Author's Notes: This is a flashback chapter and it not written in anyone's POV. Its third person view on what really happen in the past.
As usual thanks for the reviews and here the next chapter
Enjoy...
Chapter Seventeen: Nuacka's Past: The Inflicted Wound
Flashback
It was about four years ago, far away from the pride lands, a large clan of hyenas were getting ready for a very big celebration. The young daughter of the Matriarch was getting marry in a few days on her third birthday. Everyone was excited about the big event...well all expect for three hyenas.
"Shentana, Shentana, Shentana, that all I hear for that last three days, is Shentana" a young Nuacka said growling to herself
She looked behind her to see Shentana with her mom, surrounded by a bunch of females complementing about her.
"I can't believe she already grown up and getting marry" one females said
"She going to be a great leader" another one said
"She really blossom in to a strong beautiful hyena"
"thank you" the young Shentana said but smiled weakly though.
"Curu is one lucky male to have you Shentana" another female said and they all giggled
"All right, all right, please leave so I can talk to her myself" Shentana's mom said
The females sigh in disappointment and walked away, leaving them alone to talk. The leader looked down at her daughter "what a matter Shentana" she asked
"Nothing mother, just a little tired" she lied
"You're talking to your mother here, I know how you think, now what is wrong" she asked again
"Ok, I guess I'm a little nervous about the whole wedding thing" she said
"Why are you nervous, you're about to be the next leader of this clan and marrying the top alpha male"
"I know but I always saw him as a friend when we were little then we grew apart" she said
"I know that, you told me already Shentana but it's a tradition in the clan, I went through it and so did my mom"
Shentana nodded "but what if I don't love him" she asked
"You'll learn to love him" The leader said "now if you excuse me I need to go help some of the hyenas bring back some food for today"
Shentana nodded as she watched her mother walk away and now she was alone at last. But it didn't last long when Nuacka walked over to her "how's it going"
Shentana nearly jumped out of her fur and looked to see Nuacka "Nuacka...you nearly gave me a heart attack"
Nuacka looked at the young hyena with such envy in her blood. She was young, beautiful, strong but she still wasn't that good when it comes to hunting for food. Nuacka never like the thought of why Shentana was going to be the next leader when she couldn't even take down a animal for food or was sloppy when it comes to defending herself. Why did she have to be born as second greatest alpha. They years of being rasied up by her mother to be the best of the best til one day she would be able to defeat Shentana in a fight and maybe becomes the next leader. Yet, luck wasn't on her side when she was force to watch over the young future leader til the day she gets marry.
Her mother died with great bitterness in her heart and feared that she would grow too soft to fight the young future leader. Nuacka was determine to prove her mother wrong and hope she could get rid of this bitterness as well.
"Sorry, I just noticed how pale you been lately" she asked
Shentana frowned "oh, I guess I'm not that excited about the wedding" she said
(You're not the only one) Nuacka thought "anyway, I came over to asked if you were ready for another training lesson"
"I would but...uh...I have other things to do" she said
Nuacka looked at her funny "like what" she asked
"Just things...that all" she said nervously "in fact, I need to be somewhere"
She watched the young future leader running off in to the thick part of the jungle. "What's up with her" she wondered but didn't want to worry about her. She had other things to worry about and wondered how he was going to take the news.
She was talking about Curu, the top alpha male of this large clan. The one Shentana had to marry and bear his pups. Easier said then done when Curu doesn't even love Shentana because he was in love with her and she loved him back.
She and Curu been friends ever since they were pups but grew apart when they were growing up. But when he saw her grown in to a fine looking female hyena it was love at first sight.
Nuacka walked over to the plain grass field and spotted Curu talking to some of the males his age. He looked up and spotted her and smiled. "Excuse me guys, I like to be alone now"
The other males nodded and walked away, not even noticing that Nuacka was close by. When they were all gone, Nuacka sigh and walked over to him.
