Late at night. The Temple. It was a rather clear night over along the night beach, full moon brightening up the night sky and sea, and just out on the porch of the Beach House, Lion was already fast asleep. He'd been doing his own thing for pretty much a long while, ever since Steven and Amethyst had went off on their way since their last visit back to the Temple, and he'd been handling himself fairly well. Without the ponies, Gems, and humans to come around lately, it'd just been him and his own mind ... well, him and Blue anyway. Blue had been hanging out with Lion for quite a while, being the other animal the Gem dog can hang about with when Steven wasn't around, and Lion really didn't mind that too much out of him. Here, Blue was asleep himself, just across from Lion on the porch as well. While Blue was sleeping soundly, Lion was actually beginning to stir just a little bit, shifting his position over and over again as growls escaped his closed mouth. At first, it wasn't really bad, and it wasn't loud enough to really wake anyone up, but as time went by, the growls turned to snarls, and Lion's paws started to move a little bit. It was here when Lion eventually pushed himself along the floor, his laws occasionally pulling against the fence to move him along until Lion ended up tumbling down the porch stairs. It wasn't enough to wake Blue, but Lion did bolt up to his paws after that, looking around and seeing where he was. He was still at the Beach House, still with Blue.
Still safe.
Lion looked back over to the Beach House, seeing Blue still fast asleep, the dog laying on his back, and not even remotely waking up from Lion's tumble. The pink cat looked off out to the open ocean for a moment, seeing the calm waters along the coastline. There wasn't very much sound apart from the waves scraping the shore by Lion's paws, giving the big cat some time to think a little bit. As the cat continued to stare off to the ocean, his eyes narrowed into a determined, almost angry glare, as Lion's paws tensed up. With a growl escaping his muzzle, he suddenly started running off over the water. Lion's own magical properties had him stay above water, and running over water like it was land. As he continued running, he gave a mighty roar to summon up a portal for him. That roar was enough to finally wake up Blue with a startle, and the Gem dog looked out just enough to see Lion jump through the portal, and disappear. Blue got up onto his own paws on seeing this, wondering why, or where Lion was actually going. It wasn't exactly anything new for Lion to just wander off this way, and Blue just simply settled down to sleep again, not thinking too much on what Lion was up to. ...
.......
Lion's fly through his own portal didn't last for too long, but longer than your typical teleportation Warp Pad. This great cat kept up his flying until he landed down on the end of the road, skidding to a stop. The land he ended up now was WAY far away from any sort of human activity. His paws scraped the fresh, life-filled earth from under him, and he was surrounded by strong, healthy trees, bushes, and all sorts of flora. It was still night time, the moonlight making the shadows dance around him in the night breeze. It may be a lovely sight, for sure, but Lion was more focused on something else rather than just sightseeing the land he arrived in. Instead, after getting his barring together, he began to run.
Run he did.
His mind was on point, and he knew exactly where he was going that night. Each stride he made was one closer to his destination. None of the flora, rocks, or hills even slowed him down, anything too big knocked out of the way with a well-aimed roar. He wasn't going to stop, not now. The roars echoed all over the jungle, some of the local animals waking up to see the pink feline race by. Some saw him from the trees, some from burrows in the ground. Regardless of where, the jungle became more and more aware of the feline running through. It didn't take too long until the thick jungle began to break away until more opened plains and savannah, the grass swaying in the breeze. It was at this point that Lion began to slow down to a trot, and then stopped altogether, looking around the plains. The open savannah may be mostly grass, but a Baobab tree grew up from the ground, much like a lone tower. to the west of there, from what Lion could see, appeared to be a sort of outcrop, and hills. Lion's teeth began to slowly bare, a low growl admitting from within him.
This was it. This is the place.
Now finding the location, Lion started to march on towards the outcrop. This driving force kept him moving forward, a look of anger on his muzzle and eyes as he moved in. Each step closed the large gap between targets, and Lion could feel the wind brush against his back. During this march of his, he began to get a few sniffs from the air. The scent is a strong one, mixing of the grass plains and some herbivores, but one smell amongst it was too familiar to his own to ignore.
And it was closing in on him.
