Chapter 5- Points to Perfection
A few days had passed, giving me time to really start to come to terms with the fact it wasn't a dream. I was actually a lioness cub and was going to have to live like this for the remainder of my life, at least that's how I assessed it when I got some time to myself. One thing I wasn't getting too used to was being cleaned at seemingly every opportunity my carers saw fit. I was sure that they did it to see me resist. Simba fought back the same, getting the same reaction from his mother. She knew he would resist but didn't stand a chance of stopping her. Our reactions must have been amusing enough to tempt them to do it again and again. I wasn't lied to when they said I didn't have a choice. Still, in those times, I was allowed the space for thought and did wonder how in such a short space of time I had adapted to this new lifestyle; my behaviour even matching that of Simba and Nala's childlike nature to some extent. I was a little more reserved at times, but still joined in with all their games and conversations. I would just assume it was because of the body I was in; the natural age regression had enabled a more immature thought process as well as motivations to take a hold of me. Of course, this didn't stop occasional flashes of my old self appearing, which confused the cubs and adults alike when I would say something beyond my perceived years. Aside from this though, I had been settling into the pride quite well, to my surprise finding that the adults were more than happy to provide me with some of their time. The lionesses were particularly keen on talking to me about how I would join the hunting when I grew up. A small part of me would feel uncomfortable at that, but only because of my past. However, with what I was having to eat, the thought of it was becoming easier to stomach.
Only a couple more times I had unsettling experiences with Scar, the lion making sure to intimidate whoever he could. Whilst I felt it, I made a point to the male that I would not be intimidated, at least not in front of him. Whilst he made no action of it, I could tell it irritated him. Despite those nervy interactions though, even he found the occasional moment to be pleasant towards me, even if I was uncertain on his sometimes sarcastic attitude. What struck me though was the fact he was actually willing to give me a few tips for hunting, demonstrating them to me as well. It appeared he had taken a little interest in me, perhaps because I seemed to not back down when others would. He never showed the enthusiasm when others were around me, but it was definitely there when only he and I were in company. This didn't happen often or for long, but maybe it was the interactions alone that Scar found interesting. I could see he was testing my reaction to his change in behaviour around others, becoming noticeably irritable if I had no reaction to give him. These interactions didn't mean he unsettled me any less, but I wanted to get a better understanding of him, so that was my best way of doing it. Even if he didn't say anything of the sort, he came across as a darker character, not trying to find the good in others, but instead he was cold and calculating of others, often choosing that they weren't worth his time, as many of the pride members appeared to fall into this category. For some reason, I felt like he hadn't put me in that category, not yet.
The hunting lessons were to begin later in the day and I had Nala almost stuck to me, continuing to chatter about how excited she was to have someone else learn with her, it would apparently be a lot more fun that way. I couldn't argue otherwise, seeing as I had never had a hunting lesson in my life. The most I'd had were Scar's little tips and the play fights I'd gotten involved in against the other two cubs, although they saw my inexperience as a weakness they could take advantage of, often making me their prey for the little simulation game they wanted to put on. These games did help me discover that I had a lot more energy than I knew. The day itself felt like it was taking forever because the two of us were left to wait for our lesson. Simba wasn't able to be with us because Mufasa was showing him around the Pridelands and from what I overheard from Sarabi, he was learning lessons of his own, although they were lessons on how to be king and all that it entails. In my mind that seemed like a rather daunting thing for a child to be introduced to, but then, he already knew he was going to be king, which must have made it easier. Nala continued to talk at me, trying to explain some of the technique she had already learned on lessons, but failing to put them across to me properly as we were left within the den in Pride Rock, not in the open lands where she could leap to something that wasn't a rock. Once she had gotten bored of telling me about the lessons, she was starting to get curious about me, asking questions that the other lionesses in the den would be there to hear my answers to, and as they still didn't know me that well, their ears were perked to catch any details. I noticed this fairly quickly and looked around to see how many I was having to answer to. I counted maybe another four in the den to listen to my answers, which would undoubtedly travel to other ears through a small game of Chinese whispers over my past no doubt.
