Kovu wrinkled his snout at the offering laid at his paws. Another lump of cold meat offered by the same furless, repulsive primate. He glowered at her from where he was sprawled on the floor as she pushed another lump of meat through the openings of the silver webbing. But she apparently didn't get the message, as she returned his glare with an honest smile. Easy for you to be happy… You're on the other side of the barrier. He still wasn't entirely sure why these primates had done what they'd done, hunting him down and throwing him in this awful situation. And he wasn't entirely sure why they'd ended up choosing him out of all the other lions in the entirety of the Serengeti. He sighed through his nose, directing his eyes back down to the floor.
Kovu was drawn from his thinking by the voice of the primate. Her eyes were now sad and worried, and she passed her hand anxiously through her straw colored hair. She grabbed another chunk of meat in one hand, the hand which was covered in some sort of blue skin she had pulled over it, and once again pushed it through the fence. Kovu hadn't eaten since he had been captured, and he was sure that had been several days ago. His need for hunger was almost non-existent, focusing on escaping and staying on edge around the primates seemed so much more important than food.
But if you don't eat, you'll definitely die… And you can't escape and get back home if you're dead. Kovu mulled over that fact, wondering if it were better to starve himself rather than live long enough to see what these primates had in store for him. That's the internal despair talking. Get up and eat, you idiot! Kovu raised his head up sharply in annoyance, mostly annoyed at the fact he had no one to be irritated at since he had only been insulted by himself. Finally, he rose up and took a chunk of meat into his jaws.
It was fatty and tasteless, nothing like the warm and flavorful prey of the Pridelands. But as he swallowed, he felt his stomach waking up and pressing him to eat more. Moving on to the next piece, he glanced at the primate as her smile returned. She had obviously been worrying about him not eating, which he found odd. If she were worried about his well being, why hold him hostage?
"Why am I here?" Kovu asked. The primate's response was reminiscent of a small laugh. Not the response he wanted. "Can you understand me?" She passed him another piece of food in response. Kovu sighed and ate it anyway. Captured by animals he'd never seen before, who couldn't understand him, and who couldn't speak back in his language. He swallowed the last morsel and sat on his haunches, the food clearing his mind somewhat. She wants me alive, obviously. For reasons I'm unsure of. And from what I saw the other day in the area beyond this cave, there's plenty more of her kind. Kovu paused for a moment as she continued to smile at him. These creatures are unpredictable, I need to stay on edge. No more self pity. If I'm getting out, I need to use everything that I know.
His first thought was to judge if he could attack her somehow. He sized her up nonchalantly as he groomed himself. She would most likely be an easy adversary to overpower, but the impenetrable barrier between them would make getting ahold of her impossible. Not only that, but Kovu didn't necessarily enjoy the thought of fighting her. If she was so worried about getting him to eat, maybe acting aggressive towards her wasn't in his best interest. Something Simba had once said to him flitted through his mind.
Something about negotiating before starting a fight, how a ruler should use… What was the word? Diplomacy? Kovu drew his tongue over his teeth, thinking for a moment. He turned his attention towards the silver flap, remarkably undamaged despite his attempts to power through it. She can't understand my words, but maybe she'll get the general idea. He got up and stood in front of the flap, turning his eyes to match the primate's. He lightly grazed his claws over the rough material, creating a sound reminiscent of a cobra's scales rubbing together.
The primate placed her hands on her hips and said something in her odd chittering language, again with the same unbearably goofy smile. Kovu quelled a frustrated growl and repeated his light scratching. The primate then put a hand under her chin for a moment, studying him. Kovu sat calmly, hoping his more controlled behavior would allow her to at least let him out of the cave. She had watched his savage attempts of escape from a wooden little seat, unmoved by his frenzied clawing and biting. But he hoped she'd be willing to negotiate now that his anger had subsided.
She stood there with her fingers stroking her chin for a few moments, before walking out of sight. Kovu's tail flicked in anticipation as he heard the buzzing noise that signyfied the flap would rise. Thanks for that lesson, Simba. Kovu turned to look over his shoulder at the primate, and found her wagging a finger sternly in his direction. The resemblance to Rafiki was a little unsettling in his opinion. He squinted as the brightness blinded him, the sun seeming unnaturally bright after spending time inside the cave's dimmer atmosphere.
He looked around the area, which seemed incredibly small after a life of unending vastness within the Outlands and Pridelands. No, it seemed incredibly small to him, period. The female primate with the brown head fur that had sprayed him with the water was there, on the other side of the silky barrier. He scanned the area for signs of Pan or the female lion-thing, but he couldn't see either of them. He took a few steps towards the small pond, but swiftly dropped into a crouch as something large moved under the surface of the water. The broad head of Pan breached the surface, his fur soaking wet and glistening. His back was to Kovu, and he didn't seem particularly aware of his surroundings. Kovu's claws shot out and his body tensed up. Attack him. Drown him.