*ROAR*
Then it arrived. Lion's claws dug into the earth, ready to face the opponent coming in from the north. As some clouds moved away from the moonlight, it revealed another creature to challenge Lion. In fact, this was in fact another wild cat, and one that looked just as threatening as Lion. To be exact, it was actually another large Lion. Its silver coat almost glowed in the darkness, triple claw mark scars on his head, aiming towards his left eye. This was a warrior, and one of strong battles in the past no doubt. For Lion, this one did not relent on the sight of the large cat, and even gave a roar of his own. Lion made sure to give a power-filled roar, aiming upwards just above the other Lion to show he meant business, but this brave feline did not waver either. In fact, the roar just triggered it to bring out its surprisingly large claws, large even for his kind to have.
The silver lion, and pink lion both began their dance, circling eachother, and not taking their eyes off one another. Lion showed no fear, teeth barred, and claws out. This circling kept up for about a minute, each one not willing to back down by the look of things. Lion kept trying to look for an opening, but it was the silver lion who went first, and charged at him. Lion met the competitor head on, and the two collided with great force. The strike immediately came with claws, the pink feline getting his claws into him time and again. Each hit both felines made was strong, and full of power, and weakening them more and more as time went on. For Lion, he began to feel tired continuing on, and the silver lion was quick to notice this. All that running from his previous location did not help in his energy. It was here the tables began to turn on Lion, the silver warrior making a good ram, and making Lion topple over. The silver lion jumped on top of him, and he gave Lion a good bite right on his stomach. Lion wailed in pain, and managed to whack the silver lion off of him. Once he got enough distance, the pink Lion roared directly at his opponent, but the silver lion hunkered down from the strong blasts, therefore staying put. This cat knew what was up with the pink cat. This roar, once finished, left Lion wide open, and the silver Lion charged him, whacking him right in the face! The momentum did aid Lion a bit, his front paw given more of a swing, and knocking the silver lion too the ground. Now it was time for Lion to deliver his own bite, but the silver Lion was prepared for it, and made a very strong back kick, sending Lion flying! Lion fell down hard on the ground, and before he could even shake himself off, the silver lion rushed him, landing right on Lion's head with all his weight in his front paws. That hit did its toll, and the fight made Lion grow hard to just stay standing.
A bad time to turn fragile.
Both lions roared to eachother once more, before they both began running at one another. However, Lion moved just a little slower, and the silver lion rammed just hard enough to send Lion falling onto his back hard. This time, the head ram done Lion in, and it was just strong enough to keep Lion down. Lion got himself onto his stomach, but he was too tired to keep up the fight for much longer. The silver lion marched right up to his opponent, Lion growling up a storm as he neared him. Lion knew he couldn't keep this fight up, so he gave a roar once more, and just managed to make a portal wide open. Before he could get himself in, the silver lion grabbed him by the flank, lifted him up, and thrashed him around for a bit before the silver beast tossed Lion's weak body right through the portal like trash.
Lion tumbled and tossed around inside his own portal, not even getting himself straightened out. He can't! All he could do was brace for impact, as the portal opened itself up again at the end. Lion didn't exactly specify where the end was going to be, so it was anyone's guess on where the portal would lead him. Soon, Lion did hit ground. But rather than his graceful skid on his paws, it was a head-over-heels spin around for a good twenty feet, before his body crashed into a sort of side wall. Not enough to break it, but enough to cause even more damage to the cat. Where he ended up, he couldn't figure out in time, before he passed out. ...
~~~~~~
"Hey. ... Lion? ... Lion, you ok? ..."
Lion took a while to get himself together, but he did eventually figure out what had happened to him. He found himself inside somewhere, his body bandaged up from his beat up. It took a bit, but while his eyes took a while, his sense of smell made him realize who was with him first: Fluttershy! Strange to see, but, apparently his desperate portal made him end up stuck in Fluttershy's cottage, the large cat laying on Fluttershy's sofa. He could barely recall much after the crash, but he was for sure it was not exactly inside somewhere. Fluttershy must've brought him in after finding him outside. Lion groaned a little bit, gnawing on his bandages when Fluttershy stopped him.
