Chapter 5

The following morning, the Pridelands woke to the panicked cries of Zazu and his birds. In the night-time, three more herds had been wiped out. A gazelle herd, a herd of wildebeest, and a herd of kudu. In the time it took for the message to disseminate around Pride Rock, Simba was already running as fast as his legs could take him to the site of the devastation.

"Who found them?" Simba asked, and Zazu flapped his wings the direction of a familiar, slightly aging, meerkat. Timon seemed to be hyperventilating and was leaning on Pumba for support.

"Good Lord, Simba! You –" He wheezed for breath. "You have to do something!" The poor meerkat collapsed to the ground.

"Timon? You found them? Tell me everything that happened!" Simba ordered, uncharacteristically serious with his two oldest friends. The red maned King of Pride Rock was implacable.

"We were digging for the vaunted azure-star beetle, it only comes out this time of year in the twilight hours, so Pumba and I were here lifting rocks and logs and the like, and then we finally found a trio of the delicious little blighters. Pumba and I had one each, and I swear it was delicious beyond words, and we were just arguing – I mean discussing, at volume – among ourselves, which of us should get the second beetle, since Pumba was the one that found it but it was my glorious plan, and-"

"Timon –"

"You're right, we should have invited you to partake, three of them between the three of us divides so much better, I know Nala doesn't approve of your habit, but we're all friends here and-"

"Timon! Focus! Please!" Kovu snapped. The darker lion was standing at Simba's right paw, where he frequently found himself these days, and he had little patience for the duo's antics. Timon flinched at Kovu's glare. Kovu could still put the fear of Scar into him if he needed it: a useful ability when their less… sensible… ideas threatened to override their common sense, especially when the young Prince was concerned. The only time Simba had discovered Kovu genuinely angry was when he had found the insectivores attempting to feed a centipede as long as his forearm to the infant crown Prince of the Pridelands. Kovu and Kiara had not been amused. Simba – though he had concealed it with the delicate ease that only a lion thrown from his formative years into the fire of diplomacy and trans-pride politics could manage.

"Right! Simba, we went past the rock to the watering hole for some sweet water to wash it down, and it was just there – piled into the water!" Timon said, with a visible shudder. "I drank from it! Oh, sweet spirits and kings I drank for it! I think I swallowed some kudu-juice!" He cringed.

Simba looked over slaughter. The herd had been dragged from where it had been slain, and dumped into the watering hole. The watering hole was used by all creatures in the Pridelands, to drink and bathe and to cool off in the midday heat. It was communal, the very foundation of the balance of the Circle of Life. Violence didn't have a place there. A herd animal could drink there as well as a predator. A rogue wouldn't dream of initiating a challenge near it. Animals that sought to claim more than their share of water were quickly set upon by the Lion Guard, and balance restored. It was a sacred thing, a key principle of the hospitality that united all of the kingdoms, chieftains and tribal lands throughout the Serengeti, and so far as Simba knew, beyond! The killers had not only violated and defiled that; they had disposed of the cadavers by dumbing them into the water. The meat, which could have fed half a dozen Prides, was bloated, swollen, and rotten, picked at only by water-flies and detritivores. Discarded and abandoned. Simba sniffed, and the scent of rotting flesh permeated his nostrils. Despicable behaviour. It may very well have poisoned the supply for everyone.

"Tell me." Simba said, closing his eyes. "Please. Tell me, someone saw something." He pleaded. Zazu fluffed his wings, and swallowed. "We… may have something, this time sire… But I warn you its… Not necessarily a reliable messenger. We would do well to await confirmation before acting… rashly." He said.

"What is it?" He asked. Zazu gave a quick chirp, and, escorted by one of his fellow hornbills, another larger bird descended to the ground, and landed. The creature was a bald vulture. Simba winced. Vultures had never had the most productive relationship with the Kings of the Pridelands, except for the very violent ones. That was not to say they were exiled from the Pridelands as a species; such a punishment had only been meted out on few occasions in the Pridelands history. Simba nodded his head in respectful greeting.

