Author's note: Thanks for all the kind reviews and people who've added to this story to their update alerts and what-have-you. It's very encouraging.
This chapter is very long. I've already written about 70 pages of the story, you see, and I'm only now going back, editing it and inserting chapter breaks for posting up here. I couldn't find a decent chapter break here for a while, so this chapter may be a bit of a struggle to get through. But it's got lots of action to counter that.
You may have noticed this story is quite dark and grim by Lion King standards. That's not because I think dark stories are better, they just suit my writing style better. So I apologize if you're somewhat offended by the graveness of the story, as it only gets darker really. Although it's not too disturbing.
Anyway, character update:
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
Vitani – Adult lioness, half-sister of Kovu
Amaryllis – Adult lioness, foster mother of Amabi
Nadhari – Adult lioness, mother of Alyssa and Kelt
Tenzer - Half-grown male lion
Ryana - Half-grown lioness
Amabi – Male lion cub, adopted son of Amaryllis
Alyssa – Lioness cub, daughter of Nadhari
Kelt – Male lion cub, son of Nadhari
Zazu – Adult hornbill, Simba's majordomo
Timon – Adult meerkat, Simba's friend
Pumbaa – Adult warthog, Simba's friend
Babaka – Adult hungry hyena, first one to discover lion cubs
? – hunting hyena pack leader
And finally, here we go:
The lionesses were spread out and crouching down as they approached the zebra, who were ahead somewhere in the darkness. The sound of dry grass crunching between strong teeth was audible to the lionesses' keen senses. They shivered in excitement.
Kiara shifted closer and closer. She nodded to the two lionesses flanking her, Sharhal and Aetti. They crouched closer to the floor and slinked forward as Kiara waited.
Ninety percent of hunting was waiting. It was not nearly as exciting as cubs thought it was. Waiting for the right moment to strike…it was far more important than the few second-dash and struggle to bring down the prey.
Kiara watched Sharhal and Aetti merge into the darkness. Somewhere ahead in the dark the other lionesses were beginning to encircle the zebras. It was a tactic most hunting parties couldn't employ due to few numbers but in the Pride Lands it was a favoured strategy. Amaryllis the scout, one of the fastest hunters, was posed roughly opposite Kiara but a few hundred meters on the other side of the zebras. Kiara and Amaryllis would charge at the same moment with any luck, and the panicked zebras would attempt to flee in all directions, clashing with the surrounding lionesses. Hopefully they'd be able to bring down two or three zebras. That was ideal when in it came to feeding a pride as big as Simba's.
It was nearly time. Kiara could feel the tension and anticipation of the other lionesses' in the night air. She began to climb to her feet to charge…
"Oooooo-whup!"
As one all the lionesses started at the noise in the distance. Aetti to the right of Kiara stood up instinctively and looked around, revealing her presence to the zebra.
A shrill hooting alarm call went up from the zebra group. Their hooves pounded the dirt as they charged away, heading directly away from Aetti. They moved astonishingly fast. One of the lionesses made a half-hearted attempt to grab at a mare that ran right past her, but the element of surprise was gone and in a few seconds so were the zebra.
Aetti looked around at the other lionesses and grinned sheepishly, "Sorry".
"Well, there goes dinner", one of the group muttered.
"That was a hyena, right?" asked another.
"Yeah, it was. And there's another", Amaryllis said as another hyena hunting call sounded somewhere to the northwest.
"Let's go check it out", Kiara said instantly.
"Your Dad said to be careful", Sharhal said pointedly.
"Yeah, but it's more important to make sure that we drive them from our lands over anything else", Kiara pointed out, somewhat excited, "Come on, there's no time to talk about it. Let's move!"
The cubs jinked and dodged back and forth as the great jaws of the hyenas snapped shut behind them. The massive teeth always seemed to clack just a few inches behind them. Somewhere in the back of his adrenaline-fuelled mind Amabi wondered if the hyenas were merely playing with them.
Suddenly up in front of the cubs more hideous shapes rose out of the darkness. About ten hyenas lunged at the cubs, cackling hysterically. Behind them the original five pursuers snorted in amusement. They had merely been driving the cubs into their waiting pack mates.
The lead cub, Kelt, shot between the legs of the hyenas that were lying in wait. In the blink of an eye the rest of the cubs followed suit, suitably confusing the smirking hyenas.
"Uh…what?" one of them grunted before the five pursuers crashed into their front rank.
