Chapter 4

Some time had passed after the incident with the panther, and since then young Simba had proven to be progressively experienced at luring in prey to Kaa at his will, leaving the python to only have to do half of the dirty work himself. No longer did he have to carefully sneak up on his prey without making a sound, for now he had an unsuspecting cub to do that for him. He was proving to be more useful than he had originally envisioned.

But still, Kaa was not entirely pleased just yet. For although he was glad that Simba was helping him, there was still the matter of having to strangle and constrict his prey once the cub led it to him. More often than not it would still be difficult to constrict them fully, especially with the larger animals Simba would antagonize.

One morning after a particularly successful kill thanks to Simba, the python simply rested inside the den and watched as the cub darted across the ground and swatted his paws at a fly from outside, coming close to striking it on a few occasions. Kaa found it strangely amusing to watch him try to do such a thing, but then the unexpected happened. Watching him swat at the fly with his underdeveloped claws unsheathed, he suddenly got it. His head rose up and his eyes widened in realization, inhaling loudly to himself. Only now did he realize that if he were to keep Simba as his slave for long enough, the cub would eventually grow to be a wholly developed lion who would be able to do all of the hunting for him. He smiled deviously at the cub now from inside the den. He had just thought of the way to make use of him for the rest of his natural life now.

Moving out into the sunlight, he slithered over to Simba which caught his attention rather quickly.

"Now then, lion cub," hissed Kaa coming out of the den. "I've just come up with a wonderful idea for the both of us. It's time we began your training."

The cub cocked his eyebrow. "What do you mean, Kaa?" he asked innocently as he sat before his master now.

"It will be soon time for you to go out hunting for yourself," explained Kaa. "I know you cannot simply lure animals towards us forever. For that, I believe it's necessary to toughen you up so you can hunt not only for me, but for yourself as well." This was partially the true as he also wanted to relieve some boredom with his pet.

"Ah, I don't need training," said Simba with cockiness. "I'm a lion. It comes naturally to me, like breathing."

Kaa smiled at Simba's youthful brashness and choice of words. "Funny you should say 'breathing,' lion cub," he hissed sinisterly as he abruptly began to coil around Simba's body. Unlike before however, the lion cub reacted less with fear and more with curiosity as he felt himself being wrapped up to his neck, his forearms pinned to himself tightly. "If you're so vicious like the other lions, then I'm sure you can withstand the pressure of my mighty constriction." He looked straight into Simba's eyes with a sadistic glint as he said this, lifting his body up off the ground.

Simba quickly donned a facade of confidence. "Hit me with your best shot."

"Be careful what you wish for," said Kaa as he started to meticulously tighten his coils around Simba's body. "That foolhardiness of your's just might cost you."

In the span of a second, Simba found it hard to breath as he wheezed more and more. The rest of his body was no better as the coils crushed him slowly but surely.

"Tenacious, aren't we?" hissed Kaa. "Let's kick it up a notch."

And with that, Kaa tightened his grip on Simba ever further, sending waves of pain to shoot throughout his body. The python certainly didn't intend to kill him this time, especially with the ingenious idea he had just formulated in his mind. But because of his pain, Simba had almost immediately forgotten about that matter.

"This... is... nothing!" He said with a cocky attitude in between breaths. "You've... done worse than this!"

"Oh, have I now?" Kaa asked with sarcasm glowing in his voice.

At this point he tightened his hold on him even more, listening intently on his futile gasps for air. At first, he expected Simba to give up and admit defeat as he had done beforehand. But despite what he would've wanted, the cub did something he had never attempted to do before: He unsheathed his small claws from within his slimy grasp and rapidly started to move them around, ripping at Kaa's skin. Being a cub, it didn't hurt him very much, but the python's eyes widened suddenly at his sudden determination now.

"You think you're... gonna win again?" Simba said forcefully and in between breaths. "N-not... this time!"

As fast as he could, he tried to wrestle his forearms free of the grasp on him, scratching against the python's thick skin with all his might. Even though it was like trying to drill through rock with a knife and Kaa could only feel mild discomfort from his claws, he nonetheless smiled at Simba's tenacity.

"My, we are rather persistent today, aren't we?" He said trying to sound sincere about it. Then, he decided to try something. In an effort to suddenly sound like he was in pain, he said in a fake tone,

"Oh! Oh dear, I'm in agony at your strength! Oh my, those claws are powerful!"

Kaa decided to finally loosen his grip on Simba to enhance his act, making him fall to the ground. When he did, Simba took a moment to catch his breath before looking up to Kaa with a cocky smile. Kaa put on his best pain face as Simba spoke.

"Ha! See? I told you you weren't going to win this time!"

The cub stood up and dusted himself off before Kaa leaned into him closely. With a hint of sarcasm, he said to his slave, "My word Simba, I had no idea those little claws of yours could be so painful. You truly are blessed with a gift, let me assure you."

The cub snickered. "See? I told you hunting comes naturally for me."

Then Kaa leaned in closer still and said in a low tone, "But it's a matter of knowing how to use them, lion cub."

Simba cocked an eyebrow before continuing. "If you were to let me train you to hunt, surely you could show the other animals of the jungle how powerful your claws are if they could hurt me. I've observed carnivorous animals use them in ways that you would hardly be able to comprehend. Between you and me, I've learned quite a few secrets on how to truly use them from that."

Had it not been for his tragic hypnosis, Simba would've gone against this for sure, knowing that something was up. In fact, his instincts right then were telling him that something wasn't right here. But his instincts were overpowered by his entrancement. He simply nodded to his master.

"Yes, Kaa." He said. "What kind of secrets are they?"

Kaa replied, "Oh, ones that I think we may find useful for our hunts in the future."

He cleared his throat before continuing. "Since you were able to outwit me for the first time, you may do as you wish for today, lion cub. Today is yours, but tomorrow your training intensifies..."

Many thanks to WTF123 for helping as always. You rule, man!