Lioness Tales
Tale 2: Chiku's Training
Chapter 10: The Confrontation
Ubaya crossed the thicket first, followed closely by Kame, and muttered, "I told you, there was a gust of wind and I noticed someone else's scent. It's getting stronger so we must be getting close-"
The lion hushed when he saw Chiku sitting on her own, just a few paces away. He smiled to himself, and whispered to Kame, "Take a look at that..."
Kame looked in Chiku's direction. "Whoa. She's got bigger muscles than you, that one. She has to be one of the lionesses we're looking for..."
Ubaya scouted the terrain, looking for the second lioness, but if she was anywhere nearby, she was very well hidden.
"Keep an eye on the surroundings. I think one of them will try to catch us off guard," Ubaya told him.
Kame sniffed the air intently, and a wide grin spread on his face. "Ah... Do you smell that too?"
Ubaya scented the air before him and let out a deep chuckle. "This is going to be fun... Let's go," he said, and continued walking towards Chiku.
Chiku felt her heart beating faster and faster, no matter how much she tried to calm herself. She tried to think of how disappointed Johari would be if she knew just how badly she wanted to run away right this very moment, but the lioness managed to stay put, and stared at the rogues intently.
Not further away, Johari was keeping a close eye on her, ready to pounce at the first sign of trouble. As the wind blew in her direction, the scent of Kame and Ubaya reached her nostrils. It was just as she remembered it, and she felt so nauseated she had to retreat a few paces, so that they wouldn't hear her in case she threw up.
Chiku swallowed with difficulty, but she finally regained some control of her emotions, and just as the rogues faced her, she kept a straight face and tried to show no fear.
"Kame and Ubaya, I presume?" she told them, sitting as still as a statue.
"Yup, the very same," Ubaya replied, circling Chiku as he sized her up, while taking in her enticing scent.
His deep, rough voice made Chiku think of the noise her claws made when scratching them against the bark of a tree.
While the lion paced around her, Chiku took a good look at him too, trying to find any obvious weaknesses. But Ubaya appeared healthy and strong, and perhaps even bigger than Salehe himself. She glanced at his stump of a tail, which looked like it had been bitten off at some point. Ubaya also had multiple scars covering his body, and his golden fur and amber mane were extremely matted and filthy. He reeked of stale blood, which made Chiku wrinkle her nose slightly.
Kame got closer as well, and laughed out loud mockingly. "I thought they said they'd send two fighters after us... But this one here is barely an adult. Is this the best that hopeless Pride could do? And I actually thought we'd be in for a challenge!"
Chiku turned to looked at Kame, whose soft voice and rather polite and well-mannered tone contrasted greatly with Ubaya's. The almost white lion looked quite clean in comparison, although his mane also showed traces of blood, mud and dead grass. He was slightly smaller, but still imposing enough. Chiku found his pale blue eyes quite striking, but that didn't mean that their coldness towards her was not chilling her to the bone.
"Come on, give me a chance," Chiku replied, "You haven't seen me fight yet, but I assure you, I'm full of surprises. Although I suppose fighting is not really on your mind right now, huh?" She glanced at Ubaya, who had been sniffing her neck intently. She swished her tail a couple of times, feeling annoyed.
Kame looked her up and down. "Please... Don't flatter yourself. Ugly lionesses like you don't really turn me on, whether they're in season or not."
Chiku blinked at him, looking slightly surprised.
Ubaya grinned at Kame. "I'll have to agree with you on this one, pal. We've seen many females in our life, but this one here really wins the ugly prize. Who would want to mate with that? All those scars and bulgy muscles are not very becoming on a female. I much prefer the dainty, helpless type."
"Remember that hideous, mane-less lion we came across one time?" Kame sniggered.
Ubaya laughed derisively, and looked at Chiku again critically. "Now that you mention it, yeah, the resemblance is uncanny. I wonder if this one here ain't a mane-less bloke trying to pass for a lioness... How about you stand up so that I can check, just to be sure?" he told her, snickering slightly. He got so close to Chiku that she had to turn away, repulsed by his smell, but she still stood her ground and remained firmly seated.
Johari, who had already regained her composure, and had been listening intently to their conversation, realized that these two were already playing mind games with her daughter. A lioness in season is very sensitive to this kind of talk, and rejection during this period is a very hard pill to swallow. She was sure the rogues knew that, and they were taunting Chiku just for kicks. She could only hope Chiku would be strong enough to let it slide.
Chiku had listened to their snide remarks, keeping a straight face, but her drooping ears didn't go unnoticed by the two lions. She shook her head quickly as if to scare away a pesky fly, remembering how Hadithi had been all over her and how he would have gladly mated with her if she had been of age.
