Nakala

Chapter 42

Nakala was still staring in awe at his paw, flexing his claws and pressing it against the ground. It was all better just like before. The lion continued to stare down at his paw and flexed it a bit. He couldn't hold back his astonishment, "This is crazy...This is—incredible! Wha—How?" The lion took a closer look at his paw and his breath stopped right in his throat.

There's not even a single scar. You can't even see the bite marks, Nakala pressed the healed paw with the other, feeling for anything underneath his fur. There's nothing! It's like I never got bit! I did this somehow... With the Roar? Is this a new power? I can heal...? Fix my body? But that headache was the worst. I thought I was gonna die or something. I'll save something like this for emergencies...

Nakala stood up once again and walked around Amana's den just as easily and freely as he always had. "Hmm, hehe. Amana's never gonna believe this. I don't think anyone will. I don't even believe it. But Scar did tell that my Roar would be special. Hmm, I don't know a lot about the Roar but I never thought it could heal either. Hmm. I wonder what other things it can do? There's only one place I can test it out for sure. The training grounds!"

Just as he did earlier that day Nakala scampered towards the training grounds. Many of the hyenas he passed by were even more confused as to how the injured lion was now darting through the caves and past the dens. Many hyenas turned their heads in confusion and surprise at the lion that came to a sudden stop, kicking up sand all around him. Nakala, feeling light on his paws, scanned the training grounds to see what he could do first. But he landed on that hyena from before pushing some rocks around just as he usually would. A few other hyenas were watching Hani's display of strength with interest. Nakala strode past the crowd of onlooking hyena and made his presence known to Hani.

The hyena's ears flicked and he looked over at who was getting so close to his training session only to find that it was that lion again. Hani looked Nakala up and down, giving a grimace before stepping away from the rock and giving a low snarl. "You. Again."

Nakala stood where he was and returned the hyena's menacing look with one of his own. "What do you think you're doing here?" Hani growled and stamped his paw into the sandy earth below.

"Who me? Oh, I just came here to train that's all."

Hani only scoffed at the lion's response. "Well if you need to train in the first place that just shows how weak you really are..."

"Well, you're here, too. What does that say about you!" the lion couldn't help but give a smirk. "I think it's about time we figure out who the weaker one is. A little challenge maybe?"

"You're on."

The hyenas who heard were more than happy to be spectators, drawing the attention of other hyenas to see what was going on.

The lion and hyena stared each other down, waiting for their opponent to move first. Nakala reminded himself not to underestimate the hyena and repeat the actions of that morning. Nakala blinked and the hyena charged towards him. Letting out a gasp of surprise the lion narrowly jumped clear from Hani's attack.

He's pretty fast, too! The lion considered the advantages that Hani had, how he could use them for himself. But he didn't have much time as Hani doubled back, dashing at the lion. This time Hani had a feeling Nakala would just repeat his earlier actions. Nakala jumped to the right and so did Hani, giving him the opportunity to jump on the lion's back. Giving a grunt from the extra weight on his back, Nakala's legs held firm. Hani took advantage of his opponent's actions once again and clung to the lion's back with his claws. Nakala resisted the urge to buck the smaller mammal off of him and instead saw the chance to use Hani's strategy against himself.