Author's notes:
Here's the second chapter. Thank you very much for the kind review Fangsire, it's always nice to hear from other hyena enthusiasts. I assure you the hyenas will be in it a lot more.
Anyway, it occurred to me there's a lot of characters in this fic, many from the movies, many not. So to make it easier to remember who's who I'm gonna stick a character guide at the beginning of each chapter that'll cover all the characters who've been introduced so far up to this point – including the movie characters everybody obviously knows, for the sake of completeness, hehehe.
Simba – Adult male lion, King of the Pride Lands
Nala – Adult lioness, Queen of the Pride Lands, wife of Simba
Kiara – Adult lioness, Princess of the Pride Lands, hunting party leader
Kovu – Adult lion, Prince Regent of the Pride Lands, husband of Kiara
Nadhari – Adult lioness
Zazu – Adult hornbill, Simba's majordomo
Timon – Adult meerkat, Simba's friend
Pumbaa – Adult warthog, Simba's friend
Also noticed that the links I posted to the art page last time didn't work for whatever reason. So, if you want to see the art, go to The Lion King Fan Art Archive and search up either RidiKill or Amaryllis. With that over, enjoy, and please leave a review if you have any comments or criticisms
"Well, that was a waste of time", Vitani grumbled.
Kiara, who lay sprawling on a rocky outcrop with several other lionesses, looked up at her sister-in-law in the morning sunlight of Pride Rock. It was hard to believe that a year ago Vitani would have gladly killed her at a moment's notice. She was still a slightly scruffy young lioness with a patch of loose hair on her forehead but it was very easy to forget that she was in fact the daughter of Simba's villainous uncle Scar and the demented, twisted lioness Zira, both of whom had now met their end. Scar's had been particularly nasty.
"What was a waste of time?" Kiara asked.
"The hunting party last night", Vitani answered, sitting on her haunches.
"What are you talking about? You bagged a wildebeest. That'll keep the pride full until tonight, when it's my turn to lead a hunting party".
"Not the hunting, no, that was fine", Vitani said, "I was talking about hyenas. We were out the whole night and we didn't find a trace of one!"
"Isn't that like…a good thing?"
"No, it's boring", Vitani growled, "Anyway, good luck trying to bring home more than me tonight Ki, but you and I both know you'll never manage it", she grinned and rolled over on her back.
"Oh really? What about that time your hunting party failed to bring down those impala because you were too busy joking around with Amaryllis?" Kiara jibed back.
The two former enemies had developed a friendly rivalry now that each of them had been named leader of a hunting party. The two parties usually took turns each night going out and hunting, except for when the finest huntress in the Pride, Queen Nala, took charge every few days.
"You can't blame me for that!" Vitani declared haughtily, "It was Amaryllis who made me laugh".
"Yes, but it was you who couldn't control yourself", Amaryllis said as she approached. She was a young lioness with an unusually grey coat that contrasted strongly against her pink nose and green eyes.
"Oh, hi Amy", Vitani said, "Looking forward to hunting with the loser Princess Kiara's hunting party tonight for a change? Maybe you can give them a few pointers. It's the only way dear little Kiara will catch anything".
"Hey, hey, don't drag me into this", Amaryllis grinned, "I'm going to find Amabi. Anyone seen him?"
"Sure, he's with the other cubs. At the foot of the west slope", Kiara said.
"I think that Tenzer kid is looking after them", Vitani added, "Or at least he would be if he can get away from that Ryana girl for a few minutes".
"Tenzer? You mean that loner young guy who joined the pride a few months ago, kinda quiet and sullen? Are he and Ryana an item then?" Kiara mused.
Amaryllis snorted, "She wishes".
At the foot of the mighty Pride Rock, shaded by the main outcrop, a group of lion cubs were dashing back and forth in a high-speed game of tag. Over ten of the little scruffy youngsters were giggling and running around in circles.
Nearby an adolescent male lion lay on his stomach, watching them play. He yawned and flexed his claws, more out of boredom than fatigue. The rapidly maturing Tenzer was a restless youth, about half the size of an adult lion.
As he watched the cubs a little male with distinctive dark markings and a scruffy crop of hair on his forehead wandered up, "Hey Tenzer, can you come play with us? Please?"
