Username: bmkmb
Lion name: Roaring of the Thunder | Thunder's Roaring | ("Thunder")
Lion gender: male
Pride: The PridePride status: Innocuous Acolyte banished (now "rogue")
Prompt: [500/500 (according to Google)]
On days like this, it surprised no one that angry clouds covered the plains. It was on days like this that Roaring of the Thunder was out and about, doing what he was meant to do: protect his territory, defend the poor, etcetera, etcetera. It was nothing new. Cliché, almost. But that just meant less explaining to those who stumbled upon him.
Now, on this day, Thunder found himself drawn into an inevitable conflict. He, as most acolytes did, had a rival. An annoying rival, one who challenged him to fight whenever they crossed paths. As per usual, the giraffe-patterned feline accepted. Most fights ended in a draw. Damage, of course, was dealt, but nothing serious. After all, fighting a ghost wasn’t nearly as fun as fighting a living creature.
But for whatever reason—perhaps it was the storm feeding him endless amounts of adrenaline, or perhaps it was the heat of the battle, or something else entirely—this day, this battle, Thunder lost control. Not only that, but in front of a crowd. It went something like this:
The alpha male circled his opponent, a confident smirk on his maw. “Think you can beat me, Sea? It was only one time. Once!” He could feel the lightning coursing through his veins. He wanted more action, more of it, more of it.
Stirring of the Sea raised their head higher. “One time is enough to prove my strength. I believe that I’ve grown enough to beat you again.”
“We’ll see about that.”
And so the two clashed, pouncing and slashing and snarling and biting. Unlike humans with their swords and their armor, the two lions donned neither. One couldn’t parry a slash—only dodge or take the blow and hope to survive.
Rain cascaded from the dark sky; from the perspective of a spectator, the battle seemed ruthless, dirty, uncoordinated; however, upon further investigation, one would notice that with each strike, static fizzled across Thunder’s paws; with each failure to dodge, droplets circled around to a form a thin shield which minimized the damage.
Nevermind that water conducted electricity—Thunder and Sea weren’t naive; that would be their downfall and they knew it.
They didn’t know that it would happen today of all days.
Somewhere up there, the particles built up enough charge. Lightning crashed onto the earth; rather than hitting the nearby tree, it looped around…
Sea roared, maw open, jaw ready to meet Thunder’s neck.
Thunder roared, claws unsheathed, ready to parry.
Lightning coursed, rain rose; higher and higher, surrounding them…
Thunder directed the lightning… and it charged right through Sea’s heart.
Then…
silence.
“...Sea?” hesitant, worried; it just hit him, what he’d done.
No response, so again:
“Sea?!”
The spectators panicked. Thunder panicked.
Sea was silent. The sky was silent. Static in the air, but now, no more rain to conduct it.
The skies cleared.
Panic.
(He should’ve known; should’ve known; should’ve refused the battle—anything.)
For the murder of a pridemate, you are forever banished from the Pridelands.
Seek solace elsewhere.
by Tiger♥Bear » Sat Feb 20, 2021 4:20 am 
