A/n: Ahoyhoy! I got his idea from watching Animal Planet. It was a show on lions. They captured a few male lions and a few females and took the far south. The female lion fought the dart so hard and the bastards didn't care.Damn those zoologists. Damn them all to hell.
"Man I'm hungry. Think we'll be able to catch live food today?"
"Sure, Bonsai. When rhinos build an advanced civilization on the moon," Shenzi replied sarcastically.
The three hyenas (Shenzi, Bonsai, and Ed) were trotting through a part forestey area of the Savannah that they'd never been to before. They hoped to get a lot of food this time. Mating season was ending soon, so many of the clan females were eating for their whole familles now. Shenzi was one of the few who showed no signs of being pregnant.
Ed suddenly began cackling and motioning for the other two to follow into the highest weeds.
"Food? You'd better be right, Ed!" Bonsai told him as the three ran towards the scent.
***
"Woah! Good job, Ed! You're not completely useless," Bonsai approved at the sight of the meat.
The three circled stepped closer. It was a dead warthog. But strangely, it was dangling from a tree. An unfamiliar scent hung around it. Shenzi's hackles bristled.
"Guys, I don't like this. It seems weird," she said nervously.
"A leopard probably left it. Let's eat before it comes back!" Bonsai said. Ed nodded in agreement. Shenzi gave in and the three hyenas began ripping into the flesh. They'd eat their share before taking it back to the clan.
***
A man was not too far away, hiding like a coward in his jeep. He watched the hyenas tear into the meat, blood covering their muzzle and dyeing their gray fur crimson. He held a gun and spoke to the camera.
"I want to be sure I hit the female. She's a matriarch. She'll be perfect," the cowardly man said.
At that moment, Shenzi moved slightly to the left. The evil man took aim and squeezed the trigger, sending a white dart flying into her hip. It sealed her fate.
***
"Ow! Ow! Ow!"
Ed gave a kind of "what's wrong?" whimper.
"I don't know! Something bit me!"
"Hey, you got somethin' in your leg," Bonsai pointed out. He carefully reached a paw toward it.
"Don't touch it! You'll make it worse," Shenzi snapped. Her front legs went limp and she fell forward, then regained her balance. Her left hind leg went limp and she once again got back up. Bonsai and Ed ran around in frantic circles.
"Will you guys stop being idiots and...help me?" Shenzi barked, her voice becoming thick. She felt like she was losing energy by the second. Even trying to beat the darkness that threatened to cover her was becoming harder.
***
"They do that sometimes, try to fight as the drug overpowers them," the cowardly, evil man said to his audience. "You have to keep an eye on them. I hope the other two don't try to attack us."
***
Shenzi fell. This time she couldn't get up. She rolled her eyes up one last time to Bonsai and Ed. Sadness and defeat flickered in her orbs as her eyes closed. Her head fell against her paws and she knew no more.
"Shenzi?" Bonsai whimpered. Ed echoed the whimper. The two crept toward their fallen leader with their tails between their legs. She didn't answer. The thump of human boots and their strange sounding shouts coming nearer frightened the remaining hyenas. They took one last look at Shenzi and bolted into the growing evening shadows. It was hard to tell what made the running more difficult-the tall weeds or their own tears.
***
Usually, the pack was growling, fighting, or eating at late evening. Tonight they were crying softly. They had lost their matriarch to humans. Sometimes they howled a song of grief that was carried across the pridelands and outlands. Each animal knew what it meant. Simba heard the song and remembered the loss of his own parents. The lionesses heard it and remembered the day they lost their own leader. Rafiki heard the song and just hung his head in silence.
***
A week passed. The pack began to pull itself together again and move on with their lives. All except for Bonsai. Everywhere he went he was reminded of Shenzi. He always wondered what she was doing, if she was even still alive. He knew some hyenas were killed by humans. But then why hadn't she died instantly? Poison. That was it. Some kind of poison must have been in that thing she got hit with. He cringed at the thought of her struggling against it.
"Ey?"
A voice jerked him out if his thought.
"What do you want, Ed?" Bonsai grumbled. Ed barked and yapped unintelligibly, as he always did. Bonsai just raised an eyebrow. Ed sighed and looked towards a cave.
"Oh yeah! I forgot about Zahara!"