There was a twist of spotted bodies and snapping teeth as the hyenas picked themselves up, cursing and spitting. The cubs ran on, making the most of their advantage and trying to put some distance between themselves and the hyenas. Behind them they could hear the hyenas arguing.
"Impossible!" one small hyena whined as he untangled himself from two snarling pack members, "Did they dodge us or something? Did you see them? Anyone?"
"Shut up!" the leader growled, "Get on your feet, all of you, you miserable little maggots, and get moving! They went this way! Come on!"
The hyenas got up and bounded after the cubs, furious they had been outsmarted and humiliated, although a few of the sillier pack members were giggling in apparent amusement at the collision.
The cubs were exhausted. Their heads were hanging and their fur was soaked with the cold sweat of fear and fatigue. At any moment it felt like their legs would give out beneath them. Amabi cursed himself for being stupid enough to lead his friends out here to their deaths. Tears were staining his face as he knew that despite their brief head start, there was no way they could keep outrunning a pack of healthy adult hyenas for long.
Up ahead there was another shallow slight gorge. The cubs made for it and darted between the low rock walls. They jinked around a corner up ahead and the hyenas disappeared from view, although Amabi knew they were still gaining on them.
"Come here", a voice snapped from off to the left.
Amabi kept running, wondering if it was his imagination when a dark figure leapt out from the cliff wall in front of them and lunged at them.
The hyenas crashed through the gorge, snarling and cackling. After a brief dash down the narrow crevice they jostled to make their way out of it and back onto open plains.
The leader stopped in its tracks and looked around. The lion cubs were nowhere to be seen. Some of the other pack members were still galloping ahead, oblivious. Others halted and looked around, growling in confusion and frustration.
"Where did they go now?" one muttered.
"Garn!" the leader spat a hyena curse word, "We must have missed them in the gorge. Here, you!" it roared at the hyenas who were still running on ahead, lost in the excitement of the chase, "Get back here, you idiots! Or, better yet, call Sarkil's group! We're gonna need all of them. Everyone else spread out and search the entire gorge and the nearby area. They're here somewhere!"
Amabi watched the hyenas stalk back down the gorge, muttering and cursing amongst themselves angrily. From his vantage point he could see and hear about half a dozen whooping at the other end of the gorge, apparently calling others.
His vantage point was a tree, and while he focused on the hyenas for that split second, he kept an eye on their captor, waiting for the moment when he and his companions could make their escape. Of course that was going to be difficult as they were stuck up a tree, about ten feet above the ground, and they were perched on the lowest branch there was. The only method of escape was a direct plunge to the earth, and from there it would be a mad dash from the hyenas again.
"Don't be afraid", their captor said in a honey-sweet voice, "I won't hurt you".
Amabi looked at their captor who was sat in the same branch as the quivering cubs. It was a beautiful leopard with a golden hide and rich black rosettes dotting its soft fur. The leopard was looking at them with maddeningly piercing eyes and an unfathomable blank expression on its face.
"What…what do you want?" Alyssa asked.
"Nothing", the leopard said, "My name is Mali. I don't suppose you'll have heard of me?"
"I have", one of the cubs piped up, "You're one of the most faithful predator subjects of Simba", she turned to the other cubs, "My Mom was telling me about him. He's the Representative of the leopards to the King and their best hunter".
Mali smiled without showing his teeth, "Well, what do you know. Got it in one".
"So…is he…dangerous?" Alyssa stuttered.
"Dangerous?" Mali asked, "Oh yes, I'm terribly dangerous. When I'm hungry. Or angry. But I've certainly got nothing against you, little cubs. I pulled you up here to get you out of the way of"; he looked down at the hunting hyenas and nearly spat, "Of them".
Amabi thought about what had happened when the leopard had leaped out at them. Without them even being able to identify what it was he had seized them, three gripped by the nape of the neck in his teeth and three scooped up in his right paw. He had shot up the side of the gorge with incredible speed considering how burdened he was by handling the cubs and made for the nearest acacia tree.
He had clambered up the trunk of the tree with amazing speed even as the hyenas hurtled around the corner below them, missing the cubs completely. And the entire time the cubs had no idea what was going on except that they were probably going to be eaten. Amabi looked at Mali in awe.
Some of the cubs began to cheer, but Mali lifted his paw to signal to them to keep their voices down, "Ssh. Hyenas aren't very smart but they've got good hearing. Not to mention their even better sense of smell".