"Well, it's too bad you feel that way about me..." she finally replied, "Here I was, swooning my heart out and thinking that your greasy, smelly mane was extremely appealing."
The two males laughed brightly in unison.
"I love it when they talk back," Kame said, grinning broadly, "It just makes their surrendering and their begging for mercy a whole lot sweeter."
Ubaya nodded in agreement. "As for my mane... What can I say? I like to roll and bask around on my victims' blood. It's just a little guilty pleasure of mine."
Kame chuckled. "Yes, it does make him really happy... But his mane doesn't look like this all the time, you know. He usually asks our next victim to groom him first."
Ubaya sat down in front of Chiku and looked at her, expectantly. "What are you waiting for? Go ahead, start grooming! While you're at it, I could tell you the story of the lioness and her cubs, whose blood currently mats my fur. Wouldn't that be fun?"
Chiku felt her stomach making a nasty turn. She had already mentally prepared herself for possible intercourse, if the situation called for it, even if the thought of mating with them made her sick. But the thought of having to groom Ubaya, knowing the reason behind his dirty mane, made her even queasier.
"I think I'll pass. I've never been the type that grooms others. I prefer to slice them open," Chiku replied, while the nausea made her drool uncontrollably.
Ubaya looked at her closer, as her saliva dripped to the floor. "Are you aware that you're saying one thing, but your whole body is telling us something completely different?"
Kame snorted, once he also noticed Chiku was feeling sick. "Hey, Ubaya, I bet you a gazelle she'll wet herself before the fun part even starts..."
"It's on!" Ubaya replied.
While the two lions discussed the terms of their bet, Chiku realized that she was not in tune with her emotions. She needed to calm down, and fast. She tried thinking of all those times Johari upset her, forcing her to concentrate that anger into the fight. She remembered all the coconuts she slashed open, and just as she once pretended they all had Johari's face on them, she pictured new coconuts in front of her, which now had Kame and Ubaya written all over them.
Chiku also remembered one extremely thunderous night, where she had been hiding under a rock in the lair, scared of the loud and bright lightning. She was still a very small cub back then, experiencing her very first storm. Johari had insisted that she came out, telling her they would play games in the rain. Johari seldom played games with her, so Chiku eventually gave in to her request, and came out from hiding. They ran around the place at the rhythm of the storm, taking turns to chase each other every time the lightning struck. They played for what seemed like hours, and Chiku had such a great time that she forgot all about being scared, and actually felt sad when the stormy clouds rolled away, putting an end to their game as well.
This is it... This is only a game during thunder, and these guys are my coconuts...Chiku thought, regaining confidence in herself. She finally stood up and began circling the rogues herself.
"Well, since you're not in the mood for mating and I'm not in the mood for grooming, why don't we just get this party started? Who wants to fight me first?"
Ubaya watched her walk, and admired her rippling muscles greedily, wanting nothing more than to claim her right there and then, and sink his teeth in her luscious shoulders, but Kame slapped him back to his senses with a paw, and replied first, "Well, the thing is, we're both kitty-cats at heart. We like to play with our prey first, you know. I personally see no fun in finishing you off in ten seconds flat."
Chiku knew she had to lure at least one of them in, to give Johari the chance of a surprise attack. She finally let herself go and allowed her body to take over her mind for a moment. She could already tell she was acting differently, and not even on purpose. She swayed her hips as she walked, and her tail swished from side to side as if it had a mind of its own. She found all this quite terrifying, but she could also see that at least Ubaya was losing his focus and kept staring at her hind quarters all the time. This reassured her greatly and Chiku decided she would concentrate on luring Ubaya in. Since he was the biggest one, Johari and Chiku would benefit greatly if he were to get injured at an early stage of the game.
Chiku walked to him and brushed the tip of her tail down his cheek. "How about you? Do you also think that little of my fighting skills?"
Ubaya followed her closely for a moment. "Mmmm. You wouldn't last five seconds fighting with me, ugly."
"My name is Chiku," she snapped, looking at him over her shoulder, "Besides, are you aware that you keep calling me ugly, but your body is telling me something completely different?"
Kame laughed and yelled, "She got you there, Ubaya..."
But Ubaya wasn't laughing. The look of lust that had been pasted on his face had quickly changed, if only for a few seconds. He sniffed the air around, smiling to himself, and called Kame over.
Kame looked at him with curiosity and walked closer. His eyes opened wide all of a sudden, and they exchanged a quick glance, nodding curtly at each other.
"Well, I guess we could get this tension out of the way so we can both focus on the battle..." Ubaya mumbled, walking towards Chiku, "How about that?"