"My King." The vulture said, its beak contorting into the facsimile of a crude smile.

"What is your name, vulture?" Simba asked him.

"I am called Neik, your majesty. It is a pleasure to acquaint myself with you." He said. Timon shuddered. His voice was oily, and every third word sounded as though it had been dripped in sarcasm and left to dry, no matter how sincere he was being.

"Well, Neik, I am told that you saw something this morning, before my friends," he nodded to Timon and Pumba "did. What can you tell us about this… incident?" He asked him. Neik strutted backward, seemingly pleased with the attention.

"Well, your majesty, I won't bore you with details. I was flying in the area, and caught the scent of a fresh kill. We are not poachers by nature, as you know. We are content to await our turn and take only what is left. So, I circled and awaited developments." He smirked. "And I saw the killing. It was a… productive… morning, let me tell you. So much death. So much slaughter." His tongue clicked behind his beak.

"What did you see? A pack of hyenas? A pride of rogue lions?" He asked him. The bird shook his head.

"No sire. There was only the one. One creature." It assured him.

"That's impossible." Simba said. "One creature couldn't have done all this, that's not possible!" He insisted. The bird bowed his head in supplication.

"Quite right sire, I must have been mistaken." He said. Simba slowed his breathing and shook his head.

"No. No. You must tell me what you saw. I apologise, I was… simply shocked. By what you said. Don't let me influence you. Tell me exactly what you saw. You were there, I wasn't." Simba said firmly. He couldn't lose important information now. The vulture gave a clucking noise with his beak.

"Well sire, I saw this paragon of killers scythe its way through the herd, and, well, I was amazed! It killed with such precision, such brutality, such amazing skill. It was a privilege to see, I tell you. We vultures are surrounded by death, all of our lives. From hatching to dust. It was… like poetry, seeing it refined in such a manner." The vulture said. Simba felt his stomach clench. The vulture idolised death. Behind him, he could see Timon, Pumba, and Zazu looking similarly disturbed. Timon was staring at the bird in astonishment.

"One creature." Simba muttered. "how could one creature could have done all of this? How is that even possible?"

"Well," said Neik. "I could have been wrong in the light. But I could have sworn it was a lioness. A Pridelander." He said.

Simba felt the world vanish beneath him. A number of the other lionesses began muttering to one another at that pronouncement.

"Is… Is he saying it was one of us?" One of the lionesses asked in astonishment.

"Or more than one…" Neik added, helpfully. Or not so helpfully, as Simba shot a dark look to the vulture. Such speculation didn't help any of them. Vitani and Kovu looked at one another, something passing between them in the moment, an unspoken understanding.

"Already on it." Vitani murmured, and returned to Pride Rock as quickly as she could, even as Kovu pestered the vulture for further details. Vitani ran back to Pride Rock as quickly as she could. If word of this got out, it would be a disaster.

Back atop Pride Rock, Nala was pacing up and down. Her agitation didn't go unnoticed. Princess Kiara approached her mother. She glanced back to her son, and saw that Kiava was excitedly playing some new game with Zuri, and seemed, for the moment, unaware of the tension about Pride Rock. She had at least a few moments.

"What's the matter, mom? Do you have more news?" She asked her. She may well be Queen, but to her she was always Mom. Nala stopped in her pacing and shook her head.

"It's nothing. But I guess that's what bothers me. We sent birds to speak to Rafiki, and to the other Kings and Queens of the Serengeti. We haven't heard back from either of them. Rafiki's advice is always helpful… He'd know what to do now…" She admitted. Rafiki came and went from the Pridelands as he willed, and it seemed that whenever he was needed most, he was the hardest to find.

"That's not unusual is it? I mean, Malka does live a ways away…" Kiara asked her. She didn't know the Mountain King very well, except that he was an old friend of both her parents. Malka had known Simba as a cub, and been an even closer confident of Nala's in the years during Scar's reign. Though he had never challenged Scar directly, it was no secret that he had been elated to survival.

