Beshte was having a nice swim with his parents on a lake. He was having a. Ice talk with Basi, his father, and leader of the hippo pod he lives with. Everything was as it should for all of them, and it was peaceful. Some Nile crocodiles were swimming in another part of the lake, but they didn't mean any trouble for the whole hippos, and kept their distance, mostly becasue they were a little afraid of the gigantic mammals.

"Dad?"

"Hmm?"

The son cleared his throat, and asked his father: "when you die, will I become the new leader of the pod?"

"I am certain that you will be a leader when I pass, and an excellent one, too." Basi replied. "I should warn you, you might get challenged by another Male who wants to be a leader, too."

"Ah, I won't worry about that." Beshte shrugged. "We all know I'm the strongest member of the Lion Guard." Basi made a chuckle in agreement.

"Of course. And being a leader comes with a great responsibility, protecting others from harm. But if course, since you ate still quite young, you will not have to worry about that just yet."

"Oh I know. I was just asking." Then the young hippo calf couldn't help but pass gas in the water. "Oops."

"Ooh, good one son, but try this." Then Basi had the pleasure of passing a bigger gas in the water, creating more bubbles than his son did before. Just then there was a grunting, like an angry grunting sound. They all turned around and there was a fierce-looking bull hippo with a much darker skin color than the other ones.

"Basi." Said the hippo in a low, intimidating voice. "I challenge you to a fight for dominance." And he narrowed his eyes in hatred at the leader.

"Draak, what is the meaning of this?" Asked Basi in confusion.

"I grow very tired of your leadership or what the others call leadership. You are weak, and you do not know the first thing about power. A hippo should be a dominant mammal, and we have the power to crush our enemies."

"No." Said Beshte. "We need to respect the circle of life like any other animal. And my dad is a great leader. He has gotten us out of a lot of obstacles!

Draak made a cruel laugh out of himself and said "what would you know about order or leadership?" He asked Beshte. "Nice will get you nowhere but weak. Being powerful and aggressive is what keeps us alive.'

"You clearly misunderstood how the world works." Said Beshte's father with his eyes narrowed in anger. "What has driven you to behave similar to Scar when he was king?"

Making an offended huff, Draak said "I am nothing like that cruel lion! I've seen him weak we have become by sharing our lakes with other creatures. And... it's because of that my son was killed by the hyenas when Scar ruled over the Pride Lands! If you keep up this kindness, we will all be next."

"Nonsense!" Said Beshte. "We're all doing just fine!"

"It's alright, son." Said Basi. "If Draak wants to challenge me to a fight," And he readied himself in a battle stance. "Then, it's a fight he'll get."

The darker hippo smiled hearing those words, and said "perfect. Soon, I will rule over this pod, and you better start packing."

"That will be the day, my old friend." And he made a breath out of his nose. "Fine. Have it your way."

"Dad, wait!" Said Beshte. "Draak's bigger than you, and he got his left eye clawed by a rhino horn."

"Stay back, son. I'll be just fine." Basi warned flatly. "I shall do what I must." He looked back at his rival, and made another huff from his nose, and it was all quiet. Everyone in the hippo were silent so they can watch the fight.

After a moment, Basi and Draak charged at one another in a fast swim, and a large splash of water exploded from where they were. They were trying to hit their opponent in any way possible, biting, ramming, and other methods.

Both their mouths were locked against their rival's in a shove match. It was very hard to tell who was winning or gaining the upper hand, in one moment, it would look like Draak was winning, and after another moment, Basi would be gaining the upper hand.

"Come on, dad!" Beshte cheered Basi on. "You can take him!"

Draak tried to bite on the leader's left side of his body with his teeth, but Basi had thick skin like any other hippo would have, and the sound of grunting was heard during the fight.

All of a sudden, Draak charged at him full of zeal and tried to drown his rival underwater. Beshte was worried about this, and exclaimed "dad, no!" And tried to go and help him out, but he was stopped by another hippo.

"No!" Said the female hippo. "This is your dad's battle, Beshte. Let him do this alone."

He was quite reluctant about this, but Beshte decided not to do anything rash for the moment. It looked like Draak was about to win, but then, something remarkable happened. Basi pushed Draak in his stomach, and latched onto his neck.

Grunting in agony, Draak wasn't about to go down so easily either, and their clashed their mouths again. Basi then charged at him, kicking him out of the lake with full force, and a loud thud was heard.

The fighting began happening on land now, and they tried to lock their teeth against one another once again, but then Basi bitten the right hind-leg of Draak, and bit down on it hard. He locked his teeth in the leg for a long sixty seconds, and Draak shouted bu saying "alright, I give, I give!"

Just like that, Basi let go of the leg, and said "Do you surrender?"

"Ah! If not for you breaking my leg, I would have killed you myself!"

"Draak, you are no longer part of this pod. Leave and never come back. And if you do, I will inform Simba about your treachery."

"Ain't no way that a weak king like him can stop me!" Draak argued

"Simba's a great king!" Beshte. "Show some respect!"

"I said leave, Draak." Basi warned for the last time.

Growling, the rival said "mark my words, this is not over." And he limped away from the lake.

"Are you okay, dad?"

"Just fine, Beshte. A little sore, but I will be just fine."

"Good." Beshte sighed. They all continued back to their usual businesses, and it was peaceful again. However, a new rivalry has begun, and a new enemy is born. That Draak was sure a nasty peace of work, but he was bo match for Basi's wits.

Beshte made a promise within himself that if Draak Draak would come back for revenge, he would do anything he can to prevent him from forcibly become the bee leader of the hippo pod. The last thing he wanted was to have his dad kicked out because of new leadership, not without his son by his side anyway.

Well, he knew that he wouldn't be alone when facing the new enemy, for Kion, and his friends who made up the Lion guard would help him if needed possible to do so.