Chapter 10
Fighting Lessons
The day of the young lionesses' First Hunt had finally arrived. The pride rose quite early, and the adult lionesses left the cave, leaving the young ones inside so that they could mentally prepare and concentrate on the hunt ahead.
Scar had asked the hyenas to stay clear of the area where the lionesses would be hunting, so everything was settled for the big day.
Ndani went to check on Njano, who was still in a lot of pain, and not doing so well. Rafiki had given her more remedies to combat an infection, but the lioness was still pretty much bed-ridden and unable to move.
"Hey, you," Ndani said as she nuzzled her gently.
Njano only grunted in reply.
Kahawia yawned and stretched herself. "I see the pride's up and ready for the young ones' hunt."
Ndani nodded. "They're all rather good at it, I am sure they won't have any problems. And there's lots of prey available..."
"Oh, look, there they are..." Kahawia said, glancing towards the cave as Tahlili, Mahali and Shada made their way out, looking excited and nervous.
Ndani returned to her Pride, who were all cheering at the young lionesses, and wishing them good luck.
Anasa and Karanga nuzzled their respective daughters and whispered words of encouragement.
The lionesses finally approached Scar, who wished them good luck too. "I've heard great things about you three, so I am sure you will do a great job today."
Karanga had advised Scar that it was customary for the King to give each new huntress a quick nuzzle as a blessing, and so he did. He started with Shada, who whispered at him, "Thanks, we won't let you down."
He went on to nuzzle Tahlili, who also whispered, "We'll do our best!"
Mahali awaited her turn patiently, glancing at her mother every now and then, with an excited look on her face. The lioness turned to face Scar once he approached her. He rubbed his cheek against hers, just like he had done with the other two lionesses, and Mahali, who had been ready to reply something reassuring, fell silent instead.
As she grew up she had been taught to avoid and to fear Scar. And here he was now, giving her the hunting blessing. She had never expected that his nuzzle would provoke any feelings in her, but a shudder went through all her body like an electric current. The lioness couldn't think of anything smart to say; her body took over, and simply nuzzled him in return.
Scar was taken aback by her sudden display of affection, and so was Mahali herself, once she realized what she was doing. The lioness cleared her throat and uttered a quick "We will make it!" as she felt the blood rush through her head. She felt confused, and couldn't believe she had done that, in front of the whole pride, no less.
The lionesses didn't say anything, they simply smiled at her.
"Well, this is it!" Shada said, "Good luck, everyone!"
The young lionesses let out a loud roar, which was echoed by the rest of the Pride, and each one of them went their separate ways.
Now it was only a matter of time. It was not important who returned first, it was more important to have a successful hunt. So the older lionesses knew it could take a while before the huntresses returned. The pride scattered, while some lionesses went for a drink, and others decided to take Nala for a walk.
Anasa and Karanga remained in Pride Rock, while Zazu patrolled the area from above, in case one of the young huntresses got into trouble.
Scar and Ndani went to join the Outlanders, who had now dragged Njano's body out of the sun and under the shelter of a tree's shade.
Zira smirked as the King and Queen lay down next to her. "My bet is on the lioness in the middle; she'll be the one to return first."
"How would you know?" Ndani asked.
"I spotted her the other day, she was practicing on her own. She's got all the basics nailed down."
Ndani shook her head. "I still think Mahali will be the first one. She's older, and can keep her cool better."
Zira chuckled. "Yes, but I think her head might be somewhere else right now..."
Ndani giggled, as they both quickly glanced towards Scar, who was staring at his paws pretending not to be listening.
The lion shifted his weight, clearly not comfortable in participating in their lioness-talk.
Zira, afraid that they might chase him away, changed topic swiftly. "By the way, Scar, I asked the baboon about his shell last time we went there for Njano's remedy."
Scar looked up and perked his ears. "And? Did he look into your future?"
Zira shook her head. "Not yet. I first asked him to look into my past, to test him 'n see if he wasn't full of crap."
Scar frowned, but recovered his composure quickly. "And, how accurate was he?"
Zira gazed into the horizon for a moment, as if lost in her own thoughts, and muttered, "Very."
Ndani looked at her curiously, as Zira had never really shared many details of her past with her, but it looked as if the lioness was not going to start sharing any time soon.
"Will you visit him again to learn about your future?" Kahawia asked.
