Don, Kabini & Copper

 Kabini and her 2 lioness sisters, Rohini & Meher have been on the run for more than 3 months now. Kabini was the middle sister, Rohini being the eldest. Even though she was not eldest, she was the strongest and smartest of the three sisters. This made Kabini leader of the pack. Meher, the third sister had 2 daughters and Rohini, the eldest sister had a son, Copper.

Kabini was childless, thus she was extra fond of Meher's two daughters. But for Copper, she was a strict mentor who taught him hunting strategies and duty of protecting the pack. Copper was a strong young adult and only Lion of the pack. He was not fully grown but his Mane was getting thicker and darker every day. With Kabini he had fought with wild dogs, Hyenas and other pack of lions. Copper had a strong bond with Kabini, stronger than his own mother, Rohini. Kabini’s mother was also part of the pack but she was killed 3 months ago by Don, an adult Lion.

About a year ago, Don was part of another big pack where 6 lionesses fed him. Don had a big appetite and would eat most of what the 6 lionesses killed. One afternoon during the dry season, Don was agitated as he had not eaten for couple of days. When one of the cubs of the pack came near him expecting some playtime, he smacked the cub so hard with his big right paw that the cub broke its neck and died instantly. The 6 lionesses who fed Don were very sad. Soon, the sadness turned into rage and one night they attacked Don. Don was twice the size of each of the lionesses, but it was 6 on 1. He knew he didn't have a chance, so he fled in the night. But there was a scar on Don's ego now. He was coming back for revenge. Don followed the pack of lioness around and every time he found one or two lionesses alone, he attacked and killed them. Within a week of his exile from the pack he had killed all 6 lionesses, only the cubs were left now. He killed them all the very next day.

After the massacre, Don started moving into the territory of the neighbouring pack, Kabini's pack. On the very first day in the new territory, Don saw Kabini and her mother kill a wild hog. He observed them for a while from a distance, once he was confident, he decided to claim the kill for himself and may be enter Kabini's pack as a protector, but that was secondary. All he needed now was food. He started walking towards the mother & daughter. Kabini saw him and a chill ran through her spine. Don was slowing walking towards them; he was taking his time. Kabini could see a big battle scar on his face running across his eye. His body was covered in dirt and blood, most of it not his own. His face looked calm but determined. His Mane was flowing in the wind. He had not eaten for some days now, still he appeared twice the size of Kabini. Don was just a few steps away when he stopped and roared with all his might. Kabini could feel his power. She was about to turn and run, when she saw her mother stand guard in front of the carcass. Her mother knew it was a dry season, fighting Don would likely mean death but so would going back to the pack empty handed. Don took one step forward towards Kabini and roared again. Kabini, a lioness was scared for her life, this was a new feeling. She decided to run. She ran back to the pack as hard as she could. She survived but, never saw her mom again. She was now leader of the pack.

For next couple of months, Don haunted Kabini's pack, eating most their hunts, chasing Kabini for fun, even throwing some paws at her now and then. With 3 months of torture and hunger, some tension started to creep in the pack. Meher, even though unsuccessful, started going on solo hunts to feed her daughter. She got lucky one time and hunted down a rabbit. As she was taking the rabbit back to the pack, Don intercepted her. Meher was smart and knew what Don wanted. She dropped the Rabbit in front of him and started walking away. But Don was no longer hungry. He leapt on Meher and killed her mercilessly.

After couple of days, the pack and especially Kabini knew what must have happened to Meher. This is was the last straw. Kabini had to do something to stop Don, she was the pack leader. She lost her mother and now a sister to the mad Lion. Her pack was hungry, physically weak and on the verge of dying. Kabini decided to break away from the pack and take the fight to Don. This would give the pack a chance to run far away and find a new pack, a larger pack with a strong leader and a lion to protect them from Don.