"Why the long face, my dear" Curu asked
"You know why, you're about to be taken away from me" she said
Curu frowned "I been telling you, you and I should run away and find a new clan to join, but you haven't gave me an answer yet" he said
"Well that what I needed to talk to you about" she said "we can't leave"
Curu looked at her funny "why not, for the last few weeks you done nothing but complain about the clan"
Nuacka looked at him with sad eyes and sigh "I'm carrying your pup" she said in a low voice
Curu's eyes widen and pretended he didn't hear what she said "what was that"
"You heard me, I'm pregnant with YOUR pup" she shouted till Curu covered her mouth.
"Keep it down you don't want anybody to hear" he said
She removed his paw away from her mouth "what are we going to do, I don't want to leave, who knows how dangerous and I don't want to risk losing the pup"
"I don't either but is the same way here, if the leader finds out who the father of you pup is" he said
"Do you think I know that as well" she said
"Now what, we got to think of a plan" he said
They stood there silently, thinking what to do then Nuacka muttered "if only I was the next matriacrh then this would be ok"
Something clicked inside of Curu's head "how far are you" he asked
"I don't know but I'm still feeling sick" she said "maybe a week or two"
"I think I got an idea" he said
"What is it" she asked
"If Shentana was dead then you are the next in line for the role as leader and that means you have to marry me"
Nuacka looked at him shocked "are you suggesting that we "take care" of Shentana" she asked and Curu just stared at her and the truth sank in "and how are we going to do that without getting caught"
"I don't know yet, but give me some time to figure out something" he said
She nodded but still unsure about the whole thing but when she placed her paw on her stomach and thought (well, I never liked Shentana anyway)
After Curu gave her a nuzzle and a kiss and telling her that everything is going to work out, she walked away to get some food. Curu wasn't hungry so he stayed in the plain fields. When she got there most of the clan were eating then something caught her eyes.
Shentana started sneaking off again, with a large piece of meat in her mouth, and disappearing in to the forest again. "What is she up to?" she wondered
"Beats me" said a male voice.
Nuacka jumped then turned around to see a male hyena smirking at her "what do you want Informed" she asked, she didn't like him, he and his two other males friends were so nosey about other hyenas's businesses it wasn't even funny anymore. To top that off, they had the stupidest nicknames you can think of and the leader was so braggy about him being smart.
"What with the harsh tone, Nuacka" Informed said (A/N: can you take a guess who's father is that)
"I don't like it when you or your other friends sneaking up on me like that" she said "by the way, where are your stupid friends, the one who never shut up and the quiet one"
"Eating, I was going over there myself but I saw you looking at Shentana sneaking up again and I thought maybe Nuacka would like to know what been going on with Shentana"
She rolled her eyes "ok, if you are as smart as you said to be, what is she up too"
"Don't tell me you forget our motto 'we're talk for food'" he said smirking again.
"Informed, I'm not in one of my greatest moods right now, can I pay you later"
"Fine, anyway my friend Stalker, and he said that when he was walking around the jungle looking for our younger friend, the pest, whenhe overheard Shentana talking to someone."
"And!" she said
"Well, maybe you should find out by yourself and it will shock you but I would worry about your other problem then about Shentana" he laughed and walked away.
Shentana was stunned thinking (does he knows) she wondered and actually started to get scared then angry "stupid no-good know-it-all, I just hope he never has any pups" she can only image when his offspring would be like, a smartass stalker but only this time it was a female.
She shook out of her thoughts and decided to go see what Shentana was up too. She walked through the deep jungle, following Shentana's scent for a couple of minutes then heard her talking to someone.
"I'm still working on my hunting skills, Nuacka thinks I'm still a little sluggish" she heard Shentana said
"Well, you'll get it sooner or later, it just takes practice" she heard a male voice.
Nuacka followed the voices and hid behind a bush when she spotted Shentana around the water hole talking to a male that wasn't from the clan. (An outsider) she thought and by the way Shentana was talking like she knew him for a while.