"I hate to admit it, but I'd appreciate some relief myself, too. Let's get this done and over with, shall we?" Chiku replied.
She turned around and presented herself to Ubaya, hoping Johari would be ready to pounce at any moment.
Chiku had been bracing herself, expecting to feel the weight and heat of Ubaya's body surrounding her, but it never came. Instead, a loud roar made her snap out of it and turn around. Ubaya and Kame had actually pounced together into a set of bushes nearby, and returned while dragging Johari by her paws.
"Looks like we've hit the jackpot," Ubaya said, looking very pleased at having ruined their attempt at an ambush.
"Next time you want to try a surprise attack, better go roll around in the mud, to mask that beautiful scent of yours," Kame told Johari, who was struggling to get up.
Chiku growled. "Let her go!"
"Now, now," Ubaya said, throwing a warning glare at Chiku, "Her life is in our paws now, don't you agree you're in no position to bark orders around?"
"I'm fine, Chiku, don't get distracted!" Johari hissed, but was forced to remain silent by Ubaya's paw pressing down on her throat.
"This, my little, ugly lioness, is what we call leverage. It means that now you both will do everything we tell you to do, if you want to keep each other safe and sound," Ubaya went on, looking down at Johari with contempt.
Kame proceeded to carelessly lie down on top of Johari, knocking the air out of her in the process. He then rested all his weight on her, keeping her pinned down.
Ubaya shook himself, looking very satisfied. "So... How about that grooming session? Something tells me you might have changed your mind in the meantime..." Ubaya told Chiku, sitting close to her again.
Chiku stared from Ubaya to her mother, as tears of anger began forming in her eyes. She wanted nothing more than to lash at him, but Johari was at a very compromising position, and she was afraid that if she were to attack Ubaya, Johari would end up paying the price; Kame's sharp claws were extremely close to Johari's throat.
Chiku took a deep breath, and began grooming Ubaya with disgust, trying hard not to pay attention to the task at hand, while her mind raced with plans to attack Kame and free Johari from his grasp.
"Not only are you hideous, but you're a lousy groomer too. You'll never find a mate this way, you know," Ubaya taunted, "Put some passion into it, come on," he said, and pinched her on the flank with two claws.
Chiku winced at first, but just as Johari had experienced once, her body reacted different to the stimulus this time. She could not stop herself from rubbing her face on Ubaya's cheek as she gave him a couple of heart-felt licks. She then gasped, surprised, not knowing why in the world she just did that.
"Leave her alone..." Johari snarled, looking at Chiku's confused and startled expression as she looked down at her flank, staring at the spot where she had been pinched. But Kame placed a paw on the back of Johari's head and gently unsheathed his claws, just as a warning.
Chiku shook her head and then carried own with her poor attempt at grooming, feeling nervous and confused.
Johari felt Kame's body shake slightly on top of her as he let out a chuckle. If he were to laugh again, she thought, she might just be able to wiggle out of his grasp and push him aside, so Johari remained extremely alert.
"Do that again, it was kind of funny," Kame told Ubaya.
Ubaya laughed along and scratched Chiku's shoulder with one nail slowly, waiting for her reaction.
Chiku bared her teeth, looking very angry for a short moment, but again she was overwhelmed by the new sensations, and she let out a deep sigh, hating herself for enjoying the feeling of well-being that followed the pain.
Ubaya gave her a mean grin, and continued to poke her with one nail in random places of her body.
Chiku closed her eyes, trying to fight the feeling, but the sensations were stronger than she had expected, and she lost track of herself for a few seconds. It was as if time had stopped for a moment, and by the time she opened her eyes again, she realized with horror that she was actually rubbing her own body full length against Ubaya's, while he raked his claws down her flanks and tried to press her hips down to the ground. She had no idea how that had happened, but she quickly snapped out of it, before Ubaya could take advantage of her. She felt revolted at herself and at Ubaya's amused expression.
"Get away from me..." Chiku snarled, getting a grip on herself as she took a few steps back. The lioness now understood why Johari didn't want her to fight in this state. It would be very difficult to concentrate, and she was extremely afraid of losing herself again after a bite or a scratch. She would have to be stronger than ever.
Johari could tell that Chiku was struggling with the situation, so she hoped she could make the rogues focus on her instead.
"Funny," Johari said out loud, "I always had the idea that you guys were more into making a lioness feel pain instead of pleasure. She's clearly not hurting, so why don't you just leave her alone?"
"Ah, maybe now's a good time to tell them all about our findings?" Kame said, while gently stroking Johari's back of her head with his paw. It kept Johari on edge, not knowing when he would bring out his claws to hurt her unexpectedly.
