Flimsy structures that had once been grass cracked, deafeningly loud, as the young lioness tried futilely to stalk her prey. As paranoid as it was skinny, the lone antelope swung its head in her direction, ears twitching and eyes wide. The lioness sunk lower to the ground, trying to prevent herself from being seen. However, as she shifted, the grass beneath her paws cracked more, though she had thought that couldn't be possible.
Darn, she thought, shooting off a glare from pale green eyes as an indicator of her own frustration. As she had known it would as soon as the second crack sounded, the antelope took off. Panting, Nala offered only a weak snarl. She was too hungry, too thirsty, and too tired to run that animal down.
And even if she had got it, Scar and the hyenas would have eaten first, and she would have gotten little satisfaction from her kill. The Pride lands were a hollow replica of what they had once been… A fading shadow at sunset, lost to realities beyond the horizon.
The plants the lions usual prey fed upon had all died and withered away in the drought, and that left little food or water for the lions. As if things hadn't gotten bad enough, the hunting parties always had to feed the hyenas and Scar before any of the core members of their pride got anything to eat at all.
When Scar had stood before the pride and announced that King Mufasa and Prince Simba had both died in a stampede, Nala had been a little preoccupied crying and wiping her tears on her mother's ankles. After all, who liked to hear that their best friend was dead? But even through the dizzying confusion, she remembered the rest of what Scar had said, his politician's face on.
The hollow way in which he spoke reminded her of how her stomach felt right now – completely empty. She was no longer certain of whether the growling she was hearing was coming from her throat in frustration, or her belly in hunger. But she was certain that Scar had lied about the hyenas.
The dawning of a new era…
They were moochers, who never did anything to help the pride.
… in which lion and hyena…
They were a few light years shy of being team players in the least.
…come together in a great and glorious future!
All Nala knew right now was that she was pretty darn well gloriously hungry.