"Not as such… Zalika and Chumvi though, keep in much closer contact. They at least would have replied by now, if our message had gotten through…" Nala said, sounding worried. Chumvi. Another of the Kings – this one by virtue of his Mate, the Queen Zalika of the Southlands. That was unusual. Chumvi was a Pridelander by birth, and even returned on occasion when such diplomatic visits could be arranged. To the extent that the more gossip prone lionesses speculated he had fathered a number of cubs within the Pridelands. A prospect Kiara considered faintly insulting to his lawful mate, who like her had been princess long before her mate had been crowned.

"You think someone is intercepting our messengers? Who would dare-?"

"I don't know Kiara. That's what worries me." Nala told her. She shook herself. "Come. I don't want to gripe. I want to be Kiava's fun Grandmother." She said. Given the conduct of the only other candidate, that suited Kiara just fine, and she accompanied her mother back to where Kiava had been. As before, the young Prince could be seen playing with Zuri, the pale furred daughter of one of Nala's better huntresses, Damu. Kiava looked up at his grandmother's approach, and smiled. Zuri, looked faintly intimidated by the Queen and the Princess's approach, and quickly performed a clumsy bow as she had been taught to before royalty. Kiava didn't seem to notice, and was very quickly animated in informing his mother and grandmother the particulars of their latest game. Apparently, birds were a prominent theme.

"'Kasi, go with Shabaha,' she says…" Kasiaan muttered to herself, sounding irritable. The fastest of the Lion Guard turned around again, and saw Shabaha trying to catch up. Hopefully Tazama and Imara were having better luck. If she had been by herself, she could have crossed half the Pridelands by now. Instead, they were barely a quarter of the way through. She ground her teeth in frustration. Shabaha, for her part, was doing the best she could, but she was breathing heavily. It wasn't just in speed that Kasiaan outshone her, but also in stamina. Shabaha was the bravest, not the fastest, and as she had predicted, Shabaha slowed her down. She tried not to let her irritation show.

"I'm going as fast I can!" Shabaha snarled, making little effort to hide her own. "Kings above, you are just –"

"Shabaha!"

"I'm coming I'm coming!"

"No, I mean, look at this!" Kasiaan told her. She had stopped for a few moments, and was staring at the ground.

"What is it?" Shabaha asked her. Kasiaan pointed at the grassland. It was blackened, charred almost. In a straight line.

"Really? This is it? We spend all this time trying to track whatever's been killing the herds off, and all we have to show for it is a patch of blacked grass?" She asked. "I'd almost prefer if we did stumble upon a Zwimi…" Shabaha said. "At least we'd have something to fight…"

Kasiaan rolled her eyes. "Charred earth? Ridiculous. There haven't even been any wildfires here. We'd have seen the smoke from Pride Rock wouldn't we?" She protested.

"Oh sure. But last moon, I'd have bet my next ten meals that we'd also have seen something wiping out of our herds…" Shabaha said, showing nervousness for the first time, and shrugging helplessly. He thought for a moment. Which as a moment longer than she usually took to consider things. "Hmm… Well, Zira once set the Savanah ablaze with fire stolen from the Shadowlands, remember?" Shabaha suggested. Kasiaan paused. It wouldn't be the first time an enemy of the Pridelands had attacked it with fire. Nor the first time that fire had devastated Pride Rock. But even so, she shook her head. A deliberate attack on the Pridelands didn't seem the likely source here.

"Of course I remember. But that was in the dry season. So, it was able to spread quickly…This clearly hasn't." She pointed out.

"A lightning strike then?" That could have caused a small fire, easily. Shabaha suggested. Kasiaan glanced up to the skies. They were as empty as a hyena's belly, and were completely void of any blemish. Not a single stray cloud marred it. It seemed less likely than an orchestrated attack.

"Or, maybe the grass just grew black this time?" She hazarded. Shabaha met her gaze, flatly, and didn't say a word. She felt her ears drop though. Even as she said it, the notion seemed infantile. Everything in the Pridelands happened for a reason.