"Uh...thank you for your help", Amabi managed to say clumsily. It was difficult to know what to say to a stranger who had saved your life for no apparent reason other than the goodness of his heart.
"Don't mention it", Mali grinned, "I wasn't about to let members of the monarchy end up as lunch for those cursed invaders. Those filthy kill-stealers and cub-murderers!" he snarled with frightening intensity.
The cubs backed away nervously. As grateful as they were to the leopard they could easily appreciate his power and ferocious predator instincts. After all, leopards were know for their ruthless streaks and if this one was a Representative of his species to King Simba…
The leopard relaxed, "Sorry. As you can tell, I hate hyenas. With a passion".
"I can understand that", Alyssa said, "But anyway, what do we do now? How do we get down from here and get back to Pride Rock?"
"Oh well, you'll have to wait for morning", Mali said casually.
"Morning!" Amabi exclaimed, "We need to get back before Tenzer and Ryana realize we're missing!"
"Oh. Well, tough luck I'm afraid, kid. You shouldn't be out here anyway, I assume you know that. Anyway, maybe you won't have to wait until morning. Maybe your mothers will come along and find you. I've seen them a little way east of here".
"You've seen them!" Alyssa enthused, "Did you seem then hunting?"
"Well…yeah, of course. I see them hunting all the time. Nothing new to me", Mali said, reminding Alyssa of her place in all this amongst great hunters.
"Anyway our Moms finding us here will be worse than having to wait for morning!" Amabi groaned, imagining the look of fury on Amaryllis' face.
"I want to go home", one of the cubs whined.
"Well I'm afraid you don't have any choice in the matter", Mali said gently, "If you go down now the hyenas will just find you. Even if you wait for them to go I can hardly recommend heading out for home on your own. They may be hiding nearby, plus the night draws in other dangers besides hyenas. You'll just have to wait".
"How do we get down when the time comes, sir?" Alyssa asked.
"Well, don't do what I've seen adult lions do sometimes. As big and heavy as they are they still try to climb down backwards! Can you believe it? No, you must climb down headfirst, my little ones. When I leave now I'll gouge some marks with my claws for you to use as footholds. That'll make it easier for you".
"You're…leaving?" the whining cub squeaked.
"Well of course I am! I can't spend all night up a tree babysitting you, as glad as I am that I managed to rescue you. I have things to do. And to catch", he licked his chops, "No, you'll be fine up here. Hyenas can't climb, that I can promise you. But I wouldn't recommend losing your balance".
The cubs shivered and looked down at the hyenas, which were still hunting for them. They were sniffing the ground and cocking their ears, listening. Some were still whooping. Their glowing eyes pierced the dark like venomous wounds.
"Why do they want to kill us?" Kelt whispered, "What have we done to them?"
"Done? Oh nothing, of course. And I can promise you they're not hunting you to ease their hunger. Six little cubs would barely make for a mouthful each amongst all these filthy brutes. No, they're just after you because…that's the way it's always been between lions and hyenas. Lions drive hyenas away whenever they see them, and hyenas do their best to kill lion cubs because they know one day each lion cub will grow up into something strong enough to knock them flat with one little paw-tap.
"They want to eliminate competition and it's easiest to do that when it's youngest. They do it to leopards too. Not to mention cheetahs and Cape hunting dogs. It's just what hyenas do – they pick on the weak and infirm. Not like proper predators like us lions and leopards".
Mali yawned, displaying his massive canine teeth, "Oh, by the way, these aren't the only hyenas out here tonight. I've been watching them quite a bit. They weren't nearly as stealthy as they thought they were when they entered the Pride Lands. There were about twenty of them and they all split up into four groups of five and went separate ways to try to find as much prey as possible.
"You ran into five of them while two groups joined up again and lay that ambush for you. All of them down there are from these three groups. There's still a fourth group somewhere out there, to the west I think. That's the one those howling idiots are calling. So yeah, that's another reason you can't climb down tonight. You don't know where all these different groups are. So good luck to you".
Amabi looked down at the hyenas, "I still don't get why we can't…" he turned to look back at Mali; he was gone.
"Wow. Fast and stealthy", Amabi said.
"Tell me about it", Alyssa muttered.
The growls of the hyenas were getting louder as they drew nearer. The cubs instinctively flattened themselves and lay still and silent. The Serengeti night was surprisingly cold and the youngsters had to suppress their shivers. In the distance they could hippos grunting from the waterhole to the south and the alarm calls of zebra to the east.