Zira grinned to herself. "Not any time soon, no. He was kinda mad that I didn't believe in his talents and that I put him to the test."
"Heh, don't worry, good ol' Rafiki never stays mad long enough," Ndani replied.
Scar appeared to be very thoughtful all of a sudden, something Zira picked up on, but she didn't comment on it. Instead, the lioness turned to Ndani. "So, shall we make our bet official? I have a nice deal. If you win, I will go hunting with Kahawia tonight and you can stay. But if I win, you guys will go hunting together and I get to stay and be lazy."
"Hey, s'not fair. Either way, I'm screwed," Kahawia said with a grin, "I guess my bet will be on the youngest one in that case. You two can go hunting together, if she makes it back first."
"Okay, it's on!" Ndani exclaimed.
Scar couldn't help but chuckle, as he had never heard of the lionesses placing bets on the new huntresses, but the idea amused him all together. The lion rested his chin on his paws and drifted away in a light sleep, feeling slightly worried about what Zira had just said. The lion knew Rafiki had no reason to be prying into his own past, but knowing that the baboon could actually tell the past as well as the future was not a reassuring thought.
Further away from Pride Rock, each one of the three hunting lionesses had taken a different direction, to prevent spoiling each other's hunt.
Mahali had shaken away all other thoughts in her mind, and was very focused and determined. However, she was surprised to see that the herds she had spotted only yesterday were no longer there. They must have fled from something, she thought.
The lioness kept on walking, trying to follow their trail, but it was clear that the animals had scattered in different directions. She sniffed the air intently and caught the scent of an animal nearby. She hurried in the direction of the smell, only to find a gazelle that had already been brought down by another predator. The animal lay there, half eaten.
Mahali frowned as she could detect the scent of hyenas around the gazelle. She looked around but didn't spot any hyenas nearby, so she kept on walking, hoping to catch a new trail soon. Along the way she noticed a few more skeletons scattered here and there. She had never seen so many during her lessons, and made a mental note to tell the lionesses once she was back.
She felt like she had been walking for a long time, when she finally came across a herd of Thomson gazelles. The lioness crouched immediately, and swiftly spotted a weakling in the herd. One of the gazelles was limping, and Mahali knew it would be an easy catch. Luck was on her side today.
It was all over rather quickly for the injured gazelle. Mahali's deadly grasp on its neck put the poor animal out of its misery. Now she had the laborious task of carrying the prey back home, but it didn't matter. She had done it at last, and completed the final step to leave cubhood behind and be accepted as an adult.
As she made her way back to Pride Rock, Mahali had the strange feeling that she was being watched, but could not spot anyone nearby. She sped up her pace, which was a bit more difficult now that she had to drag the gazelle along, but froze on her tracks when she heard a noise nearby. She was definitely not alone, and finding out whether it was a friend or a foe was only a matter of time.
"I know you're out there, I can hear you!" she called out loud.
For a moment nothing happened, so Mahali bent over to pick up the gazelle by the neck. When she looked up, in front of her stood an adult leopard, as if he had appeared out of thin air. He was staring hungrily at her catch.
Mahali dropped the gazelle to the ground looking startled; she had never expected whomever was nearby to actually be so close. The leopard must have been really good at stalking. She looked at him but could not recognize him; the leopard had an old scar crossing his nose that she would have certainly remembered if they had met earlier.
Mahali bared her teeth, showing him clearly that she was not willing to part from her catch without putting up a fight first.
But the leopard knew that such a young lioness would be no problem for him. He took a step closer, making Mahali growl deeply, but he was not impressed.
"We can do this the easy way or the hard way, sweetcheeks," he said, taking yet another step towards the lioness' hunt.
"Get out of my way!" Mahali said as she lashed at him with her paw, claws extended, but he dodged her blow. He tried to snatch the gazelle from underneath her, but Mahali lashed out again.
"It's my First Hunt! You can't take it away from me!" she snarled.
The leopard's expression suddenly changed, he perked up his ears and looked less menacing all of a sudden. "Your First hunt? Oh! Why didn't you say so in the first place? Congratulations on your first catch!"
Mahali blinked a couple of times and lowered her guard slowly. "Um... Thanks..."
"So I guess you have learned all it takes to be a skilled huntress now, hmm?" he asked her, as he sat on his haunches.
Mahali nodded. "I think so... I hope so, at least."