"So, what was your old home like?" She asked, right up in my face with her smile clear and her eyes as bright as ever, looking, waiting for my answer.
I felt a little bit nervous as I would have to think fast for these questions "Well, it wasn't quite as warm as this land. I lived with friends, but my family were nearby. My old home was quite quiet, not much happened, but that wasn't a bad thing to us. I was usually quite busy back home, but that was because it wasn't as…uhm, it wasn't as beautiful as the Pridelands, but I liked it a lot, because it was home." I answered, earning an appreciative nod from Nala as well as some endearing smiles from the adults in the room, almost as if they were agreeing with me. They hadn't seen where I was talking about, but considering my story of arrival, I assumed the look was in support of me, rather than agreeing.
"I bet you miss your home lots then." Nala commented, earning a misty-eyed nod from me. The talk of home was making me think of what I was missing, where I felt like I should have been. At seeing my distress, Nala did the only thing she could think of and she leaned against me, her cheeks rubbing against mine "It's okay. I'm here for you. Everyone here seems to like you, so hopefully you'll be less sad. I promise, we're gonna be best friends! You, me and Simba, we'll be friends forever." She assured before getting excited again "Just think, we'll be hunting together as well!" I nearly felt her leap just from her words carrying all the excitement she clearly felt from the thought of hunting alongside a friend of hers. "Why haven't you had hunting lessons before?" She asked, the mention of hunting making her remember I'd mentioned that I had never practiced any of the skills required.
"Well, where I am from, the food doesn't really need to be hunted…it's sort of already there. Because of that, I never really needed to learn how to hunt. It is a very different place to the Pridelands, that's for sure. My mum never really did any hunting either. It's hard to explain, but I guess that's why when we had lions attack, we weren't able to defend ourselves well. I was always told when I was younger that we were living in a time where everywhere was safe, so when we got attacked, everything I knew wasn't useful in surviving, but my parents were at least smart. They told me to make my way in the direction of the Pridelands. They didn't tell me, but I think they knew about the Pridelands. I cried most of the time I ran, because I was scared and didn't know if I was going to stay alive, let alone if my parents were going to. I think the fact they haven't showed up is good enough reason to think that…ach, I…" I started choking up, more tears forming. I felt bad that I was deceiving them, but I also felt like I had no other choice. The adults in our presence looked sadly at me, with a couple of them looking like they wanted to get to me and hold me close. Nala stayed on me, absorbing my emotions. Even through the lies, my emotions were real, thinking of what could be happening back where I was from. Would I have disappeared? Did anyone know I was gone? How would my family react to me disappearing? All of those questions and more were weighting me down and the release I had was through my tears, now at the point where I was sobbing loud, hearing the echo bounce off the walls. Nala tried to apologise for asking the questions, but I shook my head and looked at her with a weak smile, my fur having become damp where tears had stained it. I actually feel better for letting out. Thank you for letting me do that. I think I needed it." I sniffled, my smile growing through my teary eyes.
A new voice entered the room, startling everyone when we knew who it was "What a tragedy you have had to endure. Perhaps though it was for the best that your home has been taken over by a stronger leadership; one that would be prepared for a challenge such as the one it presented to your family." The dark maned lion strolled into the den, not caring for the looks he was getting from the lionesses in there already when he stopped in front of me, extending a claw from his smallest digit to stroke the top of my head, almost scratching. It didn't feel pleasant, but I was too occupied with looking at him somewhat hurt at his comment "Oh come now, if your family had been worthy of staying in those lands then the attacks wouldn't have happened, and you would have been with them right now. However, you are here and they are likely resting in the dirt, never to see their precious daughter again." He seemed to swoon at the thought of such an event taking place. His eyes were quick to go back to me, waiting to see if more tears fell, but instead he was met with a rather stern look on my face. "By all means argue your point of how I'm wrong and wouldn't know…" he leaned in, pushing Nala aside to whisper in my ear "You and I both know what the truth is." He started laughing, switching to a caring face as he stroked me again. It was clear he was mocking me, but it also disturbed me when he whispered; for a moment I thought he knew that I wasn't always a lion cub. The thought left my mind when I decided it was too much of a leap from nowhere to get to that conclusion.
