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.
With a heave Nakala reared up on his hind legs and threw his body backwards. Hani, who was firmly planted on the lion's back had no time to react and felt the wind forced out of him, being pinned between the dirt that got in his eyes and mouth along with the crushing weight of the lion on top of him. Feeling relief that Hani's claws eased off his back, the lion got up and stood over the hyena. Hani couldn't think straight between his lungs desperately trying to get air and his instinct telling him to attack or defend from the lion. Nakala took advantage of Hani's position and grinned. With a playful chuckle Nakala pushed him, watching the hyena slide across the dirt.
Hani managed to collect himself and rose to his paws, furious at the lion's actions. He once again threw himself at the lion. At this point the feline rolled his eyes, seeing right through the repeated action and stood in place. Hani was a bit thrown off but continued full speed towards his opponent. The lion met him head-on, using his shoulder to block most of the hyena's force. The two mammals found themselves locked, pushing against one another until one was overpowered. Nakala shook his head and swatted his paw up, striking the hyena in the nose. Being caught off guard, Hani lost his footing and landed in the dirt once again tasting the dirt. His ears flicked as he picked up a new sound. It was Nakala. The lion was standing over him and snickering. The hyena felt his blood heat up. He grit his teeth, crushing the sandy pieces between them. He was too furious to spit out the dirt in his mouth as he rose to his paws once again.
There was a sizable crowd around the training grounds and word had quickly spread of the event taking place, only drawing more and more hyenas out to witness the event for themselves. Some of the hyenas happened to be none other than Janja, Cheezi and Amana. The three of them pushed their way through the crowd and made it the front just time to see an enraged Hani lunge at the lion. Nakala swatted his paw at him but he missed. Hani now saw his opportunity and continued forward, clinging to the lion's front. Without any hesitation the hyena snarled and drove his fangs into Nakala's right shoulder. Upon seeing that along with the lion's snarl of pain, Janja attempted to jump in and stop the conflict but he was held back. The leader of the clan bared his fangs, looking back at who was trying to prevent him from helping his mate only to see it was Amana. He calmed down and decided to trust her. He stood along the rest watching the fight escalate.
Nakala gave a grunt in pain but fought through the pain to raise his left paw. He didn't want to actually hurt Hani but he couldn't just let the hyena rip him apart. He unsheathed his claws and drove them into Hani's back. The hyena snarled in pain and released his grip on the lion's shoulder and fell to the ground. Nakala placed his paw firmly on the hyena's chest just enough to hold him in place. "Are—are you done?" Nakala managed to ask between his panting. Hani stooped for a moment before snarling once again and swiping his paw at the lion. Nakala snarled in pain, giving a deep throaty groan. Blood dripped from the slash and the lion looked down at the hyena with foreign look. It was only then that Hani started to possibly consider he may have gone a bit too far. But it was too late to backtrack as the lion pressed his paw down harder on the hyenas chest, unsheathing his claws and digging them into the hyena's fur. Hani couldn't reach the lion's paw to pull it away from him and could only look up at the lion. Nakala himself only stared down at the hyena with an unfocused, distant look in his eye. Seeing the unreactionary look in the lion's eyes made Hani finally panic, crying out in pain as his chest began to bleed.
Janja saw what was happening and rushed in the middle of the fight. He looked from Nakala to Hani and could see that something was wrong with the lion. He knew he needed to help Hani but all he could think about was helping his mate somehow. The clan leader saw Nakala pushing his claws further in Hani's chest, giving in a sign that he had to act quickly. He had no idea what was happening to Nakala but he figured it was not a good idea to force the lion to ease off his opponent. Instead Janja got the idea for a different approach. He stepped closer to Hani and reached out towards the other hyena. Hani thought that was finally about to be saved but was shocked to see Janja place his paw on the lion's. Nakala snarled at feeling a new sensation touching him, his eyes darting to the source. He followed the paw, looking up the leg to find that it was Janja looking up at him. The lion blinked and his expression softened. Nakala looked past Janja's paw to his own and realized what he was doing. He pulled his claws from Hani's chest and quickly retracted them.
"You alright?" Janja asked, referring to both the lion and hyena but he was still looking at his mate. As he looked at the lion something caught his eye, it was very faint but it looked to Janja that Nakala's shoulder had a glow to it. It was strange to Janja as the sun was nearly about to set. But his attention was ripped away by the lion as Hani gave a deep gasp. Nakala noticed this too and looked down at the hyena. Hani saw the lion looking at him and scrabbled back. With shaking legs, Hani rose to his paws and winced at the pain in his chest. "I—I knew that you lions were nothing but killers..."
"Hey!" Janja growled, turning towards the aggressive hyena. "You jumped at him first and crossed the line."
"I'm not the one who tried to kill me!" Hani spat. Janja heard a gasp behind him and looked back to see Nakala staring forward with the same panicked look on his face he had after they fought the leopards.
Hani's chest stung once again, making him groan in pain. The blood that still dripped from his wounds gave his chest a soaked feeling. All the hyena could think that it was because of the lion who did this to him. Making on last attempt, Hani charged at Nakala. Janja wasn't quick enough to stop the other hyena dashing right past him. Nakala, still lost in his own thoughts, was unable to defend himself and took a direct hit from Hani swiping his paw across Nakala's muzzle. Nakala reeled back, grunting in pain. He swiped his tongue across his fangs, tasting something in his mouth. As soon as he did the taste filled his mouth again. It was familiar the familiar bitter taste of his own blood. He raised a paw to his muzzle and saw the droplets. His eyes trails from his paw to Hani himself but only sighed.
"You know what, Hani? You're not even worth it,!" Nakala said calmly before turning his back on the hyena and walking off.
"Hey! What's that supposed to mean, huh? Hey! Come back and say that to my face!" Hani spat. But it was ignored by the lion who continued off through the crowd of onlookers back into the cavern. Soon the thick crowd began to thin out and soon only a few were left to talk about what happened. Janja looked at Hani with a stern look but didn't say anything either. He followed Nakala's path with Amana and Cheezi following right behind him, leaving Hani relatively alone. The hyena seethed in fury, feeling the sting in his chest once again. He looked down at the wound to see if it stopped bleeding. Hani could feel that the lion's claws were sharp but did not actually pierce his skin very deep. Growling at his defeat Hani and seeing other hyenas glancing at him, clearly whispering about it made the hyena seethe and stomp out of the training grounds. All that was left were the few hyenas who eagerly gathered to talk about what they just saw.