Uchungu lay in the small cave he had claimed as his den, grooming the last bits of his recent meal from his face. The dik-dik had proven an easy kill to the black lion, though he supposed most prey animals would now... now that he had started to hunt other predators.
His father had been the first, and the most difficult. He had been the most deserving, too, for the things he had done to the purest of souls... his poor mother and sisters. Uchungu still wore the marks of the battle that had ended his sire's deplorable existence, but the most telling thing he wore from that victory was his father's pelt. The vertebrae in the length of spine Uchungu had used to secure the hide across his chest knocked together and rattled as the large male moved about in his tidying, the teal fur cape shifting across his back. Killing his father had awoken something in Uchungu, a burning calling to quell the evil threatening to swallow the world.
His second kill, a fortnight later and almost as easy as the dik-dik, had been a wild dog. The immoral creature had tried to force himself upon an unwilling female, and that just would not stand. He had been dispatched quickly and his body left to feed the earth.
It had been a week since the wild dog and Uchungu had yet to discover any more nefarious creatures. He did find, however, that he was starting to hear voices. As of yet, they were nothing but whispers, sharing secrets just under the range of his hearing. The most prominent of the voices was a female. He still couldn't hear her words but, day after day, he felt compelled to find her, to follow her voice. On this day, he decided to give in.
Cleaning completed, he rose to his paws and padded out of his den. As he walked, the female's voice seemed to get louder or quieter depending on which direction he turned, though it was never clearer than an unintelligible whisper regardless of volume. With his orientation set, the dark male headed off to find what this voice would lead him to.
Daffupanda