The outsider was showing her some hunting attacks for two reason, to teach her and impress her. "Come on Hadzazi, sit down and eat with me" Shentana said smiling
"What today's food" he asked
"Your favorite, Zebra" she said "after all, today will make it a month since you and I bumped in to each other"
Hadzazi smiled "oh yeah, how can I forget, the first thing you did was trying to attack me for trespassing" he said
"How should I know that you were strong for a lackey" she said
"Well that what happen when you been traveling around the lands for months, it builds up muscle" he said "beside I don't know why this Nuacka hyena said you were a bit sluggish, you have great fighting skills"
"I guess when I'm fighting with her or any other of my friends, I get a bit sloppy because I don't have the heart to hit them"
"I guess that is true, I could never do that too when I was fighting my brothers back in my old clan" he said
Shentana sigh and lowered her head "are you going to leave again, I mean you only stayed so you injuries would heal"
Hadzazi shook his head "nah, there something about this place that I love so much"
"And what is that" she asked looking up, only to find him inches away from her face. He kissed her.
Nuacka walked away as quickly as she can to go find Curu, now she was the one who has an idea. She grinned (bingo)
Later that night, Nuacka and Curu walked away from the clan to find the outsider and to discuss their plan.
"I saw it with my own eyes, she in love with an outsider lackey and the way she been acting the others doesn't even know he exist."
"So how would we use him for a plan" Curu asked
"Easy, tomorrow I'll take Shentana in to the deep parts of the jungle and make her get lost. Then that will be your cue to jump out and kill her. After getting clean up we'll tell the leader and blame it on the outsider. It will be like killing two birds with one stone"
"Beautiful and smart, I'm the luckiest male in the clan" he said
Nuacka smiled then spotted the outsider. "There he is"
Curu looked ahead and in the dim light of the moon he saw him sleeping next to a thick bush.
"What if he attacks me when he see Shentana's life is in danger"
"Like I said he a lackey" Nuacka said believing that even thought Shentana said that he was strong for a lackey, lackey is a lackey and alpha always wins. "He won't be any problem"
"Ok then, the plan will take place tomorrow" Curu said
The next day
"Where are we going again" Shentana asked
It was a sunny afternoon when Nuacka told her to follow her "to the other side of the jungle, I saw a herd of zebras near by and I thought this would be a perfect time for more hunting practice" she said
"That nice and all but why are we going through the jungle" she said knowing how deep and dark parts of it is and a place where you can easily get lost in.
"It a short cut, trust me okay" Nuacka said
Shentana nodded and then noticed something different about her "are you ok" she asked
"Why do you asked" Nuacka asked
"I don't know, you look a bit pale and sick" she said
Nuacka took a deep breath, it true she was a bit sick from the pregnancy but she ignored it. "I'm fine really" she said.
They enter the jungle and walked til they were in the deep dark place of it. Shentana started getting nervous but Nuacka stayed calm since she knew the way out of this place. Nuacka made sure that Shentana was far away from the clan and away from the outsider. Nuacka noticed that Shentana was too busylooking around to pay attention to her. When Shentana was slowing down and falling behind, Nuacka ran off, leaving the frighten hyena alone.
"Nuacka, did you hear something" Shentana asked but got no respond. She went very pale when she realized she was all alone. "Nuacka?"
She looked around the area and there was no sign of her. "Nuacka, this isn't funny" she said trembling. She remembered Nuacka doing this one time when they were young as a joke. She was lost for two days in the thick jungle. When she was found Nuacka got a beating and she got treatment. She couldn't believe Nuacka would tried that again at her age.
"Nuacka, come on, I don't like this" she shouted
Nuacka could hear Shentana from far away and stopped to take a rest. Her stomach begin to grumble and had this ticklish feeling afterwards. She place her paw on her stomach "I hope nothing goes wrong" she whispered to herself then heard someone behind her. She turned around to see Curu walking out behind a thick tree.
"She all set" Nuacka said
"Good" he said
"Just hurry it up and make the death quick, we don't want her screaming and attracting attention" she said
"Don't worry my dear, the fatal wound is one deep bite on the neck" he said then ran off with her following him.
