Lioness Tales
By Niche Eenhoorn
Tale 2: Chiku's Training
Disclaimer:
- This story is loosely based in the world of the Lion King, so any possible references to The Lion King movie and its characters and situations are property of Walt Disney. I am making absolutely no profit out of this story.
Any other character you don't recognize from the film belongs to me. If you want to use one of my characters for writing, fanart, etc., just drop me a note!
- The lions in this story pay little or no attention to blood relationship. This means that just like in a real Pride, the couples in this story could be somehow related to each other, but they don't give much importance to that. This particular situation, while not acceptable for humans, is pretty normal in the lions' world, but it will not be emphasized or glorified in any way so as to make things look perverted.
- The story contains non-explicit scenes of lions and lionesses mating. While the scenes are not extremely descriptive, they might be more suitable for adult/mature audiences.
- Rated M, for mild cursing, some violence during the fighting scenes, and references to physical abuse, although the descriptions of this are not over the top, and are mostly left to the reader's imagination.
- I am not a native English speaker, so if you find any recurrent grammar issues, please feel free to point them out!
I hope this covers everything up, now on to the story! Reviews and constructive criticism are more than welcome. Thanks in advance, and enjoy!
Lioness Tales
Tale 2: Chiku's Training
Chapter 1: Unwelcome Guests
As the sun rose in the horizon, bringing light and warmth upon the African Savannah, the nocturnal animals retreated to their shelters, while the rest of the inhabitants awakened, welcoming gratefully another day in life and good health.
Seven lionesses, all belonging to the Eyasi Pride, were already wide awake. They were busy planning the hunting schedule for the day, while Salehe, their male leader, listened to them absently as he got ready to patrol his lands.
"Whose turn was it to stay in cub-duty this time?" one lioness asked as she stretched herself to loosen up her muscles.
"It's Johari's turn, and Gasira had offered to help her," another one replied.
Johari, a young lioness with an ochre-colored pelt, rolled her eyes and turned to her older sister, Ishara, giving her a discouraged look. "You know... I'd give anything to get away from cub-duty today. I have a headache and I don't think I'll be able to stand the noisy, little brats..." she muttered, eying the five playful cubs that were already yelling and chasing each other.
Ishara tilted her head for a moment and smiled. "Well, I'll tell you what... I'll trade places with you."
Johari grinned back at her. "Oh, really? What's the catch?"
"I had promised Tisha a thorough grooming session today," Ishara replied, "You can take my place instead."
Johari looked disgusted for a moment. "Eugh... Tisha? But... She's still flea-infested..."
Ishara nodded, sporting a sly smile. "Yup, and she's got ticks too, just so you know. It's your pick! You can either stay with the noisy cubs, or help Tisha relieve her itching while you snack on some fleas..."
Johari thought about her options for a moment, but the cubs' yelling was already getting on her nerves. "Okay, okay. I'll take care of Tisha when we're back from the hunt."
"It's a deal then! You have fun at the hunt, and make sure to get something tasty."
Johari gave her sister a quick head-butt and walked away, heading towards Kamaria, the leader's mate. She would be leading the hunting party this morning, so Johari informed her about her little arrangement with Ishara.
Kamaria accepted it without hesitation. She knew Johari was a skilled huntress, while Ishara was more insecure and tended to make mistakes.
The hunting party left shortly after. Johari smiled gratefully over her shoulder as she walked away, looking at her sister, who was roaring at them, wishing them good luck.
Ishara watched them go for a short moment, and Salehe walked up to her, also staring at his lionesses in the distance.
"Say, weren't you supposed to be watching the little ones?" he asked in friendly manner, while three of the cubs were busy nipping at his tail.
Ishara turned to him and chuckled. "Yes, yes, I'm on it." She walked around him and addressed the cubs kindly, "Okay, everyone, settle down, and let Salehe go do his rounds. You can chase after my tail or Gasira's."
The cubs immediately went after Gasira, who began running away from them playfully, while screaming, "No, not my tail, please, anything but the tail!"
Salehe chuckled slightly, looking at the cubs bouncing away after the lioness, in hot pursuit. "I'll try to be back as soon as possible. Please keep your guard up."
"Will do, Salehe. Have a good patrol," she replied as they nuzzled each other quickly.
Salehe turned around and left, welcoming the silence as the playful screaming from the cubs faded away.
Ishara and Gasira had managed to make the cubs tired after a series of games, and the five of them finally sat down to rest, gathered around the adult lionesses in a semi-circle. Ishara knew it was time for a story, and hopefully, a nap would follow.
