Chapter 3: Ahadi's Wrath
Alright, I'm finally back to give this story it's 4th/3rd chapter after leaving off with that cliffhanger months ago. It's time to see how Ahadi deals with hyenas, especially when they're young ones. Is he merciful or is he just as ruthless with them as a adult hyena? Read and you'll find out.
King Ahadi along with his sons, Prince Mufasa and Prince Taka were on a hill overlooking the watering hole, where many animals were drinking from. It was nearing the end of the long dry season, but that didn't mean fights could happen over water, even if that water was from the large watering hole. So, Ahadi decided to watch over the watering hole for a while, knowing his presence would discourage any fights that could happen. His sons decided to join him, well, at least one of them genuinely did. Ahadi's oldest son, Mufasa joined him, because he thought his father would enjoy some company.
His youngest son, Taka however, Ahadi could tell he was only joining them because he didn't really have anything better to. Taka, unlike Ahadi and Mufasa, was panting from staying in the same spot under the hot sun for so long.
"Father, I think I'm starting to get heat stroke from being in the sun for too long. Why don't we go down to the water and get a drink for ourselves?" the youngest prince suggested.
Ahadi turned towards his youngest son.
"Now son, you know the law during the dry seasons. Since we lions can go for a long while without water, we drink last and let the other animals go first." Ahadi gently reminded his son.
"You and Muffy don't have to come along, why don't I just go down myself?" Taka asked.
"I'm sorry Taka, but there are no exceptions." Ahadi said.
"Not even for royals?" Taka questioned.
"Not even for royals." Ahadi confirmed.
Taka grumbled irritably and look the other way.
"Than you'd better hope me and Muffy, your precious prince's and one of possible future kings, don't die of heat stroke." Taka grumbled.
"What was that son?" Ahadi asked.
"Nothing father." Taka answered.
Ahadi knew it wasn't nothing, but decided to let it go. He turned towards his other son and decided to test him.
"What about you Mufasa, would you like to go down there for a drink now?" Ahadi questioned.
"No, that's alright father. I can hold out until the other animals drink what they need." Mufasa answered.
"Good." Ahadi replied with a proud nod.
Taka cast a scowl at Mufasa.
"Yes Mufasa, well done." Taka jealously thought. "Daddy's favorite, bah!"
Taka was pulled out of his thoughts when he noticed a bird land in front of him and his brother and father. Taka looked and saw it was a hornbill named Zuzu. Taka groaned at the sight of the hornbill. She was gossipy and got into other people's business all the time, including his father's. Whenever she was around his father, she always reported any problems she spotted to him, which made Taka view her as an annoying suck up who got into other people's business and thought she was an important asset to the royal lion family when she really wasn't.
Worst of all, Taka's father actually found her to be quite helpful from time to time, so he tolerated Zuzu coming to him to occasionally report problems. Oh, how Taka wish that the hornbill would just somehow disappear. Just last week, Taka had come across here with her back to him. He had decided to sneak up and pounce on her in an attempt to eat her, and if his father hadn't come across them, he would have succeeded. Taka was however able to save himself from punishment by claiming he was just practicing his pounce on the unsuspecting hornbill.
Ahadi looked down at Zuzu.
"Why, hello Zuzu." the lion king greeted with a respectful bow of the head.
"Hello to you to, your majesty." Zuzu returned the greeting and bow. "I just came to tell you that I saw hyenas entering the Pride Lands near the crocodile river bordering the elephant graveyard."
"Hyenas?" Ahadi growled.
"Yes, four or five I think." Zuzu informed.
Ahadi wasted no more time and began to race towards the rover bordering the elephant graveyard.
"Father, would you like me and Taka to come with you?" Mufasa shouted after his father.
Taka shot a look towards his brother. He was acting like he couldn't speak for himself, and Taka sure didn't want to deal with a bunch of smelly old hyenas. Taka was about to protest, but his father had other plans.
"Yes, Mufasa. You and Taka should see how we deal with hyenas in the Pride Lands, especially lose of Bloody Mary's clan." Ahadi claimed.
"Alright, come on Taka, let's go." Mufasa said excitedly as he began to run after their father.
Taka glared at Mufasa as the older lion ran ahead.
"I will get you for this." Taka swore to himself before running after his brother and father.
Within a few minutes, they were coming close to the lake bordering the elephant graveyard. The three lions had stopped running and were now at a quick trot. Even though Taka didn't want to be here, he had to admit, having never encountered a hyena before he was curious to see what one looked like. The same could also be said for his brother. Both had only heard stories from their father, mother, and other pride members who were old enough to remember the hyena rebellion started by Bloody Mary about four years ago.
