Huntin Lessons
A fanfiction by Lionkingview
Chapter 1 Persuation
The warm savannah air blew across the lush green plains of the Pride Lands as Mufasa and his son Simba were having a talk.
"Simba, just say yes or no." Mufasa looked at his son with one eyebrow raised and a warm smile, his head lowered to the cub's level.
"I'm not sure." Said Simba, as he was awkwardly scratching the dirt in front of him.
"You want me to teach you to hunt, right ?" Mufasa inquired, making sure his cadence was as calm as possible.
"Maybe. But not in a dumb way." Simba responded.
"What do you mean, in a dumb way ?" Mufasa asked, now lying down on his stomach, his head still propped up.
"I don't want the others to think that I am a girl or something." Simba said, getting more mumbly with every word uttered.
"Why would that be an issue?" Mufasa asked his son, getting an idea where his son was going with this.
"Only girls hunt." Simba said, while pouting.
"Well, I hunt." Mufasa said with a fatherly smile.
"Sure. But you are..." Simba began. He was looking for the right words but couldn't quite find them."You are my dad. You always know how to do stuff.
I can never be like you."
Mufasa sighed.
"Come here." Mufasa said serenely.
Simba took a few steps towards his father, who put his right front leg around his son's shoulders.
"Do you think I was born like this ?". He asked the young prince.
"I don't know." Simba responded.
"No, no, I wasn't." Mufasa chuckled.
"There were a lot of gazelles and zebras that escaped my grasp before I could call myself a successful hunter." He explained.
"I looked at the huntresses who taught me these skills the same way , you look at me now when I was first learning to hunt."
He went on.
"I was in awe." He said, looking his son straight in the eyes.
"But why were you learning to hunt in the first place ?" Simba asked looking at his father in confusion.
"Well, that would be a long story to tell. Lets just say I learned to appreciate every aspect of what it means to hunt but also what it means to show mercy." Mufasa explained.
"What if someone makes fun of me for wanting to learn how to hunt ?" Simba asked.
"Don't let them get to you. I know that its easier said than done, but if all else fails, you can always come to me and I will do my best
to try and have a quiet talk with whomever might make fun of you." Mufasa stated.
"But isn't that being a tattletale?" Simba inquired.
"Simba. Are you just looking for excuses not to learn how to hunt ? If so, then I tell Sarafine that you won't be joining her class." Mufasa slyly remarked knowing full well that his son did indeed want to learn how to hunt.
"What, no !" Simba exclaimed. "I want to learn how to hunt. Can't you teach me ?" Simba almost begged.
"I could, but I also have a lot of other duties, my son and the basics are best taught in a group because that is how one hunts in a pride. I'll teach you how to hunt alone when your mane starts to grow but for now group hunting skills are what you want to know first. That way you will also learn to better get along with others." Mufasa reasoned as he ran his front paws through his sons fur.
"I can get along with others just fine." Simba protested.
"So ? What was that skirmish last week all about then ?" Mufasa asked his son, knowing full well that Simba would try to beat around the bush with his answer again.
"That wasn't my fault." Simba answered without hesitation.
" Uh huh. If you say so." Mufasa chuckled and started to get up again.
"It wasn't. " Simba poutet.
"So you say." Mufasa said in a melodic voice.
"It really wasn't my fault." Simba reiterated and also got up.
"Strange how the other cub said the same thing. I guess you must've both been right then." Mufasa responded.
Simba tried to come up with a good answer but was lost for words.
"Well you both apologised under protest to one another, I believe that at least counts for something." Mufasa declared in amusement.
" I just wanted mom to stop pestering me about it." Simba argued.
"What really ?!" Mufasa declared in mock surprise.
"Hey are you making fun of me ?" Asked Simba with a grin.
"Maybe a bit." Mufasa gave a warm smile back.
Then his expression turned somber again.
"So, you still want to learn how to hunt." Mufasa asked directly.
"Yes." Simba said with a bit more certainty.
"Then lets go." Decalared Mufasa and began to lead Simba towards the meeting spot for the hunting training.
A few minutes later father and son arrived at the ridge where Nalas mother, Sarafina and three female cubs, among them Nala were waiting for Simba.
"Hey our final student has arrived." Sarafina declared.
"I get you when you are done." Mufasa told Simba and began to walk off.
Simba just froze as he observed the giggling trio of cubs looking at him.
"Don't be shy, we won't bite. Well we won't bite you. You aren't prey after all." Said Sarafina with a chuckle.
"Yeah Simba, come over here." Nala said with a friendly smile.
He was still frozen in place.
"Nala, could you see what's going on with him ?" Sarafina whispered discreetly to her daughter.
"Sure Mom." Nala said and went over to Simba.
Simba was not moving an inch.
"You ok ?" Nala asked as she sat down in front of Simba, her tail waging lazily behind her.
"I'm fine." Simba mumbled, looking at his friend as he tried to hide his nervousness.
"Ok, then why don't you join is. This is gonna be fun." Said Nala, trying to muster up as much upbeat energy as she could.
"I wanna but..." Simba hesitated. "What if they're gonna laugh at me." He said.
"Why would they laugh at you. I know them they're nice." Nala reasoned.
" You sure ?" Simba asked, still not convinced. He took a quick glance over Nalas shoulders and at the other two cubs who were chatting with one another and while giggling.
"Pretty sure. Wait, are you being shy ?" Nala asked with genuine curiosity. "You've never been shy before."
"Yeah, not when I'm with you. We are friends after all." Simba retorted.
"Then just consider these two your friends as well." Nala offered.
"But I don't know them." Simba said, looking back at Nala again.
"Come on now. You get to know them during hunting practice. We will have to work as a team after all." Nala tried to reason.
"Is everything all right?" Asked Sarafina from afar.
"Yes, Mom. Just a second." Nala responded and then turned back to Simba.
"I'm the only boy in the group. " Simba finally managed to articulate.
"Is that why you're so shy?" You think we're gonna treat you any worse because of that ?" Nala asked.
"Maybe...I don't know... probably not I think. I'm not a girl you know." Simba said, trying to keep back a subtle urge to turn around and leave.
"So ?" Nala asked.
"I..." Simba didn't know what to say.
"We're not here to play family or talk about boys. We're here to learn how to hunt." Nala said. "Although now that I think about it. We two have also played family before, even with switched roles." Nala pondered.
"You promised not to tell anybody about that." Said Simba who had finally moved a few inches to be face to face with Nala.
"I haven't. Now stop being so dramatic and come on." Nala said with relief as she saw her friend being no longer frozen in place.
She made notions to start moving back towards the others.
"I'm not being dramatic." Argued Simba as paced infront of Nala.
"Why are you so adamant about me joining you guys anyway ?" Simba asked with suspicion but mostly to get the focus off of him.
"You really wanna know ? " Nala asked carefully, looking to her left and then her right.
"Sure." Said Simba.
"My mom is the teacher." Nala hissed, trying not to be too loud.
"So ?" Simba asked, not getting it.
"Thats totally embarrassing. The others might think that she's giving me preferential treatment. I was super exited for hunting practice but then she
had to volunteer as a teacher. Why couldn't it have been your mom or anyone else?" Nala complained.
"That wouldn't have been any better. I don't wanna have my mom be the teacher of..." Simba stopped mid-sentence.
"Oh, I get it now." He said.
"Ok, fine. I am coming." He finally agreed and began to make his way to the rest of the group.
"Great! " Nala exclaimed and gave Simba an impromptu hug. "Thank you so much."
"Hey. Easy there. The others can see us." Simba protested, but Nala still clung to him for another few seconds.
A few moments later they had made their way to the group.
End of Chapter 1