The leopard gave her a wide grin, looking rather friendly. "There's one very important thing you should keep in mind though."
Mahali tilted her head as she listened to him.
The leopard suddenly jumped at her, head-butting her hard on the side. The lioness lost her balance, stumbled a few steps and fell to the ground, looking confused.
"Lesson one: Never, ever lower your guard!" With that, the leopard let out a loud laugh, took the gazelle in his mouth and ran away, climbing up a high tree, well beyond Mahali's reach.
The lioness gave chase once she recovered, but the branch where the leopard had taken refuge was too high for her to reach, and she knew she was a lousy climber. She tried several times, but got nowhere close to the leopard, who was now humming to himself as he began to eat the meal he stole from Mahali.
"Mmmm!" he said out loud for her to hear down below, "You have good taste, it's delicious!"
Mahali growled at him and called him several names she certainly didn't learn from Anasa, but the leopard simply laughed an continued devouring the gazelle.
Mahali turned around and left, feeling extremely angry with herself for having fallen for his trick.
"It was an important lesson to be learned, all right, but why today of all days?" she told herself, as tears of anger built up in her eyes.
She felt exhausted, and she knew there was no other prey in sight, she'd have to walk on further, or try to settle down for something small, like a rodent, which felt like an insult to her pride after having brought down a full grown gazelle. Mahali decided to continue looking, her paws aching for some rest, but she kept on going.
Mahali's luck had run out, and the only thing she came across was an old gopher. She let out a loud sigh, and decided to ignore the gopher, but she then realized that despite her making a lot of noise, the animal apparently hadn't noticed her presence.
"Hey..." she said, but got no reaction.
Mahali bit her lip as she hesitated. The temptation to just hunt this critter and go home was too much, as she was longing for some sleep and her paws were killing her. She gave in, and swiftly killed the deaf gopher, who squealed in surprise and struggled for a moment, until his last breath left him.
Mahali hurried up towards Pride Rock, carrying the gopher in her muzzle. This time she'd keep on going no matter what, and wouldn't stop for anyone.
It was late at night when Mahali finally made it back; Tahlili and Shada had gotten there first. Mahali let out a deep sigh and walked towards the Pride, who welcomed her warmly.
"Welcome back!" Anasa said as she nuzzled her daughter lovingly and the pride gathered around her. "Show us, what did you get?"
Mahali threw the gopher on to the ground, looking visibly disappointed. "Just this stupid, small thing..."
Karanga frowned. "Hey, remember, size doesn't matter, sweetie. What matters is that you got it on your own."
"Go on, present your first catch to the King," Anasa urged her.
Mahali took a deep breath, picked up the gopher again, and walked towards Scar, who was sitting next to what she could only assume were Tahlili's and Shada's prey.
She dropped the gopher next to the dead bodies of a young zebra, and a jackal.
Scar smiled for a moment as he sniffed the gopher, and congratulated Mahali.
The lioness only nodded in return and didn't say a thing, which everyone thought was rather strange.
"Hey," Anasa nudged her, "Is something wrong? Why are you so unhappy with your catch? Gophers are hard to catch, you know!"
"He was deaf, okay?" she blurted out, "I practically walked right into him and he didn't hear a thing until I snapped his neck!"
"That doesn't make your hunt any less worthy, my dear," Anasa told her, while the rest of the lionesses nodded in agreement, "You know part of your training was to spot your prey's weaknesses."
Mahali sat on her haunches and sighed. "I just... I... I feel so stupid. I did something so dumb..."
The pride listened to her intently, including Scar, who had now approached the lionesses to find out what the commotion was about.
"I actually had managed to bring down a full, grown, adult gazelle. Granted, she had a broken leg, but still..."
"Wow... a gazelle?" Shada asked in amazement.
Mahali nodded and went on, telling them everything about her encounter with the leopard and how he had stolen her catch, while the lionesses frowned and growled, sharing Mahali's anger.
"I know, I know. I shouldn't have lowered my guard," Mahali said as she finished retelling the course of events, "I learned my lesson, and here's the outcome: a dumb, old, deaf gopher instead."
Sarabi walked to Mahali and nuzzled her. "Look at it this way, you actually brought down two animals in your first hunt! Okay, so one didn't make it all the way to Pride Rock, but that doesn't matter. You had the most difficult part done. And now you know you need to focus on your stealth..."