All they knew about hyenas is that they were smaller than lions, ranged from colors of grey, purplish grey, or brown, they were capable of having colored eyes, but most hyenas had fully yellow eyes, and that their claws weren't as sharp as a lion's, but their teeth were far more capable of crushing bones that any other known predator. They also knew that even though they weren't as strong as lions they were still very dangerous, especially in numbers. Ahadi also said that they were stupid. Both lions knew they could trust the pride of those descriptions, especially their father's. Before Ahadi joined the Pride Lands, when he was still a rogue, he had had many encounters with hyenas and he had the scars to prove.
"I still can't believe we're still about to chase out our first hyenas Taka." Mufasa told his brother.
Hearing the excitement in Mufasa's voice, Ahadi looked back at his eldest son without stopping.
"Son, this is not a game. Hyenas are very dangerous creatures." Ahadi reminded.
"You're right father, I'm sorry." Mufasa apologized.
Taka grumbled at Mufasa's apology. He thought Mufasa was just as big a suck up as Zuzu. Whenever he said something that their father didn't agree with, his response was always 'you're right father, I'm sorry.' When Taka first called out Mufasa for that response, his father defended Mufasa, saying that Mufasa wasn't sucking up, he just understood and was learning what he was trying to teach him, but Taka honestly couldn't see the difference.
"Boys." Ahadi said, pulling Taka out of his thoughts.
Both Taka and his brother stopped at their father's command.
"Do you see the hyenas?" Mufasa asked in a hushed voice.
Ahadi nodded and turned back to where he saw the hyenas. Taka and Mufasa looked and spotted five hyenas and saw that they were exactly like they've been told. Also, from what they observed, three of them were younger than the other two.
"So, those are hyenas." Mufasa observed.
"Yes, and young ones from the looks of it." Ahadi added.
"But why would these be young hyenas instead of adult ones?" Mufasa asked.
"Decoys probably, so I guess we have to make them tell us." Ahadi said.
"Dad, you're not going to hurt them, are you?" Mufasa questioned.
Mufasa understood hyenas were the enemy and that they were dangerous, but he still didn't want his father to hurt them if there was no need to. Ahadi looked to his son.
"I won't unless they give me a reason." Ahadi assured his son.
"And if they do?" Taka pushed.
"Taka!" Mufasa shirked.
"Enough boys!" Ahadi commanded. "Now come on, we got to get these hyenas out of the Pride Lands and find out if there's anymore of them."
Ahadi gesture for his sons to slowly follow him. As they got closer, they could hear them arguing about something, but none of them paid any attention. Ahadi stopped when he was thirteen feet away from the young hyenas.
"What are you hyenas doing in the Pride Lands?" Ahadi demanded.
All five hyenas gasped and looked towards Ahadi and his sons. none of them said a word and just stood there, shaking with fear at the sight of Ahadi and his sons.
"I said, what are you hyenas doing in the Pride Lands?" Ahadi demanded once again.
"Uh, we were just leaving." a young plump female hyena said nervously.
"Who are you hyena?" Ahadi demanded.
"Uh, these are Banzai, Ed, Kamari, and Azizi." the female hyena said.
"My father asked who you were, not you're accomplishes." Mufasa said.
"I was getting to that." the female hyena said. "I'm Shenzi, daughter of Matriarch Familia."
"The daughter of the clan's matriarch?" Ahadi growled.
Ahadi took menacing steps towards the young hyenas.
"Hay, man. Don't get your tail in a knot. Shenzi said we were just leaving." the hyena named Banzai said.
"No, you are not. Not until you tell me where the other hyenas are." Ahadi said.
"Other hyenas?" Ed questioned.
"Yes, I can see your plan. You young pups are decoys to distract us while other hyenas try to take over the Pride Lands from the royal family just like Bloody Mary did." Ahadi accused.
"What? No, it's not that." Shenzi defended.
Shenzi pointed at Kamari and Azizi.
"These two offered to take me into the Pride Lands to have some fun and I agreed. However, when we got here, they left me in the middle of that crocodile float, forcing Ed and this idiot, Banzai to save me. Banzai than pushed the log into the river forcing us to go around. We were about to leave until you showed up." Shenzi explained.
"It's true." a crocodile who was squashed under the log that Banzai pushed shouted from the river.
All the other crocodiles from the river confirmed the story. Ahadi didn't like it, but it was confirmation enough to prove that the hyena invasion he thought was happening wasn't true. He looked down at the young hyenas and glared.