"Oh, yes," Ubaya replied, "You see, we've carried out a series of extensive experiments, and all of them led to one simple conclusion: There is always a threshold."
Johari looked at Ubaya, frowning. "Meaning?"
"Meaning that there is always a point in which the mind of a lioness in season will stop interpreting pain as pleasure. This usually occurs when her body realizes it's actually being attacked and in real danger. Now, the threshold varies in every lioness, of course. Some of them start experiencing real pain once we bite off one of their ears... Others are stronger than that, but they can't stand the pain of a crushed paw..."
Both lionesses turned to look at each other, and Johari cursed herself for having brought Chiku into this mess in her current condition.
"I have to admit that our ugly Chiku here looks kind of strong," Ubaya went on, prodding the lioness' firm muscles once more with a claw, "I daresay she would put up with quite a lot, but I am sure she'll reach breaking point by the time I slice her belly open..."
"And then he'll mate with her, and trust me, she won't be enjoying any of it!" Kame added nonchalantly, as if he had only been discussing the weather.
"Shut up!" Johari growled, finally losing her calm, "It's me who had the idea to come and fight you, so you leave her out of this!"
The moment Johari had been waiting for finally came. Kame began laughing once again at her outburst, and she managed to wiggle a paw out of his grasp. Johari didn't think twice, and she scratched him hard, right on the face.
Kame got up quickly, looking startled and roaring in anger.
Chiku immediately ran to her mother's side and helped her up, while baring her teeth at the rogues. "Mom, are you okay?"
"I'm fine, don't worry, concentrate!" Johari hissed.
Kame kept rubbing a paw to his nose, looking very displeased. The gash looked deep enough, since he was bleeding and there were tears in his eyes, whether they were from pain or anger, Johari and Chiku could not tell.
"Oh, will you look at that, they're mother and daughter, how cute!" Ubaya mocked.
"Whatever. Let's just get this over with and kill these two," Kame said, looking extremely angry for the first time since he arrived. He looked even more imposing now; he almost appeared to be a different lion, with his face contorted in rage.
Ubaya turned to Kame for a moment. "Hey," he said, but Kame kept staring at the lionesses with a murderous look.
"Hey!" Ubaya insisted, with a trace of urgency in his voice, shaking Kame softly by the shoulders, "Kame, we like to make it last, remember?"
Kame turned to Ubaya and they both locked eyes for just a brief moment, while Johari and Chiku looked at each other, confused, hesitating whether to jump at them now.
The white lion's expression softened visibly, and Ubaya gave him an approving nod. "That's more like it," he muttered.
Once Ubaya was sure that Kame wouldn't go berserk on the lionesses, he walked to Johari and looked at her intently for a moment. He decided to attempt some more psychological warfare on them by using his best card against them: Ishara.
"Hmm. You look a lot like your sister, now that I think about it. I do remember her clearly..." he said close to Johari's face.
"Don't you even dare speak about her, you murderer..." she spat at him.
Ubaya gave her a mean grin, confirming that he could get to Johari this way. "Oh, why not? After all, I do have very sweet and fond memories of her. Did you know that your sister, your daughter and you all have the same, beautiful eyes?"
Kame decided to ignore his bleeding nose for now, and finally joined Ubaya's side and added, "He should know; he's the one who took them out..."
Chiku could notice that Johari had started to shake from anger. She had never seen her mother so upset, and for a moment she feared that Johari would be the one making mistakes during the fight, instead of herself.
"Don't listen to them, mom... Remember what you said? They'd try to upset us..." Chiku whispered.
Johari only nodded slightly, reassuring Chiku that she was okay. Johari was sure these guys would start recounting each and every thing they did to Ishara, just to throw her concentration off, but she would have to be strong and brush it off for now.
"Be ready," Johari hissed at Chiku, "You'll go for the white one. Whatever you do, don't let him pin you down."
Chiku gave her a quick nod, and focused on the rogues intently, who were still bragging about the day they had crossed Ishara's path.
"She tried to run away at some point, remember?" Ubaya went on, pretending to reminisce as he looked up at the sky thoughtfully, "even after we had chewed off all her claws! So, naturally, we had to break her legs, one by one, to prevent her from-"
But Ubaya could not finish his hurtful remarks, since at that moment Johari gave Chiku the signal, and launched the attack. Johari went straight for Ubaya, leaving the smaller and slightly wounded lion for Chiku.
As they tried to slash and intimidate each other, the sound of their roaring became so loud that several animals heard them in the distance, and congregated to watch. There were mainly wild dogs, hyenas and vultures from the area. They had never witnessed a battle so fierce, but what made it more exciting was to know that someone had finally dared to stand up to those two brutes.