"So what kind of story would you like for today?" she asked them.
"Please, not the mushy stuff we had to hear last time!" Hadithi replied, groaning slightly. He was Ishara's son, and the oldest cub in the group. The other cubs would often look up to him and would try to copy anything he did.
"I agree with Hadithi," a younger male cub named Faraji quickly added, "We want a story with some action this time!"
Faraji's opinion also carried a lot of weight with the cubs, since he was Salehe and Kamaria's son, and as such, he would eventually become the leader of their Pride in the future.
Ishara smiled to herself, and looked at Gasira. "You're better at those, would you like to tackle this one?"
"But what if we want another love story?" Bahiya piped up, a sweet-tempered female cub who was not in the mood to hear about fighting and death.
"You had your love story last time, it's our turn to pick now," Hadithi insisted.
"Let's vote!" Faraji suggested.
Bahiya grunted. "Well, so far it's two against two, 'cause I know Damisi also wants a love story, right Damisi?"
The youngest female cub looked up at the mention of her name. She didn't care either way, she would probably fall asleep in mid-story anyway, but Bahiya's insistent look was enough to make her nod in agreement.
The four cubs turned to look at the fifth cub, Adla, who was staring ahead in the distance, and who almost appeared not to have been listening to the argument at all.
"Adla? What's your vote?" Faraji asked.
Adla kept staring into the horizon as she simply replied, "Why don't you just make two groups? Bahiya and Damisi can go listen to Ishara's story, and you guys can go listen to Gasira's."
The cubs looked at each other, wondering how come they didn't contemplate this simple solution first.
Ishara smiled at Adla warmly, feeling that there was something special about that cub. She was very quick in solving disputes between her friends, and had a way of solving problems that would certainly come in handy for her future role in the Pride. Adla was the first female to be born after Faraji, and as tradition dictated, she was betrothed to him at birth. She would also become their leader at some point, and so far, little Adla had shown very good qualities.
"That sounds like a great idea, Adla. How about you? Which group will you join?" Gasira asked.
Adla finally turned to look at them and decided to join Bahiya and Damisi for a love story, while the two male cubs muttered something on the lines of girls only liking corny stuff.
The older lionesses took their respective groups to a different spot, and began telling their stories, but Ishara could notice that Adla appeared to be distracted and kept glancing in the same direction she had been staring at earlier.
"Is there something bothering you, sweetie?" Ishara asked, intrigued by Adla's unusual lack of attention.
Adla shook her head and turned to her. "I'm sorry... I just thought I had seen something earlier... There was some movement by the lair but I couldn't tell what was sneaking around."
Ishara stood up for a moment and glanced back at the rock formation that served as their refuge. She stared for a while, but everything appeared to be in order.
"I don't see anything, but let me walk around and see if I pick up any scents," Ishara replied, while the three female cubs looked at her intently as she sniffed the air.
Not detecting any strange smells, Ishara returned to the cubs and sat in front of them, only this time facing the lair so that she could keep an eye on it from afar.
She continued her story where she had left off, but all of a sudden she froze in mid-sentence, and her expression became alarmed and worried. She stood up quickly and the fur on her back began to bristle.
"Come with me, and keep quiet, " she told the cubs firmly.
"What? Did you see something too? What is it?" Adla asked, craning her neck to try and get a better view of the lair, but Ishara picked her up swiftly by the neck and headed in Gasira's direction.
Gasira and the two male cubs looked up when they noticed Ishara approaching, looking very upset. "Huh? Is something wrong?"
Ishara placed Adla on the ground and whispered, "I'm pretty sure it's those two creeps we heard about, Ubaya and Kame. They're in our territory! Looks like they've searched the lair already, and they're heading this way now. We need to put the emergency plan into action. Take the cubs, you know what to do..."
Gasira felt the blood draining from her head at the mention of those two names. The two infamous lion rogues were extremely ruthless. Their favorite pastime seemed to be attacking Prides without the intention of actually taking them over. They just considered it fun to strike fear in the hearts of those who crossed their path, and it seemed that today it would be the Eyasi Pride's turn.
Gasira stood up quickly after a brief moment of shock, and addressed the cubs. "Listen up, remember our safety rehearsals at the tunnels?"
The cubs nodded, becoming very nervous after seeing the older lionesses so agitated all of a sudden.
"Well, this is not a rehearsal, this is the real thing. So I want you to keep extremely quiet, and follow me there. Let's go, now. Hurry!"
Gasira darted off and the cubs followed, while Ishara stayed behind and placed scent marks all over the place, trying to mask the cubs' smell.
