preface: have you perchance had the opportunity to meet some of our antagonists? Three familiar faces, and the new guy.
Making friends
"Ha! Look, Banzai, new meat!"
The inside of the cave was hot, gloomy and cramped, even more so than the rest of Elephant Graveyard. The stink of sulfur was everywhere. Maybe the other hyenas had gotten used to it after living there for so long, but it still made Kuzinga's stomach turn. Why the hell did they drag me all the way back to this dump, he wondered, when the all of the Pridelands are open to us now? The worst of the Pridelands is paradise compared to this hellhole.
Three sets of eyes glowed in the shadows at the back of the cave. Kuzinga didn't even need to see their faces to know who they were. He might be new to the clan, but it was hard to mistake the trio now in front of him. As he moved deeper into the cave, they rose to meet him, skulking forward menacingly. Kuzinga suppressed a shudder, sat down, and bowed his head reverently.
"Matriarch..."
The tallest of the three other hyenas came to a stop in front of him, a malicious grin glued to her face. Her companions circled around, coming to a stop behind Kuzinga, blocking the exit. One of the two bore a permanent squint, giving him the look of someone straining to think, but with his understanding of something or other always just out off reach. Or maybe he was just the suspicious type. Kuzinga had no idea what the other hyena's deal was, with his tongue forever lolling out of his mouth and a wild look fixed in his dopey eyes.
The hyena in front of him looked down with glee. Kuzinga glanced up. She was tall, but not overly large, with sharper features than most. A thick, raven mane arced in front of her sly, dark-ringed pale-yellow eyes. Attractive, for a hyena.
"No need for formalities, honey," she drawled, "Just "Shenzi" is fine. Yer a part of our family now - ain't he, Banzai?"
"Sure is, part of... our family? Wait, how were we related again? Ed, is he a cousin of ours?"
Kuzinga looked back to see the dopey hyena tilt his head confusedly - was he even capable of confusion? Back in front, Shenzi groaned.
"No, you idiot, it's a figure of speech, it means... you know what, just forget about it!"
She turned her attention back to Kuzinga.
"You, the new guy... uh... I forgot, what's your name again?"
"Kuzinga, ma'am."
"Never heard of it!" Shenzi replied, "In fact, I've forgotten already... What was it again? Kazenghe?"
"No, it was Kaah-zinga," Banzai offered.
"Kuh-zinga?"
"Bazinga?"
"Just "Kuz" is fine," Kuzinga growled, interrupting their back-and-forth. He immediately regretted letting his annoyance over their joking get the better of him, because when he looked at Shenzi again, he could see her smile ice over immediately.
"I'll call you what I damn well please, new guy. You're new to our clan, and a male to boot - that puts you at the very bottom of the heap. Even ol' Ed gets to pull rank on you - right, Ed?"
Ed nodded enthusiastically, and shot Kuzinga an almost imperious look from one eye. The other eye stared off into nothing.
"Right! Now that we've got that sorted out, it's time we had a serious talk, ya dig?" Shenzi managed another grin. "You know why we're down here, new guy?"
"Well... You sent for me to come here, so I came here."
Shenzi stared at Kuzinga, waiting for him to say something else. He had no idea what else she expected him to say.
"Not a very talkative one, is he?" Banzai complained.
"Maybe he's trying to play himself off as the mysterious type," Shenzi shrugged, "Doesn't matter, I'll do plenty of talking for the both of us. Say, Kuzzy-kuz, you didn't think it was odd I asked for you to come out here - right here, I mean? Ain't the most hospitable place, 's got a bit of a funk about it. No point coming here now that we're allowed in the Prideands, right?"
"I bet that's why he joined our clan, too, 'cause he knew we got the Pridelands now," Banzai sneered.
"You're the boss, you get to decide where we meet," Kuzinga replied, ignoring Banzai.
"That's part of the answer, sure. But really, I asked you to come here because I knew no-one else would want to be around. Its just so nice out there, that no-one wants to be down here anymore! Gives us some privacy..."