He turned and raced towards the cave.
***
Bonsai slowly padded through the cave, bones crunching under his feet. His eyes adjusted to the darkness and he made out the form of a pure white hyena with blue eyes. Bones, stones, seeds, claws, and beads dangled from her mane and around her neck.
"I know why you came," Zahara said in a voice heavy with age. "You want to know what happened to Shenzi."
"I just keep wondering if she's really dead..."
"Ah. You are right to wonder. Shenzi is very much alive and healthy" Zahara answered. "Although she is in a place worse then death, to some at least."
"Where is she?!" Bonsai asked excitedly.
"Far away, many miles to the South. The humans, the demons. They have taken her there to begin a new hyena pack in a place they see fit. Shenzi has become leader of that pack. The demons are studying her."
Bonsai was shocked.
"How do you know all that?" He asked. The wise old hyena only smiled. As Rafiki was shaman of the pridelands, she was shaman of the outlands.
"You don't need to worry about Shenzi being dead," Zahara said. Bonsai hung his head and tail low. A single tear fell from his eye.
"I miss her so much..." he said softly.
"We all do. She was a good leader. It was the demons who destroyed it all. But she is carrying some of you with her, Bonsai."
And then Zahara walked stiffly into the back of the cave. And Bonsai was left wondering...until it finally hit him.
***
Hundreds of miles away to the South, Shenzi sat on the soft grass of the plains. She looked to the stars and wondered if they were the same that shown down on her pack. She wished she could get back to them. The humans and gates around the preserve she and the other hyenas were on stopped that.
The humans. The ones who had fastened this radio collar to her and destroyed her life. Destroyed the lives of these other hyenas and who knew how many others? Given her the number 4550001 for her name.
Soft paw pads on the grass and another beeping collar behind her told her of another female hyena named Shani.
"Remembering the good days?" Shani asked. Shenzi nodded.
"Maybe someday I'll get outta this place and find them again," Shenzi said. She felt the flutter in her stomach, faint as if a butterfly had become trapped inside. Someday she'd tell her pup the stories of his true home, not this prison. She'd tell them of the lion kings and the pack. And of the two hyenas who that she'd never forget. One of which would never see his pup.
Maybe by then, humans would let life flow like it was supposed to.
THE END
"Man I'm hungry. Think we'll be able to catch live food today?"
"Sure, Bonsai. When rhinos build an advanced civilization on the moon," Shenzi replied sarcastically.
The three hyenas (Shenzi, Bonsai, and Ed) were trotting through a part forestey area of the Savannah that they'd never been to before. They hoped to get a lot of food this time. Mating season was ending soon, so many of the clan females were eating for their whole familles now. Shenzi was one of the few who showed no signs of being pregnant.
Ed suddenly began cackling and motioning for the other two to follow into the highest weeds.
"Food? You'd better be right, Ed!" Bonsai told him as the three ran towards the scent.
***
"Woah! Good job, Ed! You're not completely useless," Bonsai approved at the sight of the meat.
The three circled stepped closer. It was a dead warthog. But strangely, it was dangling from a tree. An unfamiliar scent hung around it. Shenzi's hackles bristled.
"Guys, I don't like this. It seems weird," she said nervously.
"A leopard probably left it. Let's eat before it comes back!" Bonsai said. Ed nodded in agreement. Shenzi gave in and the three hyenas began ripping into the flesh. They'd eat their share before taking it back to the clan.
***
A man was not too far away, hiding like a coward in his jeep. He watched the hyenas tear into the meat, blood covering their muzzle and dyeing their gray fur crimson. He held a gun and spoke to the camera.
"I want to be sure I hit the female. She's a matriarch. She'll be perfect," the cowardly man said.
At that moment, Shenzi moved slightly to the left. The evil man took aim and squeezed the trigger, sending a white dart flying into her hip. It sealed her fate.
***
"Ow! Ow! Ow!"
Ed gave a kind of "what's wrong?" whimper.
"I don't know! Something bit me!"
"Hey, you got somethin' in your leg," Bonsai pointed out. He carefully reached a paw toward it.
"Don't touch it! You'll make it worse," Shenzi snapped. Her front legs went limp and she fell forward, then regained her balance. Her left hind leg went limp and she once again got back up. Bonsai and Ed ran around in frantic circles.