The words stung at me, so even whilst Scar was pretending to comfort me, I looked up at him with venom in my eyes, a small growl coming from me as I tried to warn the male. He knew that there was nothing I could do, so he only smiled down at me "You can say what you want, think what you want, but as long as I haven't seen anything that confirms it, I don't have to believe they're gone. The chance is small, but at least there is a chance. I don't care what you say, they were worthy. They were better at leading than you would be, given the chance." I spat, jabbing at him verbally, knowing his desire to rule, so it would be a point that would sting at him.
With a rather displeased look on his face, Scar raised a paw to swipe at me, but stopped when he looked around to see all other lionesses in the den were ready to jump at him if he did such a thing, I was a cub after all. With his claws retracted, he put his paw down, his expression still rather sour as he looked down at me from the corner of his eyes. "What a smart little cub you are." He said, though with malice in his voice, almost making his statement a warning rather than a compliment. Yet despite this little challenge on his ego, he seemed to hold back on a smile, as if he was genuinely amused by the response I gave, rather than giving in. Having noticed he wasn't welcome for much longer, the maned lion decided to take his leave "A pleasure as always seeing you all. Send my dearest brother kind regards and perhaps he would mingle with his lowly brother." The old prince moped, though all as part of an act no doubt. Before too long he had disappeared.
Nala returned to my side "Are you okay?" I nodded, inciting a smile from the cub. It took a moment for me to realise that I had to drop my stern look, shaking my head as a way to rid myself of it "I thought you were brave, Scar can be a bit scary sometimes, but Simba says that's because he's weird. I don't know, he just gives me the creeps." She giggled, accompanied y a shudder when she paid mind to the lion. "I'm bored, I can't wait to learn some more hunting skills. It's just such a long time waiting." She groaned, flopping to the ground in a dramatic fashion. Nala didn't seem to mind that we had an audience to whatever we said, being used to it. I could only imagine how bored she would have been getting waiting by herself, at least I was there to talk to for her. "Tishala, help me not be bored." She prodded at me with a little smile on her face, starting to act out of mischief once again. I'd noticed her playful pushes were coming, so I decided to pounce her as best I could, the two of us rolling around the den floor, kicking up some dust in there, albeit only a little, so none of it would disturb the adults. In that moment, I could feel their eyes on us, but I didn't care too much, I was having too much fun, grappling and fighting for the victory, a victory which hadn't come so far, having always been bested by the female cub. There was one time I could have sworn Simba let me win once, holding back from his own pride to let me have something. In the brief moments I was on top, I could see flashes of a defeated smile from Simba; I'd never expected him to give up just so I could win. However, when trying to do the same to Nala, I was less successful, despite my fighting spirit and grit, I found myself with my back pressed against the ground, all the weight of the cub being pressed onto me as she gave another smug grin to add to her tally of victory poses, standing over me with her chest puffed out. What she didn't count on was that in her complacency, I'd shifted ever so slightly, making my move by pushing up against her with all my effort, I could feel my muscles tense with effort, trying to roll up enough that I could use my back legs. The moment I got traction with them, even Nala looked a little worried, but she soon focused up as the two of us were pushing against each other, both on our hind legs, trying to gain the advantage with our strength, to get the other on her back. I gritted my teeth as both of us gave a playful growl, pushing each other in different directions around the den. For once it seemed like Nala was having to work for this victory.