At the break of dawn, she affectionately licked the daughters of Meher for the last time. Next moment she changed her stance and started a fight with Rohini, drawing her away. She roared and leapt around Rohini, trying not to injure her but to scare her away. It worked, Rohini couldn't understand but she was scared by Kabini's aggression and started to run away. Meher's daughter joined Rohini feeling the hostility from Kabini. Copper was hesitant to leave. He had always stayed with Kabini, no matter the situation. He was not going to leave her. Kabini roared one more time and threw a left paw at Copper’s face. It was a scratch but a deep one. Copper understood and backed off. He started running away in Rohini 's direction.

Kabini did not waste any time. She did not want Don to go after the pack, so she started walking towards his regular hideout. Don was sleeping under a tree. Kabini approached him in her hunting stance ready to pounce. As Kabini was a leap away, she took a deep breath and jumped on Don and grabbed back of his neck with her powerful jaw. Don got up in shock and started shaking his head frantically to get rid of whatever was holding on his neck. Kabini had a strong hold, but Don was big. His fast sideways movement unbalanced her and she lost her hold and took a fall to the ground. Don turned back and saw Kabini. At first, he couldn't understand what Kabini was doing. He was a lion, twice her size and very much stronger. Challenging him like this, she must have come to die, he thought. Don did not care what her intentions were, he was ready to fight, fight to Kill. Being an excellent hunter, Kabini was quick on feet and very agile. She got up in a blink of an eye and ran to the left side of Don so that she could leap and grab his neck again. Grabbing his neck and breaking his spine was the only way Kabini could win. In a face-to-face paw fight, Kabini did not have a chance. Don would bleed her to death with his thick and sharp claws.

Kabini was in a perfect position to pounce on Don's back again, but Don was no fool. He quickly understood what Kabini was doing. The first time he survived as he could shake her off before she could break his neck but not before giving him a deep wound. Next time he might not be lucky. So, as Kabini leapt again, Don quickly turned towards his left, standing on his hind leg, swinged his big right arm at Kabini. She took the hit right on the face. The speed and weight of Don's right arm, threw Kabini couple of feet away. She stood quickly again but was disoriented by the hit and couldn't feel the left side of her face. She could see some drops of blood on ground where she was standing. Before she could gather herself, Don garbed her left upper back leg and tore away big chunk of mass. Kabini roared in agony and tried to limp away from the mad Lion. She turned to look at him. He was panting but he had blood in his mouth, her blood. She could see in his face that he was enjoying. She was ready to give up, she had lost her chance to kill Don but have given others enough time to run away. She turned her back to him and started limping away. At the very first step, she heard a screeching roar from behind. She turned and saw Copper was on Don's back grabbing his neck and holding on to him with his claws on his sides.

When Don was busy enjoying the taste of Kabini's blood in his mouth, Copper had creeped behind him in perfect hunter stance taught by his aunt Kabini. Through his hunting lessons with Kabini he knew that to kill anything of Don's size, he would have to break the spine. As he was close enough and Don was distracted, Copper jumped on him. Kabini could see that Copper had a good hold of Don's neck and he was balancing well with his claw deep inside Don's sides. But if Don could shake him off, it would be end of Copper. Kabini started limping back towards the two Lions. Don was still trying to get Copper off his back, he stood on the hind legs and tried to reach Copper's face with his front arms. He saw Kabini leaping towards him with blood coming out her hind leg like a tap. He tried to punch her again but missed and could only bury his claws in her sides. Kabini however got hold of his throat. It was over. Copper was on his back and deep in his neck. Kabini was beneath him with her teeth choking his throat. For a moment everything stayed still, the three Lions stayed still. After a few minutes, Don laid down on his side. Copper left his hold and jumped over Don to check on Kabini. She was panting but still had her teeth on Don's neck. Copper licked her at the back of her ear, signalling that it was ok to let go. But she didn't let go. Her panting started to slow down. After a minute the panting stopped. Copper licked her again but Kabini did not move. She was dead. Don and Kabini, both were dead. Copper just stood there waiting for Kabini to open her eyes.