"No, no, don't do that. You won't get better that way. Here, you hungry?" Fluttershy said, flying over to her pantry, and pulling out some catfood. It wasn't very much, nor is it any actual prey, but food is food, after all. Lion managed to lean down, and ate up his breakfast, Fluttershy looking on with a smile. The Pegasus began to go around, and check in on the other pets. The sight of a giant lion inside Fluttershy's cottage was a bit too much for some of them, and they went off into hiding a little bit, especially for the birds in the birdhouses. Seeing Fluttershy though helped them out with that. As Fluttershy was tending to the other pets, they heard the sound of her mailbox opening and closing. After a quick feeding of her birds, Fluttershy trotted on outside to check her mailbox, just to see Derpy Hooves mail mare wave to her before flying off on her route. For the letter, it wasn't too much apart from usual things, until she found a letter that seemed to be from Twilight Sparkle. A quick read over, and fluttershy realized what was going on.
"Oh dear. Right now? ... Oh. Angel?"
Soon, a white rabbit woke up from his bed, and hopped over to Fluttershy again.
"I'm going to be out for a while. You think you can watch Lion for me? Pretty please?" Fluttershy asked, politely. Angel looked over to Lion, who was still trying to get the bandages off with his teeth. Angel figured he had a big job, so he hopped away, and hopped back with a large metal spoon, giving a salute to Fluttershy as confirming. After that, Fluttershy thanked Angel, and flew off on her way. Lion still kept trying to get the bandages off, but only to have Angel hop up to him, and whack his head with his metal spoon. It got him to stop, but Lion did not want to stay around here. He had a fight to win, and he can't win it if he's just going to stay stuck here like this. It may be nice for Fluttershy to bandage him up, but still. Angel bunny wasn't having it though, and stayed guarded at the door, as if on some sort of mini guard.
He wasn't serious?
Lion started to stumble up to his paws, a bit limply on one, but still on all paws. The Lion began heading for the door, but Angel got his spoon ready, and tried to keep Lion from getting out. Each step Lion tried for the door, Angel would whack him with his spoon. Not too painful, but still annoying. Lion tried another ten times, but angel still kept at it for a while longer. Eventually, Lion was no longer having it with this stubborn, and be it, annoying rabbit. So, after the constant interruptions, Lion grabbed the rabbit by his ears, lifting the struggling creature out of the way. Angel tried his best to get himself loose, but Lion dropped him down inside a nearby jar. Belived that he handled Angel (as if), Lion then went right on out the door, and over outside. Angel popped out of the jar just in time to see Lion leave, and tumbled out of the jar to reach him. He fell down with the jar, but he was quick to hop off after Lion. Not a moment too soon: Lion was making a portal again! Keeping one paw hovering up a little bit, Lion began to run at the portal, Angel racing off after the big crazy cat.
Angel bolted at Lion, and got a hold of Lion's tail just before Lion made his jump through.
.......
It was straight back to the savannah now, and while it was less graceful than before, Lion got there with little effort. It was daytime now, and many animals were more active at this point. Angel needed a minute to get himself together, falling down onto the ground, only then Lion noticing his little hitchhiker with him. He did NOT want anyone else to get dragged along into his business, and gave a quick growl snap at Angel for following him. Angel didn't know what to do now, but he still tried to get Lion to turn around somehow, gripping back at him. All Lion did was snort at the rabbit, before he tried to tear off his bandages again. This time, he succeeded in tearing off the bandages around his paw, and he even stomped on it! It hurt, of course, but Lion was getting it out now before going off on his way. Angel was ticked off, but being alone out in Earth's savannah made the bunny a little antsy, and it didn't want long until Angel was up and running up to Lion again. He didn't know where in Equestria he was at, if it even was Equestria. Lion stopped when he felt Angel touch his back leg, and he knew right there that this rabbit wasn't going anywhere, anytime soon.
*ROAARR*
Lion bellowed his roar to signify his presence to all who lived in the plains, Angel jumping in surprise on the pure sound alone. The roar was good enough to send some birds scattering from the trees, and some nearby Deer stop and turn their heads at the noise. When that was done, they began to hear another creature come in towards them, and when looking, they both saw a familiar lion catch sight of them. The prime feline wasn't paying much attention to them at first, having already finishing a hunt earlier today. Judging by the feathers around its mouth, the hunt was of ostrich. Lion growled a little bit, and began heading up right to the white lion. It wasn't until Lion was about five feet away that the feline noticed Lion. Angel kept by Lion, but not too close in case the lion were to notice him. Then Silver Lion growled at Lion, mainly to keep him away from its food, but Lion was more focused on the lion more than the ostrich. Seeing Lion and his injuries though, Silver Lion wasn't taking Lion as seriously as last night, and took another bite of its bird meat.
