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Débil Chapter: 4 'Niro'
The sun slowly came up, covering the den with luminous light. It shined so wonderfully, the heat seeking through the cracks of the den heating Débil's and Kębi's backs as they slept. Débil woke up and groaned when he saw hyenas laying against him and Kębi again, their weight pressing him down to Earth, drenching him with slime from them slobbering in their sleep. He slowly got up and stretched, shaking the saliva off of him then lifting his head sensing something or... someone out there from the familiar scent of someone he once knew. The feeling he got from that smell gave him an unsettling feeling. Positively sensing someone was near, he slowly got up and carefully poked his head out of the den with courage, only to see dead trees, multiple packs of dens from hyenas spread apart and the huge rock beside him which had Wazimu normally resting on it as always, knowing he wasn't supposed to. He sensed Kębi didn't want Wazimu to sleep there when he noticed yesterday the way
Kębi looked at Wazimu when he saw him lying on his rock. Débil patted Wazimu on the back and told him to get off as he needed someone to go with him for a hunt. Wazimu groaned and rolled off the rock limply falling on the dirty ground. He got up shaking the dust off of him as Débil faced back to Kębi who was quietly sleeping on his side in the burrow. His eyes widened as he faced towards the entrance of the burrow, noticing an orange tail with a white and black tip swaying slightly over them. Wazimu noticed as well and growled about to attack it when Débil stopped him, quickly placing his paw in front before crawling out, slowly looking up to see an orange lion. Its back was facing them, sitting over where they slept. He growled and narrowed his eyes in annoyance and jumped pouncing on Niro from behind.
"What are you doing here? Get out of here and leave me alone!" Débil quietly yelled within a whisper. Niro quickly turned and threw him off causing his younger brother to tumble in front of the burrow, making a loud thump as he hit the ground. Wazimu jumped and growled running out of the den to greet him but Débil quietly pushed him back towards the den before getting up.
"Débil!" Niro said, angrily looking down at him as he leaped off the den, his ears perked up, he growled beginning to walk towards him, causing Débil to back up.
"Where have you been? I went out looking for you. You shouldn't have left, you should've come back!" he roared. Débil narrowed his eyes and growled back, jumping at him.
"Why should I? I'm much happier here, better off than living with you and father." Débil glared at him sternly before beginning to walk off to see if he'd follow and stop him, of course not really planning on going anywhere. Niro followed, growling back and sticking his nose up in the air like a snotty prince.
"Father ordered me to look for you! Stop proving to everyone that you're weak by running away."
"Forget it! Even if I did follow you home, I'd still be the same worthless lion that everyone seems to love to talk about. It wouldn't prove anything anyways. Now, off with you. Go back to your old spoiled life. Good luck in the future, brother." Before Débil got a chance to leave, laughing would be heard behind him. Débil turned and realized that hyenas in groups were crawling out of their dens to greet them. He glared at them, standing completely still as Niro gasped and backed away towards him, seeing as they smiled widely, showing their sharp fangs, some even shown with missing teeth.
"What's all this commotion about?" One hyena asked, glaring at Débil and Niro.
"Well... it seems as though we got some company. How about we eat'em?" One hyena replied, licking his face.
"Oh... Sounds like a great idea. I'm so hungry that I can eat a feast of two lion cubs!" another hyena blurted as hyenas laughed.
"Leave us alone!" Niro roared, taking a step forward.
"Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!" hyenas cackled at Niro's way of proving boldness.
"Did you really think we'd be scared of that? You bothered us first so it is only fair. Time to pay the consequences," said one hyena right behind Débil.
"Did you really think that a whole family of hyenas could possibly let you go?" questioned one hyena in front of Débil. The yellow cub silently looked up at all the hyenas who were now surrounding them. "Smart boy." Counting his silence as an answer, they all pounced and roughly grabbed hold of Niro and Débil by their legs with their teeth and spreading them out so they wouldn't escape. Their teeth dug into their skin causing Niro to roar out in pain and make Débil squeeze his eyes.
"Now, let's just see how many hyenas it would take to finish both of you!" Niro squirmed and struggled, the more he struggled the deeper they sunk their teeth. Débil growled and narrowed his eyes, lifting his head, looking slowly at every hyena, staying completely still and trying to show no fear towards them.
"Kębi has allowed me to join," he spoke calmly besides the pain from teeth gnawing into their legs.
"Why should we believe you, trespasser? This is our land."
"You don't have to believe, just know," Débil replied as Niro led out constant growls of pain.
"We don't care to know, you don't belong here, neither do you, orange."