"I don't believe this…" Shabaha said. "No tracks. No trace. Even following the direction of the killings gets us nowhere. Vitani isn't going to be pleased, is she?" She said.

"No. No she will not. I wouldn't expect much time to ourselves when she finds out…" Kasiaan replied. "But she'll want to know. So that she can decide where to send us next…" She said.

"Yeah… I guess. Race you back?" Kasiaan suggested.

"Oh Grow up." Shabaha said, her muscles did not so much scream in protest, as make violent threats against both her life and that of her family.

"Bore."

"Child."

Back at Pride Rock, a disaster was slowly unfolding.

"What's this we're hearing now about a rogue lion!" Almasi asked Gerran. Gerran shifted uncomfortably. The rumour mill had of course been turning, and before long pretty much everyone at Pride Rock was aware of Neik's unsubstantiated claims. The notion of a lioness attacking and slaughtering the herds with such reckless abandon was slightly better than the idea of an omnicidal creature pulled from their darkest imaginations, but not by much. It brought with it a host of other problems.

"Well, you know what rumours are like. Some of the lionesses are speculating that the only way someone could come and go through the Pridelands without being spotted, is if she was supposed to be there." Gerran said, glancing around at the other lionesses, and pulling away as one of them passed.

"That's absurd." Almasi protested.

"Is it? I mean, it would make sense wouldn't it? Would explain why the Lion Guard hasn't found anything, and why the birds haven't seen any new rogues entering the Pridelands." Gerran said. Almasi looked upset at the very notion.

"Everyone is the Pridelands is taught to respect the Circle of life from the moment they were born…" She said. "That's the most foolish I've ever heard."

"Not everyone…" Gerran muttered.

"What was that?"

"Nothing. Just thinking out loud. You're right of course. It has to be something… I just hope the Lion Guard find something on the borders soon." Gerran said, and left Almasi where she was standing, moving away quickly as they were approached by Damu. Damu's coat was pale like her daughter's, but it was mottled, and she could see scars and old wounds from her ordeal in the Outlands.

"You've heard the news then?" She asked her. Almasi made an indignant noise.

"I've heard that something has the Royal family spooked. But Kings bury me if I know what…" She said.

"We'll make sure the cubs know. No more excursions out among the Pridelands, without being accompanied by at least two adults." Damu said firmly. Almasi froze. She hadn't even considered the idea that whatever was hunting their prey would threaten their children. At least not directly. She glanced over to where the twins were playing by themselves. Inti, ever the more adventurous of the pair, seemed prepared to begin bouncing off walls if he wasn't allowed to exert himself some other way. At least Sara seemed content to play gentler games, and appeared to be engaged in a furious study of an emerald butterfly that had made the inadvisable decision to come to rest near the two cubs. She looked around for other familiar shapes, but couldn't see the rest of the Pride's youth.

"And someone needs to find Danyal and make sure he knows to." Almasi added. Damu nodded.

As they approached the base of Pride Rock, they could see Vitani, but before they could ask her anything, they were overtaken by the noise of loud arguing.

"We need to be vigilant!" a voice cried out. "Whatever is attacking us, it is striking at the heart of what it means to be a Pridelander!" Almasi sighed, and glanced at Damu, apologetically. The usually implacable lionesses looked about as cheerful as the slowest zebra in a herd of cripples.

"Oh wonderful. I can already tell how this is going to go…" She muttered.

"We've all heard the rumours!" Sabini continued. "And they say that today, another vulture confirmed it! The attacks on the Pridelands are coming from within. Like the real threats always do. Scar. Zira. And who next?" She said. Few of the lionesses paid her much mind, though a few were nodding in agreement. Almasi shared their concerns and fears but there didn't seem to much point in working oneself into a frenzy over it, until the Lion Guard were able to take care of it.

Vitani sighed.