With all the effort going into this, I didn't even think to see where I was stepping, missing a small bump in the ground that Nala had managed to miss. As was my luck in this match-up, it was where I faltered, tripping forwards so that I would push Nala onto her back, but with no control over the move, she found it no problem to reverse the situation, once again pressing her front paws on my shoulders, making sure I didn't have any wiggle room this time. "Pinned ya…phew." She responded, another smile, though this one was less smug and more relieved, panting out her words as she had to catch her breath. The efforts had meant that the cub rolled over to my side, saying on her back as we were both panting from the effort, looking at each other with a wide smile though. "How did you do that? I thought I had you pinned the first time. I guess my training has helped you." She purred, more than satisfied with being the reason for my improvement in a play fight. Of course, I wasn't going to argue with her.
After repeating these close battles, we were alerted to the presence of Sarafina, who came in and had a raised brow and an amused smile on her face when she saw we had been getting rather good at evening out each other's strengths and weaknesses, although Nala was still just that little bit ahead, always. At seeing her mum, the cub rushed over, receiving nuzzles as both of them purred, embracing each other. It was quite nice to see mother and daughter with such a strong bond "What do you two say to a hunting lesson?" She asked once done nuzzling her daughter, looking to both of us as I got beside Nala, sitting down where both of us would nod to her, my fellow cub doing so with a large grin on her face. The amount of energy Nala had, I could almost feel it, and it was infectious. I started to feel myself grow in energy, nearly shaking from it. "Come on then, stick to me, then we'll find something to train you with." She started to walk out of the den, the two of us in tow.
Just before we could exit though, Sarafina nearly bumped into her friend and queen, Sarabi. Seeing that her friend was leaving with the two of us, she worked out what was happening "Ah, a hunting lesson. Sarafina if I may join you?" She questioned, a smile on her face as she looked at me for a moment longer than anyone else, catching me off guard a little bit. "These two may benefit from having more than one experienced lioness teach them, wouldn't you agree?" She gave her friend a wink, Sarafina's smile growing at that. Without speaking, she nodded, allowing the queen to tag along on our lesson. "Excellent. Let's turn these two into the finest hunters the Pridelands have seen." She spoke, motivating all four of us. In truth, having the queen around made me feel safer because there were two of them and I was sure that was an element to why she asked to join our group. "Lead the way Sarafina." She gestured ahead of her, into the Pridelands where our lessons would begin.
Our two elders seemed satisfied with where we were after about half an hour of following them, all the while Nala and I resisted the urge to start our little brawling matches again. We knew we had to be more serious, especially in front of the queen. "Nala if you stick with me for now. Sarabi, if you could give Tishala some lessons. I feel it could work best if we teach one to one. We can always group together again and see who learned the most." Sarafina suggested, knowing her daughter would relish the idea of this being a competition. Sarabi wasn't about to argue either, looking down at me to see a look of determination in my eyes. I may not have had the advantage, but I was never one for giving up a challenge.
Seeing that look in my eyes, Sarabi answered "I think that's a great idea. You'd better hope that mother daughter bond is strong enough. Tishala and I are going to be tough competition. I can promise you that." With that, our group made its split, Sarabi and I staying put as mother and daughter went to find another place to practice. "Now, a good first place to start would be getting you to tread properly. It's one thing if you can run and catch prey, but it is a far more efficient and bountiful hunt if you can catch them by surprise. You'll find your body and team thank you for a less exerting hunt. If we are smart with our skills, we won't need to chase like the cheetahs." She explained, her body shifting a little bit to plant her paws, claws extending as she made her body seem to become more streamlined. She looked to me whilst holding this pose "If you can get this pose, that would be your first step. Consider it the essential preparation for each strike you take." I tried to emulate what the older lioness did, looking to her with an unsure expression on my face. She broke her pose to circle me, nudging my legs to move them where she wanted "You need your legs to be like this, otherwise you will not be as stable on the ground, which can trigger a sound to alert your target where you are. Keep even and you can be surer of where you're stepping." She continued to look around me, then pushing my body a little lower "You will need to stay low, that way you won't be seen until it is too late for your prey. It may feel awkward to move like this at first, but once you get used to it, you will realise how useful and essential this skill is. It will be tempting to strike the moment you can see the target, but another important lesson I will teach at some point is timing your attack, waiting for the right moment." She added, still looking around at my posture, only moving my paws a little more as well as making sure my tail stayed low "There. This is how you will want to always start a stealthy pursuit. If you do, you'll be on the right track every time. Try to remember this pose, try to use it when you move through tall grass. You're small enough now, but when you grow, it is imperative you stay low." The lion queen said to me, getting by my side to get into the same pose, albeit she was a scaled-up version and there was no uncertainty to her when she struck it. She looked at me once more, seeing if I had reverted to what I was doing, smiling instead when she saw I'd barely moved a muscle "Good."