Scar cleared his throat and said, "I don't know about you all, but I could use a meal." He then walked to the small animals that were proudly displayed in front of him, and he started eating, from the gopher no less.
Mahali looked at him eating and was unable to conceal a smile. She had not achieved the triumphant First Hunt she had dreamed of, but the Pride and the King himself were pleased, so she stopped being so hard on herself for a while.
Scar had a taste of all three animals, and then stepped away to make way for the young lionesses, who were allowed to eat their special meal on their own.
Now that the three young lionesses were back, the rest of the pride could finally go hunting without intervening in the First Hunt. The lionesses began stretching their legs and warming up before the chase.
Ndani and Kahawia, having lost their bet, were also getting ready to find something to eat.
Zira watched them with a smirk, as she had won the right to stay behind, by predicting that Tahlili would return first.
"Make sure to get something tasty. Njano and I will be looking forward to it..."
Ndani stuck out her tongue at her and headed off with Kahawia in search for food.
The Pride-Landers went on the opposite direction, after Mahali had warned them that the herds had moved far away, and that they might need to cover a longer distance than usual.
The lionesses thanked her for her warning and disappeared in the distance after a while.
Scar watched them leave, and lingered nonchalantly around the three new huntresses, as he had the feeling that Mahali might come to him for assistance soon. But Mahali appeared to still be rather disappointed by her ruined hunting attempt, and was seemingly not in the mood for socializing.
Scar pondered for a moment and then called the young lioness. "Mahali, could I have a word with you for a moment?"
Mahali looked up. "Um, yes, sure..." she said, feeling rather shy all of a sudden.
Scar watched her as she padded up to him, she looked a bit nervous.
"That leopard you met... Do you know his name?"
Mahali shook her head. "He didn't say... I never saw him earlier before."
"Is there anything you would recognize from him, if you were to meet him again?"
Mahali frowned for a moment. "Well, he had an old scar across his nose, and a bit of a high-pitched voice... So, yes, I guess I could identify him if I saw him again... Why do you ask?"
"I don't want anyone messing around with my Pride. I will send the hyenas after him, to teach him a lesson, but I want to make sure that we get the right leopard."
"Oh..." Mahali said, "But... That won't be necessary, it was my own damn fault after all..."
Scar looked away for a moment. "Are you sure? We can make it so that he'll never steal from a lioness again, you know."
Mahali didn't quite like his threatening tone of voice, and shook her head. "Like I said, it was my fault. These things happen all the time, Scar. I'm just a bit sad my First Hunt didn't work out how I imagined it, but I will get over it soon."
Scar shrugged. "Fine, as you wish."
They both fell quiet for a moment. Scar wondered if she'd take the initiative, but the lioness said nothing more. He got the message, and decided to leave her alone.
"Well, I'll go check on the Outlanders..." he said as he stood up, "I assume you three are in cub-duty again for now?"
Mahali nodded. "Yes, but we're all very tired, so we're kind of hoping we can persuade little Nala to take a nap along with us..."
Scar chuckled. "Well, good luck with that. I won't be far, if you four need anything."
"Thanks," Mahali said, and watched him walk away, towards where the Outlanders were settled. She walked back to her Pride-mates, knowing very well why Scar had shown some interest in her, but she really felt exhausted and longed to go to sleep.
"Tomorrow will be another day..." she told herself, and watched in relief how the other lionesses had already settled down with Nala, ready to take a nap. She joined them and fell asleep not long after.
Scar in the meantime had reached Njano and Zira. The wounded lioness was asleep, while Zira kept guard, looking a bit bored.
"Hello," he said, "where's the rest?"
"I won the bet, remember?" Zira replied with a grin, "Ndani and Kahawia left more or less at the same time the rest of your Pride did."
"Ah, yes," Scar replied and sat next to them, glancing at Njano's wounded leg. "It's looking better, isn't it?"
"That's what the baboon said, but it still looks quite nasty to me."
Zira fell silent for a moment, and smiled to herself, realizing that with the Pride-Landers and their Queen gone, she practically had Scar all to herself.
"Could you maybe get some of your hyenas to keep guard here? Then I can go and take a walk."
Scar shrugged, feeling that she didn't want his company tonight either. "Sure, I'll tell them."
Zira waited for a moment and looked over her shoulder. "You're not gonna let me go all alone, while it's so dark out there, would you?"