Lion will not be denied!
In a fit of rage, Lion smashed right into Silver Lion, and soon it was a horrifying scuffle between the two. Lion had the upper advantage here, not only with his opponent on the ground, but most of Silver Lion's scratches just scraping his thick mane. Angel hid away behind the grass during the entire scuffle, only hearing growls, roars, scratching and biting from the fight going on just a foot away. The lion kicked Lion back, and then did it jump at him, claws digging into Lion's hide. Angel had just enough nerve to at least look at the results, and suddenly Lion was down on the ground again. Strange though - a portal was suddenly made already, but this one wasn't the usual pink color Lion had made. where'd it come from? ...
Silver Lion, not wanting any chances this time, finished off Lion with a powerful slam of its paw. It didn't kill Lion, but it was enough to knock the big cat out on the spot. Angel watched from the grass, but he had to come out when the tiger began to drag Lion towards the portal, much like earlier except without the struggle. Angel was supposed to watch over Lion, not let him get beat up like this. Soon, the bunny began to pluck up courage, and marched right out to confront Silver Lion. Angel yanked on Silver Lion's tail, and when the cat turned around, all it got was a battle-ready bunny standing there. Of course, the lion was not interested in this little scrap, since meat was already on the ground for it. Angel got into a boxer-stance, ready to beat the tiger out, but all the lion did was grab Angel, and tossed him into the portal along with Lion! Angel was tossed about in the portal for a bit, but Lion ended up running right into him. Luckily the rabbit gripped hard on Lion's mane, as they both tumbled through the warp.
Didn't take long until they landed. As for where they landed. ...
Right at the barn! The crash was just hard enough to smash a hole in the side of the barn, and this obvious crash did not go unnoticed.
"What the?! Lion!"
The Crystal Gems. They were still working on the drill, and working very close to finishing it up, but when Lion crashed in, everything on their side seemed to stop on a dime. The Gems there for the moment were Garnet, Bismuth, Flint, and Jade. Angel, dazed by the tumble, ended up stumbling out of Lion's mane, landing just at Jade's feet.
"Oh dear," Jade gasped, holding Angel in her arms, as the others looked to Lion. His bandages were all torn away, and whatever was left was just white rags. Seeing how Lion was knocked out, and his injuries all over him, it was clear Lion was fighting something before he landed down at their feet.
"He's looking beat up," Bismuth said, kneeling down by Lion's head. Unlike before, Lion began to come to a lot quicker. Angel got himself up straight, and hopped out of Jade's arms, going right to Lion. The big cat, for one, was not waking up, and he won't be for a while yet.
"Don't worry, he's just unconscious. Better keep him here," Garnet decided.
~~~~~~
Lion was left quiet, humbled, and not moving for a while after. The big cat didn't see much of anything for a while at first, but he eventually began to slowly come back to. He would've stayed out a bit longer if his face wasn't getting licked by a familiar pup. The scent and sound was easily identified by the large cat, and once his eyes came around, Blue was standing there, ears folded back, and whimpering. Blue found out what had happened while Lion was at the barn thanks to Angel bunny, and it didn't take the Gem dog long before he got there. Lion lifted his head, and saw that while Angel and Blue were with him, the other Gems were working on the drill, which was close to completion at this point despite the setback. Lion was humiliated - AGAIN! By the same cat! A low growl emitted from the cat on reality of the situation, which was caught by some of the nearby Gems.
"Nice you came back," Garnet said, catching Lion's attention. Course, Garnet knew he'll come back around eventually. The only one who didn't stop was Flint, deep into fixing up the drill for the attack on the Cluster. He didn't have any time to check on some cat. For Lion, this was getting annoying on his mission, but this time he knew he wasn't going to be getting away from anyone. He got away earlier from Angel, but he can't lift and move large Gems like this, especially in his rough state.
"You better stay put, Lion." Garnet said, but Lion just wasn't listening to her. He at least tried to get himself up, but all Garnet did was place a firm hand on Lion to keep him down.
