The morning came too quickly for Hadaya’s taste. He was just… not looking forward to judging a battle between two strangers. He did not even know their names yet, and somehow he had managed to get wrapped up in their feud. It seemed that some things, like his luck, never changed, and this was just his life. He supposed it kept things interesting, and he was not unhappy with it, entirely, anyway. It kept him interested and never bored, so that was good. Sighing, he padded his way back toward the edge of the pride, where he had met the red lion and the one that had run him over. This was going to be… an interesting day. Maybe he could still stop the fight before it began. They both had time to sleep on it, after all: maybe they had come to their senses about it.
Or maybe not.
Rizardon and Jeshi were already there, not sitting near each other and not looking at one another, but clearly ready for the fight. The red lion, Rizardon, smiled at Hadaya as he approached, and Hadaya politely offered him a meek, unsure smile in return. He knew that this guy was not as bad as Jeshi seemed to think, but the younger lion was not interested in hearing reason at the moment. He had some pride to win back, and that was more important than anything else. Hadaya nodded at Rizardon and then moved over to Jeshi, his fellow pride member, to see if he might calm the other down a bit.
“Hello there. I did not get a chance to properly introduce myself yesterday. Everything was happening too fast, really. But my name is Hadaya. I think I’ve seen some of your family around here before!”
“Yeah…” Jeshi said stiffly, sitting up tall and nodding his head politely at the other lion. He was not a rude guy, not even a bad one, he just had a lot on his mind and he could not afford any more blows to his pride. If this story got out, and the lioness he had met the other day heard he, he wanted her to hear how he beat the stranger in a fair fight and not that he was embarrassed twice over. He did not know who would tell her, but that did not really matter to him, at the end of the day. It was more in principle than anything else. “My name is Jeshi. I’m sorry you got dragged into this but I appreciate that you’re judging this contest. I hope I’ll do the pride justice.”
“Well you’re not… really… fighting for the pride, are you?” Hadaya said very carefully, and Jeshi frowned at him. Whoops.
“I’m fighting for honor and pride. This pride, my pride. They’re one and the same.”
“Uh… r-right. Well, I mean. Good luck,” Hadaya’s ears drooped and he retreated a bit, padding back to the red lion and sighing as he approached. Maybe he would be more likely to listen to reason. “Do you really need to fight with this kid? I mean, he’s just young and a bit naive, I don’t think he means you any harm.”
“Oh I know, believe me. I was just like him, and it’s not a bad thing to be. He’s going to be a strong lion some day, but he’s gonna have to earn it in a fight. I’m helping him out, though he doesn’t know it yet, whether I win or lose. Don’t you worry about it, you don’t have to do anything dangerous, just shout at us when we need to stop fighting, alright? Also, I’m Rizardon.”
“Hadaya… and it’s not me I’m worried about… for once.”
“I won’t hurt him, I promise. And he won’t hurt me. You can tell he’s a good guy, can’t you? You know, they say I’m dumb, but I see this stuff. You just have to know how to look.”
Hadaya looked at Rizardon in wonder, not sure what to think about this guy. He seemed very wise, though he had a rough way of speaking and he looked scruffy and very tough. He had obviously been in a few fights in his time, and that was not going to slow him down now. He was too good at what he did, and seemed to really like fighting. This was at least the most amicable fight Hadaya had ever been a part of, and he did not feel the weight of a death threat in the air. Maybe Rizardon was right about this whole thing, and that Jeshi would not go too far, but fights could sometimes just get out of control naturally, without anyone really trying to hurt anyone else.
He supposed that was why he was there, to make sure that did not happen. Great, now he was feeling pressure.
“Okay, I guess we should get this thing rolling, huh?” Hadaya said on a sigh. Jeshi and Rizardon both stepped forward, the former frowning very seriously and the latter looking relaxed and smiling at his opponent with a nod. Hadaya waited for a moment, then took a breath. “So it’s going to be a fight until a clear winner emerges. No killing or maiming, and try not to lose your heads, okay? Alright, I… I guess you can start.” He backed up a few steps, knowing that with his luck he would be quickly dragged into the fight itself if he did not take steps to avoid it immediately.
The fight started with both lions moving toward each other for the first attack. Both reared up on their hind legs and paws began swinging, though neither bared their claws and Hadaya was very happy, and relieved, to see that .It meant no very serious injuries… if they continued this way. Rizardon was much larger than Jeshi, and had a thick fur coat that absorbed the heavy blow Jeshi managed to land, leaving him open to the two quick, but strong, smacks he got from Rizardon before they were both back down on their four paws. Jeshi, stunned, stumbled away from Rizardon for a moment, and the red lion charged in to finish the fight quickly. Jeshi caught his balance and his senses in that moment and moved, ducking down and slinking quickly out of the way of Rizardon’s attack, leaving him surprised and a bit confused when he target was suddenly gone. Jeshi slammed into Rizardon from the side, snarling and throwing all of his weight into the other’s flank with enough force to send the larger lion sprawling.
That knocked the wind out of him almost immediately, and he gasped for breath as Jeshi leaped on top of him, kicking him with his back paws and swiping at his head while balancing his weight on top of Rizardon, who was trapped on his side.
“Alright, alright, that’s enough!” Hadaya yelped, though he noted that still no claws had come out, and the lions had not drawn any blood on each other. It was a very quick fight, all told, but it was not meant to be much more than that, right? Hadaya felt it was fair to call it there. “Jeshi, you win, okay? Let’s settle this now.”
“No, I think he let me win,” Jeshi said, moving off of Rizardon and looking at the larger lion with a frown.
“Of course I didn’t,” Rizardon laugh, “but you have to know that not all wins come from big battles, right? I mean, there was no point in us fighting anyway, and now I’ve got a bruised side to thank for your bruised ego. You shouldn’t let what other people say about you matter so much, because you’ll get yourself hurt if you pick a fight you can’t win. What would you have preferred, me kicking you butt across the pride? You getting killed? It’s not worth it, for some passing comment I made because you had an honest mistake. This guy here didn’t care. You shouldn’t either. You need to have more pride in yourself to know that what other people think is not the most important thing, it’s what you think.”
Jeshi watched Rizardon and his frown softened. He nodded his head slowly, heaving a sigh and sitting down slowly. The other lion was making a lot of sense, and that bothered him more than anything else. He realized, though, that he was being silly, and sensitive, and that Rizardon was right.
“I’m sorry. I guess I just let… getting upset… make me lash out.”
“Well, I’m sure it’s alright, we’ve all done it, growing up. You seem like a very kind and reasonable lion, and you fight really well!” Hadaya smiled, glad things had lightened up and the tension was gone between them all. He sat down and they made a triangle, each one looking peaceful now.
“Well, now that that’s all settled, how about we get some food and you show me around, eh?”
Word Count: 1,500 in Google Docs
