VS Lion, Part 6

Lying face down on the ground, Serval slowly opened her tightly-shut eyes. Having no idea what was happening prior, now she understood the situation she was in. Although she was frantically trying to avoid all of the falling trees, her escape route had been cut-off more and more by them. In the end, she lowered herself to the ground the lowest she could, tightly shut her eyes and braced for impact.

This is how it ended. Luckily for her, she settled in a gap in between the fallen trees, meaning that she didn't get crushed. It's a miracle that she came out of the disaster unscathed. She truly was lucky.

However…

With the complex web of branches she was entwined in and the piled up tree trunks on top of her, her body was completely constricted, making her unable to move at all.

(What should I do…!? I can't move…!)

The fact that only her right hand could move freely combined with her bad positioning made the trees piled up on top of her not give an inch. Even if she were to bring out her claws and try to drag herself out with just the strength of her arm, the pressure from the branches and tree trunks on her lower body made it impossible to move.

"Mya—"

As she was frantically struggling, she stopped moving when she sensed the slight tremors of the ground from footsteps. She shifted her head and eyes to look ahead.

There stood Lion with eyes and arms shining in a dazzling light as she salivated. It looked almost as if she was laughing after having finally caught a nimble prey.

"Ah—"

Serval shuddered upon witnessing that twisted smile. Step by step, Lion drew nearer.

"Kh… Ngh…! Umyaaa!"

This was terrible. Trying to ward her off, Serval desperately bared her fangs and scratched at the air with her movable right hand. Lion frowned at the pathetic resistance and threat, and continued forth. With her sharp claws glittering, she approached the trapped Serval.

"Mya… my…"

Serval's threatening voice got lost in her throat from fear and despair. When Serval looked up at Lion from her face-down position, then even the hand that she's been so vigorously swinging came to a stop. Witnessing Serval in a state like this, Lion let out a small chuckle.

Then…

...AWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO…!

Within the forest where rain was the only sound, a distant long small howl had resounded. Lion, who only had Serval in her sight, raised her head and surveyed the surroundings in response to the noise. At that moment, when Lion's awareness was taken off of Serval…

Toss*

With a dwindling sound, a small pebble came flying from behind Lion and struck her right in the middle of her back. Serval noticed as the pebble hit the ground with a splash of water and looked behind Lion. Lion, who was listening out for Wolf's howl, very slowly turned her head towards the direction from where the pebble came from, not because it did anything to her, but because it just irritated her.

Before them was Kaban, poking out of the bushes in a stance right after throwing something.

"If you're gonna eat someone…" Mutter Kaban still in her throwing stance.

Her hands shaking, she clenched her fist and raised her eyes. She raised her voice so that Lion would definitely glare at her.

"If you're gonna eat someone, then let it be me!"

Serval, who had been in shock from the astonishing events, immediately shrieked.

"NO! Kaban-chan, get out of here!"

The anxious Serval witnessed as Lion fixed her gaze on the new prey. Without any claws or fangs, that soft body of hers seemed delicious. With Wolf's howl taking her attention away from Serval, that charming new prey was the only thing in the world to her.

ROAAAAAAAAR!*

"LION! STOP! You can't, that's Kaban-chan! STOP!"

Lion paid no mind to Serval as the latter called out to her. She approached Kaban with her mouth agape. Ignoring the painful palpitations in her chest, she calmly observed Lion as she drew closer.

Not yet. A little bit more. Until she was certain that she could land it.

"—Now!"

Before she entered into the range of Lion's claws, Kaban hurled a 'certain something' at Lion's eyes.

"Gah!?"

Hitting her cleanly right into her face with a splash, it was a ball of mud made from skillfully molding moistened ground into a ball. Going into her eyes, the soil mixed with an abundant amount of water took away Lion's sight.

ROAAAAAAAAR!*

Lion let out a great roar as the surprise attack left her eyes in a state of anguish. She went wild, sometimes shaking her head, other times rubbing her face with her hands all over, or flailing her arms. Seizing the opportunity, Kaban ran past Lion and towards where she last saw Serval. She had no idea what she could do, but nevertheless she had to do something to help Serval move again.

"Serval-chan!"

"Ka-Kaban-chan…! That was cool, but also too reckless!"

Kaban squatted in front of Serval and took hold of the tree trunk that fell on top of the latter. Serval looked up at Kaban with an expression that showed a complex mix of emotions such as worry, relief, and admiration.

"Hold on, Serval-chan. I'll be trying to get you to be able to move again, so—"

Analyzing the state of the toppled trees, Kaban racked her head for a way to get rid of this wooden cell. While watching her, Serval looked past the other girl momentarily, and hurriedly called out to her.

"Look out!"

—However, that warning was a little too late. Lion, whose sight had been taken away, was still obsessed with her prey. Relying on the voices she's been hearing, she recklessly brandished her arms. Those great swats were her desperate assault.

And unfortunately, Kaban got caught up in it.

"Uah…!"

That accidental hit sent Kaban's slim and light body flying.

"Kaban-chan!" Yelled out Serval.

Kaban wasn't struck by the claws. However, lying on the ground Kaban's whole body was overcome with a dull pain, making her unable to get up.

"Uuh…"

Being able to only somewhat shift her eyes, Kaban's sight caught Lion's figure.

"GAAH! GRUOOH!"

Having felt something on her fist, Lion stood in place and let out wrathful cries while rubbing her face with her hands all over.

"—"

Then, suddenly, she stopped and loosely hung her arms down. With her bloodshot eyes now exposed, she glared at Kaban's limp body with a dreadful look.

"...Kh!"

(I must… move…!)

She was already struggling just watching. Nevertheless, having to escape, she moved her arms, propping her hands on the ground, but she couldn't put in the strength to get up. It was painful. She couldn't move. Her consciousness was slipping away.

"Kaban-chan! Kaban-chan! Get it together! —Lion! Right here! Your enemy is me!"

Albeit the also immobile Serval had raised her voice in earnest, it did nothing but fruitlessly reverberate. Focusing her bloodshot eyes entirely on Kaban, Lion raised her claws high overhead, aiming at the girl to chop her up thin.

"—! —!"

Serval's heartbroken cries could be heard from far away. She could not bear to look at the impending death. Kaban cast her eyes down, looking away from Lion.

Whoosh*

The sound of Lion's arm cutting through the air could be heard.

Clang*

And then came the sound of it hitting against something hard.

(A sound? Why? What was it? Why didn't my body feel the faintest shock? —Why am I still alive?)

Kaban timidly opened her eyes. Within her vision were Lion's swung claws. They didn't reach her face, and the fact that they didn't must've been thanks to the "horn-like weapon". Moving her eyes away from the clash between the claws and the weapon, the back of the weapon's owner entered her sight.

The back of someone burly and reliable. Her shoulders spread wide and her bulky legs firmly dug into the ground. Her head adorned with magnificent horns, like the ones on her weapon.

"—I came to rescue. Kaban. Serval"

Looking over her shoulder at Kaban away from her clash with Lion, she, Moose, said so reassuringly, letting out a chuckle.

Hello, this is PoGu. Apologies for the delay. Retaking exams is a pain.

Anyway, since FF doesn't like any kind of link anywhere, I'll instead leave directions on how to find the original work.

First method is to search for "「けもの」の本能" and find the link that leads you to a Japanese site called "kakuyomu".

Alternatively, you can go to the kakuyomu site and add "/works/1177354054882921926" to the domain.