and he didn't want to say the other possibility out loud.
"Or what?" Dylan asks, trying to get the last few words out of the smaller male. He wanted to know more. "Jade said the other option was for a true lover to come along and save me," Danny says, mumbling the last part but it was still heard. Dylan's eyes grew wider in realisation, he'd fallen for his cute little lion who had turned into a sexy hot man. He was still on the small side compared with Dylan, but that fact never bothered him.
"So what you're trying to say is, we are meant to be together?" Dylan asks Danny who had gone quiet and was avoiding both the question and his friend's eyes. "You can tell me the truth Danny, I am not going to judge you I promise," Dylan says, putting a finger under Danny's chin and making him look the bigger male in the eyes. Danny was still reluctant to answer the question, but he looked his friend in the eyes, seeing that Dylan was telling the truth.
"Yeah, I've fallen for you Dylan. You have helped me so much recently and I have no idea how I am going to repay you for everything," Danny says, to which Dylan smiles. He also kisses Danny's forehead which makes him blush a little bit. "How about you show me that amazing smile of yours I have seen in the photos, my little lion," Dylan says. Danny does smile for him and it was so much more heart melting than it looked on the pictures.
That moment was the beginning of an amazing relationship between the two males. Dylan was helping Danny become part of society and they never went back to the cave since. Danny stayed mostly in the hotel so locals wouldn't try to attack him but he always showed gratitude towards Dylan for everything he had done by cooking and doing anything Dylan asked him to within reason. Yeah there were a few bad days where Danny had a hard time coping with adjusting or the locals had said something about him but Dylan was always there to help him through it all.
Then came a day which put their relationship to the ultimate test and nearly tore the two apart. They had been dating for a few months now and Dylan's holiday was at an end. He'd have to go back to North America within that week. He had originally planned to go home on his own as he had not met Danny when his whole trip was planned. Danny wasn't sure if the plans had changed at all, he'd discovered the flight ticket while he was cleaning the room.
It had left Danny in tears, he was afraid he was going to be left on his own to defend himself from the locals as he had no way to get himself back home to North America where his family was waiting for him and any sign that he was alive. Dylan had gotten back from the market where he'd gone to get some food for the next few days to find his boyfriend on the floor crying. Dylan quickly put the bags down and went to cradle his boyfriend "Danny, what's wrong baby?" he asks, trying to calm Danny down.
He looked around while he was trying to calm Danny down and spotted his plane ticket on the table. He was planning on telling Danny about leaving here soon but he wasn't expecting his ticket to be found by the smaller male. "Are you leaving me? "Danny asks in between crying breaths. "Of course not Danny. I have been trying to arrange for you to get the flight back with me and we'd go home," Dylan replies, rubbing the smaller male's back trying to calm him down more as he was still pretty upset by the whole thing.
"Really?" Danny asks. He was starting to calm down now and Dylan had managed to get him back to the calm state he was in before. "Yes, I'd never leave without you baby. You are way too important to me now and I couldn't just leave you here and I am never going to either," Dylan says, cupping Danny's cheeks and gives him a sweet and gentle kiss which Danny returns without so much as a second thought.
Danny's smile after they broke the kiss was the reason and motivation Dylan needed to help Danny as much as he did. It was such a sweet heart-warming smile. Dylan wished that he got to see it more often but there wasn't much of a reason for Danny to be happy while he was here. Danny's smile would improve a bad day within seconds. Dylan loved his little lion more than anything in his world. The name that Dylan had given him when they had first met had stuck, but to be honest Danny didn't really care, he grew to like the nickname. Danny had put some weight on since he met Dylan but he was still on the small side, which Dylan didn't really mind regardless of the teasing he did.
Danny was reunited with his family who accepted his relationship straight away, they didn't want to lose him again. Nearly two years after Dylan went into the cave on that fateful day which started everything, he never thought he'd be standing in his home married to the love of his life and living with him and their adopted baby. Danny never thought he'd be free of the curse placed upon him but here he was two years later holding their precious child in his arms.
Little baby Leo was never to learn that his father was ever a lion. He'd know that his parents had met each other in South America but they didn't feel like it was necessary for him to know about the whole lion story. It was one part of Danny's life that he'd rather forget. They didn't want to tell him how Danny was nearly killed by the locals, all the scars had faded so there was no longer any evidence of the attacks ever taking place.
"Isn't this just perfect? You, Leo and I all happy together," Dylan asks his husband who was rocking their son to sleep. Danny looks up and that heart-warming smile was on his face, "Yeah, it's just like a perfect fairy tale ending," Danny says, since he had returned to North America he hardly had a reason not to smile, everything had fallen into place and was going right for once. He was going to enjoy it as long as it lasts.
Leo had fallen asleep in Danny's arms. Dylan got a few pictures and allowed his son to go into a deeper sleep on his dad before moving him to his crib. The infant didn't stir even when his fathers kissed his little forehead and left the room quietly, closing the door and making their way to their own room. They probably could have stayed up for longer but parenthood was tiring, especially with the amount of time they had spent playing with their son that day.
"What would your life be like if you never went into that cave and found me?" Danny asks Dylan when they get into bed. "It would most definitely be boring, I'd be a lonely single guy and I wouldn't have the two most important people in my life, you and Leo." Dylan says not really taking much time to think about it. "I'm really glad you found me," Danny says. Dylan pulls Danny on top of him and starts kissing him. Danny kisses back without hesitation. All good things must come to an end and their little make-out session ended because they needed to breathe. "I'm glad I found you, my little lion," Dylan says.
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That is the end of this short story.
This was a little one off I started to make a while ago as I felt like it really.
It doesn't have any connections to any fandoms or anything it is just a little story I did to mix things up a little bit.
Anyway what did you guys think of it?
Should I do more like this in the future?
Let me know!