VS Lion, Part 0

"Say, Moose, do you remember the time before you became a Friend?"

—When was the last time that they had talked like this?

Having been able to face-off against lion for the first time using Kaban's strategy after 52 stalemates, Moose really liked that way of combat, and had dueled Lion in her castle many times. After their battle of strength, the two would lie down and relax together, being satisfied from fighting.

That's when Lion had suddenly spoken those words.

"Before I became a Friend?"

"Yup. Basically, back when you were an animal."

Humming to herself, Moose folded her arms and went back through her memories while still lying on the floor. However…

"I can't remember at all!"

Expectedly, the earliest memory that she could recollect was when she already was a Friend. It wasn't anything to be worried about, so she answered simply.

"I see. It seems to vary between Friends and there are some girls that do remember it, but it seems like you're the same as me."

"You can't remember it either?"

"None at all."

Lion turned over with a flop, getting a feel of Moose's antler-like hair every now and then.

"Didn't Professor say something about how our Friend form is a female "Human" body with the characteristics of our original animal showing? With whether the animal was male or female being irrelevant."

"Right."

"Like, this mane, it's actually a trait exclusive to males. Doesn't the same go for your antlers?"

Replying with an amazed gasp, Moose put her hands on her antler hairdo.

"Now that you mention it, that's right!"

"Not really something that you'd be conscious of, eh?"

Lion would then continue, with a little bit of bitterness.

"There're a whole bunch of rumors, like we get the male's characteristics despite being originally female, or that we get the most recognizable characteristics of the species, but no one really knows why this happens. Since we don't remember anything from back when we were animals, we don't know if we were originally male or female."

While still lying down, Moose raised her head.

"Are you really that interested in that? Honestly, I don't care if I was originally male or female…"

Lion, who had been fiddling with Moose's hair while the latter was lying face down, stopped her hands and stood up straight.

"I mean, sure… Now that we have turned into Friends, that thing has nothing to do with us at all. …But if I were originally a male, then I'd have to say thanks to Sandstar… and my subordinates."

"Oh?" She didn't expect for this talk to go that way.

Not understanding what Lion meant, Moose got up into a sitting position and lent her ears. Seeing her like that, Lion did so as well while fiddling with her mane, sitting cross-legged.

"You don't see any other lions around here, right? Original lions are prideful, and although they live grouped up with each other… in my case it meant being completely alone. For a lonesome lion, living becomes difficult. Less so for females, since they're great at hunting, and more so for males."

"Is that so? Didn't expect that."

Moose couldn't believe that someone as strong as Lion wouldn't be able to survive by themselves.

"After all, male lions are poor at hunting. They stand out way too much with their manes. Male lions who have lost their allies become "nomads". Male lions that are nomadic continuously wander in search of prey due to always being hungry."

Lion's low-energy mode's relaxed tone of speech weakened a little.

"Most nomads die out due to that severe lifestyle. Only those who could survive and gain strength can become a leader of a pack."

Although she didn't have her memories from back when she was an animal, she could recall the survival instinct from back then, which was deeply rooted in her heart. Moose stared at Lion silently as the latter talked about the lion's world's code from what could be called "blood's memories".

"The leader does nothing but laze about everyday, but when he's needed, he gets up and fights."

Trying to reiterate, Lion continued speaking while flapping her tail.

"The fact that the lonesome me is able to laze around like this is thanks to Sandstar granting me this figure and my subordinates for fueling my pride beyond my species' limits."

With that, Moose understood what Lion meant. Although it wasn't quite the same as a lion's pride, her pride was still at its peak from having her subordinates fondly call her "Chief".

"Possibly, if I were to stay lonesome even after being turned into a Friend, then I could've become rowdy with my nomadism getting drawn out. Whenever I think about that, I can't even look at my subordinates' eyes."

Looking at her hands, Lion spoke softer. Seeing Moose nod along with a sincere expression made Lion embarrassed and started murmuring after clearing her throat.

"—...I'm only telling you this because we're both leaders of a pack. Don't share this with the others."

"I see I see! You've been blessed with great subordinates! You should take good care of them!"

"Idiot! Not so loud!"

Having found Lion's beet red face amusing, Moose laughed heartily.

…

(—You were so caring of your subordinates. So why…?)

…

"Hey, isn't Lion being too late?"

"She must've forgotten about the promise and is napping somewhere."

It was that day. The Friends from Moose's camp and from Lion's camp were all gathered in the fortress' hall. On that day, they promised that they'd all come together to try out a new way of battling. Everyone but Lion was present, and no matter how much the rest waited, Lion never showed up. It was noisy in the room with everyone chatting, but having realized that it had been way too long, Giant Armadillo and Panther Chameleon spoke up.

"It's incredibly rude to be making Moose-sama wait. Just what is up with the head of this house?"

Seeing White Rhinoceros puff up her cheeks in displeasure, even the always powerful Aurochs lowered her eyebrows.

"No way… Even though she did tell us to go ahead since she'll get some more shut-eye… Passing up on a fun battle is absolutely not like her."

"I told her to make sure that she won't be late…"

"Since it's Chief, I doubt that that happened. But what is it then?"