I was given permission to break from the pose, able to sit down as I was asked to listen "Another important skill is that of tracking. To start with, it would be impossible to start off with tracking by scent. We may know areas our prey is likely to be, but we cannot be certain, so we have learned to identify different tracks. Whilst we are here, unfortunately I cannot get you follow prey from the imprints they leave on the ground. I can get you to try and find me though from scent. I will ask for you to close your eyes and count to fifteen. Once you open your eyes, I want you to find me. However, you must use your nose to find me. If you just search using your eyes, you won't be as efficient as you need to be. Do not worry though, I'm not expecting perfection on your first try." I found what she said a little difficult to follow sometimes, but knew we were essentially playing hide and seek in order to train my nose to pick up scents. It was a use of the game I hadn't seen coming, although I probably should have. I did what was asked of me and when I opened my eyes again, Sarabi was out of sight. I did a full rotation around, not even getting a clue as to where she had gone. The lioness truly knew how to move silently because I didn't even hear her move away once I had closed my eyes.
To make it more complicated for myself, I hadn't really tried to locate anything using my nose before, at least not to this extent. I hadn't really taken notice of Sarabi's own scent. I did only what I could think of and take a deep inhale, catching all the different smells of the savanna plains around me. Nothing caught my attention, so it looked like this was going to be difficult for me. I sighed and started to pace around the small area, sniffing at the air to see if there were any changes. There were, but none that I could call out as the lioness' I was looking for. After about ten minutes of trying I growled in frustration, swiping the ground with a paw to shift some of the dust there, creating a small cloud that surrounded my front paws. Looking around some more, I felt the frustration start to bubble, but I did my best to calm myself, knowing that it wouldn't help me if I couldn't stay calm. Finally, I noticed something out of the ordinary, sniffing some more as I got close to it. The scent was familiar despite not having identified it before. It had to be Sarabi. Before I entered the taller grass, I tried to strike the same pose as earlier, looking over it myself. Feeling satisfied with this, I proceeded into the tall grass, being covered by it entirely as I stalked my way to the source of the scent. It wasn't strong, but it was there, so I could follow it easily enough. It took no more than half a minute before I came face to face with the lioness I was searching for, both of us smiling as I made a leap at her, landing on top of her back, sliding off when she stood up as we both made it to the clearing we were previously. With a small nuzzle to my face she started speaking again "It took some time, but at least you've shown you can do it. You'll only get better the more you practice it. From now on I've no doubt you're going to take a better notice of the scents in your surroundings." She smiled, leaning in so we could once gain share a welcome embrace. "I'm going to have to tell you though that we need to work on your pounce now. I understand you were excited to find me, but the pounce needs to be perfect every time. If you miss your pounce, then all your hard work before is lost. When you pounced at me, you put in too much power to your legs. Though as I said, I imagine it is more from your excitement of finding me."
