this is just a self-indulgent fic where a trans lion gets to date nuka. have no idea when i'll update or if i ever will, but cringe culture is dead and i won't be stopped.
Uzuri had known who he was by the time the other cubs' manes had started growing in. Frustrated that he didn't have one, he'd fashioned one more than once out of leaves, fronds he had to adjust just so, or smear mud on his neck in order to get them to stick for very long at all.
But of course, they'd been temporary solutions to a problem that lasted well beyond them. He'd been next in line to reign over his parents' pride, and initially, his parents thought that he was just emulating his father, that his role as "princess" wasn't enough, that he really wanted to feel like a "king". But no amount of explaining got through to his parents and so, one late night, he'd slipped away from the pride. He would be King to his own pride, he'd decided.
And that was all well and good, but he was hardly an adolescent, and hadn't quite mastered the art of the hunt by the time he left. Which left him leaping after meerkats, field mice, and bugs to fill his belly for quite a while, knowing better than to risk his life chasing wildebeest or even gazelle.
It was difficult to say Uzuri was happy, but there was, at least, no one to tell him what he could or couldn't be, all alone. He lacked the sheer size and power of his father, but had become quite independent in his time alone.
Slowly, something like a mane began to grow - although it seemed more like the tufts you'd expect on a cub, but the giddiness instilled in Uzuri was unmatched, and it wasn't long until the patch had grown, and fell to both sides of his head, starting a soft grassy yellow, and fading into something darker, closer to the soft spotting on his pelt.
It turned out that it was quite difficult to start a pride of your own with... no other lions to speak of taking part. But Uzuri was not willing to give up (and, increasingly anxious about simply showing back up to his father's pride.)
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