Hello to you all! Since it's Christmas Eve, I figured I would write something Christmassy! This is just random, it has nothing to do with any of my other stories. So here it is, enjoy!
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"Well…. we're all going to die." Muttered Shenzi darkly, as she stared at her portion of the meal.
It was part of the haunch of a young antelope, and the hunting party had been extremely lucky to catch it. In total, their little hyena clan added up to little more than thirty hyenas, thirty hyenas who were all starving. Their skin and fur clung to their ribs, and their stomachs begged to be filled up. But there was no food to be had.
Shenzi picked up her portion of the meat with her claws, eyeing it.
"Banzai…. this is just a mouthful. Is this really it?" She asked. Banzai looked up, having already eaten.
"Actually I gave you a larger piece. But yeah, that's about it." He replied, lying down on his back.
"Are there any hunting parties still out?"
"Nope. The antelope was all anyone got. Still, it's good enough for everyone to have a bite. We'll try again tomorrow." He said.
"That's just great. Enough for everyone to have a bite? One bite? That's not enough to satisfy anyone, much less a mother who's eating for three pups!" Swore Shenzi, pounding her paw against the stone.
"Well, we gave Hasina two bites, as an extra ration."
"Yeah, cause that's sooooo much better."
"Isn't it?" Asked Banzai, looking up.
"Kind of. I mean, it is better. But it's just not enough!" She grumbled, gnashing her teeth.
"I guess not." Said Banzai, looking down at his stomach as it rumbled.
"Oh, what are we going to do?" Said Shenzi, looking down at her paws in despair. "This place is going to kill us. There's not enough food in the Graveyard! Zira and her lionesses control the outlands, and Simba and his Pride control the Pridelands! The only area left is the….the desert."
"And we all know the desert's worse. We don't even know how big it is. Crossing that endless expanse is a death sentence." Muttered Banzai. Shenzi put her paws over her eyes, sighing.
"Yeah, we're screwed. Maybe it'll take a year, maybe it'll take two years, maybe we've got a whole decade left! But sooner or later, every last one of us is going to starve. And when that happens… well…. there go the efforts of generations of hyenas trying to stay alive in this god forsaken place." She said, scowling.
Banzai didn't say anything, he rolled back over to his back and stayed quiet. There was nothing more to be said. Shenzi was right, sooner or later, they were all screwed. A few minutes passed is silence, as they tried to ignore the dark cloud that was their inevitable and horrendous fate hanging over their minds.
At that moment Ed bounced in, giggled about something.
"Oh. Hi Ed." Muttered Shenzi, her eyes still closed. Ed giggled again, his tongue lolling out of his mouth.
"Hey Shenzi… Ed's got some weird white stuff on him….." Said Banzai, prompting Shenzi to look up at the giggling hyena. She raised her eyebrow once she saw what Banzai was referring to.
"That's not weird white stuff…. that's snow!" She said, jumping up to her paws.
Snow! It came only one day a year, and one day only. But when it came, it marked a specific time of year, a special time that every animal, from predator to prey, cherished as the holiday of Krismasi. If it was snowing now, then it had to be Krismasi!
Shenzi padded out of the den looking up at the sky. Sure enough, the weird, cold substance was falling down in thick white flakes, blanketing the bones and the ravines in the soft covering.
"Huh…. Krismasi came a little earlier this year, I think." She said, as Banzai and Ed walked out next to her, leaving their tracks in the snow.
"I guess it feels that way, doesn't it?" Added Banzai, as Ed giggled next to them.
Shenzi looked out at the landscape, and the deafening quietness seemed to smother her. She'd forgotten that snow could do that. Snow made everything quieter, everything seem so much more…. peaceful. There was absolutely no background noise, just the sound of the three of them breathing.
"Peaceful, isn't it?" Asked Shenzi, turning to Banzai.
"I…. I guess so. It feels kinda nice actually…."
Shenzi looked up at the falling snow, feeling a relaxing sensation run through her. Everything was going to be all right… everything would be fine…
"Hey…. there's a star up there, a star poking through the clouds." She said, pointing up. Banzai and Ed looked up at it, the little orb of light shining down at the, through the snow. Even Ed got quiet.
"Wow…. what a lonely little star….." Whispered Banzai.
"Yeah…." Shenzi got up, and walked down the slope they had been standing on, staring up at the star as she padded down the hill. Banzai and Ed looked at eachother, then followed her in silence.