Not only lion prides had suffered from Kame and Ubaya's mistreatments. Many hyenas, wild dogs, leopards and cheetahs had perished for sport at their paws. So those who were witnessing this battle knew that they could be in for a huge treat, if the lionesses succeeded.
Both Chiku and Johari noticed that the rogues weren't incredibly good fighters, compared to the way Salehe fought. Ubaya was a lot slower, relying more on strength than speed. He was not looking to bite or scratch, but he kept trying to land heavy blows to the face instead, most likely so that he could disorient Johari and pin her down, keeping her alive long enough for their sick and twisted purposes.
Ubaya had to admit that he had not expected the lioness to be this good, and even though he had landed a couple of powerful blows on Johari's face, the lioness only shook her head quickly and kept going strong. Her speed was impressive, but Ubaya knew she could not keep it up forever. She would grow tired, and then he would take the advantage.
Kame was going through a similar experience with Chiku. He realized that whoever taught this young lioness to fight definitely did a very good job. He had never encountered such a good female fighter in his life, and he almost felt it would be a shame to kill them. Unlike Ubaya, Kame was lighter on his feet, and he was also looking forward to biting and scratching, so Chiku was already sporting several deep wounds. But she had managed to hurt the lion too in the meantime, so the fight was quite even at this point.
But Ubaya had been right, and despite having great stamina, Chiku and Johari began to slow down, resulting in the males landing more hits and bites.
It was until Ubaya stood up on two paws to try and maul Johari's face, that Chiku noticed he was only resting his weight on one leg, and kept the other one from touching the ground repeatedly.
"Mom! Go for the warthog! The warthog!" Chiku yelled at Johari, in a code that they had made up for different parts of the enemy's body, so that they could help each other point out weaknesses, without letting the opponent know which part they were about to attack.
Johari heard her clearly and glanced towards Ubaya's left hind leg. The lion was indeed trying to keep from putting too much weight on it. Johari then decided to try the same move that Salehe first tried on her when she asked to be taught. Only this time she swiped her paw forcefully across his hind legs, instead of the forelegs. Her actions had the desired effect.
Ubaya tripped slightly and let out a roar of pain. He began limping more obviously now. He turned around, looking extremely angry, and unlike Kame, he felt no added respect for the lionesses, and would certainly feel very glad when disposing of these two pests.
Johari continued to target his hind legs, slowing him down considerably.
Chiku in the meantime still had not found any weaknesses to take advantage of, so she continued to fight Kame and dodge his attacks as best as she could. The fact that she could not feel much pain at this point was very helpful, and being completely focused on the fight helped her not to respond in the same way she had done when Ubaya had been prodding her with his claws.
She had never felt so determined in her life, and for the first time, she wholeheartedly agreed with her mother's anger in this whole situation. These guys deserved what was coming, not only for what they did to Ishara, but for everyone else that met their demise through them.
Chiku was vaguely aware that some of the wild dogs that had gathered together to watch had gotten closer, and she hoped with all her heart that they would not try to interfere and break their concentration, but as she listened closely to what they were all screaming, Chiku realized they were actually egging the lionesses on.
A couple of wild dogs were yelling, "Get them, rip them apart!"
"Avenge my daughters, I beg you!" an old hyena added to the mix of screams and cheers.
Chiku felt renewed strength when she heard these natural enemies actually siding with them and cheering for her, and in her excitement she managed to hit Kame so hard in the face, close to his ear, making him lose his balance and stumble a few paces.
Chiku wasted no time and jumped at him, slicing every inch of his body with her paws, attacking him in what she had called the 'rabid coconut-killer' mode.
Kame roared in pain, and looked up startled when he saw Chiku standing on top of him, pinning him down for a moment.
Chiku's weight was not enough to keep the lion down, so Kame managed to wiggle out of her grasp. He quickly turned around and tried to to swipe a paw at her face. Chiku saw her chance and went for her signature move: she caught his paw in her muzzle, and then twisted it painfully. She didn't dare to break it with her jaws, but the hyenas kept screaming at her to do it.
"Break it! Like this! Like this!" the hyenas yelled and clicked their teeth loudly.
Chiku twisted the leg further, forcing Kame to flop down on the grass from the pain while he struggled to escape. She stood up on him again, and released the injured leg for a moment. She turned to look at the cheering hyenas and said, "Why don't you have a go, if you're so keen on breaking his paw-"
She hadn't even finished her line when the old hyena that had been crying earlier for her daughters came running boldly towards her, and without any warning she took hold of Kame's wounded leg with her mouth, and bit down as hard as she could. Kame screamed in pain and started to squirm once again, trying his best to get up.