"Not a good idea. You may want to settle things, but it's best for you to just stay here and heal," Garnet said, rubbing him gently before she went to join the others. Lion just laid there after that, though he knew that Tiger was still roaming out there, and he wanted to settle the score with that feline one way or another. He couldn't do that now though, his body just not ready for that just yet. so, with the sound of workshop nearby, and with Angel and Blue now watching over him, Lion settled down by the barn fence, and just started to sleep. ...
*grrrrr*
No. No, not Silver Lion, not now!
Lion was up and awake again, barely even a minute of sleep for the feline fighter. That growl was all too familiar to not just him, but to Angel as well, whos ears were up and at attention, twitching at the slightest sound. Blue heard it too, but was more curious about the growling. Eventually, Lion managed to pinpoint the source thanks to the smell. Suddenly, Angel was standing in between them and Lion, trying to tell them something. Non of them seemed to pay him much mind, which was flat out annoying to the white rabbit. He made sure to make his appearance known though with a good whistle. The other Gems turned to the frantic rabbit, who was hopping in place, and pointing like mad to the direction of the source.
"What's with the rabbit?" Bismuth questioned.
"Something wrong?" Jade asked. Angel nodded fast, pointing again. When they were looking though, the other Gems didn't really see anything amidst. Suddenly it was a game of charades: Angel bent his ears in small circles on the side of his head, straightened his whiskers evenly, and put his arms like sharp fangs on each side of his mouth. He then did a few good hisses (good as a rabbit can do), before pointing again.
"We don't have time for this. Come on, we're so close, let's finish this up," Flint instructed, not wanting to waste any time with this. But they didn't had time to finish up, according to Angel. Blue began to sense the danger too, and hid behind Lion, who stayed put. Angel's ears fell back, the rabbit bemused about the response. After he brought his front paw to his forehead, Angel had the nerve to hop right up to Flint, jump on his head, and tried to force him to see.
"HEY, get off!" Flint yelled, grabbing the rabbit, and tossing him. Angel tumbled back to the ground, a little further away from the others. Yeah, obviously some Gems were not going to listen to him just from charade alone, so angel went for a more direct approach. Finding a good sized rock on the ground, angel got their attention with a strong whistle again. Soon after Angel was sure they were looking, he chucked the rock, and ...
*bonk* *ROAR!*
Not safe, but blunt. They all knew Lion didn't roar, as he was laying in plain sight just a foot away. What Angel didn't count for was Silver Lion charging out of its hiding place! Angel, freaked out, turned and bolted towards the others. If waited for a few more seconds, and Silver Lion would've crushed him under paw. But now, the large white feline was exposed, and stood aggressively at attention to the rest of the group. Looks like this cat was not going to wait for Lion to show up this time. Lion growled, but Silver Lion knew just by looking at him how weak he got to being, and a good roar his way silenced the big cat.
"So that's it," Garnet finally thought, before stepping in between Lion and Silver Lion. The other cat though had just one target, and Lion knew exactly who that was. It charged forward at Garnet, the fusion ready to fight the angry feline. Silver Lion tried to slip by, but Garnet grabbed it by the flank, and threw it away. The feline was easily sent flying in the air, but surprisingly it got landing on all four paws. A bit rough on landing, but it still was not willing to back off even after the toss. Lion got up to his paws after a bit, as Silver Lion began to walk over, its claws digging into the dirt in front of it.
"Lion, stay down. Let me handle this," Garnet said, sensing Lion getting up. The feline though was not going to let her fight his battle for him, so rather than comply, he moved up to Garnet's side. Silver Lion saw this, and gave a few good, quick roars that almost sounded like a mock-filled laugh. Lion wasn't REALLY going to fight him after getting beaten down twice now. Garnet and Silver Lion met head on, and soon it was fusion vs. nature. ...
The fight between them didn't last too long.
Silver Lion got some good claw strikes, but each punch Garnet made onto him sent the cat flying. Honestly, it wasn't as bad as Garnet first thought it would be but at least it kept Lion out of trouble. Silver Lion did not expect such a powerful adversary to protect Lion, but it began to see this as Lion hiding, rather than a dangerous threat to it. Lion had just about enough of this: he went right up, and managed to shove Garnet aside to confront Silver Lion. He wasn't going to let some other Gem win his fight for him - not this one. However, another figure soon ran in between Lion and Silver Lion: Blue! Much like a dog, Blue barked and yelped like mad, hoping to drive it away, but the big cat wasn't so easily spooked. In fact, the feline began to march ahead, right to Lion, and ignoring blue almost completely. Blue rushed in front, but Silver Lion didn't even flinch, and continued walking. Blue was humbled now, and started to back up until his tail touched Lion. The big cat grabbed Blue and threw him aside, the dog landing on Garnet. They prepared to go in, but Lion growled loudly, and glared at them ... slowly shaking his head ...