Shenzi suddenly started circling Kuzinga, who stayed seated, and stared rigidly out in front of him. If her plan had been to intimidate him with that last remark, she had succeeded. Shenzi's gaze went up and down Kuzinga's sides and back as she slowly walked around him, all the while licking her bared teeth. She came back around to face him.
"Not bad," she crowed, "Lean, dark, and those big, pretty brown eyes - just my type!"
Banzai frowned in the background as Shenzi continued: "Bit weathered, though. Your left backpaw drags slightly..."
"A buffalo ran me over when I was still a pup."
"... and a fair amount of scars, too..."
"I had a rough time between leaving my birth-clan and joining yours."
Shenzi gazed in silence for a moment, smiling her inscrutable smile. Kuzinga was feeling ever less at ease, and ventured a quick glance over his shoulder. Ed and Banzai still blocked the only way out.
"Right..." She drew out the word for the longest time, "Your birth-clan... that's what you told us when you first came here a few months back, and guess what: no-one really bothered to look into it. Why would we, ya know? You're just some new guy, and you looked to be a good fit. But it just so happens that me and Banzai were having a little talk the other day, having to do with our fancy new arrangement with the lions. And whadaya know, the new guy got mentioned - that's you.
"So I decided to have a good hard look atcha... then I got to thinking... the way you sound, the way you carry yourself, all very mature. Mind you, I'm not calling old or anything, just not someone fresh from being kicked out of his birth-clan..."
"I... I was out there a while. It was rough, and..." Kuz fumbled his words, swallowed. He glanced back. Banzai and Ed now openly bared their teeth at him.
"A while? Come on honey, I'm not as stupid as those two are,..."
"Hey!"
"... and we both well know you can be between clans for maybe, I dunno, a few months, at most. No one survives longer than that, not on their own. Yet, here you are, from what I can tell at least a year removed from being kicked out of your birth-clan... but claiming it happened yesterday, so to speak. Whadaya think, Banzai, does it smell a bit fishy to you?"
"It stinks!"
"Exactly," Shenzi smirked, "It stinks. So I got to thinking, what has our new guy been up to in the meantime? You can't survive for all that time without a clan, yet you obviously spent some time doing something between leaving your brith-clan and joining ours. Also, you are still alive. To say it with a fancy word - pretend I'm our new king for a sec! - therefore you must have been in another, third clan!"
"You lost me," Banzai confessed after a few moments, breaking a tense silence that set in when Shenzi finished speaking. It did little for Kuzinga, though, now on the edge of panic, like the cornered animal he very much was. He started to slowly back into a side-wall, trying to get all three other hyenas in front of him. He would have made a run for it, if not for the fact that he wouldn't be able to take three steps before Ed and Banzai were on him. Shenzi kept up her infatigable grin - though at this point she did look more conceited than malicious.
"I don't think I ever had you, B. Don't matter, looks like our new friend understands me perfectly, don't ya, pal? Us hyenas, we tend to be easygoing folks, by and large - but we do have a few rules. One of them is, if a male comes of age, he has to find a new clan - keeps fresh blood circulating, and gives you a chance to prove your worth. Another rule, is loyalty: once you find a new clan, they look out for you, and you look out for them - even if it kills you. If you're a male, that means sticking with your new family no matter what happens.
"But here you are, Kuz; you left your brith-clan, you found a new one... and then you left that one too! Not very loyal. Who would do such a thing, to just turn his back on his new family? Must be the lowliest kind of trash. Not the kind of hyena I would want to be part of my clan, that's for sure..."
Kuz squinted, gritted his teeth. She had him dead to rights.
Everything she said was true: he had deserted his former clan. Not by any fault of his own, mind you, but that didn't matter. You don't get second chances in the world of hyenas; no clan agrees to take in a reject, no matter what your story is. If Kuzinga had been honest about what happened, he would still be out on his own - and a hyena that's alone is as good as dead.
He didn't want to die.
So when the time came, he lied, desperate to find a new home. And now they caught him on that lie.
Regardless, he still didn't want to die. So he did the only thing that came to mind: he begged.