Kovu forced himself to let the rigidness leave his body and sheathed his claws. No, talk to him. He shook himself, a bit unnerved how quickly his Outlander thinking had clouded his brain again. Even though Pan had attacked him, Kovu certainly didn't see him as a threat after witnessing his fighting skills. You got off to a rough start, maybe he is understanding. He stood tall, and walked towards the pond purposefully.
"Hello." Kovu spoke, hoping not to alarm him. Pan spun around in the water, his expression surprised for a moment. But as he recognized him, Kovu was just as surprised to see Pan's expression turn to unconcerned recognition.
"Oh, hey." Pan said in a warm and deep voice, continuing to slowly churn his legs to stay afloat. "How's it going?" He asked. Kovu eyed him skeptically. Was he really this carefree about talking to someone who had knocked him upside the head only a day or two earlier. He swiveled his ears around, wondering if this was distraction for a sneak attack. But he had to remind himself how unlikely that was, seeing as how the area was devoid of good hiding spots.
"I'm fine, I guess." Kovu said, not sure how to proceed with the conversation. His vision of it had a lot more glaring, and growling, and sarcasm. Pan shook his head again, his small mane fluffing up as it began to dry. Kovu awkwardly cleared his throat, "So… You're Pan?"
Pan gave a nod before he lowered his head below the water and began to blow small bubbles from his nose. Kovu looked up at the cave he guessed Pan resided in, the panel still broken off and laying in the grass a ways away. Kovu snorted indignantly at himself, reminded once again that he'd had no luck busting open his panel.
"How'd you do that?" Kovu asked, his tone implying he demanded an answer. Pan stopped his bubble blowing and looked at him quizzically.
"Well, you see… I lower my head below the water...and blow air out of my nose like this-" Pan began.
"Not the bubbles!" Said Kovu, visibly annoyed. "The panel. That flap over there. How'd you break through it?"
"Oh…" Pan said thoughtfully. He looked at it as if thinking hard about his answer. "I… I dunno. When I thought Neema was in danger, it was easy I guess. Oh, and sorry about that."
Kovu was unsatisfied with that answer, but he could tell it was sincere. He softly growled in frustration and sat down. A breeze ran across him, and he shivered as he realized how cold it was. The Pridelands occasionally had chilly mornings and nights, but nothing as nippy as the air was now. With the sun high in the sky, and the time of year definitely being the Dry Season in the Pridelands, Kovu couldn't help but wonder how far they had taken him.
"Where am I?" Kovu asked Pan as the striped cat swam in circles, ignoring the cold.
"Well, I've never been asked that before." Pan paused, flicking droplets from his ears. He cocked his head a bit, seeming to mull over the answer. "I don't know. I just call it home."
"Well, it's not my home. How do I leave?" Kovu said, eyeing the silver webbing. Maybe it was climbable with some determination…
"Leave? Um...you don't." Pan said, looking at him as if Kovu had grown a second head.
"What do you mean? I have to leave. One of you has left, surely?"
"Not really. The only place I've been was the place I was born and the places I was taken on the way here, and I barely remember either of those places. The same for Neema too, probably. The only one that's left this place that I know of was old El Diablo." Pan told him. Kovu noticed the change of tone Pan had when he said the name. El Diablo? The way Pan said it made it seem like he feared who ever that was. He probably fought tooth and claw to get out of this place. Maybe he knew something I didn't. Kovu imagined a mighty lion blasting through hordes of the primates to get to freedom.
"How'd he get out of here?" Kovu's hopes were rising.
"Oh, he died." Pan said flatly. Kovu wanted to scream or roar or tear something apart. This is useless. The only way I'm getting out of here is by dying of old age? He began to pace back and forth furiously, his anger at the situation creeping back in. "Hey, it's not so bad. We get fed, and watered, and we play and swim all day and-"
"Play! Is that what this place has turned you into? Overgrown cubs?!" Kovu spat. "I am not going to get fat and soft like you and spending the rest of my days swimming in a hole and chasing butterflies." His anger left with his words, seeing Pan's eyes change from welcoming to hurt. Kovu immediately thought how it must feel to be insulted by some stranger in his own home, but he couldn't take back his outburst. He paused for a moment, letting the fury leave him as he breathed out. "Listen, I'm not from here. I don't want to be here. I don't want to die here. I want to leave. I need to leave."
Pan rose out of the water, his striped fur dripping with water. He shook himself, and Kovu restrained himself from jumping away from the cold droplets that sprayed him. "I don't know what to tell you, I guess. Nice to meet you." Pan made his way over to his cave. Kovu growled to himself as he watched Pan retreat. But his attention turned to the female's cave as buzzing sound rang through the air and her flap began to rise. She poked her striped face out and spotted Pan immediately.
