VoK Prompts

Prompt B7 - Write a short story about how your founder discovered and claimed their territory. 400 word minimum
Word count - 641 / 400
Exp: 300

Intukuthelo was a troublesome cub and never was one to play by the rules, so before he had even reached adolescence, he had set out on his own and leaving his pride, confident that he'd be better alone and that he didn't need help from anyone. Of course at first some tried to retrieve him, but he was already a lost hope. He wandered the plains and grasslands of Umhlaba, picking fights to try and win a pride, but always losing for being too small and young. Months passed and Kuth stayed in solitude, making him cold and desperate and losing the remaining connection to other lions he once had. He starved, for male lions were never taught to hunt, and grew homesick, although he would never admit to it.
In the middle one especially scorching summer when he was nearing adulthood, Kuth found himself on the brink of madness, hallucinating and harming himself for a moment of sanity. After one specifically brutal beating by an alpha male, he realized that in that moment he could bleed out and die and not a single soul would notice or care. In fact, some would be grateful to have him out of their manes. The sky grew dark and he closed his eyes, ready for it to be over, but uNkulunkulu had a different plan. The heavens opened up and poured fresh rain onto his wounds, cleaning them and hydrating him from the outside in as he slept. When we awoke a few days later, he seemed to be without a single cut or scar and his mind was clearer than it had ever been. He had no memory of how he got to where he was, in the middle of a grassland, but he knew some kind of miracle had happened and that he had been given a second chance. Confused but somehow at peace, he sat and watched as the sun rose, arced over his head, and started its descent towards the west without feeling the need to look away.
At that moment, even though he'd never know where it came from, a wise voice in the back of his mind spoke to him clear as day, saying, "Follow the sun, my child. Follow the sun." Still not taking his eyes off the star, Kuth stood and began to walk.
Just as the sun dipped below the horizon, he found himself standing in a boulder field at the base of a great, barren, black, slate rock canyon. Hurrying now to reach whatever destination we was supposed to get to, he nimbly climbed over and between the boulders. He soon grew tired, though, and got lost and turned around. As the sky changed from a navy blue to a midnight purple, the boulders became tunnels and dead ends, and he no longer knew which way he was supposed to go. Almost ready to collapse, he stumbled into a long, narrow ravine, devoid of all life. His eyes opened wide at this miraculous location.
Above him, only a sliver of the starry sky glittered between the enormously tall, inward-curving rocks. All along the slender path were dozens of caves, the perfect location for a pride. Half a mile ahead was an opening in the rock revealing only sky, and with a burst of energy and anticipation Kuth raced towards it. When he skidded to a stop, he found himself on a ledge overlooking miles and miles of unclaimed wilderness: grasslands speckled with herds of antelope, woodlands teeming with small animals, and deserts just waiting to be explored.
Anticipation raced through his veins, and with a power he didn't know he possessed, he crouched and let out a roar enough to rattle the heavens letting all the creatures below know his message: "This is my home. This is my kingdom. I am your king."