Shentana continued looking around for Nuacka, getting very scared and very annouyed at the same time "Nuacka, where are you, I don't likethis" she said
Suddenly she heard a sound coming from the bushes near her "forgive me, Shentana"
Her eyes widen when she saw Curu jumping out and tackled her to the ground. She lead out a bloodcurdling scream when Curu bit her on the shoulder although he was going for the neck. Nuacka was behind a bush and watched as Shentana tried to put up a fight but the surprised caught her off guard and she was losing.
She bit her lip when she knew that with Shentana trying to defend herself, the death couldn't be quick enough (hurry Curu, before somebody comes)
Shentana fell to the floor, bleeding from the cuts and scratches. She weakly lifted her head and saw Curu standing next to her and looking down. "Why are you doing this" she asked
"I don't want you to live" he said
Nuacka watched at Curu was about to make the final blow when out of no where another hyena jumped out and rammed him in the side. They both flew five feet away from Shentana who called out "Hadzazi!"
"Get away from her" Hadzazi growled
Curu got up "stupid lackey, you think you can fight me, a well train alpha"
"Yes, especially when you're hurting the one I love"
"Then die with you, if you love her so much"Curu shouted and charged towards him.
Shentana struggled to get up as the two males fought, crashing in to trees and rocks. Bits of fur, dirt and blood flew in to the air. "Hadzazi!" Shentana shouted
Nuacka stayed close to the ground behind the bushes so she wouldn't get caught. The fight was going on too long and fears the clan were on their way.
What came next would burn in Nuacka's memory forever, Hadzazi swung his paw down and struck Curu right in the eye. Blood sprayed and Curu cried in pain, in the last ditch effort to win he tackled Hadzazi to the ground and tried to bite his neck. His blood dripped and soak in to Hadzazi's fur.
Then Hadzazi headbutt him right in the face then bit him right in the neck. Curu pulled away but Hadzazi didn't let him go. He was able to stand up and in one quick move, Hadzazi flung the alpha with all his strength, flesh was torn and Curu slammed in to an old log. He let out a high pitch growled then all went silent
"Hadzazi" Shentana said weakly as she tried to walk over to him.
"You ok" he asked leaning over to help her stand up.
She smiled and nodded "thank you" she said
"Why was he trying to kill you" he asked
"I don't know" she said
Nuacka's eyes begin to tear up, when Curu hit the log, he landed on a broken tree branch. The tip of the sharp edge of the tree branch stuck out in inch from his stomach withblood was pouring out. He was dead.
She continue to hide when she heard voices from the clan coming by "I see her, she over here"
A dozen hyenas begin to appeared followed by the leader, she stopped and looked at the bloody mess and the bad condition her daughter was in.
"Outsider, you'll pay for what you did" she growled then so did the others.
She was about to charge when Shentana blocked her "no mom, you don't understand he saved my life" she said
Her mother stopped and looked at her "I got lost and for some reason Curu came out of nowhere and attacked me, I was almost killed when the outsider came up and save me" she said
Her mother stared at her and over at the beaten outsider "I know you don't like outsiders but he risked his life to save me" Shentana said "it the truth"
The leader continued to stare at the outsider, through she never liked them and she knew that Shentana would never lie about things, she swallowed her pride and sigh "Thank you, that was very brave of you" she said
Hadzazi nodded "I know she means a lot to you and me"
The Leader smiled "come then, lets go back and treat those wounds" she said
Shentana and Hadzazi smiled and followed The leader and the other hyenas back to the clan "what were you doing out here in the first place" The Leader asked
"I was going hunting with Nuacka but she took off and I got lost" Shentana explained
The Leader made a low growled "well, when you see Nuacka, tell her I want to 'talk' to her" she said
All went quiet for Nuacka as she laid there, hidden in the bushes with tears running down her cheeks. She peaked through the leaves and looked at Curu's dead body, blood still running out of the fatal wound. She felt trapped, she can't leave this place since she was pregnant and if she stays she has the risks losing the pup if she gets a beatingfor leaving Shentana.
(No, it not just the pup) she growled (is the fact that I have to see her with that male who killed Curu) she growled again (They'll pay for this, both of them, They'll pay for THIS!)...