Sorry for the long update time, but I've been very busy with other things. I hope this long chapter makes up for it, and that you like it. It took a few tries to make it right, but here it is.Please do read and review, as always... Atrice
part 5 – Duchess
The little pack of hyenas from the Pridelands, surrounding Scar, stopped in front of the high pedestal. Scar looked up, but couldn't see anyone up there. He felt thousands of eyes rest on him, but tried to look like he didn't care. The elder hyena – his name was Al, Scar had heard the other hyenas call him that – opened his mouth to say something towards the pedestal, but a voice called from above before he had a chance to speak.
"Who is this?" it was a female voice, which surprised Scar.
"A guest for you – the next king of the Pridelands, and you will never guess his name!" Al called back, but a laugh was heard. Finally Scar saw someone stand up on the pedestal, and with a few swift jumps she stood down with them.
"You think I'm that bad informed… please, Al, we're not all as stupid as you! Welcome, Scar… pleased to meet you." She said. Her voice was playful and sarcastic, not annoying like the rest of them. She seemed more slim and agile than the rest, and her pelt was lighter too. He liked her already - Scar pulled himself together and bowed to her.
"Pleased to meet you too… and who are you?" he said, trying to sound as noble as possible. Finally a hyena you could talk to!
"Duchess, leader of this… this… oh, whatever. And why were you brought here? We haven't had a lion here since your namesake, as far as I know." The female said.
"Insults! He called us ugly and smelling creatures… felt he should see the rest then." Al said and Duchess rolled her eyes, looked at him with a sigh.
"But most of us are ugly and smelling, dear Al… don't you ever understand anything? Come with me, Scar, let me show you around." Duchess said with a smile, and Scar followed her with a smirk;through a portal-like opening in the wall near the pedestal. He held his head high, did not look behind at the other hyenas.
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They walked around in silence for awhile, Scar just looked at the special scenery of the place, and Duchess seemed to be in her own world.
"I am wondering... don't you like your own kind?" Scar finally broke the silence, as they stood by a river of liquid red fire.
"Not always, they're so annoying… stupid, most of them. All they think about is their next meal." Duchess explained, and he nodded. It didn't sound like a lie at all.
"But… why are you here then? Why don't you leave them?" Scar asked, not quite sure he understood this strange female hyena after all. She didn't seem like the rest of them at all. She smiled, and nodded to him to follow her. They walked upwards, jumped over cracks and openings, until they reached another portal in the wall. Duchess stepped out first, and Scar followed her slowly. They stood on the pedestal, looking down on the creatures.
"What do you see?" Duchess asked and looked at him.
"Hyenas… I have no idea how many…" Scar said, a bit astonished by the view from up here. The hall was huge, and the filthy animals were everywhere.
"Precisely… and I am their leader. I like the view from here, I like the fact that I am their superior. I can't leave them behind, not when I think about who I am." She explained, and Scar replied with a smile. He somehow understood this. To be their superior, their leader… their king! He would be the king sometime, being the one leading everyone on the savannah.
"I think I understand now… I'm to be king too, one day. Rule everything." Scar said with a dreamy voice, but suddenly he remembered the reason he was here. He had to find a mate, a queen to be by his side, once he actually became that king he longed to be.
"Don't you look forward to become their regent?" Duchess asked, seeing the sad look on the young lions face. He lookeddownon her.
"Of course, I've been looking forward to it all my life. There's only one problem, and that's why I left my pride." Scar had no idea why he felt he could talk with this hyena about everything. It just seemed so natural, and she was treating him so kindly.
"What problem would that be? You're a lion, you shouldn't have any problems with anything – unlike us." Duchess said, but with an ironic smile. He liked her strange sense of humour.
"That's not true… at least not to me. I want to find a mate, someone I can love. The lionesses in the pride, they're all very cute – but just not what I am looking for. So I am out to search for my future queen." He explained, and Duchess nodded with thoughtful eyes.
"Ah, yes, that does seem like a problem. You know what, stay here tonight… and tomorrow, I'll take you to the Skylands, I know there's another pride of lions there." She said and laid down on the pedestal, inviting him to rest too.
"The Skylands?" Scar asked, once he had let himself lie down too.
"On the other side of our lands, there's a savannah… it's higher than yours, that's why we call it the Skylands. You wait and see..." Duchess said with a smile.
The day wasn't over yet, but they spent the rest of it staying on the throne, talking about everything and nothing. But Scar kept returning to the thought about the Skylands. It seemed great, and he was happy after all, that Al brought him here. He looked forward to see another savannah, lions he didn't know at all. He never knew hyenas could be so nice, he thought with a smile to Duchess.