"Sabini, we're doing everything we can to find those responsible. You don't need to – " She didn't get very far before she started grinding her teeth.

"Are you? Are you really? Because they say that it was one of us! A Pridelander! I'm just wondering how hard you can really be working." Sabini said. Damu winced. That was unkind. It wasn't as if Sabini was contributing much to the continuing crisis.

"Sabini, we are all scared…" Kiara tried to console her, but Sabini glared back at her.

"Scared? I'm wondering if I'm going to sleep at night with my back to a crazed murder! I am not scared, I am terrified! And you should be to!" She said, casting a disparaging look about her to the other gathered lionesses. Most rolled their eyes, or looked away, but a couple actually appeared affected by her words, and were looking nervously at one another.

"Sabini! That's enough!" Vitani finally snapped, her annoyance turning to anger. And then she felt it. The mark, burnt onto her shoulder, itching as she did no. The Mark of the Lion Guard, branded into her limb. And deep within her, she could feel the Roar growling, moaning, begging for release. She could feel it deep down within her, feel it scratching at the seal in her soul. It would be so easy to let it out. Let the roar lose, and bring her down a few feet. Not hurt her, not fully, but to see her face where rocks and stones about her feet split apart. Maybe bloody her nose a little bit or give her a shiny black rim around her eye. Or both eyes.

She growled softly, and it may have been Almasi's imagination but she thought she felt the earth tremor somewhat. Sabini must have felt it too, because she immediately wilted and withered like a petal in the Shadowlands, and backed away.

Kovu, who had approached the two with a determined expression on his face shot his sister a look of disapproval, but before he could say something to placate Sabini, or offer gentle reassurance, Nala beat him to it.

"Enough. I won't have you picking fights in front of my grandson! Nor sit around listening to fearmongering. We're Pridelanders. We're better than gazelle." Nala said. "Kiava, go to Danyal, and play with Zuri." He told him. Kiava glanced up at Sabini and Vitani, who seemed close to blows, gulped, and scampered over to where the adolescent lion was looking up in interest. He seemed faintly annoyed, but made no complaint. He didn't move as far away as she'd have liked him to. He was still listening in.

Sabini seethed. "All I am saying is that the Pridelands have no shortage of bloodthirsty killers within their borders." Sabini snapped. And she actually had the audacity to glare at Kovu of all lions as she said it. Kovu stopped short, eye as wide as gourds and looking as if he'd been slapped in the face with a dead rattlesnake.

"Sabini!" Nala finally raised her voice at that. Sabini had the grace to look askance at her shout. She didn't look ashamed though. Merely embarrassed that the queen herself had called out such behaviour. Sabini shook with rage.

"You've got us all jumpy looking for some monster! But I don't believe it. You know what I think? I think one of you Outsiders has finally lost it! One of you has finally realised you can't live here in peace with the rest of us, and need to scratch that itch." She said. Kovu looked angry at that, and Vitani looked capable of murder, which on balance, probably wouldn't have helped their case as understandable as it might have been.

"Sabini, get a hold of yourself!" A voice cried out, and Almasi was mildly surprised, but a little proud nevertheless, to realise it was her own voice. "These are our Pridesisters you are talking about! Victims of –"

"Victims?!" Sabini snapped, and Almasi winced. Her moment of pride vanished. That was a poor choice of words. Sabini stalked away. "I am keeping an eye on all of you." She assured them. "Even if our leaders won't." She said, looking back at Nala, who sighed.

"You know, there's a real irony here that if Simba was as vicious and vengeful as she obviously wants him to be against the former Outsiders, he'd have her tongue plucked out for speaking to the Queen that way…" An acidic voice said.

Almasi jumped. Danyal was leaning against entrance to the den, and was watching Sabini's retreating form with a thoughtful expression, that was mirrored in Vitani's own predatory glare. Obviously there was no love lost between the two of them.

Doesn't sound so bad to me… Vitani thought to herself, as Nala chided the youth for what Vitani considered to be an uncharacteristically insightful remark. Vitani glanced back at Kovu with a sour expression.