It was not their fight.
Unfortunately for Lion, Silver Lion was easily on top of him. Both lions went at eachother like mad for a full minute, scratching, biting, hissing, and roaring ringing out in the tussle. However, while Garnet did indeed weaken Silver Lion, Lion was still very much weaker than his opponent, and Silver Lion quickly got him down on the ground. The fight got the Gem's attention, even Flint after a while, and even with Lion not wanting them to get involved in the fight, Bismuth charged in anyway. Her hand turning into a hammer, she swung it straight for Silver Lion, just for the white feline to dodge it in a quick duck. Lion roared angrily, but Silver Lion rushed back at Bismuth before Lion could do anything. Bismuth wasn't too hurt by the strike, and Silver Lion ended up being thrown straight into the barn house. Lion had finally had enough of the Gems constantly interfering, even if it was helping him out.
*ROOOOAAAARRR!*
A roar that shook the ground, everyone around him stopped, even Silver Tiger. If growls and roars weren't going to get to them, then a physical one might. It was a basic one, but Lion locked eyes with Tiger, who was still in the barn. So, Lion went straight inside the barn, and slammed the door shut behind him. He had enough knowledge to even lock the door from inside, so they wouldn't come in. A weak way to do it, but it got the point across a lot clearer this time. Now it was Lion and Silver Lion inside the barn. Silver Lion growled harshly, the hit taking a bit of a toll on its back leg by the way it was standing. Considering Lion was a bit beat up himself, things finally seemed more evened out. Lion and Silver Lion stood still for a bit more at first, staring eachother down for weaknesses on them. Lion was weak in the back, but now Silver Lion was a bit feeble in the back legs - bad in battle. both sides passed growls and roars to eachother, as if talking to one another, until eventually both nodded.
Then their fight started up again.
Both cats moved right in for eachother, but in more of a trot rather than a run, immediately getting a grip on eachother. Both Lion and Silver Lion got eachother biting down hard by their snouts, swatting at eachother with their front paws, as they spun around back and forth. The fight wasn't as tense or crazy as the last two times, but damage was still being dealt onto them with each bite and swipe. It was all about who was going to give in first. All the roars were being heard from outside, the crowd wondering if they should get involved or not after that act earlier. Blue and Angel tried to open up the door, but Garnet suddenly moved them both away. She figured out what Lion was really wanting to do. ...
After a while, the fighting began to quiet down. ...
"... Lion?" Jade quietly said.
Suddenly, the door unlocked, and swung open, just to reveal Lion tossing Silver Lion outside. He was still alive, but beaten down to a pulp. Didn't mean Lion wasn't beaten up himself, but he still had just enough energy to stand on the contrary to Silver Lion. The victor went over to Lion, a notable limp in his front paw. Silver Lion barely got itself up to its own paws, but Lion towered over it, staring it down. Silver Lion growled at Lion, but it was clear that it was hurting, and unlike Lion, wasn't given too much time to heal up from past wounds. Silver Lion still gave a swipe at Lion, but stumbled over its injured leg. Lion didn't even waver, and allowed the reality of the situation to sink in. ...
Soon, Lion turned, and with a good roar, opened another portal. But instead of jumping in himself, he waited for Silver Lion to get up to leave. It growled a little bit, but didn't try to attack this time, and soon the big cat limped through the portal.
To the victor.
.......
"This was interesting. A little bit anti-climatic for my tastes. Intriguing, that silver cat - sure got Lion's fur in knots after his little sleep scare."
"True, true. Wish we could say it was our trick, but, sometimes the universe gives you a pass, doesn't it? ... Still, I'm curious as to that Pearl and Peridot. Not seen them ever since that mask excursion."
"Your guess is as good as mine, but I'd guess the Pearl's gone into hiding by now. Such a delightfully shocked face after Flint's own brand of 'discipline'."
"Yes. Now, shall we go check in on the local residents. I think we're ready for some higher authority, don't you think?"
"Let's do that."