Raised by Lions

Chapter 15

It was early in the morning, Louis having woken up from a commotion almost an hour ago and the sun was just barely rising in the distance.

The 11 year old had settled on his balcony in the crisp morning air, still in his pajamas. He watched the switch between the early morning and sunrise, the quiet streets within his view were getting busier by the minute and the rest of mansion was waking up slowly, or settling in if they were on night patrols.

His eyes followed a bunch of lions, some five lower ranking ones, who were heading out to the main gate with something. Louis soon realised it was a body, but found he didn't really care. Some tiger fellow, probably deserved it though. You don't mess with the Shishigumi.

He stayed quiet, watching the group string up the body from the main gate. It was nothing new to see fresher bodies strung up every now and again. It showed other gangs and whoever passed by the mansion that the Shishigumi meant business. He's usually not up early enough to watch it happening though.

Once they were done, they head back inside, most likely for breakfast or to start their usual routines.

As the crisp morning air turns warmer from the rising sun, Louis closes his eyes for a few minutes, just focusing on his breathing and the feeling of the sun hitting his face. It was relaxing to start the day this way.

He let out a slow breath once the sun was fully in the sky and opened his eyes again, getting up and heading back inside. He got dressed, brushed his teeth and pulled on some shoes before he finally left his room.

He passed some of the lions in the hallways and greeted them as he did. The stairs weren't as much of a nuisance these days, since he was bigger now. He made it to the kitchen and smiled when he saw Dope there, setting up the cups for everyone's morning coffee.

"Morning Dope," Louis said as he walked up beside the lion. Dope jumped a little and looked down to see Louis, letting out a small breath. "Morning Louis. You're way too good at sneaking around this early in the morning." Louis laughed, "No, you're just still half asleep."

Dope chuckled and handed Louis his mug of tea, "Maybe I am, don't tell anyone though." Louis smiled and moved his hand over his mouth as if to zip it shut. The fawn moved to the kitchen table and sat down in one of the chairs, drinking his tea.

He had the day to himself, since it was technically weekend, so he wondered how he would spend it. Maybe he could spend some time with the younger lions, if they didn't have other things to do.

On that note, he finished his tea and checked the fridge, grabbing a few celery sticks and chewing on them as he left the kitchen to go see where everyone else was.

To the surprise of no one, he found Ibuki and Dolph in the office, doing their usual planning and work. He waved to Dolph and ran up to give Ibuki a quick hug before leaving the two lions to their devices.

Miguel returned from his morning run, evident by the heavy footsteps and door slamming downstairs. Jinma was still fast asleep, Louis could tell by the loud snoring coming from Jinma's room as he passed it.

He couldn't find Free and figured the gremlin was still sleeping. He did find Agata in the livingroom though, the young lion being dressed in casual clothes for once and just watching TV. Louis jogged over and hopped over the back of the couch, landing in a sitting position beside Agata.

"Morning, Agata!" He chirped happily, causing the teenager to smile at him. "Morning kid. What are you doing?" He asked good naturedly. Louis shrugged, "I was bored, needed something to do."

Louis noticed the bandages covering Agata's upper arm and leaned over to gently touch it. Agata glanced down at the small hand on his arm and offered a smile, "It's nothing to worry about, Lou. It's just a cut." Louis frowned but removed his hand anyway. He didn't like it when his lions got hurt.