Niro looked over at Débil as he noticed him smiling at a gray lion who appeared smirking behind a rock. He smiled over at Niro, "I have an idea." He whispered as Niro tilted his head, looking down at him confused. "Hey, what's that?!" Débil exclaimed, looking straight ahead causing hyenas to look behind, allowing him to bend over and quickly bite one of the hyena's noses causing it to yelp, run and bump into another hyena. Niro ducked as Kębi quickly landed on top of the backs of hyenas' who were attacking Débil and Niro, his back claws jabbed into their skin. He swiped their faces and bit their backs while Niro's mouth opened wide to find Débil start joining in by biting deep into their legs and sinking his teeth into a part of their body which made them squeal. A few more hyenas attacked back at their leader, not noticing that it was him.
"Kufungia!" Kębi roared, making every hyena stop and fall over on their side. Débil looked around at the hyenas, then to Kębi, forgetting that Niro was there watching the whole thing. Kębi walked over past the hyenas towards Débil and sat beside, wrapping an arm around him. "Now, for what I heard from Grea here is that he's a new member of our pack. That doesn't mean that you should attack him. Now that he is part of our family, we'll respect him as a member, understand?" he growled at them which kept the hyenas still, Kębi counting that they now understood. "You did great, Grea," Kębi gazed down at him and smiled. Niro's eyes widened and he barged in front of them, causing Grea to flinch and cower, Kębi noticed and squinted his eyes over at Niro.
"Hold on just a minute. Débil, we're not staying here!" Niro turned to the gray cub. "Thanks for saving our life, though. Really appreciate it, but we didn't really need your help. I could've took care of it on my own. Now come on, Débil, it's time to go," Niro rushed, pushing the yellow cub with his head.
"Grea," the yellow cub said, correcting Niro as he turned to face him.
"What?" Niro paused and stared at him.
"That's his name," Kębi smiled, stepping forward. "And I find that he did pretty well protecting your butt. Have you noticed? I never even saw you participating in what we were doing."
"No, it isn't. Also, if it weren't for you, I would have had us already free from those ravaging scoundrels-"
"It is now. And well, it was a good thing I came before they got their chance. Didn't even look like you were trying. Anyway, he's already home where he belongs. You can't make him leave." Kębi walked towards Grea.
"Débil!" Niro roared, facing Grea, ignoring the gray cub.
"Grea," Kębi said, purposely aggravating him, "why wanting to leave so soon, Niro?" he laughed and backed away as Niro butted in between him and Grea, facing him away from his new friends. Kębi yawned as Niro continued.
"Can't you see what you're dealing with here? They might be scavengers that are acting nice to you just so they can get the chance to kill you."

Kębi giggled a bit at Niro while beginning to pace back and forth behind them. Débil looked down at the hyenas then over at Kębi.
"They're... just... misunderstood! Stop being so worried about everything. You were never like that. Possibly the reason you want me to go with you is just so our father can hurt me! You're not staying here. Everything is all about you, isn't it? Always was. It's not like anyone else's lives matter!" Grea shouted. Kębi glared over at Niro which caused him to stop pacing. Niro noticed and stared back, giving him a look. Grea scowely glared up at his brother then looked over to Kębi. Seeing Kębi's face, he faced back over at his brother, noticing that there were scratches near his back which seemed too big even for a hyena to make.
"He hurt you, too?" Grea whispered making Niro growl ashamedly and look away. Débil showed his teeth at Niro which caused Niro to start snarling at Kębi. Débil hissed and jumped at Niro causing him to stand on his hind legs. "I figured that you'd come crawling to me once you found out that father would attack anything if he couldn't find anything to be mad about! I thought he cared about you, thought you were his favourite! You're old enough to live on your own. Father knows, now knows he's been hanging out with a wimp. Heh, you know what's funny? I really thought you were tough."
Niro just stood there in total silents. Surprised, without words to say.
"Wow, the victim has become the victor!" Kębi smiled over at Grea, noticing him walking away from Niro who was now staring hatefully over at Kębi. Grea crouched down inside the burrow as Kębi then turned his head over towards Niro who was looking at him. He watched as Niro then turned away and sat down, his ears tilted back. Grea looked at the hyena cubs, which were still surprisingly asleep, noticing Wazimu who had been up also fell back asleep. He laid down and thought about something, something that he's never felt before. Something that he would never think about until now. It surprised him that he'd even think, the thought of doing something terrible but shook his head trying to shake the thoughts out of his mind. Débil was usually a wimp - a friendly cub, someone that wouldn't hurt anyone. Grea thought of what he said, but didn't regret anything that came to heart, including the good things talking about Kębi and their hyena friends. Niro and him were brothers, but they didn't treat each other like they were. Grea then giggled a bit unexpectedly as the thoughts came back and he looked straight over at the entrance of the den, sighing as he felt his stomach tighten up. He fought himself to get up and he crawled out looking outside, smiling as he noticed Kębi with a mouse. He crawled in the den giving Grea the mouse and followed Grea as he went to lay down with him.