Scar perked up his ears. "You know, the whole 'damsel in distress' thing doesn't really fit you."
Zira smirked. "Go on, tell your hyenas if they can help me out for guard duty, and I'll meet you by the acacias."
With that she left, disappearing in the darkness.
Scar found nearby a couple of hyena mothers that were relaxing along with their pups, and he asked them to keep an eye on Njano. The hyenas knew the lioness could hardly move, so they accepted to stay nearby to watch over her, and would let out a distress call if needed.
Scar met Zira by the acacias, as agreed, and they both left, Zira taking the lead.
"Do you know where we're going or are you just walking randomly?" he asked.
"Just walking," she said, "I just wanted to stretch my legs a bit."
Scar looked at her as she walked a few paces ahead, but soon closed the gap to walk side by side. "I know you and your mates like to travel a lot. But have you ever thought about settling down somewhere?"
Zira, who up until this point had kept up a brisk walk, lowered her pace slightly. "There's never been a place we like enough to actually feel like staying."
"Surely you must have seen a lot of different places. Was there really nothing that tickled your fancy?"
Zira looked thoughtful for a moment. "No. To be honest, this place here is the best we've seen. Too bad it's already taken by a Pride of lions, hmm?"
Scar smirked slightly. "Well, it's not as if I am chasing you away or anything."
"Hmmph. That's not news, the male lion rarely does. It's his posse we have to watch out for."
Scar nodded, recalling how angry the lionesses had been when Ndani brought the Outlanders in, especially Huria. If all of them had been as temperamental as Huria, there would have been a nasty fight for sure.
Zira reached a clearing and headed straight to a big rock, where she proceeded to sharpen her claws absent-mindedly.
Scar sat down nearby and watched her intently. Zira was certainly not the prettiest lioness he had ever seen, but she intrigued him immensely.
The lioness came to join him not long after and sat across him. "There's something I don't get. You have this great place to live in; what in the world possessed you to leave and end up in the elephant graveyard instead?"
Scar raised an eyebrow. "You mean Ndani never actually told you?"
"Well, she mentioned you and your father didn't get along, but she never really went into details."
Scar looked away. "Yes, that's a very abridged version of events, all right. But I don't feel like telling you about myself, without getting a story from you in return."
Zira grinned. "Okay, let's do this. I'll tell you my story if you tell me yours."
Scar nodded and walked away to sharpen his own claws on the same rock Zira had used. "To make it short, my father thought I was responsible for my mother's death, which happened right after I was born. He lost his mind that day, and there was no convincing him that I had nothing to do with it. He'd have killed me for sure, if it hadn't been for Karanga, who took me and my brother in."
Zira listened intently as she admired his handsome features.
"You can now imagine how growing up here was hell for me," he went on, "always under his constant threats. He made sure the other cubs stayed away from me too, and that's how I came in contact with the hyenas and befriended them. I would have jumped off a cliff if it hadn't been for them."
Zira whispered, "Wow, you sound just like Ndani."
Scar frowned. "What do you mean?"
"Ndani always said she'd have jumped off a cliff if it hadn't been for us. It could have been true, since I actually had to drag her away from the gorge's edge once."
Scar looked away for a moment. He knew Ndani was prone to moping, but he never knew that she had felt so bad at some point, that jumping off the gorge seemed like the only solution to her problems.
"I never knew about that. Ndani and I didn't get along at all back then, but she was indeed a bit of a loner."
Zira lay down on the grass. She didn't feel like discussing Ndani, so she enticed Scar to keep talking about himself instead. "So you befriended the hyenas, then what happened?"
Scar lay down next to her. "Well, I tried to keep it a secret of course, but eventually father found out and hell broke lose. I had to either run away or face a certain death. I know I had wished for it several times, but not at his paws. So I ran, and took shelter with the hyenas. When father died and Mufasa took over, he invited me to come back, and the rest, you probably know how it goes."
"Yes, Ndani told us about the stampede and all that..."
Scar didn't say anything else for a few minutes, but then turned to face her. "Your turn."
Zira chuckled. "Well, I come from a land far, far away..."
"Don't tell me you're resorting to making things up," Scar told her.
Zira grinned and looked into his eyes for a moment. "I was born into the Magadi pride, who lived in the crater. Ever heard of it?"