The wind finally carried with it the scent of the two strangers, and Ishara couldn't help but bare her teeth and growl. Shortly after, two huge, strong and well-fed lions strutted into view, walking calmly and fearlessly, as if they owned these lands. They appeared to be the same age; both their manes were thick and full. These were no youngsters, and Ishara knew that she would not stand a chance if they both were to gang up on her.
Still, Ishara stood her ground, hoping that if she showed no fear, they would simply walk by and would leave her alone.
The two rogues spotted the lioness, looking at them intently.
"Hey, looks like someone stayed behind after all. What do you reckon, a cub-sitter?" Kame said, and motioned with his head towards Ishara.
Ubaya turned to look at her, his thick, amber mane shifting slightly with the breeze. He chuckled for a moment as he stared back at the lioness defiantly. "That, or a lioness in heat. I say, let's go find out..."
Ishara swallowed with difficulty when she saw the two lions heading her way. She took deep breaths, trying to stay calm and avoid a confrontation.
"Good morning. Lovely day today, isn't it?" Ubaya told her a bit too cheerfully, his chipper tone not matching the mean look he was actually giving her.
Ishara only nodded quietly in reply. She stayed put while Kame paced around her, sizing her up.
Ubaya then proceeded to scent the air around them, only to find that the lioness was not in a receptive mood. But despite the marks she had placed a few minutes ago, Ubaya did pick up the fresh scent of other lions that had just been in the area. He shook his head and chuckled to himself.
"Allow us to introduce ourselves-"
"There's no need for that," Ishara interrupted, trying to sound confident, "I already know who you are."
News of the duo's wrongdoings had spread quickly amongst the neighboring Prides, and everyone had warned each other to remain on the lookout for a lion missing half of his tail, and another one with a very pale pelt. The description matched these two rogues perfectly; Ubaya kept waving his short, tuft-less tail side to side, and Kame had the lightest coloration of fur that Ishara had ever seen.
"Well, listen to that, seems like our reputation precedes us..." Kame replied, his pale-blue eyes wide open in feigned surprise.
"Mmhmm..." Ubaya said as he nodded in agreement, and faced Ishara once more. "So tell me, what's a lovely lioness like you doing here, all alone?"
"I wasn't feeling too well, so I was excused from the hunt."
"Oh, dear. I hope it's nothing contagious. You wouldn't want to spread whatever illness you got on to the little cubs that roam this area," Kame said nonchalantly as he sniffed around.
Ishara realized then that her marks had not been enough to conceal the cubs' scent, and she couldn't help her heart from skipping a beat.
"I don't know what you're talking about," she lied, trying to keep her fear at bay, "I'm here all by myself, you can search the area if you want," she added, hoping to buy herself more time, praying for Salehe to return as quickly as possible.
"Ah, I don't know," Ubaya said, yawning noisily, "I don't feel in the mood for playing Hide and Seek today. Nah... I have a better idea. Why don't you be a doll and bring us something to eat?"
Ishara watched as the two lions sat down next to each other, looking at her expectantly.
"I- I'll see what I can do..." she replied, hoping to be able to leave the area and go look for Salehe.
She turned around with the intention to leave but stopped on her tracks when she heard Ubaya's raspy voice say, "Don't get any crazy ideas. If you're not back here in five minutes, we'll go find those cubs and feast on them instead."
Ishara cursed to herself, and instead of looking for Salehe, she ran back to the lair, where she knew there were a couple of left over bones from the previous kill, with some meat still on them. It was not fresh, but it would have to do for now.
"Ahh, there you are. You were almost late," Ubaya taunted when she returned to them, panting and out of breath.
The lioness dropped the bones by their paws and retreated a few paces.
Both lions began gnawing on the bones, while Ishara kept scanning the horizon discretely, hoping to see her Pride-mates or Salehe, but they were still far away. She was on her own.
When Kame was done eating, he stood up and shook himself. "Shall we get going then?" he told Ubaya.
"Yes, let's get a move on," he replied, glancing at Ishara, who could not hide an expression of relief.
"Unless you want us to stay a bit longer, of course," Ubaya told Ishara, getting closer.
Ishara shook her head. "Don't let me detain you, please."
Kame let a soft chuckle loose. "She seems a bit too eager for us to leave, don't you think?"
"Mmhmm. What's the matter, don't you enjoy our pleasant company?" Ubaya said. He then nipped at her shoulder without a warning.