"That was a tough thing you did back there," Kębi said as he wrapped his tail around Grea's.
"Yeah. But it wasn't the last," he frowned.
"And that is?"
"Having to leave my sister Keya behind."
"Oh, right."
"I doubt he'd do anything to her though. The time when she lost her leg to a crocodile while I tried to save her," Grea shook his head, "you should've seen him."
"Well, you know who you should mostly be worried about?"
"Myself?"
"Eh?"
"I-I mean Niro?"
"Exactly. Especially Niro. He's a real king, is he not?" Kębi scoffed.
"Yeah, heh. He can be pretty foul at times. But it seemed as though our father loved him more than anything in the world. Now I just can't figure out why he would hurt him." Grea took the dead mouse from the ground and held it in his right paw. He glared at it for a moment before throwing it in his mouth.
"Well, at least he got what was coming to him," Kębi laughed. He then stopped and looked back at him, sensing something was off so he leaned against Grea and fell in front of him, rolling on his back.
"You know, if something is bothering you I'm always here if you need me. Don't worry about him, he's a nobody." Grea glared down at him before laying down on Kębi, placing his head on his stomach, both purred as Kębi cleaned his head. Grea then stood up and pinned him.
"Don't worry, I'm fine. We'll talk more about this later," he turned around and began to crawl out of the den, "I'll be right back."
"Oh. Okay, sure. Be careful, see you when you get back," Kębi replied cautiously with care. He was concerned why he was leaving but he trusted him thinking he was probably just taking a walk or going out for a quick hunt.
"I will," Grea smiled before running out passing Wazimu who was lying near the entrance. "I sure will be," Grea spoke quietly to himself with a smirk on his face. Wazimu tilted his head and got up beginning to curiously follow him.
"Hey, Grea. Where are you goin'? Wazimu asked while following behind the yellow cub. Grea continued on but slowed down enough for Wazimu to catch up.
"Off to be doing what should've been done a long time ago. I just have to see how it goes first before I continue with it." He ran off leaving Wazimu behind as he searched around for Niro. He thought Niro gave up and decided to head back home as it was getting dark but then he spotted him hunting alone near the rocks where he climbed to get away from their father. He walked to him and silently sat down next to him.
"Hey." He spoke lightly, in a way that purposely avoided danger as Niro usually became aggressive like their father whenever he was upset.
"What do you want, freak?" Niro growled glancing over at Grea. Grea closed his eyes, taking a deep breath through his nose, suddenly closing his eyes tightly from the insult, trying not to seem affected.
"I shouldn't have said those things," Grea finally replied opening his eyes and stood up, looking down while beginning to walk childishly like he was on a tightrope in front of Niro near the edge of the cliff. "I guess... all the things you did to me made me say it. What have I done to you to make you not like me?" Niro stood up and faced him, getting in his face.
"Is that your way of an apology? You're weird, annoying, and are always in my way. You're nothing like us. You're an outcast from the rest of the Outlands. Father always said that you would be. He taught me many things about you. You and I were never fully brothers in the first place, more like strangers when you think about it."
"Yeah, well I'm sorry I'm not what you wanted! But we're still family, as much as I want to forget! Even Keya understands me better than you."
"Too bad no one understood her. The only friends she had was you. Pretty sad to be honest. After you left, father started caring more about her than me. He's glad to know you're gone. We were better off without you until after discussing about Keya to father, he hurt me. He was like a friend to me, taught me everything."
"Well, now you know how it feels to be alone," Grea showed a fake smile at Niro before looking down from the cliff then down to his paws. He sighed and began walking carefully down the rocks, seeing as grass had grown but seemed dead.
"I thought you didn't want to leave," Niro followed him. Grea turned around.
"I thought about what I said earlier. What choice do I have now? Now that you're here." Grea paused and faced back continuing to climb down, "I'm going to do what's right. Since I can't be like everyone else, why should I even try to be? Might as well just be the one no one wants." Seeming to Niro it felt what he was trying to tell him finally got to his head but he rolled his eyes at the yellow cub talking self-pitty. It started getting foggy down there, the more they climbed down making it easy for them to get lost. When they reached the bottom, it seemed as though like smoke was floating through the air.
"Don't thank me. I shouldn't be doing this for you, though I don't have a life here." He looked around, "where are we?" Grea asked.
"I don't know. Where do you think we are?" Niro rolled his eyes, walking in front of him. He sniffed around, smelling something burning, like the smell of burning twigs and smoke. Grea and Niro looked up, seeing something yellow in the distance. The light started getting bigger, so close they could feel it. Unsettlingly, animals appeared running from the light towards them causing the two cubs to gasp.

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