Scar tried to recall if he ever heard Thembi or anyone else in the Pride talk about that place, but he shook his head.
"Well, like I said, it's far away. It was a good place to live in, but one day our old leader was threatened by a younger, stronger rogue. It all happened so quickly that I can't remember much of it. All I know is that the battle was over in a matter of minutes, and my own mother told me and Kahawia to run, find shelter and hide."
Scar looked at her, trying to picture Zira as a young cub, feeling afraid and running for cover.
"We did as we were told, and waited there until my mother came to get us. When she finally did, we tried sneaking away, but the new leader found out and got extremely angry. He wanted to get to Kahawia and me first, but mother stopped him and told us to run for it. Kahawia and I ran like hell, coming across the limp bodies of all the other dead cubs he had killed earlier. We immediately knew what was in stock for us if we didn't keep on running."
Scar nodded and looked away, as he could now understand why his sparing of Nala's life had had such an impact on Zira. "What happened to your mother?" he asked.
"I'll never know for sure but we think he did away with her too. I heard from a buzzard that besides the dead cubs, they had also found a dead lioness near our lair," she replied, looking very stern all of a sudden.
"How did you two manage to survive out there, being so young?" Scar said, realizing they didn't pick up their hunting and fighting abilities from their own Pride.
Zira shrugged. "We were very lucky, I guess. We scrounged a lot, and were not picky at all, anything was good. Kahawia and I fought each other constantly to learn how to defend ourselves. We made friends with a leopardess who taught us a few things too, and every now and then we still get together for a hunt. But yeah, the first few years were the toughest. Our ribs were always sticking out and we were constantly hungry. But it all got better once we became good at hunting. We couldn't get huge meals, just the two of us, but it was enough to keep us going."
"When did Njano come into the picture?"
"Oh, we didn't meet her until much later; we were already adults. She'd been banished by her pride, but she's never told us why. We've asked her a hundred times, but she's kept her secret well, that one."
Scar remained silent for a moment, but eventually ventured to say, "Ndani once said that you didn't like male lions very much. I can see how they didn't make a good impression on you."
Zira snorted. "And it wasn't only that one, you know? Every other lion we encountered out there was a total prick."
"And I suppose you had the same high opinion of me?" he asked, as he shifted his weight slightly, getting more comfortable.
Zira chuckled deeply. "More or less. I hadn't heard much about you, until you came back from the graveyard and Ndani mentioned that you two had started getting along. But yeah, I wasn't very interested, until she started comin' to us with cock and bull stories about you lettin' the hyenas into your land, sparing a cub, making Ndani -of all lionesses- your Queen... You seem to have a different method of ruling, and I have to admit, I kinda liked the sound of it."
"Well I am glad at least someone likes my method. Other than Ndani, I still feel the lionesses are not too happy with my way of handling things, especially with the whole hyena business."
"I think they're getting used to it. I see them interacting a bit more, and one of the hyenas even brings food to them every now and then..."
Scar looked at her intently, and she didn't look away.
"What happened to your ear anyway?" he asked, after a brief moment of silence.
"Ah, this?" she said, pointing to her torn ear with her paw, "This was a token of appreciation from a young male that was bothering Kahawia. I jumped in to defend her and we got into a fight. But trust me, he went away looking worse than my ear."
Scar smirked briefly, wishing he could see her in action some time.
She looked at him and added, "Your turn. What's with your eye?"
"Wildebeest kick, when I was a cub," he said, not going into any details.
"Hmm," she replied, "those buggers can kick hard all right. I got kicked once too, and had a sore shoulder for quite a while."
The lioness started licking her paws absentmindedly, feeling completely relaxed, something she had never accomplished with another lion before. The fact that Scar had not been all over her like most males she had encountered made him even more interesting, and she liked the way he carried himself.
Zira looked up after a moment and saw him, still staring silently at her.
"You seem very quiet all of a sudden," she said, "everything okay?"
Scar smiled slightly. "More than okay, actually. I was just thinking about the day Ndani first told me about you. She said you'd give me a matching scar on my right eye for sure."
Zira smirked, looking proud. "Well, I do have a reputation to keep. So..." She pulled out her claws several times, and with unexpected speed stood up, and poised herself for combat.
Scar looked at her, slightly amused. "Oh, like I have a chance against you?"
"You can at least give it a try!"
Scar stood up and faced her, ready to defend himself and shake her off.