Arabian Oryx and Japanese Brown Bear tilted their heads as well. Aurochs stood up and turned to Moose.

"Excuse me. I'll be going out to search for her."

"Oh, alright. In that case, my subordinates will search as well. Porcupine, Shoebill, will you two go out with her to search?"

At Moose's request, Crested Porcupine stood up, but for some reason Shoebill just stared at a sliding door without moving.

"Hey, Shoebill?"

"…Ah. S-Sorry. I'll go."

Having stood up confusedly, Shoebill went out following Porcupine and Aurochs.

"What's wrong desu?" Porcupine asked Shoebill as the latter followed.

"I think it was just my imagination… But just a while ago… While everyone was chatting… It felt as if it became dark outside…"

Rather than being immersed in a conversation, she had been keeping an eye on the outside through the hard surrounding sliding doors. No one had noticed the abnormal scene of the Plains Area getting assailed by a pitch-black tempest. Thus, no one would have guessed that something wrong was happening in the Park.

…

"Huh? We found Lion just like that desu…"

The trio, having gone out of the castle at about when the sun was sinking below the horizon, quickly found Lion's unsteady figure standing on a nearby path. Ignoring Porcupine, Aurochs ran up to Lion and called out to her.

"Chief! Have you forgotten about today's promise!? Everyone's waiting!"

Her ears having twitched, Lion slowly turned her head. Aurochs had realized too late that there was light shining in Lion's eyes.

"…ROAAAAAAR!"

Lion answered with a hostile roar at her subordinate coming out to meet her.

"Wha—"

Aurochs froze at her leader's unexpected response. She of all people. At her beloved companion.

"GRUOH!"

Lion slashed with her sharp claws. Those claws caught Aurochs' shoulder as she was reflexively dodging it, tearing it to pieces.

"GAH!" She collapsed screaming in pain.

The wound wasn't deep, but it was large and blood flowed from it, and such an unbelievable sight was etched into Shoebill and Porcupine's eyes.

"—!?"

"Huh…? W-What are you…?"

Lion approached the lying Aurochs. When the latter realized it, although she couldn't comprehend what happened, she immediately knew that she had to fight back. Friends could materialize their weapons when they wished to. Aurochs held her hand out towards Lion, and… stopped.

To turn her weapon against her own chief was just impossible for her. That's what went through her head.

"Chief… What's… Wrong…?"

In her absolute sorrow, that was all she could say. Lion didn't stop. She raised her arm to strike Aurochs, who was showing no will to fight.

"—!"

At that moment, Shoebill intervened with the wind. Having spread her wings, she glided just above the ground and caught Aurochs right before Lion swung down her claws and immediately soared high.

"Sh-Shoebill…!"

"…Just in time…"

Having lost her prey right before her eyes, Lion looked up hatefully, but then she suddenly took it off the sky. After all, there was one more person present.

"HYAAAAAAAAAH!"

Being faced with the dreadful vigorous dash from Lion, Porcupine's legs froze in fear, and all she could do was to turn away and crouch.

—That did bear fruit, however.

"GYAH!"

It was thanks to the quills growing on Porcupine's waist. The strong and sharp quills held at an unusual angle were a threat from Lion's point of view. The tips of the quills just lightly poked the striking arm, and yet Lion shrilled.

"Huh…? Oh… I-It was effective, desu…"

Having confirmed Lion's faltered state, Porcupine clenched her fist and tackled Lion from behind.

"Eat this! Desu!"

Being unable to endure the countless amount of quills, Lion retreated. Even then, Porcupine continued to close the gap.

—Originally, porcupines wouldn't hesitate to wield their quills even when surrounded by powerful animals. It was an aggressive animal that could fend off other animals by itself, and even from a lion's point of view, it was a bad match-up. If it tried to retaliate, it would be all pricked by the quills.

"Grrrrrr…! GAU!"

As a result, having found it intolerable, Lion turned her back and ran away in the opposite direction of the castle.

"Th-That was wicked… To have chased away Chief like that…"

"…"

Forgetting about her injury, Aurochs raised her voice in astonishment from witnessing Porcupine's bravery while Shoebill lowered her to the ground.

"I… I did it… desu…?"

Porcupine, having frantically fought Lion, couldn't make head or tails of what happened.

"…In any case, we should… go tell Moose-sama and others… about this." Shoebill started speaking to Porcupine and half-dazed Aurochs.

"Gh, hahh… Chief, what happened…?"

Getting hurt by her respected leader must've been considerably devastating.

The only one who would be able to explain about this series of events to everyone, who have been excited to know about what happened to the trio, would be Shoebill, who's usually the worst at talking.

…

Unable to conceal their shock about Lion's madness, the Lion's camp left everyone else behind in the castle, looking after them and to not let them get hurt. Moose, having heard the direction from Shoebill, pursued after Lion through the Plains Area in the night.

And now, they had the opportunity to meet once again.

Hello, this is PoGu. Man, just like I thought, uni is slowing my translation work down. So my translation pace will slow down. Also, the newest longest chapter to date.

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.