"Will you guys stop being idiots and...help me?" Shenzi barked, her voice becoming thick. She felt like she was losing energy by the second. Even trying to beat the darkness that threatened to cover her was becoming harder.
***
"They do that sometimes, try to fight as the drug overpowers them," the cowardly, evil man said to his audience. "You have to keep an eye on them. I hope the other two don't try to attack us."
***
Shenzi fell. This time she couldn't get up. She rolled her eyes up one last time to Bonsai and Ed. Sadness and defeat flickered in her orbs as her eyes closed. Her head fell against her paws and she knew no more.
"Shenzi?" Bonsai whimpered. Ed echoed the whimper. The two crept toward their fallen leader with their tails between their legs. She didn't answer. The thump of human boots and their strange sounding shouts coming nearer frightened the remaining hyenas. They took one last look at Shenzi and bolted into the growing evening shadows. It was hard to tell what made the running more difficult-the tall weeds or their own tears.
***
Usually, the pack was growling, fighting, or eating at late evening. Tonight they were crying softly. They had lost their matriarch to humans. Sometimes they howled a song of grief that was carried across the pridelands and outlands. Each animal knew what it meant. Simba heard the song and remembered the loss of his own parents. The lionesses heard it and remembered the day they lost their own leader. Rafiki heard the song and just hung his head in silence.
***
A week passed. The pack began to pull itself together again and move on with their lives. All except for Bonsai. Everywhere he went he was reminded of Shenzi. He always wondered what she was doing, if she was even still alive. He knew some hyenas were killed by humans. But then why hadn't she died instantly? Poison. That was it. Some kind of poison must have been in that thing she got hit with. He cringed at the thought of her struggling against it.
"Ey?"
A voice jerked him out if his thought.
"What do you want, Ed?" Bonsai grumbled. Ed barked and yapped unintelligibly, as he always did. Bonsai just raised an eyebrow. Ed sighed and looked towards a cave.
"Oh yeah! I forgot about Zahara!"
He turned and raced towards the cave.
***
Bonsai slowly padded through the cave, bones crunching under his feet. His eyes adjusted to the darkness and he made out the form of a pure white hyena with blue eyes. Bones, stones, seeds, claws, and beads dangled from her mane and around her neck.
"I know why you came," Zahara said in a voice heavy with age. "You want to know what happened to Shenzi."
"I just keep wondering if she's really dead..."
"Ah. You are right to wonder. Shenzi is very much alive and healthy" Zahara answered. "Although she is in a place worse then death, to some at least."
"Where is she?!" Bonsai asked excitedly.
"Far away, many miles to the South. The humans, the demons. They have taken her there to begin a new hyena pack in a place they see fit. Shenzi has become leader of that pack. The demons are studying her."
Bonsai was shocked.
"How do you know all that?" He asked. The wise old hyena only smiled. As Rafiki was shaman of the pridelands, she was shaman of the outlands.
"You don't need to worry about Shenzi being dead," Zahara said. Bonsai hung his head and tail low. A single tear fell from his eye.
"I miss her so much..." he said softly.
"We all do. She was a good leader. It was the demons who destroyed it all. But she is carrying some of you with her, Bonsai."
And then Zahara walked stiffly into the back of the cave. And Bonsai was left wondering...until it finally hit him.
***
Hundreds of miles away to the South, Shenzi sat on the soft grass of the plains. She looked to the stars and wondered if they were the same that shown down on her pack. She wished she could get back to them. The humans and gates around the preserve she and the other hyenas were on stopped that.
The humans. The ones who had fastened this radio collar to her and destroyed her life. Destroyed the lives of these other hyenas and who knew how many others? Given her the number 4550001 for her name.
Soft paw pads on the grass and another beeping collar behind her told her of another female hyena named Shani.
"Remembering the good days?" Shani asked. Shenzi nodded.
"Maybe someday I'll get outta this place and find them again," Shenzi said. She felt the flutter in her stomach, faint as if a butterfly had become trapped inside. Someday she'd tell her pup the stories of his true home, not this prison. She'd tell them of the lion kings and the pack. And of the two hyenas who that she'd never forget. One of which would never see his pup.
Maybe by then, humans would let life flow like it was supposed to.
THE END