Chapter 9: No Ordinary Lion

The dry season was approaching, Kael noticed. And with it came his worries.

He was in his second month at this moment, he had also grown bigger. He and the other cubs had begun using the brown rats present as hunting practice until they began the real thing.

Seeing Kael, a cub who always acted strange, eat the raw meat of the brown rat without any qualms, the others got into hunting these rodents too.

All around the hill, cubs ran around in search of brown rats or their holes. They were determined to hunt these rats down.

The lionesses were going out to hunt less and less. Before they went out almost every day, now, they go out once every two days. This naturally affected the milk supply.

Rain hadn't fallen in the last couple of days, the puddles were drying up, if not already dried up.

It was usually at this point that lion cubs began dying. Only the toughest would survive the coming harshness of the wild.

But now, the brown rats had temporarily solved the issue before it had even finished growing.

Twenty cubs ran around the hill, from tree to tree, den to den, in search of a brown rat.

The first day they started this, they were extremely clumsy, to the point that they didn't get to catch a single rat. Those rodents always found a way to outsmart and outrun their pursuers.

But with the help of peer pressure, those who gave up found themselves resuming the chase again. And it was like this that the cubs began to learn from their mistakes.

The next day of the little hunts, the cubs were able to catch one brown rat after using their numbers to corner it and surround it.

The cub who had first pounced on the rat didn't even have the chance to drag it to its mother before it was disturbed by other lion cubs.

The brown rat ended up being played with to death. After tussles and dragging, its body was opened up little by little for the cubs to snack on.

Ever since then, their hunting had been filled with more and more successes, showing that the cubs were gradually learning from their mistakes without their mothers guiding them

If not for the brown rats having an extensive network of holes and a powerful breeding ability, they would have been wiped out from the area after two weeks

At least now, the cubs served as some sort of pest control, unknowingly preventing the rats from expanding into troublesome numbers.

Kael, not necessarily eager about it, participated in some of the hunts himself. Learning how to cooperate and understand each other without words was something he was still getting the hang of.

In the hunts he was part of, he discovered that the alertness of a lion in hunting mode was no joke. Almost every move he made while in pursuit was observed by the cubs who all reacted in return after their own judgements.

If a rat was too far away, the cubs would simply stop running but continue their pursuit in a casual stroll. At the same time, they would spread out, gradually encircling the rat by the time it wanted to break into a sprint again

By the time they caught up to the rat, it would already be tired from all the running.

If a rat was close yet dodging them all very well, they would simply pay attention and wait. They would wait for a few cubs to pursue it and tire it out, then the main attackers would burst out of their hiding and chase it till it was out of breath.

If they saw a lion cub, who was known to be quite successful when catching these rats, become patient and hide in the grass, they would copy. They were learning combat tactics and patience.

To Kael, it was incredible to observe all this happening in front of him.

*ROAR!*

A lion's roar came from around the corner, Kael looked over and found it to be his father, the pride leader, who was walking beside another male.

This male wasn't as big as the pride leader, Kael could tell from afar. That was the pride leader's brother.

As they got closer, Kael appreciated the sight, this was one of the few times he got to see them walk together. Looking at their faces, one would easily be able to see the resemblance.

Although, to outsiders, most lions looked alike, after having been with them for so long, Kael could easily spot differences between each lion and lioness.

In his past life, some people who had never seen Asians, Africans, or other human subspecies they didn't grow up with may feel like they all look alike and the same. Only after spending time interacting with each of them would they be able to see how much difference existed between all of them.

That was how Kael saw the lion now. To him, every lion looked different. That was how he was able to spot the key resemblance between the pride leader and his brother.

Like the pride leader, this male was also harder to find around at any time. Most times, Kael is reminded of his existence after hearing his roar in the distance.

Sometimes he wondered why the pride leader allowed him to stay, was it sentiment? 'What if the brother tries to mate with the lionesses?'

'First of all, these guys need names I can't be referring to them in such a crude way in my mind, I'd go mad.'

The pride leader and his brother got close, too close. They were heading straight for Kael, or at least, he was in their way.

Kael was shocked, this was one of those rare times he could get to see the pride leader so up close. Usually, the pride leader or his brother never likes any cubs coming near them.

Kael had seen his father beat up his siblings and cousins just for playing around him.

For some reason, he was very tolerant towards his older brother for now.

As the pride leader came closer, his massive size cast a shadow over Kael's cub form.

The thick dark mane with edges that looked like it had been burnt. His eyes were fiery red with black pupils. His limbs, well-muscled, looked ready to explode with terrifying strength.

His brother on the other hand, 'I'll call you Uncle, for now, no use giving a good name,' Uncle, was a bit smaller compared to the pride leader.

His mane was also dark but mixed with brown fur, his body was a lighter shade of dirt yellow and his eyes were an ordinary yellow.

This confused Kael a bit, Uncle looked like one of the capable dominant males he had seen on animal documentaries in his previous life.

Uncle looked like the kind of lion that would have gone on to lead his own pride. There was nothing unusual about Uncle, the abnormal one was the Pride leader.

Standing next to his brother, one could see just how much difference there was between an ordinary male lion and the pride leader.

Kael stepped out of the way hurriedly, the two lions did not even give him a second glance, although he was sure that they noticed him.

'Where are they going?' Kael wondered. As if to answer his question, his mother ran over to him with one of his sisters in her mouth.

Behind her were his brother and sister, following with innocent excitement. Mother gestured for Kael to follow, which at first, he didn't understand.

His mother had walked some distance before she turned around to see that Kael was just staring at them, confused.

She gave a small roar, one that called for him. Only then did Kael begin following them.

Kael heard similar roars all over the area, mothers were calling their cubs and they were all following the two males in front.

'Where are we going?'