However, Zira noticed that his stance was strange; it looked as if he was frozen in mid-crouch. It took her a few seconds to understand, and her face lightened up.
"Well, this is interesting... Your body language tells me you learned your fighting skills from the hyenas..."
"Here's something else I learned from them: Less talking, more fighting!" Scar said, and he tried to pounce on her, but she quickly dodged his attack. The lioness quickly grabbed him by the hip with two paws, and used her own weight to bring Scar down.
Scar simply lay there, with the lioness on top, barely resisting. He enjoyed her little game, and it was a good excuse for some physical contact without him having to request it.
Zira stood up eventually and shook her head. "Sorry if I'm being blunt... How to put this nicely..." she said, as she tapped her cheek with a claw thoughtfully, "Let's just say that your fighting skills don't match those of a mighty King."
Scar sat up straight and shook the dust off his pelt. "I know. Daddy never gave me any lessons, I had to learn on my own."
Zira's face brightened up as she came up with an idea. "It would be a shame if you were to lose your position of power, if some other rogue that actually knows how to fight happens to come along. I could teach you a trick or two to fend rogues off."
"Thanks for the offer, but the hyenas on border duty are already dealing with the rogues themselves. I think they'd be upset if I take that pleasure away from them" he replied, with a slightly evil smirk.
Zira chuckled slightly. "Well, let's say one of them lions happens to sneak past your guards. Then what?"
Scar looked at Zira, looking forward to spending more time with her. "Fine, fine. Show me."
Zira smiled at him. "Okay, the first thing to do-"
The lioness hushed when she heard some loud noises in the distance. "What the hell is that?"
Scar frowned. "It's the hyenas, and their distress call. Sorry to cut your lesson short, but we have to go."
The lion turned around and ran as fast as he could back to Pride Rock.
Zira followed close behind, fearing for Njano's safety.
When they arrived at the place where Njano was resting, they saw that the lioness was still pretty much in the same spot, but she was clearly awake and holding her head up, looking terrified.
The hyena mothers had apparently taken some distance to protect their cubs, but Scar could not see what the threat was.
Scar and Zira, still a bit out of breath, approached Njano, who told them, "She's gone mental! She's threatening everyone and already tried to kill one of the pups! Even the new huntresses fled!"
Scar looked around confused, there was no sign of the young lionesses or Nala. "Who in the world are you talking about? Was it Huria?"
But at that moment, Scar heard an unfamiliar loud growl behind him. He quickly turned around and came face to face with old Kuuliza, who had never growled at him, not even when he had been a troublesome cub.
"Kuuliza? What are you doing?" Scar asked, trying to keep calm.
Kuuliza didn't reply, she only stared at him with mad rage in her eyes, the corners of her mouth moist and dripping with saliva. The lioness had not been up in many days, and Karanga had already been tending to her for months. It seemed that the lioness had gotten renewed energy from somewhere, but she was clearly not doing well at all.
"The elephants..." Kuuliza muttered, looking past Scar, not giving any signs of having recognized him. She looked around, dazed and confused. "They're coming, they want to crush us... We have to fight! We have to-" She interrupted herself as her gaze fell on Njano, who was still pretty much alert but unable to get away.
Kuuliza bared her fangs at Njano and screamed at the top of her lungs, "Over my dead body, you stupid elephant! You will not harm my cubs!"
"There are no elephants nearby!" Scar yelled, but Kuuliza didn't appear to be able to hear him, and she tried to attack the defenseless Njano.
Zira anticipated Kuuliza's moves and got in the way just in time to block her attack. Kuuliza fought fiercely, but she was no match for a healthy and younger lioness like Zira. She hit Kuuliza quite hard on the head with her paw, rendering the old, frail lioness unconscious.
Scar approached the motionless Kuuliza and nuzzled her briefly. "She's boiling... Someone, go get Rafiki! Now!" he commanded.
A couple of hyenas ran off in search of Rafiki, while Scar and Zira moved Njano out of sight in case Kuuliza came to and continued to hallucinate.
Scar had the feeling that the lioness didn't have much longer to live. He knew how much Kuuliza meant to Karanga, and how devastated she'd be if she hadn't been around to say goodbye. He hoped Rafiki could keep the lioness alive, at least until Karanga came back from the hunt.
Zira and Scar sat down by the feverish lioness and waited together in silence.