Ishara took a step back, feeling more and more uneasy by the second. "I'm still not feeling very well, and I'd just like to rest now. Please, I've shared our food with you, you can clearly see I really don't want any trouble."
Ubaya gave her a wide smile as he sniffed her face and neck intently. "No one ever wants any trouble, but that's not up to you to decide, beautiful."
Ishara looked away, as her legs began shaking slightly.
"We know you're terrified. We can smell it. And if there's something we both really, really love, is the smell of fear," he added, as he licked her cheek once.
Ishara sighed deeply, reading his advances clearly, and whispered to him, "What else do you want from me? Do you want to mate? Will you leave me alone if we do?"
Ubaya let out a loud laugh. "Now this is my kind of gal! Straight and to the point, I like that. But no, we're not in the mood for that. Not yet, at least. I was more thinking on the lines of sparing your life, but only if you show us where you've hidden those cubs. What do you think? It's a fair deal, isn't it?"
Ishara bit her lip for a moment. She knew the Pride would never forgive her if she were to disclose their location. As a cub-sitter, it was her task to protect the little ones, even if it cost her her own life. The lioness simply shook her head in reply, knowing she was signing her own death sentence.
"Hmmpfh," Kame grunted, "Well if you're not willing to cooperate, we'll just have to force their location out of you. You're not giving us much of a choice, I'm afraid."
With unexpected speed, Kame stood up on his hind paws and landed heavily with his forepaws on Ishara's back, forcing her to lie down on the ground under his own weight.
Ishara could not contain her fear any longer and began roaring and thrashing, but Kame bit her hard on the back of her neck, immobilizing her slightly.
"They all try to keep their cool but sooner or later they all break, don't they..." Ubaya said, pacing in front of her, "Will you tell us now where the cubs are hidden?"
"I don't know! I'm not the sitter! I don't know where she took them!" Ishara screamed in fear, as tears started rolling down her face.
Ubaya looked very angry now, and bared his teeth in front of Ishara's face. "This is your last chance. Tell me now, or you'll regret it."
Ishara looked at him for a moment, and stopped struggling. She was completely sure that even if she were to disclose the cubs' location at this point, she would still end up dead at the rogues' paws. She let out a deep breath, and gave up her life. "Do with me as you want, but you're not harming the cubs."
"Then so be it..." Ubaya growled.
Ishara saw him nodding at Kame, and the lioness closed her eyes tight, bracing herself and praying that the end would come soon.
Gasira and the cubs had taken shelter between a thicket of bushes. Once she made sure they were not being followed, she crossed the thicket and sniffed around until she found a well-hidden boulder. Gasira pushed the boulder aside, to reveal the entrance to a narrow tunnel, so small that only the cubs could fit in.
"Hadithi, I don't think you'll fit in there anymore," Gasira said, eying him critically, "so you'll stay with me. The rest of you, quickly, get in, and we'll pick you up at the other side when it's safe to come out. It's just like we rehearsed, okay?"
The cubs nodded, and one by one they sneaked inside the dark tunnel. They had been in there many times before, and knew their way around the tunnels. Even when the boulder was placed back, and they were left in total darkness, the cubs still knew where to go to get out.
"So what or who were we running from anyway?" Bahiya asked as they slowly walked to the exit.
"No idea," Faraji replied, "But I've never seen the grown-ups so scared..."
Adla let out a deep sigh. "I think I know. Remember all those horrible tales we heard from that cheetah cub by the lake?"
Faraji frowned for a moment, as he tried to recall what the little cheetah had said. "Was that something about some lions getting killed or so?"
Adla nodded. "Yeah... Remember he said that two lions barged into someone's territory, killed a few lionesses and ate all the cubs? I think that's who Ishara and I saw earlier."
Bahiya gasped. "Oh, crap, if those are the lions we're running from, then Ishara must be in real danger! No wonder she and Gasira looked so afraid..."
The four cubs continued walking in complete silence, hoping that Ishara would be okay.
"Damisi?" Adla called after a short while, to make sure the little lioness was still keeping up.
"Ya?" Damisi replied, her voice sounding rather distant.
Adla knew then that she was lagging behind, so she retraced her steps, and once they stumbled into each other, Adla tried to pick her up with her mouth, just like the adults did. Damisi was still very young, she would tire up easily and was only learning to speak. Adla couldn't help feeling protective of her, especially now that they were in real danger. After a few failed attempts, Adla then managed to pick little Damisi up from the scruff of her neck, and they eventually caught up with Faraji and Bahiya. The four cubs reached the tunnel's exit, and waited in silence until one of the adults would come to pick them up.