Raised by Lions

Chapter 52: His Return

Louis was on his way to his room after a long Saturday with his brothers. They had way too much to sort out recently on account of some turf changes and who controls where. It caused some confusion amongst the denizens, which spiralled into a bigger issue.

He was tired, his bare feet almost silent as he walked over the thinning brown carpets.

He'd just placed his hand on the doorknob to his room when a crashing sound made him stop in his tracks. That definitely came from the floor he was on. Most of the guys were in their rooms, but then a yell would've come from them that something broke or they fell or whatever.

Grabbing his gun from his belt holster, Louis slipped his other hand into one of his metal claws. More sounds were coming now, struggling and feline hissing filled the hallway. He followed them, quietly over the carpet, and stopped by Ibuki's office.

He heard an unfamiliar roar coming from inside and the phantom feeling of large hands holding onto him came to his senses. He shook his head and sent off a quick text to his brothers, then put his phone away and opened the door just a sliver.

Eyes going wide at the sight of Ibuki on the ground, fighting viciously against a long forgotten lion. Chief was back and seems to have blindsided Ibuki. Without thinking about it, Louis stood back and kicked the door open, gun and claw ready for a fight.

Chief stopped his assault on Ibuki, both lions looking over at Louis, who looked pissed. "Oh, so the precious little fawn did live?" Chief asked mockingly, rising to his feet.

"Louis!" Ibuki called, but received a kick to the jaw from Chief, an action that only served to anger Louis more. "Oh wonderful! It has a name!" Chief cackled. "Let's see if a herbivore really can stand among true carnivores!"

With that, Chief launched at Louis, who avoided the attack easily enough. Chief looked disheveled, likely high, and clearly getting too old for this lifestyle. He tried again, this time receiving a swift bullet to the shoulder. Hissing, he hunched down into a defensive stance.

Louis shifted on his feet, primed his claws and gestured with his antlers, as if teasing Chief to try his luck.

Ibuki had moved to lay against the wall now, out of their way. He didn't have the strength to get back up right now, but he couldn't help to think the scene was vaguely family, only now, their roles were reversed.

Louis was smart, preferring to tire Chief out before he went on the attack, defensive working well for him. Chief charged at him again, this time Louis ducked down, sticking his clawed hand up to pierce into Chief's stomach.

The old lion roared, rounding on Louis again, now bleeding from a large gash where the metal claws had cut. Louis returned to his feet, still standing tall. "You've lost your touch, asshole!" Louis jeered, eyes trained on Chief.

Chief laughed and charged again, panting in the process. He was getting tired. Chief's attacks were becoming irratic, leading to random and uncalculated attacks. He got a good cut in on Louis' shoulder with his claws and the kick to Louis' ribs would surely bruise. Nothing the deer hasn't dealt with before.

One such uncalculated attack allowed Louis to throw Chief over his head by skewering him with his antlers. As he landed on his back, Louis was quick to jump on his chest with his knees, knocking the air out of him violently.

Chief tried gasping for air, when Louis used the open jaw to jam the barrel of his gun between the large teeth. Chief stared up at him in fear. This deer, small and scrawny and covered in blood from their fight, was actually winning.

"Now beg! I wanna see a large carnivore like you beg for your life at the hands of an herbivore!" Louis demanded. Chief tried, actually tried, to beg for his life around the gun, but he couldn't get halfway through his first sentence before Louis pulled the trigger.