Tenzer smiled despite himself, "Uh, well, Amabi, I don't know…"
"Oh come on Tenzer", Amabi begged, "It's no fun without you. Pleeease?"
"Yeah, come on Tenzer", a little lioness cub called Alyssa, daughter of Nadhari butted in, "You're it!"
Tenzer sighed and got to his feet, "Okay, okay, you got it. Fine kids, but get ready to run, 'cos…"
"Hey Tenzer! There you are!" a voice called out.
Tenzer rolled his eyes and turned to see a dark adolescent lioness the same age as himself approaching. She padded up close – too close for Tenzer's tastes – and smiled.
"I've been looking all over for you! Where have you been?"
"Oh…uh…hi Ryana. I've just been looking after the cubs", Tenzer muttered.
"We don't need looking after!" Alyssa's brother Kelt declared proudly, stepping forward.
"Sure you don't, small fry", Tenzer teased before giving Kelt a small shove with his paw and sending him tumbling head over heels to land in a giggling heap.
"Wow, you sure are good with kids!" Ryana said cheerfully, "That's awesome, I wish I was as confident with kids but I tend to daydream a bit with kids around, do you? Guess it just reminds me of my childhood…"
Tenzer stifled a groan and did his best to nod politely at every point Ryana made. She had a terrible tendency to babble when she was excited or embarrassed and Tenzer knew perfectly well why she was embarrassed in this case. She had never made it much of a secret that she had a huge crush on the solitude loving Tenzer – something that he could only return with veiled contempt or, at best, continued ignoring.
"My Mom's great, she looked after me so well when I was a cub. And my Dad. Well, actually I didn't know my Dad for too long. But yeah…uh…enough about parents…"
The cubs edged away uneasily at the talk about parents. Tenzer's mother had died when he was no older than they were. He had luckily been found by his father Lokanneoro before he could starve to death, and had been raised by him until they had wandered into the Pride Lands and been accepted by Simba. But the death of Tenzer's mother was clearly scarring for him and most members of the pride guessed that was why he was somewhat distant and quiet.
Ryana's babble faded away into nothing for a moment, but after a moment she resumed, "Uh, well anyway…Tenzer…I was wondering…what are you doing tonight?"
Tenzer's eyes narrowed, "Why?"
"Uh…well, if you're not up to anything, then I thought me and you could…hang out or something?"
Tenzer looked annoyed.
"Sorry, he can't tonight Ryana", Amaryllis said, suddenly emerging from the bushes behind the adolescent lioness, "He has to watch over Amabi and the others tonight, don't you Tenzer?" she said and when Ryana's back was turned she winked at him.
He nodded slowly, grateful for Amaryllis' excuse, "Yeah, that's right, I do".
The cubs cheered, as they liked Tenzer. Amabi ran up to Amaryllis and rubbed up against her leg. She nuzzled him. Amabi wasn't her biological son. Amaryllis was a loner lioness who had lived far from the Pride Lands. She had discovered Amabi cowering in a ditch, alone and surrounded by waiting jackals. She had driven them off and taken the little cub in despite of her love of solitude. Unable to support both herself and her adopted son alone, she had headed for the bountiful Pride Lands and sought an audience with Simba, who was glad for her addition to his pride.
"Oh", Ryana looked crestfallen but only for a moment, "Oh, well then, I can help you, right Tenzer?"
Tenzer was lost for an answer. Amaryllis shrugged helplessly. She could sympathize with Tenzer's situations as they were both keen on their solitude and she'd had to avoid the unwanted attentions of male lions in her time.
"Well, just don't distract Tenzer", Amaryllis said, "Princess Kiara is leading a hunt tonight and I'm going with her, as are a lot of your Moms", she said to the cubs, "So I want you and Tenzer to keep a close eye on them, okay? No wandering off".
"Wow, you're going hunting Mom? Even though there's hyenas out there tonight?" Amabi enthused, "I bet that's gonna be so cool!"
Amaryllis smiled, "I don't think we'll run into any hyenas tonight sweetheart. Now, you be good for Tenzer", she turned tail and headed back up to Pride Rock, looking back over her shoulder once at Tenzer and Ryana, "Remember what I said: don't distract him, okay Ryana?"
Ryana looked hurt, "I won't. You can trust me".
