Ever since my first fic (see "Happy Birthday Shenzi") I have wanted to write another involving everyone's favorite hyenas, though on a larger scale than a simple one-shot. After a bit of thinking I finally managed to come up with a story that seemed good enough to me and could be put up here. So everyone, enjoy this story of Shenzi's first hunt on her own.
Shenzi woke up and yawned. The morning sun had yet to rise and the sky was a shade of dark blue. After a few seconds of stretching and some more yawns the pup suddenly perked up when she remembered what today was... This was the day when she would go out on her first hunt, but this wasn't just any hunt. This was the hunt that was going to determine if she was ready to lead the hunting parties on their nightly trips to try and find food for the entire hyena clan. And at only 6 years old, succeeding would make her the youngest hyena to hold so high a rank in the clan's history. Not many pups her age were given such a rare opportunity, even less succeeded at bringing anything home and some never even came home at all! It was for this reason that pups were normally forbidden to go, but having the clan's matriarch as your mother had its benefits.
It had taken a lot of begging and pleading in order to convince Sariel to allow her daughter to go on such a dangerous quest and now that the day had finally come, Shenzi did not intend to let anything ruin her chances to impress her mother as well as the entire clan.
Running over to the sleeping matriarch, she began to nuzzle against the side of her mother's body. Her mother groaned and shuffled a bit on the floor before turning her body over so that her back was facing towards Shenzi.
"Mom" she whispered making her way around her mother's body "Wake up."
She put her fore paws on her mother's head and rocked her back and forth. Finally, one of her yellow eyes slowly blinked open halfway. Shenzi continued to shake her mother's head until both her eyes were fully opened. Sariel slowly got to her feet and yawned. Before she could even shake herself of the groggy feeling that came with every morning, her daughter was already halfway out of the skull.
"Where do you think your going?" she called after her, in the middle of a long yawn.
"Where do you think?" came Shenzi's excited reply "I'm going for my first hunt!"
"Not this early in the morning." Sariel said.
"Why not? You said we would go today" disappointment was growing in the pup's voice.
"Yes I did, but not so early..." she yawned again.
"Its not early. Look! Even the sun is out!" Shenzi motioned to the sky, which was just barely starting to show any signs of light.
"Shenzi, be patient. If you go out this early the only thing you would be able to catch are the termites walking on the ground. Wait until the sun has fully risen and then we'll head out, I promise." she said in a soft voice.
"But mom-" The pup began.
"No arguments. Come and lie down with me for a bit, you'll need your rest if you want to catch something worthwhile."
"Can't I just-" but before Shenzi could finish her sentence, she found herself being lifted off the ground by the scruff of her neck and was carried back inside the skull.
A few hours later...
As Sariel led her daughter to the area where she would go out to bring down her first big animal, she found herself in a constant barrage of questions.
"Mom, how old were you when you went on your first hunt? Mom, did you catch anything? What did you catch? How big was it? Oh that's nothing, wait till you see what I'm gonna bring home!"
Each time Sariel answered one question, another was already being asked. Finally, they came to the border between The Elephant Graveyard and the Pridelands.
The process went that a pup or adolescent who felt up to the challenge would sneak into the Pridelands for three days. During this time they had to kill at least one large animal, such as an antelope or the rare wildebeest,and bring it back home for the clan to eat. During this time, they had to find food, water and shelter for themselves. And all the while avoiding the lions, who were constantly patrolling the Pridelands for intruders of any kind.
This was no easy task and Sariel certainly did not expect her 6 year old pup to succeed in bringing back anything. In fact, the only reason she was allowing her to go was because she had been nearly nagged to death on a nightly basis about it. She smiled at the thought of doing the exact same thing to her own mother so long ago, and how hotheaded she had been as a pup. Of course, she didn't bring anything back, except a newfound sense of humility and she hoped the same would go for Shenzi. She almost felt a twinge of guilt for sending her daughter off to such a dangerous situation, but she had been training Shenzi almost her entire life on how to live and lead on her own, in the case that something should happen to her and the clan found itself in need of a new matriarch. It was because of this that she knew that she would at least be able to come home in one piece. She turned to Shenzi
"Now you're sure you're ready for this? Its still not too late to-"
"I know what I'm doing, mom. I'm six years old, you don't have to baby me anymore. And anyway I'll be back in three days." she said, cutting her mother off. There was nothing but confidence in Shenzi's voice, if not overconfidence, a quality which was both her strength and weakness, depending on the situation at hand. The pup nuzzled her mother's leg for a final time and headed towards the border.
"Good luck" she heard Sariel call out to her.
Shenzi did not respond as she continued to walk towards the border. She didn't need luck, she thought to herself. She was good enough on her own, and by bringing something back she was going to prove it to everyone. As she crossed the strip of yellow grass leading into the Pridelands, she took one last look at the spot where her mother had been standing, only to find that she was gone.
She took in a deep breath and set off into the tall grass on her own...
There's the first chapter. What did you think? Like it? Hate it? Okay with it? Tell me what you thought about it. If there was something you didn't like let me know and I'll try to fix it. Remember I'm still pretty new to this whole thing so don't be afraid to tell me if I did something wrong, I'm always looking for a way to improve my writing. Next chapter will probably deal with Shenzi's first day out and about on her own and then the others most likely follow the same pattern. Until next time everyone! Pieces!