The sound of breaking bones had been so loud that even Johari and Ubaya had paused to watch for a second, while the hyena retreated screaming gleefully, "That was for my daughters! Those two killed them two nights ago!"
The endorphines released after the huge moment of pain made Kame react forcefully and he somehow regained enough strength to push Chiku off him, but the damage was done. His right forepaw was now useless, and he could not put any weight on it or use it to fight anymore.
Chiku saw for the first time a trace of fear in Kame's eyes, while he tried to weigh his chances.
"Do you reckon this is what all those lionesses felt like, when you guys did this to them?" Chiku asked him, panting heavily.
"We're the ones who do the wise cracks here, ugly," Kame replied, and jumped at her, baring his fangs.
Chiku rolled underneath him as he jumped and landed a good blow on his back, making him trip more easily now that he couldn't use one of his forepaws. Chiku kept pushing him around until Kame fell to his side, and she quickly stood up on top of him again. She was hoping she could finally get a hold of his neck and give him the killing bite, but he was still very mobile and kept wiggling around, scratching her face in the process.
Chiku winced, while the wild dogs and the hyenas were screaming at her to let them help.
Chiku looked at them quickly. "I take it you guys also have a bone to pick with him?"
A very young hyena approached, looking rather nervous. She couldn't have been more than one year old. "You keep him down! You keep him down, and don't let him go! Promise?" she stuttered, clearly nervous.
Chiku nodded and managed to make Kame loose his balance again, by swiping his good foreleg extremely hard. The lion fell to the ground, and Chiku rested her weight on Kame's back. The young hyena hesitated only for a second, but then she ran towards them and bit hard on the other foreleg, also crushing the bones effortlessly.
The young hyena retreated, boasting to her friends that she'd actually bitten the lion who had killed her parents and sibling.
Chiku looked down at Kame. There was nothing much he could do anymore at this point, other than wriggling around on the ground. She stepped away from him as he groaned in pain, and decided to join Johari in the fight against Ubaya.
Johari brightened up when she saw Chiku by her side. She could see her daughter was hurt and bleeding from several places, but Chiku didn't appear to be bothered by it. Her focus was completely on the fight; the pain would come later.
"Let's show him what we've learned during our last lessons... Two versus one!" Chiku exclaimed, thankful for the last lessons they took together with Salehe, even if she had hated them at first.
Johari felt renewed energy from seeing her daughter so focused, and although Ubaya had been a lot stronger, between the two of them they managed to pin him down as well within a couple of minutes. Two more hyenas rushed in to have a go at his paws, but this time it was Johari who bit hard on his leg.
Chiku looked at her startled.
Johari didn't stop at that, she actually moved on to bite the rest of Ubaya and Kame's limbs, until both of them could not stand up any longer. Johari stared down at them with contempt. Her hard work had finally paid off and she let out a loud, victorious roar.
Chiku glanced around, noticing how silent everyone had gone, wondering what would happen next, holding on to each and one of Johari's words as she spoke next.
"Why don't you tell me what was the order of events that led to my sister's death? Then I can do the exact same thing to you."
Ubaya looked up at her and cursed, calling her nasty names while spitting blood in the process.
Johari shrugged nonchalantly "In that case, I'll just have to guess... Maybe I could start with an eye?"
"Mom..." Chiku interrupted, but Johari was not listening.
"Or I could bite an ear off... What do you say? What do you all say?" She asked, addressing the hyenas and wild dogs around them, who had all gone extremely quiet. No one dared to reply.
"Mom!" Chiku yelled louder this time, "You can't do this. You're not like them. Don't stoop to their level... Please... Listen to me..."
Johari looked at Chiku as her eyes began to tear up. "But this is what I've been working for all this time... I want them to feel the pain, I want them to suffer like Ishara did..."
Chiku nuzzled Johari and said, "And then what? Can you live with the fact that you did the same horrifying things that these guys did?"
Johari looked at the mangled legs of Ubaya, and all of a sudden she became aware of the taste of his blood in her mouth. She had to admit that she felt sick at the sight, remembering the look of Ishara's own legs, and she shook her head.
"Do you think it will feel any good to take their eyes out? Of course not, mom. We're not sadists, like them... They'll probably have one last kick, knowing how much you're hating what you're doing."
Johari glanced at Ubaya, and walked to him, looking much calmer now. "You should be thankful that my daughter has been kind enough to remind me that a lioness is supposed to bring down her prey in an honorable way, quickly and as painless as possible. If it hadn't been for her, you and your friend here would have ended up looking just like my sister did when you were done with her..."