The lion queen distanced herself, her back to me as she laid down, looking back "We will worry about keeping you hidden later. For now, let's start with the actual pounce. If you get into the pose we talked about, then you should be able to pounce from there onto me. In my opinion, to call it a successful pounce, you must be able to grip onto your prey with your claws in such a way it would require a lot of effort to dislodge you. If they must do that, they will slow down too much to avoid being defeated by the hunting party you would be with. Does that make sense?" She asked, earning a nod from me as I held the pose "Okay, good. So, try it, although please refrain from using your claws too much." She couldn't help but chuckle, knowing the risks of letting an excitable young cub learn to attack on her.
I had to repeat this exercise for what felt like an age, although I could see the improvement. Sarabi would mix up the distance away she would be, letting me judge how much power I should put into my leap. On one where she was too far away, she informed me that the wise decision would be to find a closer spot, but when putting everything into practice, stealth would also help determine how close I would be able to get to prey. Once I was showing I could judge the right distance to pounce, Sarabi stood up beside me and gestured for me to follow her into the taller grass. As I made it into there, she turned and stopped me "Now, strike the pose, make sure to stay low." She nodded when I did so, only needing to adjust a few minor things "Your tail, keep it down." She gestured for me to see that my tail was indeed poking up. Right now, it would be fine, but once I would get bigger that would be a giveaway. I adjusted and waited for further instruction. "Make sure your claws are out. When staying quiet and out of sight, you must make sure you keep your eyes ahead. This presents its own challenges; for example, you may fail to notice a small branch you could step on. With your claws out, you should be able to feel the branch before you make a noise with it that will get you detected. Try to feel the earth beneath with your claws. Follow as I do." She told me, starting to stalk through the grass. I tried to mimic what she was doing, keeping my claws out. I found myself nearly tripping over everything, but like she had said, the fact I felt it meant I could adjust. Although I was far from perfect, Sarabi was quick to comment she was impressed at the speed I was picking up on what to do. "Now all you need to do is grow." The lion queen joked, giving me a warm smile as we made our way back into the clearing.
Once again, we shared a moment together, thanking my teacher without words. All of a sudden though, this was cut off and Sarabi lifted her head to check her surroundings. I did the same, taking the cue from her as she tried to catch a scent. This time the scent was hard to miss, it was strong, so much so that it invaded my nostrils and caused me to cough from the strength. It wasn't pleasant, like whatever had the scent was rotting. Sarabi seemed to know the source and both of us could tell that it was close. I started shaking a little bit. Before I knew it, Sarabi advised me to hide in a section of the tall grass as she stood in front of me. The air felt tense and I could feel the intense stare Sarabi was giving to the direction of the scent. Not a moment later, I heard a cackle. That was when I knew that it was a hyena. It got louder and before too long I could see it start to emerge the other side of the clearing "What are you doing in these lands? You know hyenas are not to come to the Pridelands." She warned, her voice stern and commanding. She didn't show an ounce of fear as the manic looking creature looked at her, almost as if it didn't understand. Upon hearing the lion queen, the hyena cackled again, looking to its left and right as two more emerged by its side. Worry started to creep into my mind as we were outnumbered. Sure, she could likely take on two and win, but three seemed like it would be too much for even the lioness. They advanced on her, but she didn't budge, growling at them as they returned the favour. They hadn't attacked and I started to get a worse feeling from this.
Even Sarabi showed a glimpse of fear when we heard another giggle behind us, looking back to see a fourth hyena had come from behind. Whilst it hadn't spotted me yet, it would only have to take a few steps before I was right beneath it. As it was though, I was still hidden as the situation was gradually escalating in the worst way for the both of us.
A/N: There you then, I've left this one on a bit of a tense moment hopefully. Glad I can finally start getting a bit of action in there. Of course, there's still a few characters to introduce, but it's starting to come together. I do not own The Lion King; those privileges go to Disney. Please, let me know what you think! Let me know if you have any theories for what might happen, what could have happened etc, I'd love to see it all! All the best and I'll see you next time with the latest instalment.