"Fine, but get out of the Pride Lands now and never come back." Ahadi warned.
"Alright, tootles." Banzai said.
Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed began to run off. Kamari and Azizi however stayed behind with a devilish idea.
"Alright your majesty. We'll leave, but allow us to give you a performance in song form about you and hyenas." Kamari said.
"Huh, wha?" Ahadi exclaimed.
Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed looked back, wondering what the two teenage hyenas were up to. Azizi snickered as Kamari began to sing.
"Oh, hear me king, for I must sing how you are the greatest at everything. Like letting King Mohatu banish our clan, led by Bloody Mary. A horrible sight that wasn't pretty. 'Twas all your fault and 'tis a pity." Kamari sang.
Banzai saw King Ahadi and Prince Mufasa look at each other, shocked while Prince Taka had the small hint of a smile on his face.
"You were bad, you are to blame, now hang your kingly head in shame." Kamari sang.
Kamari and Azizi than began mooning King Ahadi and Prince Mufasa. Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed felt their legs shaking in fear as the looks on Ahadi and Mufasa's faces turned from shock to anger.
"La la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la." Kamari and Azizi sang as they continued to moon the royal lions
Banzai looked and saw Prince Taka was chuckling, finding it amusing that King Ahadi and Prince Mufasa were being mock by Kamari and Azizi. Banzai however wasn't. If they angered Ahadi any further, he might change his mind and kill them right here. Besides, being a hyena, especially to Bloody Mary's clan was just enough for Ahadi to kill them. Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed prayed for Kamari and Azizi to stop, but the two just wouldn't.
They did stop mooning the lions, but still continued their song of mockery
"The king is bad, the kings to blame. He hangs his kingly head in shame. La la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la." Kamari and Azizi sang.
Having had enough, King Ahadi roared.
"That's it. You hyenas have broken Pride Lands law by entering when hyenas are not aloud and have shown disrespect towards the king and princes, and for that, you shall suffer accordingly!" Ahadi angrily stated.
Ahadi swiped at Kamari and Azizi, but the teenage hyenas jumped back and ran.
"Run idiots, run!" Azizi shouted in fear.
All five hyenas ran for their lives with Ahadi and his two sons behind them. As Kamari and Azizi came beside them, Banzai glared at them.
"Why did you two have to do that. He was going to let us go!" Banzai said.
"Let us tell you something kid. There ain't nothing better in this world than insulting a lion, especially the royal ones who banished us to that graveyard." Azizi said.
"But now he's going to kill us." Ed said.
"Not unless you keep running." Kamari said.
"But he's faster than us. He's going to catch up to us." Ed argued.
"Not if we're able to give him the slip." Shenzi said.
"Oh, and just how are we going to give him the slip?" Banzai asked.
"Like this." Kamari said.
Without warning, Kamari shoved Ed to the ground.
"Ed!" Banzai shouted.
Ahadi skidded to a stop in front of Ed. Ed was so scared that he was unable to move. Banzai ran to Ed's rescue as Ahadi raised a paw to attack Ed. Banzai jumped onto Ahadi's paw, digging his claws and teeth in.
"Run Ed!" Banzai urged.
Ed did as he was told and ran towards Shenzi, Kamari and Azizi. Ahadi waved his paw around, trying to throw Banzai off.
"Let go hyena!" Ahadi angrily demanded.
Mufasa was watching his father with worry as the hyena continued to bite down on his paw. Mufasa looked towards his brother, hoping for him to come up with something. Taka just shrugged like it was no big deal, which angered Mufasa, but he would deal with it later. He ran up to his father in an attempt rip the hyena off his paw. The hyena however go as Mufasa struck.
Mufasa accidently bit down on his father's paw as the hyena ran for it.
"Oh, father, I'm so sorry." Mufasa apologized as he let go of his father's paw.
"Not your fault son, it's that hyenas. Come, we need to catch them before they get away." Ahadi said.
All three lions resumed their pursuit of the young hyenas. As they searched, they passed a small outcrop of rocks. Unknown to them, the hyenas were hiding in a narrow fissure that they passed over.
"Ow, Banzai, your elbow is in my ribs." Shenzi complained.
"Banzai, your butt is in my face." Ed complained.
"Quit, your going to get us caught." Kamari hissed.
Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed all growled at Kamari and Azizi.
"Well, if we do get caught, it's still on your heads." Ed argued.
"Our faults. You three are the ones talking." Azizi argued back.