"I'm moved. You're both so damn noble," Ubaya growled sarcastically.
Johari bent over and took a hold of Ubaya's mane. She then dragged him closer to Kame, where both of them could actually see each other.
"Before I finish you off," Johari said, sitting between the two lions, "I want to know who alerted you about our training and about our presence here. How did you find out?"
Ubaya simply cursed at her again in response, but Johari's patience had ran out. She pushed his head backwards with one of her paws and closed her jaws on Ubaya's throat forcefully.
Ubaya tried to kick Johari but the pain in his limbs was excruciating, there was nothing he could do at this point to defend himself.
Kame simply watched silently as Ubaya's pupils widened in fear, while he gasped for air. A deep sigh escaped Kame's mouth once Ubaya had stopped thrashing, his unblinking eyes still fixed on him.
Johari released her grip on Ubaya and turned to Kame. "Perhaps you'll be more cooperative than he was?"
"What's the point? You'll kill me anyway after I spill the beans."
Chiku stood by her mother's side and surprised her by saying, "Oh, you'll die for sure, but you can choose between my mother's gentle, almost caressing bite, or being eaten alive by the hyenas here..."
The hyenas let out loud whoops of excitement. "We'll even share with the wild dogs this time!"
The onlookers cheered shortly, and then hushed each other quickly to hear what Kame had to say.
Kame took a deep breath, staring at his dead companion for a short moment. He made up his mind; he would go the same way he went. As for Johari and Chiku, he decided he would be honest with them, just for putting up such a good fight.
"There's nothing much to it..." Kame said, resting his head on the grass, feeling a lot weaker now after losing a lot of blood. "One day, this black heron came flying to us and mentioned something about two lionesses from the Eyasi Pride training to try and get revenge on us. You see, we usually don't go back to a territory we've already visited, but this time we thought we would make an exception and humour you guys a bit."
Chiku and Johari listened intently, along with the rest of the onlookers.
"We didn't see the bird again for a while, until one day he showed up to warn us that you two were not simply quietly waiting for us to return back at your lair, but that you were actually looking for us, so he warned us to keep our guards up."
"Why was he helping you? Did he say anything about that?"
Kame looked at the two lionesses, but shook his head slightly. "All I can say for sure is that he was not doing it for his enjoyment. He always looked quite nervous, stuttering, not really at ease with the idea of addressing us."
Johari and Chiku looked at each other thoughtfully, muttering to each other why Meru would have set them up like that.
"It's obvious, isn't it?" Kame said after listening to their theories, looking calm and composed even in these circumstances.
The lionesses turned to look at him. "What is obvious?"
"Just look at you two. I've never seen warriors like you in my life. I am quite sure that someone in your Pride is feeling threatened by your strength and skills, and they were making sure that you wouldn't make it back alive, by trying to lower your chances against us. Think hard; have you upset anybody? Has anyone got any reason to fear you, or to believe that you will try to take their position by force?"
Johari kept a straight face, but Chiku's eyes widened up considerably. She remembered all of a sudden the night when Kamaria asked her to spy on Johari and Salehe, and now that she was older, she could understand the consequences of what she had said back then.
"Mom... there was one time when-" Chiku started to say, but Johari interrupted her.
"We'll discuss this later, in private," she whispered, glancing at the crowd around them.
"Anything else you have to say?" Johari asked the agonizing lion.
Kame shook his head silently and closed his eyes again.
Johari nodded to herself and was about to go for his throat, when Chiku said, "Wait..."
Kame opened his eyes again only to see Chiku bending over right in front of him, almost face to face. He inhaled deeply and gave her a sly smile, while whispering, "Are you still craving for some quality time with me?"
Chiku ignored his remark and looked deep into his blue eyes. "I just want to know... Why?"
"Why what?" Kame replied, nonplussed.
"Why did you hurt all those lionesses? All those innocent cubs..."
Kame let out a deep chuckle. "My dear, the answer to that is: we did it just for gags."
"I refuse to believe that... There has to be a reason behind all this! Please... I just need to understand all that's happened here..."
Kame shook his head. "If you're looking for a sob story about how Ubaya and I were abused as cubs, and grew up to be the tortured souls we are today, then I will have to disappoint you. Ubaya and I both had a rather normal cubhood and our parents were okay, most of the time. Ubaya was simply born a bully, and I happened to share his fascination for exerting control over others."
Chiku's mouth was wide open for a moment, until she ventured to ask, "You never stopped to think that what you were doing was wrong?"