"Morning, Pan!" She called.
"Morning. New guy's out with us again." Pan said, flicking his tail in Kovu's direction. Kovu watched as she froze for a second, and then began to seemingly force herself to walk in his direction. As she walked towards him, Kovu notice Pan pause at his cave's entrance before turning around and returning to where Kovu was as well. Kovu eyed her as she approached, noting the smile she wore was incredibly forced and it was impossible to ignore how her legs shook as she walk.
She's terrified of me. Kovu thought. He realized the amount of courage it must've taken her to attempt to split up the fight Pan and him had engaged in. No wonder, if these two have seen nothing but this little area that probably shook her up a bit. He softened his gaze as she came closer, with Pan behind her as he provided silent reassurance.
"H-hi, my name's Neema. Uh, what's yours?" She asked, her fur bristling uncontrollably.
"It's Kovu." He decided to lie down, trying to make himself as non threateningly as possible. "I'm sorry about what happened the other day." Neema's eyes widened a bit, and her smile seemed at least a tad more sincere.
"No, don't be." Pan sat down beside Neema, awkwardly studying his paws. "I just overreacted. I should've listened to you when you told me to stop. I just couldn't stand to think about someone attacking you again." Kovu's ears perked up at that. He finally noticed the scratches on her ears, old and scarred over, but definitely permanent. As he looked her over he saw her oddly short tail, which twitched and flicked as if her body expected it to be of normal length. Had something bitten it off? What could possibly attack them in here?
"Again?" Kovu said under his breath, although Neema was able to hear him.
"Yeah, when I was much younger I was let out with El Diablo… I tried to be friendly and talk to him, but he attacked me before I could even say my name." Neema's short tail lashed, and Kovu guessed she was having quite a vivid memory. "He tore my ears and ended up biting off my tail before the no-claws could get him to retreat by using the water snake. Seeing you come out of the same den he used to live in just brought up some really bad memories."
Kovu swished his tail thoughtfully, thinking over Neema's story. Kovu was used to the heat of a fight, but if Neema hadn't seen much else besides this claustrophobic patch of grass...such an event must have really been a traumatic experience. They'd never survive in the real world… But maybe they're deeper than what I'd expect from what they appear to be on the surface. Kovu sat up and gave a small smile.
"Well, I think it was pretty brave the way you acted the other day. Even after all those memories came rushing back to you, you still tried to be confident." Kovu watched as Neema raised her head a little higher, a small smile appearing on her face. "And Pan, the way you tried to fight me to protect your friend was a really good move. Some animals would just try to save their own skins. And sorry about the fight, and what I said earlier." Now it was Pan's turn to let himself enjoy the praise.
"Well this is nice…" Neema's smile began to spread as she looked between Pan and Kovu. "Let's do some proper introductions, then. I'm Neema, and he's Pan. We've basically lived here since we were cubs."
"We were both born separately somewhere else, and came here and were raised by our no-claw father." Pan stretched out on his side, relaxing into the grass.
"What's a no-claw?" Kovu asked.
"They don't really have any claws like us... So we called them no-claws as cubs, and it just stuck." Pan explained. Pan nodded his head in the direction of the primates on the other side of the barrier. Those things raised them…? That doesn't help with my confusion over what they want from me.
"We don't have any of those where I come from, at least from what I've seen. The first time I saw any of them was after I was captured." He watched as Neema and Pan traded looks of confusion.
"Captured from where? How could you never see a no-claw? Who fed you?" Pan asked.
"I was captured by some weird creature that I'm guessing was working with the no-claws. Then I woke up in that cave over there. And I fed myself, I hunted like any normal lion." Kovu said. Neema's tail began to lash feverishly as she cocked her head, seemingly to ponder something. Pan just seemed to look straight up dumbfounded. Kovu reminded himself that these weird striped lions had probably never caught anything but a frozen butterfly. "I guess you've never hunted for yourselves. Maybe I can teach you the basics."
Neema's eyes lit up and Pan looked up at him sceptically. Kovu looked around the small area again. Maybe I can get the information I need from these guys while teaching them something useful. Kovu stretched and flexed his claws. He hated to admit it, but teaching hunting skills would relax his nerves in this place. Was it really only several days ago that Kiara and him were practicing stalking and combat? He sunk down to the ground, his muscles ready to perform.
"First thing's first. The hunter's crouch…"
Oof. I said I'd be more active with this story back in the summer of 2017, but that was a lie... Eheh… Anyway, this story was never abandoned in my mind and I think about it regularly. I really will try and be more consistent this year. I've got a little story to tell, and I hope you all enjoy the chapters to come. :]