Her paws crunched in the snow as she walked forward doggedly, not stopping in the snowfall. The three hyenas made their way across the stony landscape until they finally the border. THE border, the one that officially marked the territory of the lions. The one that behind it housed a paradise, one that the hyenas hadn't been allowed to enjoy since Scar's reign.
"Uh…. Shenzi? Why are we here?" Asked Banzai, as Ed whimpered confusedly next to them. Shenzi kept staring at the star, occasionally blinking a snowflake out from her eye. She looked down at the invisible border in front of them, and out at the dark, silent savannah in front of them.
She raised her paw and put it forward, taking the first step into the Pridelands.
Banzai and Ed looked at each other again, then hesitantly followed her in. The grass had been padded down by the snow, but a few resolute blades of grass stuck through. Shenzi continued to keep her eyes on the lonely star above them, walking through the falling snow.
Eventually they reached a hill, and they began to climb up it, their paws sinking into the ever deepening snow. Their progress was a little slow, but they weren't stopping. They went up and up the hill, paw over paw, silently making their way towards the star.
Then, they reached the top, and found themselves face to face with a lion.
Simba and Nala stared at the hyenas, and the hyenas stared right back.
"What are you doing here?" Asked Shenzi, but for once her voice held no malice towards the lions.
"I could ask the same of you." Replied Simba.
"We're following a star." She said, flicking her ears upwards. A look of surprise flashed across Simba's face, and he looked back at them with a look of subtle confusion.
"Well… we were following a star too." Said Nala, nodding. Shenzi raised her eyebrow, and looked back up at the sky.
The star was directly above them.
"Well….. we've arrived." She said, and the five of them looked up at the star, shining bright blue in its loneliness. None of them said a word as they marveled at the natural beauty of the light above them. After a moment, Shenzi walked forward a few steps, and sat down at the very top of the hill.
A moment later, Simba sat down next to her. Then Banzai on her left. Then Nala next to Simba. And finally Ed next to Banzai. The five of them sat in the cold snow, but none of them shivered. Not one of them felt cold.
Shenzi glanced at Simba, and she strangely felt none of the hatred that had always welled up in her when she gave the lion a thought. She didn't feel empty of emotion either though. She just felt…. relaxed.
Simba looked down at her, and Shenzi felt a little confusion when she saw that he looked a little…. concerned?
"You look hungry." He said, nodding at the ribs showing on her sides. Shenzi nodded.
"Yeah…. the Graveyard isn't very forgiving." She said, looking into his eyes, trying to will herself to hate him. This was the lion who was starving her clan, this was the lion who had killed some of her own hyenas! But…. she just…. couldn't.
"You haven't left it yet?" He asked.
"There's nowhere else to go." She replied, her voice as soft as the snow around them.
"I see…." Said Simba, nodding and turning his head back to the star. The only sound was their own breathing and the occasional sound of someone re adjusting their position.
What must have been hours passed as the snowfall continued. The star kept shining its blue light down on them.
Hour after hour…..
Then, Ed got up and walked quietly away.
A few moments later, Nala let out a yawn, and padded back the way she had come from.
Banzai shook the snow off of his fur, and walked down the hill without a word.
It was just Shenzi and Simba, sitting on a lonely hill, staring at a lonely star.
Simba got up and shook himself a little bit. "Shenzi?" He said, not turning his head.
"Yes?"
"Well….. on the eastern edge of the Pridelands, there is an unused strip of savannah. We don't even patrol there, but certain herds frequent it. You have my permission to use it….. you need the food." He said, making Shenzi blink in surprise.
"Of… of course. Thank you… Simba." She said.
"You're welcome. In that case…. goodbye." He said, turning around and quietly padding after his mate, Nala.
It was just Shenzi.
Smiling slightly, she got up too and shook the snow off her back. Quite a lot had piled up, after all. She turned back in the direction of the Graveyard, and began to walk back to her old home.
Then, she stopped.
She strained her ears, trying to listen. She could have swore she heard something, something peculiar…. something she thought she would never hear again. She stayed still, hoping to catch the sound again.
Then, she heard it.
A faint, silvery ringing somewhere up above her.
She smiled, and walked off into the snow, the dark of the night swallowing her.
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MERRY CHRISTMAS!