"But we're not the ones who insulted the king and his prince sons when they were going to let us go." Banzai said.
"We told, you that there ain't nothing better than insulting a lion." Azizi said.
"And I said that Ahadi was going to let us go." Banzai repeated.
"Boy, you're even more dense than Kamari and I thought." Azizi said.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Banzai demanded.
"You really think Ahadi was going to let us off scot-free?" Kamari asked. "He was just going to pounce on us when our backs were turned."
"You don't know that." Shenzi pointed out.
"We did know it! Have you forgotten Ahadi is called Hyena's Bane?" Azizi asked.
"No, we haven't forgotten, but it still doesn't mean that you two didn't screw up our situation even more than it already is you warthog brains!" Banzai said.
Both Kamari and Azizi growled at Banzai for his insult. Kamari grabbed Banzai by the neck.
"Why you little…" Kamari began to say.
"Hay, I thought I heard something over here." came the voice of Prince Mufasa.
The color drained from all five hyenas after they heard that voice and the scrapping of claws not too far away from where they were at. They looked up at the fissure they were hiding in. They observed that Ahadi would be able to reach his paw in to get them. Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed he could have a hard time reaching if they were the only ones hiding in here, but Kamari and Azizi would be easy to grab with their larger sizes. Shenzi knowing this, looked at them.
She shook her head at them, as if begging them not to leave her, Banzai, and Ed here alone. Kamari and Azizi however didn't listen to her signs of begging. The two teenage hyenas dragged themselves out of the fissure and ran for the elephant graveyard.
"I can't believe it, they left us again." Ed replied.
"Well come on, if they're going to try to make a break for it, we should do the same." Banzai suggested.
Banzai began to pull himself out of the fissure, but Ahadi and his sons were up there waiting for him. Ahadi tried to pounce on his, but Banzai let himself fall back into the fissure. The three young hyenas flattened themselves against the bottom of the fissure as much as they could. Ahadi stared down at them and roared. The three screamed in fright and Shenzi and Ed hugged each other in fright as Ahadi's claws were just a couple inches from scrapping them.
"Aah! This is a nightmare!" Shenzi screamed.
"I told you coming to the Pride Lands was a bad idea!" Banzai said.
Banzai suddenly shouted out in fright as he felt Ahadi's paw grab onto his tail.
"Oh no! Oh no!" Banzai shouted in fear as he was being pulled out.
"Banzai!" Shenzi and Ed shouted.
Both hyenas shot up in an attempt to save Banzai. Shenzi grabbed onto Banzai's front legs in an attempt to pull him out of Ahadi's grasp while Ed sunk his teeth as deep as he could into Ahadi's paw. Ed's teeth weren't developed enough to crush the bones in Ahadi's paw, but he could still do some damage.
"Let him go you grumpy old cat!" Ed demanded.
Ahadi roared in pain at Ed's teeth sunk in.
"No, you let go hyena!" Ahadi shouted.
Ahadi began to slam his paw against the wall of the fissure to get Ed to let go.
"Stop it, we had nothing to do with Kamari and Azizi's harassment of you. Let Banzai go and let us go back home. You won't see us ever again." Shenzi tried to reason.
"Do you think I'm so stupid that I would trust the word of a hyena?" Ahadi retorted.
"Yes!" Banzai replied.
"Just give up, there's no escape from this!" Mufasa shouted down at the hyenas.
"You're not the boss of us!" Shenzi shouted defiantly.
Ahadi was on the other paw was getting frustrated. All he wanted was to happily spend the day with his two sons and teach them how to run the kingdom while his wife, Uru hunted and these hyenas ruined it. The Pride Lands were no place for hyenas. They were savage and untamable creatures, he knew that from his days as a rogue and his days during the hyena rebellion led by Bloody Mary. Many of his relatives through his marriage to Uru had died during that rebellion and almost his father-in-law, Mohatu.
He had to take charge as king for a time so Mohatu could heal from his wounds. He had no claim to the throne at the time, but he was betrothed to Uru, who was still too young to take those responsibilities, and the pride trusted Ahadi. So, when he won the Pride Landers the rebellion, he made sure to banish all hyenas. Some said he was too harsh to banish all of them since Bloody Mary's entire clan didn't take part in the rebellion, but Ahadi thought it was for the best that all were banished so Mary couldn't manipulate any to her side since she knew he was a hyena hater. Ahadi nearly roared in pain when he began to feel like Ed was about to rip a chunk of skin from his paw off.
