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Ambrose, the king of the pride, the joy he brought to everyone was unparalleled, he was loved and cherished, a kind soul, one who cared the most about his pride, and his pride members. He would play with the kids, sing songs with the choir, dance with the herbalists, and even tend to the sick and needy when he could. Many would boast about their king, their amazing king that could do no wrong, one who loved and was loved. He would do anything for them, and that was his downfall, the biggest and last mistake he would ever make.
Have you ever seen a hybrid? No, not like that, whatever you’re thinking, that’s not it. This hybrid was different, he was…unique. No one had ever met or seen anything quite like him, it was odd, where had he come from? On the day he was found, it was stormy, the clouds overhead blocked everything in sight, the sun, the sky, the birds, the trees, it felt like the end was near, a storm like never before seen, an omen. Ambrose had been out gathering some herbs to help the herbalists, they had always appreciated his finesse with recognising the plant life, and he knew to pick out the especially beautiful ones. While he did that, something greenish-white caught his eye, that was odd. He turned towards the object, and there, right in the middle of two trees, was an elongated…egg? Ambrose was puzzled, he had never seen that thing before in his life, what could it possibly be? Deciding that it wouldn’t hurt to just bring it back, and have the herbalists take a look at it, he did so, with the herbs in tow.
The herbalists had taken awhile to assess the object, concluding it to be an egg of some sort, as the smell and structure matched with how an egg should be. However, they had no idea what kind of egg it was, nor had they seen anything like it. They advised the king to get rid of it, tp put it back where he found it, as it could carry diseases, or bring danger to the pride. The king however had a different idea, he wanted to see what was in it, his soft heart could not bear to leave a defenseless egg out there where the leopards or other lions could get it. He would raise it until it was ready to defend itself out in the wild, it was the least he could do to help the poor little egglet.
As time goes by, days and nights pass, rain comes and goes, but nothing happens with the egg. Ambrose had tried many things to get it to hatch, yet nothing was working. He had gone to the herbalists to ask if the egg was spoiled, but they denied, saying the egg did not smell like that, and that they could still feel a heartbeat inside. There was life, and so he waited, and waited, and waited. Sitting with it, playing with it, reading it bedtime stories, then finally, one faithful day, when the sky was dark and the winds were howling, it cracked, and what came out of it shocked everyone. At first, they were excited, but it had quickly turned to that of distress, as they watched a lion-shaped creature crawl out of the egg, attached to it were the wings and antenna of an insect’s. That shouldn’t have been possible, lions do not come out of eggs, and they did not sport insect anatomy, yet the proof was in front of their very eyes, to their dismay. Yet, despite its peculiar appearance, the king was overjoyed the egg had hatched, cradling it in his paws, tearful and overwhelmed by the cub that had been…hatched. He had decided right there and then that the cub would stay and be raised as his son, following in his footsteps to be a great leader one day. And that cub was given a name, Ardenavor.
Many objected to the idea of even having the creature in the pride, much less become the future king. However, the decision was made, and everyone was forced to accept it as a new member of the pride, and the son of their beloved king. Even with whispers of judgement and dissatisfaction where passed around in the pride, they still loved their king dearly, so they supported him and did their best for the young prince too. To their surprise, little Ardenavor would behave like any other lion cub, his appearance was the only thing that made him stand out. And so the less judgmental group of lions took him under their wing, teaching him the ways of the pride, training, hunting, gathering and even fighting. Eventually the young prince grew into a prince with stature and importance. A brilliant lion he was, the most promising in the pride, great physic and a looker even with the unusual insectoid parts he had.
At this point in time, he had gained the trust of many lions in the pride, the ones that raised him were proud, and some that had judged him before apologised for their rudeness and prejudice. It was wholesome, endearing even, and it would’ve ended there with smiles on everyone’s faces had this been the end. Because when the day of the storm came, the same odd looking storm that covered the land returned, the king was killed, despite Ambrose being much bigger than Ardenavor, yet he went down, just like that, gone. Thunder sounded all around them, the pride was terrified, a sudden turn of events, no one had seen this coming, except for the ones that left. They had been right, but it was all too late. Lightning struck, blinding the pride for a split second, and when they opened their eyes, they saw doom, and there was no escape. Hundreds of insectoid creatures, hybrids of any kind of animal swarmed it, surrounding the remaining pride, he had won, the end was here.
Ardenavor grimaced with pride, he had successfully dominated this pride, no one else would dare go against him, as he now had an army of cryptids at his beck and call, there was no way to defy him, he was unstoppable. Alas, it was not the end of their misfortune and devastation, with a wave of his paw, Ambrose’s body lifted off the bloodied ground, cracks and breaks were heard from the floating corpse, wounds started healing, limbs began to realign. To everyone’s horror, the body landed, standing upright, it opened its eyes, a hollow darkness like an endless void had replaced what was once his eyes, then it moved. Everyone was terrified as they realised what had happened, he was reanimated from the dead, but was no longer him, only a shell of his former self, literally. An animated minion of Ardenavor, the new king of the land, and a new insectoid era was about to begin.
~ Credit: Nyra Zombie (#490644) ~
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