"Matriarch - Shenzi... you... you are right, this isn't the first clan I've joined. But you have to believe me, I didn't do anything wrong, it was just bad luck, and then... I... I was alone, and I didn't know what to do, I was hungry... Then I came across this place... I just wanted a place I could call home! Please, I'm begging you, don't send me back out there. I'll do anything, just don't make me leave!"
Shenzi suddenly burst out in a shrill, cackling laugh.
"Leave?" she gasped, having recovered her senses a bit, "You're not as smart as I thought you were, are you? You think I would have bothered with this bit of theater if I simply wanted you gone? Hell, I'd have just gotten someone to chase you off, easy as that. No, Kuz, buddy, pal, friendo... guy. Mi casa es tu casa, and all that jazz. Plenty of room left in the Pridelands, anyway. As I said, you're part of our family now."
Really now? Kuzinga looked at Shenzi, his eyes filled with disbelief. She met his stare without flinching, or talking. Now convinced she was telling the truth, he threw himself at her paws.
"I... I don't know what to say! Thank you, thank you!"
"Ain't no thang, Kuz. It's just that, as part of our family, you have to shoulder your share of responsibilities - you understand! This little talk here, it's to motivate you, make you realize how good you have it..."
Then she added, whispering:"And how much worse it could be... right?"
"Of course!" At that point, Kuzinga was about ready to agree to anything Shenzi asked of him. That's where she wanted him all along.
"Great! I'm sure we'll be the bestest of friends! Speaking of friends, you remember how I said your name came up when me and Banzai were discussing our other new friends - the lions? I didn't think much of them for the longest time, to be honest - too pushy, hairy, stinky..."
"And ugly!"
"Quite. But you know, our new king Scar - you met him yet? Tawny type, black manes, sleek... a bit flamboyant... likes to talk, and talks very well at that. Have I mentioned he's a lion, and our new king? Anyway, Scar made some very good points, gave a few most convincing speeches, and you know what, I'm willing to give lions another shot! Can't we all just get along?"
"Beats being at each others' throats," Kuzinga agreed.
"My thoughts exactly! The thing is, I like to know about someone before I can call them a friend. Like now, I know some more things about you now, so we can be best of friends! The more I know, the better. And knowing truly useful things is best of all. But those lions... I just don't know anything about them, really. I know Scar, in a way, but that's about it.
"What are their names? Who is related to whom? Do some lionesses not like other lionesses? Do some of them really not like hyenas, in a murderey sort of way? And maybe others are not at all enthused about our new king. Some of them must have secrets they don't want coming out. What can we do to get this or that lioness to play nice, how do we get them to do what we want? Anyone particularly close to them we can, you know, work through?
"All very basic stuff, really. Once I have all that figured out, being friends with the lions, and looking out for our clan, will be that much easier for me. Thing is, I can't just go and ask Scar - for all his wordiness, he can be really... difficult to talk to. And the lionesses, I don't think they like me very much right now. In fact, they don't like any of us all that much - most would probably kill us if given the chance, really.
"So there's a chance for you to really shine, new guy. Figure out how to, you know, get in there, make nice with the lions, and find out all those little things I'd like to know about. You think you're up to the challenge?"
Did he even have a choice? You have to admire Shenzi's instincts; who else could she have found that she could pressure so effectively into taking up so thankless, even dangerous a job? With the boldness of someone with little left to lose, Kuzinga unthinkingly summed up Shenzi's offer in the starkest possible terms.
"You want me to try and spy on the lions - who might kill me if they find out, or kill me regardless, because, you know, lions. And if I don't want to do that, you'll throw me out - and that'll be the end of me, too. Either way, all you stand to lose is a newcomer, and a male at that - bottom of the heap. No need to risk any of your sisters, or your friends," Kuzinga nodded towards Ed and Banzai.
Shenzi just grinned widely.
"I think you and me will get along juuust fine!"
Author's note: so here's our first look at the other side of the Pridelands' divide. I hope I managed to recapture some of the hyenas' scariness they had back in the first scene of the original movie, even if I can't quite get all the humor right. Don't worry, next chapter it's back to the lions, although the two sides will inevitably meet now that they're kinda sorta going to try and live together.