Night. Eight lionesses sauntered through the cool grass in the moonlight. They walked upright, not attempting to hide yet for they first needed to locate prey before they could begin stalking. However they kept quiet and kept their eyes and ears alert in search of the herds. The leader of the hunting party was Kiara the young princess.
A soft, quiet coughing noise alerted the party. Kiara responded with the same call and they stopped to wait. After a moment another lioness crept out of the shadows of the acacia trees. It was the scout Amaryllis.
"There's a group of zebra about a mile north of her", she said quietly, "No foals but they don't look too alert either. No sign of hyenas".
Kiara grimaced. Zebras were really not ideal prey. Despite the plentiful meat the big animals provided, they were powerful and fast and presented a considerably tricky hunt. But the entire pride was going to be hungry and Kiara was not about to come home empty-handed, as much so Vitani wouldn't have one over here as anything else.
"Let's go take a look then. Lead the way Amaryllis", Kiara said eventually and the hunters melted away into the darkness.
There was absolute silence on the borders of the Pride Lands. About twenty noiseless shapes marched deeper into the territory of lions. Twenty pairs of gleaming yellow eyes glinted in the night. Inky black shadows outlined the hanging heads and the bodies that sloped from the shoulders down to the swishing tails of the fearsome creatures.
The hyenas were on the hunt. They moved swiftly and silently with their heads held low. The lack of chatter was enough to show those who knew anything about hyenas that these individuals were in a serious mood and were hungry.
They had been walking for over an hour now. In the midst of the pack one hunter giggled in a mix of anticipation and nervousness. The leader in front of the group looked back over its shoulder at it.
"Quiet", the leader snarled under its breath.
There was silence again. With amazing stealth they strode on. At last one of the hyenas craned its neck upwards and sniffed the air. It looked at the leader and nodded a signal.
The leader turned to the rest of the pack, "Faster!"
Still silently they began to lope forward, heads held high now and their eyes flaring. They sniffed the air eagerly as they galumphed on, spurred on by the thought of fresh meat.
"This has to be, by far, the stupidest idea you have ever had", Alyssa muttered through clenched teeth.
"Aww, shut up", Amabi replied, "You didn't have to come if you didn't want to".
The two lion cubs continued to bicker as they picked their way through the long grass of the dark savannah. Trailing behind were another four cubs who were looking from side to side nervously. The headstrong Amabi was in the front with his head held high and tail perked. A proud smile was on his young face as he strode forward.
"I'm scared", one of the younger male cubs whimpered from the back of the shuffling group.
"Come on you guys, this will be worth it, I promise it", Amabi said looking back over his shoulder, "How often do we get to see our moms hunting?"
"Don't lie, you idiot", Alyssa hissed between clenched teeth, "You just bought us out here to show off. You just want to do something dangerous. You know that King Simba said we're not allowed to leave Pride Rock yet. You deliberately waited until Tenzer was distracted by Ryana to sneak out when your Mom said we should be left in their care!"
"Oh, come on", Amabi muttered, "Simba and my Mom are being too careful. If there was really danger of hyenas, do you think Simba would let the lionesses go out hunting?"
"Yes", another lioness cub called, "Our moms can look after themselves against hyenas. We can't".
"This is all your fault Amabi", Kelt said.
"Oh, then why did you all come with me then? That's not my fault", Amabi snapped.
The other cubs mumbled and kept shuffling forward. They didn't have an answer to that. If they were honest they would have admitted they were excited to be out and about on their own when they knew perfectly well that their elders forbid it – they had had to pick their moment to sneak away from a babbling Ryana and a thoroughly annoyed Tenzer very carefully. Life as a cub at Pride Rock could be pretty boring – there were lots of other cubs to play with, not to mention Timon and Pumbaa, but after a while that grew thin. Even the most nervous cubs longed for excitement once in a while, something to measure up to their elders with. The idea of watching a hunt at night when potential danger lurked was too much to pass up.
But that didn't stop the cubs from feeling nervous. They looked back and forth as they shambled forward and one or two of the younger ones whimpered. Only Amabi didn't betray any wariness, although his heart was beating wildly inside his scruffy chest.
After a few more silent minutes of trying in vain to follow the trail of their parents Amabi halted. They had come to a dry ravine filled with thick scrub. Amabi looked at it for a moment and then slid down the dirt bank into the gorge.