"Remember how the other morning I said nine in ten of the lionesses were adjusting well to the reunification of the Pride?" Vitani asked with a snort. Kovu glanced at her quizzically.

"Yes?" He asked. Vitani jerked her head towards Sabini.

"Meet number ten." She said.

Kovu sighed. "Why does she hate me so much?" He muttered, in a voice that only Kiara and Vitani could hear, and Kiara was too busy seeing to Kiava, who had been trying to follow the conversation with little success.

Vitani laughed. "Don't take it personally, brother. You heard her; she distrusts all the Outsiders. She couldn't stand hunting with us, even before this whole craziness started." She muttered. Kiara looked offended at that.

"I don't get it. Just why?" She asked. "Zira's rebellion is over! Your Mother is gone, for good. The Pride is back together again, and things are the way things are supposed to be." She said. "What can't she accept about that?" Kovu and Vitani shrugged. They'd have been naïve not to have expected some of the Outlanders to struggle with reintegrating into the Pridelands, and whilst some did occasionally make smarting remarks regarding the temperament and skill of the loyalists when it came to fighting or hunting (even Vitani herself wasn't exactly guiltless in that regard), there had been little in the way of resentment from the Outlanders to the Pridelanders. Even towards Simba. It seemed to Kiara that they ought to have expected even better from a Pridelander.

"It's isn't her fault." Nala told her, approaching the Princess, and joining their conversation. Vitani blinked.

"How so?" She asked.

"Sabini's always had trouble with the Outlanders. She was one of our more willing fighters during the war. Volunteered for extra patrol duty." She said. Kiara thought back. She didn't know Sabini well. She had reacted strongly to Kovu's apparent betrayal and subsequent banishment, but that was hardly unique to her.

"Simba shows her far too much patience…" Vitani muttered. She was a trouble maker.

"When Simba returned to the Pridelands and we threw off Scars hyenas, Sabini's sister was one of two lionesses to be killed in the fighting." She trailed off. "We won, but there was a cost. And even before then, Sabini was especially horrified to learn what Scar had done, and was disgusted with Zira and any Outlander who followed her. I'm not convinced she didn't think Zira's exile was a tad too merciful…" Nala said, quietly. Vitani's eyes widened.

"I… Need to go think". Vitani said. "The Lion Guard should be coming back from patrol soon. I need to meet them."

Vitani ran. The Outlander war had been relatively bloodless. There had been injuries, of course. Some significant. But as far as she knew, only Nuka and Zira had actually been killed in the conflict. The only other deaths had been those in the Outlands who had succumbed to the wilderness, to starvation, dehydration and illness. Those in the Pridelands had remained healthy, and unspoiled. That was what she'd always told herself after all. Of a great many more had died during Scar's reign. She sighed. She had been born at the tailend of Scar's reign, and never really associated her mother's dystopic rebellion with her adopted fathers' ill-fated rule. Somehow, she had always kept them separate in her mind. The only ones to truly suffer under Zira, had been Zira's own followers.

But it was clear that for some in the Pridelands, Zira's insurrection had been nothing more than the last gasps of Scar's own rule. The continuation of his tyranny through Zira, had left deep scars on the rest of the Pridelands, not just upon her. She ran, hoping to distract herself with her work once again. She hoped that the rest of the lion guard had enjoyed a more fruitful hunt.

"Imara are you okay! What are you doing!" Tazama asked, as Imara dripped in blood. It wasn't' hers. She looked about at the small trio of carcasses. Unlike the previous slaughters, these were not herd animals. And there was no mystery as to the cause of their demise. Imara looked unnaturally relaxed. Tazama was no stranger to blood or fighting, but even so.

"My Job. What does it look like?" Imara asked her. Tazama looked at the fierce lioness with a critical gaze.

"I… Don't think this what Vitani had in mind, Imara!" Tazama, said, looking appalled. Imana, the strongest in the Pridelands looked back at Tazama with a mocking expression.