"Oh, yes, many times, but the thing is, that little part inside yourself that tells you to give a damn, it never worked in Ubaya and myself," Kame replied nonchalantly, "We thrived in the fear of others, and the fact that even Prides miles away knew about our existence, was reason enough to keep us going and try to pay them all a visit. I tell you once again, there's no reason to this madness. Stop trying to make sense of this, because it won't make any to you. You need to be one of us to understand why our minds work the way they do."
"So you don't feel any remorse, not even now that you're about to die?"
Kame's expression changed suddenly. From looking calm and defeated, he went to growling and baring his teeth in a rather mean looking grin. His voice even dropped a register when he said, "The only thing I'm regretting now, ugly, is not having made you mine, and then sliced your throat open while I was at it-"
"That's enough," Johari said, not trusting Kame's change in personality at all. She pushed Chiku aside gently and then silenced Kame with a slap to the face.
Kame's features softened again. He simply laughed softly to himself, and closed his eyes again, exposing his neck to Johari, accepting his fate with resignation.
Chiku looked at her mother for a moment. She could tell Johari was hesitating whether to kill Kame swiftly, or to allow the hyenas to finish him off after all. She kept glancing at the pack, and then back at Kame, looking indecisive.
Chiku took a step forward and before Johari could back on her words, Chiku was the one who gave the killing bite instead. This was her first time suffocating someone, and despite the fact that Kame began panicking, and tried to to fend her off pitifully with his broken legs, Chiku held on to her bite and did not let go, even minutes after Kame's chest had ceased to rise.
"He's gone, Chiku, you can let go now," Johari whispered in her ear, slightly upset that Chiku had seen through her intentions of letting Kame suffer a bit longer.
Chiku released her bite, and flopped on the grass, next to Kame's still body. She could feel her legs shaking from all the physical exertion as well as the intense emotions experienced today. It was until now that she felt safe enough to lower he guard.
The wild dogs and hyenas approached, and sincerely thanked the lionesses for ending the rogues' days of terror. They proceeded to tell them about the relatives they had lost, and how everyone dreamed of the day someone strong and brave would put a stop to them. The vultures flew around the area, telling any other passing bird about what they had witnessed, and the word began to spread like a wild fire.
Chiku thanked the hyenas for their help in subduing Kame. For some reason she could not understand, she hadn't dared to break his paws herself, and who knows what would have been the outcome if the hyenas hadn't taken that task over.
The wild dogs were so grateful that they even shared some of their food from the previous catch with the lionesses, knowing that they would be too exhausted to go hunting for now.
Chiku and Johari accepted the meal gratefully, and bid them all farewell. They retreated in search of a quiet place, far away from the place of the fight. They didn't feel like listening to the hyenas gorging in on the two rogues.
Once they were done eating, the lionesses were both extremely quiet as they nursed their wounds thoughtfully, the events of the day still running through their minds.
Chiku was in a worse state, sporting gashes and bite marks all over, but the lioness was not complaining at all.
Johari watched her daughter as she groomed herself. She felt Chiku had grown so much in one single day, and that she had learned more today, than in all her previous lessons.
"Thanks for everything, Chiku... Also for stopping me when I was getting carried away. You were absolutely right. I would have hated myself afterwards..."
Chiku looked up and acknowledged her words with a quick nod and a small smile.
"Need some help with those wounds?" Johari offered.
Chiku shook her head. "No, thanks, I'm almost done." The lioness looked around for a quick moment, and sighed loudly. "You know what's weird? I'm very tired, but I also feel very restless... It's like... Although my paws refuse to walk any further, I am really craving to go for a walk."
Johari smiled understandingly. "I know what you mean. It's your season messing with you. Why don't you try and find yourself a nice tree to rub against? That usually helps, and you'll feel a lot better."
Chiku mustered all her energy to get up, and found a tree to her liking, and rubbed her body, head and chin against it repeatedly, hesitant at first, but more enthusiastic after a while. Her restlessness eventually faded, and the lioness immediately fell in a very deep sleep, not worried about being attacked by the rogues in her sleep anymore.
Johari tried to join her in a nap too, but she still felt very worried, knowing that perhaps there was someone back at home that would not be glad at all to see them return safe and sound. Not only that, she had hoped that killing Ubaya and Kame would bring her peace and enlightenment, but she still felt as empty and as miserable as before, perhaps even more now that it felt as if her life had no purpose any more. All this time she had lived only to train for her fight against the rogues. What was she supposed to do now?
"That's it... I've done it... So where do I go from here, Ishara?" she whispered softly, glancing up at the sky.
The lioness stared upwards thoughtfully for quite a while, until drowsiness finally took over and she lay her head to rest on her paws.