Ahadi in an attempt to stop that from happening began to beat his paw against the wall of the fissure more rapidly. After a couple dozen hits, Ed finally let go of Ahadi's paw and fell down unconscious from his head getting beat against the wall.
"Ed!" Banzai and Shenzi shouted in concern.
"Hay, Ahadi, get away from them!" a voice shouted.
The sudden shout caused Ahadi to lose his grip on Banzai, allowing Shenzi to pull him back down to her.
"Banzai, I think that sounded like your dad?" Shenzi guessed.
"It was." Banzai confirmed with a small hint of hope in his voice.
Banzai quickly peeked over the edge of the fissure. Ahadi and his two son had their backs turned on Banzai and facing a hyena who had busy eyebrows like himself and a mullet shaped hyenas mane. Sichaku look at his son, mentally telling him to get down while he dealt with Ahadi and his sons.
"Well, what's it look like up there?" Shenzi asked.
"I think we're safe, but either way we're busted." Banzai told her.
Shenzi groaned knowing that Banzai was right about them being busted for coming into the Pride Lands. Meanwhile, Sichaku was talking with Ahadi and his sons.
"What are you doing here hyena?" Ahadi asked.
"I've come here for my sons and their friend, the daughter of my clan's matriarch." Sichaku responded.
Taka noticed a tikiti melon on the ground and pointed it out to his father.
"You were stealing tikiti melons? Those are for the elephants during the dry season hyena." Ahadi said.
"We only took a few months ago. We have no reason to steal any right now." Sichaku defended himself and his clan.
"So, you were using the rind to come a steal water from us? How dare you!?" Ahadi demanded.
"You don't know what it's like to live in the graveyard for as long as my clan has. The only water there is in the geysers, but it's made undrinkable due to its heat and the bacteria floating in it, and food is hard to come by. You're considered lucky if you're able to catch even the smallest, skinniest of mice." Sichaku said.
"Good, you hyenas deserve that life for what you did four years ago." Ahadi said.
"And that is where you don't understand Ahadi. Many hyenas of the clan followed Mary. Some did out of true loyalty to her, some out of loyalty to the entire clan as a whole and nor Mary in particular, but there are those who did out of their fear of Mary, and of course there are those who didn't participate." Sichaku said.
"Well, I didn't see any of them trying to stop Bloody Mary, did you?" Ahadi asked.
"No, I was born shortly after the rebellion ended, but what I do know, is that your wife, Uru, was once friends with Mary's son, Amani." Sichaku said.
Ahadi growled at the mention of that name.
"Don't you talk about Amani either. He was not her friend. He didn't try to stop Mary from attacking the Pride Lands that started the rebellion and just helped her." Ahadi said.
"He was only a pup who was forced to choose between family and his best friend Ahadi. I know you won't believe me, but Amani regretted what he did." Sichaku said.
"I should kill you hyena." Ahadi said.
"Would you kill a father in front of his own pups?" Sichaku asked.
Ahadi looked back at the fissure that Banzai, Ed, and Shenzi were in. Banzai quickly hid back in the fissure. Ahadi growled in frustration. He would not kill a father in the presence of they're children, even if they were hyenas.
"You can take the water with you, but if a catch you in the Pride Lands again, I'll kill you." Ahadi warned.
"Father, you're just going to let them…" Mufasa began to speak out.
"Silence Mufasa!" Ahadi demanded. "Let us go home now, and so should you hyena."
"It's Sichaku, you're majesty." Sichaku replied.
Ahadi just growled as he and both his sons moved on. Sichaku and Prince Taka stared each other in the eyes as they past. Sichaku got an uneasy feeling from the black manned prince's green eyes and could just somehow tell there was a darkness deep inside him just waiting to claw it's way out. He pushed those thoughts aside however and began to walk towards the fissure. Banzai was helping Shenzi out, who also helped him drag Ed out.
Sichaku was worried when he saw Ed knocked out. Sichaku felt and found a bump on Ed's head, but he looked otherwise unharmed. He looked towards his son and Shenzi. They looked up at him with guilt.
"Dad." Banzai began to say.
"We'll talk when we get back home." was all Sichaku said.
And that is the chapter ladies and gentlemen. Wow, Ahadi turns into a real, you know what, when it comes to hyenas no matter their age. We'll be seeing some more of Kamari and Azizi later, Taka/Scar will also show up again at some point, but nor for a long while, and oh no, is this where Ed becomes dumb, wait until next chapter to find out, but until than, please leave me a respectable review in the review section, please read my other fanfics and review them as well if you haven't already, good night/day, happy first week of April, and God bless to everyone.