"Lighten up… Vitani said to lookout for threats to the Pridelands. I found them. I dealt with them." Imara said.

"Lighten – no. Hold on. First things first: Its Princess Vitani. Secondly, don't tell me to lighten up as if you were caught plotting a practical joke. Thirdly; Vitani wanted us to look, to spy, to be careful."

"Ugh. Why delay the others? I was the strongest, and I brought them down!"

"Were they even running away from us? You took off faster than Kasiaan did when you saw them, I could barely keep up!" Tazama said, looking shocked. Imara raised any eyebrow.

"I really don't see what the issue is." She said.

"You have to be joking. Tell me you are joking." She waved a paw around, and the scattered remains of the jackals, and already felt herself turning green. Imara's unconcern shocked her. In fact, the powerfully built lioness was picking her claws. The jackals weren't of a tribe she recognised, thankfully, but they were nevertheless not so uncommon a sight in the Pridelands that her impulse had been to attack them. She had wanted to ask them what they had seen at the borders of the Pridelands, or even if they had explored the backlands the realms beyond their borders. Imara however had other ideas. The strongest had, in an impulsive rush of rage, charged ahead, and cleaved the jackals to pieces in a show of brutal aggression.

"They were here, on our borders. They could only have been poaching." Imara said, confidently.

"Since when do we kill poachers on sight! We're supposed to be better than this." She said, shaking her head. "Are you sure you're alright? This isn't like you."

Imara hesitated, and looked at her, an expression of deep dislike and annoyance flashed across her face. It was so intense that for a moment, Tazama took a step back. Then Imara hesitated and shook her head. She was either repressing her emotions, or regretting her immediate actions. She let out a sigh.

"I am sorry." She said at last. "I am… on edge… This whole business has got me shaken up." She admitted. There was a catch to her words that made Tazama blink. She'd always had a eye for detail, and something about Imara here made her nervous. She didn't believe her for a moment that this was all just a case of the nerves. But if Imara didn't want to discuss it, she wouldn't pry. They had a working relationship to maintain after all. Tazama sighed.

"Great. So we head back, and tell Vitani we didn't find anything worth reporting? Just some scavengers?" She said. Imara nodded. "Nothing out of the ordinary here. Shall we?" She asked her. Imara nodded. Then paused. The birds above were circling, already in large numbers. She pointed them out to Imara who squinted.

"So?" She said. "Birds do that. Especially carrion?" She asked. Tazama nodded. It sounded reasonable but…

"Already? You killed them seconds ago. Even for a vulture that's quick… Hang on." She said. Imara scowled again, and gave Tazama another glare that made her uncomfortable. She tried to blot it out. Sooner or later she would have to have a word with Vitani about Imara's behaviour. Overexuberance was one thing, but Imara was crossing the line into aggression and almost bloodthirst in a way that made even a fellow outlander uncomfortable.

Imara scowled again. "What is it?" She asked. Tazama sniffed the air. She was keenest of sight, but all of her senses were finely attuned. She could smell blood. Moving quickly, she left Imara where she was standing, much to the larger lioness's indignation.

"Hey, I'm talking to you!"

"Not now!" Tazama ignored her, and rushed over the nearest knoll, following her nose. It cut through the carnage of Imara's gratuitous display of violence, and followed it to the source. "Imara! Come here! I've found something!" She called out. Imara arrived quickly behind and looked down at the mess of fur and blood in front of her.

"What is that?" She asked in disgust. Tazama rolled her eyes.

"It's a hyena! And it's still alive!" She said, looking down at Jasiri. Her chest was barely moving, and she was silent as the grave. The spotted hyena matriarch was severely injured, and horrendously injured. The two lionesses were silent for a moment, looking at one another in confusion. Then Tazama broke the stalemate. She knelt down.

"Help me." She said. Imara blinked.
"What?"

"Help me. This one needs a healer, and quickly." She said, swallowing hard. "I don't think she's got very long otherwise…"