"What are you doing?" one of the cubs whispered fiercely, "They're not going to be hunting down there you idiot!"
"I just want a look", the headstrong leader said, "Come and see, I think I've found something".
He stepped further into the darkness and peered closer at a small form draped across the floor as he heard his reluctant followers slide down after him. He looked closer at the object and saw it was a dead hare, lying on its side.
"Eww, don't eat that, you don't know what's been eating it first", Alyssa said in disgust.
"It's only been killed recently, genius", Amabi shot back, "I wonder what happened to it?"
"Well, I could tell you, but it might frighten you a bit", a high-pitched sniggering voice said out of the darkness.
The cubs squealed in fear as a hyena stepped out of the dark. Its eyes suddenly seemed to blaze into yellow light in the murk. Yet more pairs of eyes flickered into existence at the opposite rim of the ravine from the one the cubs had entered. The cubs could discern four more hyenas picking their way down the slope to join their companion towering over the cubs.
"My, my, my, what have you found now Babaka?" one of them sneered in a deep sarcastic voice.
"One hare and six hairballs", the first hyena giggled.
"Shut up and let me have a closer look", a bellowing guttural voice snarled.
As the five hyenas stepped forward the clouds rolled back from across the moon and cast them in ghastly pale light. The cubs whined in terror at the sight of the creatures. The little lions barely came up to the knee joints of the hyenas who were leaning forward eagerly towards them. Their hides were a mottled grey-tan with darker spots. Long black manes ran down the lengths of their sloping necks and little perked tails revealed the hyenas' excitement. Their powerful shoulders were tensed.
Their faces seemed hideous to the cubs. Some were scarred, some were missing bits of their large ears, some were drooling, some were snarling, some were grinning. Their black lips were curled back to reveal their massive crushing teeth.
One of the hyenas pushed its way to the front of the group, jostling and growling in a manner that seemed to suggest it was the leader. It glared at the cubs with shining yellow eyes.
"I found them just wandering down here", the first hyena informed.
"Huh. I guess word hasn't reached their King yet of our little visits to his lands", another mused.
"That's odd", another grunted, "We weren't exactly secretive".
"Who cares?" one growled furiously, "Let's just rip them apart!"
One of the cubs screamed in terror and covered her eyes with her paws. Instantly a fit of giggling broke out amongst the hyenas. Only the leader didn't laugh. It peered closer at the cubs with a ferocious glint in its eyes.
"What are little innocents like yourself doing out all alone during hunting hours?" it rasped, speaking directly to Amabi.
Amabi tried to answer but his tongue seemed stuck to the roof of his mouth. His body was shaking with intense fear and he could feel his last meal building up inside his stomach. He was going to throw up.
After a moment of stillness he heaved up his stomach contents all over the floor in front of the hyena. The youngest cub was crying. Amabi continued to vomit, hurling up chunks of meat and goo.
"Oh, that's nice", one of the hyenas said in repugnance.
The leader of the hyenas looked down at its forepaw. A small amount of vomit was splattered on its lower leg. Casually the hyena wiped it off on a nearby bush.
"Well, since we're obviously not going to get anything useful from these little wretches", the pack leader said slowly before leaning down to put its face directly into that of Amabi, cocking its head as it studying the cub, "Kill them".
Instantly two hyenas who seemed like they were having particular difficulty in restraining themselves hurled themselves forward, foaming jaws open wide. Whatever instincts had been keeping the cubs rooted to the spot with terror suddenly released them and the cubs whirled about and darted up the side of the ravine with speed that amazed themselves.
"Uh?" they heard one of the two attackers grunt as its jaws snapped shut on nothing.
The leader charged after the cubs. Amabi was towards the rear of the group and the leader made straight for him. As they hyenas' jaws swooped down to close on him Amabi ducked and rolled and then scooted off, dodging death by inches.
"Well now, missed him. How nimble", the leader said to itself, amused.
"After them!" the rest of the hyenas howled in excitement and the five of them bounded after the cubs, churning up the dust with their black paws.
As they did one of them lowered its head and let rip with an unearthly call, a deep lowing howl that rose to a high-pitched squeal, "Oooooo-whup!" It was the hunting summon of the hyenas.