“Well well,” sneered Angusho, “I thought I would find only one worthless lion- imagine my surprise to see two fools.”
He stood in front of two of his sons, both from a different female he had betrayed. They glared at him with nothing but hatred in their eyes, making it clear they had no intention of playing nice with him. The two lions, his sons, had known he would be coming, and they were ready for a fight. Or so he though, anyway. In reality, only one lion was going to be fighting him, he just didn’t know it. Jeraha and Abin had agreed that Angusho needed to be stopped, but Abin hadn’t wanted Jeraha to kill their father to do it. They had agreed to spare him, though wound him enough to keep him from being able to fight again, but at a small cost to Abin- he had to promise not to get involved in the fight. Something that was probably going to be very difficult to follow through with, considering how powerful he knew his father to be.
But Jeraha wished to fight the male on his own, and Abin would honor it. If it meant the killing would finally come to an end, then he would make sure he didn’t do anything to mess things up. Really, anyway.
No stepping on his brother’s paws.
“You’re wrong to come here looking for a fight, Angusho,” Abin huffed, “you can stop all this nonsense right now- you don’t have to prove anything by fighting us. You’ve proven yourself enough already.”
“It has nothing to do with proving myself, you fool,” Angusho replied, “I know I am the best- I do not need to prove that to the likes of you. My stupid kin. The only reason I want to fight you is because I want to kill you! Don’t you see? You’re my worthless spawn: incapable of ever amounting to anything useful. You never should have lived. Or rather, he shouldn’t have,” he motioned towards Jeraha, “you had never been a part of the equation. I had never expected anything of you, so you never failed me. However, siding with this mistake, I suppose I will have to kill you too. Hope you’ll put up more of a challenge than last time.”
“You will not touch him,” Jeraha snapped, “unlike you, he knows what it means to protect family. And now, so do I. So I’m not going to let you hurt him, you understand that?”
“So you’ve grown up and now you think you can talk down to me? I’m still your father- you will always be the worthless brat I could put in his place. I will happily do it again, for good this time. You deserve nothing but death.”
“You will never be my father. Just a lion who needs to be stopped,” hissed Jeraha.
“And we will stop you,” added Abin, tense as possible, “I’m not afraid of you any more than you seem to be of us. Your threats are meaningless.”
“These aren’t threats,” corrected Angusho with a cruel smirk, “but promises. I am certain neither of you will be walking away from this. And I will finally have finished what I started. I will be able to say I have left nothing on this earth I need to be ashamed of- my legacy will be complete.”
“Stop with all this talk,” hissed Abin, “if you don’t want to listen to reason, then I suppose there is only one option left. I wish I could have my chance at you right now, but I have made a promise to my brother.”
“I will be the one you fight. It’s what you want, right?” Jeraha asked, “to face me in a one-on-one battle to the death? We will see which of us is really the strongest. Finally, I will free myself from you.” And, if he needed to, he would call in Abin to help him out. There lion was there if needed, and he wasn’t dumb enough not to utilize that if he really needed to. But he wanted his shot at Angusho alone. He had waited too long not to at least have a go at it. Angusho grinned at him, claws gripping the dirt.
“Come on, you whelp. Let’s end this.”
“Go for it, brother!” Abin roared as the two woes charged for one another, “take him down with all your might!”
There wasn’t much more he could do than watch as Jeraha engaged their father in battle. The younger male slammed into the older one, sending them both to the floor and rolling in the dirt. Claws were flying in every which way, making it difficult for Abin to see who was landing a blow and who was getting nothing but air. It seemed like they were evenly matched. He could hear the odd grunt from both Jeraha and Angusho as their blows connected. Though they seemed to be on an even playing field, for the moment, Abin knew his bother was at the disadvantage. He had to hold back- he couldn’t go for a kill shot against his father. Meanwhile, Angusho had no such restraints on him. He could attack full force and things would be fine for him. But Abin still felt his brother would pull through in the end. He had to. They needed to be rid of Angusho’s haunting shadow. So he continued to cheer for Jeraha, watching as the male kicked Angusho away from him and rolled back onto his paws. Both lions were bleeding, but as far as Abin could see, both could still take a hell of a lot more damage.
So the fight continued, Jeraha and his father matching blows for what seemed like hours. Every new gash, and contact of claw or tooth slowed them just a little bit more, but neither seemed remotely interested in letting up. Even after so long, their bodies in nothing but pain and their chests heaving from exhaustion, they faced one another looking to continue their fight. Angusho smiled. He had not had a fight so thrilling in a long time.
“You’re… not completely… worthless after all,” he panted, “still… going to kill you… though.”
“Not likely,” Jeraha breathed, “you’ll never… fight again… once I’m finished with you.”
Abin felt like he was nothing more than a fly, watching the fight with no hope of being able to help anyone. “You can do it, Jeraha! Keep it up!” He had never seen anyone last so long against Angusho. Now he really believed that, if anyone could stop him, it would be his own son. Jeraha had the strength and skill. Hopefully he would find a way to cripple his father and not take his life. The longer the battle continued, the more likely it was that Jeraha would not be able to get that opening. He would have to kill. Abin knew, that if it came down to that, he would rush in and steal the killing blow himself. Not to out-shine his brother, but to save him from having to kill his father. He’d been through enough in his life.
Abin could take some of the burden.
Jeraha shot forward again, and the battle continued. Though he was wounded and weakening, he was not willing to give up. Even after his father managed to latch onto his back, clawing deeply into him and ripping into his shoulder with his teeth, he fought back, shaking himself free and throwing his father off to the side. He didn’t wait, ignoring the pain he was in to throw himself at the lion, sinking his fangs into his father’s front leg. He clenched his jaw as tight as possible, listening to the satisfying snap of bone between his teeth. But it wasn’t enough- he had to make sure he couldn’t use his paw again, and a simple break wouldn’t do it. So he had to let go and leap in for a second bite, crunching down on the leg in a different spot. As much damage as possible- that’s what he needed to do. His father yowled in pain, kicking his son with his back legs until he got Jeraha to let go. Jeraha responded by slamming his paw into his father’s face, going for the eyes. Angusho pulled back, but not enough, the paw cutting him deeply over his left eye. Roaring again, he shook his head, aware he had just lost an eye in their confrontation. One eye, and one paw.
Things were not going in his favor all of a sudden.
He clamped down on his son’s leg, trying to return the favor of the broken leg. But Jeraha was too quick for him, cutting him deeply along his chest with his claws. The pain caused him to release his son’s leg before he could break the bone, more pain screaming out of him. Jeraha cracked his paw heavily against his father’s jaw, knocking him to the floor and dislocating the lower portion of his mouth in the process. Angusho hit the floor, panting and gasping in pain and shock. Shock that he, as it appeared, was losing to his son. Jeraha stood over him, breathing heavily himself. Blood was everywhere.
Abin didn’t know if it was Jeraha’s or Angusho’s. Who was losing more of it? Jeraha, still panting, looking at Abin, nodding slowly. “Leave us,” he breathed, “I’m going to have a few words with this a*****e.”
“Jeraha…”
“I won’t kill him. Please. Leave us.”
Abin agreed, though he left worried. Surely Jeraha would not break his promise… would he?