After ten minutes the cubs were getting tired. At their age they needed a lot of sleep and their escape from the hyenas had wasted a lot of energy. Amabi realized his head was nodding and he was having difficult keeping his eyes open. One of the cubs was yawning and it soon set Amabi off yawning too.
"Don't fall asleep you idiots!" Alyssa hissed, her voice piercing after the long silence, "You'll lose your balance and fall!"
"Oh come on, let them shut their eyes for a moment!" a voice sniggered from below.
The cubs looked down below and saw the twin glowing eyes of a hyena staring up at them. The rest of the creature was barely visible in the darkness. It laughed and then turned back towards the gorge.
"Hey I found them! Over here!" it raised its voice and howled the hyena summon, "Oooooo-whup!"
In the next few minutes twenty hyenas were assembled in a ring around the acacia tree, twenty pairs of yellow eyes glaring up at the cubs. Low growls and gulping noises came from the more impatient individuals. The cubs were silent, staring back at the hyenas with eyes wide with terror.
Moonlight pierced through the clouds and bathed the scene in pale light for a few minutes. The cubs could clearly see the hyenas smacking their chops and licking their lips. Some were drooling, some were snarling, some were sitting patiently.
"How long are we going to have sit here?" the little one with the whiny voice asked.
"How should I know?" the leader growled, "Until they fall. Unless you can climb up there yourself Groco?"
"I was just asking you big stupid chunk of meat!" Groco shrieked.
"Why you…" the leader stood up and took a few steps forward.
"Maybe you should both shut up?" one scarred hyena snapped, "Shouting your lungs out isn't going to make the waiting go by any quicker. Besides we don't want to draw attention to ourselves tonight".
"Bit late for that", another grumbled, settling down on its stomach, "We've chased these little runts miles out of our way, howling like idiots the whole time. Half the Pride Lands probably know we're here by now".
"Yeah, and what happened to the food we were supposed to bring back for the clan?" one grunted.
"Shut your traps!" the leader sat back down on its haunches but its tail still twitched, "It's not every day we get a chance to knock off six lion cubs. This'll be six less lions for us to deal with in a few years time. So just keep your thoughts to yourself! It'll only be a few minutes now".
"Says you, hyena!" Kelt spat, suddenly filled with fury with the way the leader was referring to them, "You think we're just gonna fall like fruit out of this tree?"
The leader craned its head upwards to look at the cub and it grinned, displaying its terrible teeth, "Oh, you'll fall soon little one. Young legs and young minds get tired real easy. Not to mention the fact you little morons up there don't got any food or water. We can wait for days if we want to: we can just take it in turns going to the waterhole".
Amabi muttered under his breath, "Well, while you're at the waterhole I can think of something else you should do: take a bath".
The big hyena cocked its head and erected an ear, "What was that? Speak up, kid, I didn't hear that!"
Amabi swallowed hard and then shouted loud enough to be heard for miles around, "Okay, I said: you smell!"
The other hyenas stared for a second in silence. Then they burst into hysterics. They rolled around on the floor shrieking with laughter until they were weak; cackling and hooting until there were tears in their eyes. The leader was sitting still but snarling furiously, spit flying from his jaws and his eyes blazing with fury.
"Oh, man, that's rich!" one of the hyenas snorted over the laughter.
"You tell it like it is, kid!" another yelled at Amabi.
The cubs giggled despite their situation while the hyenas rocked back and forth in fits of laughter.
"Shut up, all of you!" the leader roared at its companions before turning to Amabi, "You little lion-rat! I'll get you for that. I won't rest until I've gotten you back for that smart-mouth of yours!"
It suddenly lunged at the base of the tree trunk and snapped its massive jaws, snarling fiercely. Instinct kicked in for the cubs and they leapt back. It happened fast. Kelt's rear paw caught a snag on the branch and he lost his footing. With a gasp of surprise he pitched over the side and fell out of the tree. The cubs screamed as he landed in an unconscious heap before the feet of the leader hyena.
The other hyenas suddenly stopped laughing and sat upright, watching eagerly as the leader bent down and picked up Kelt in its jaws. The crushing teeth held Kelt by the nape of the neck as gently as if the leader were carrying a hyena cub. However with a twitch of his jaws he could have crushed the cub's spine.
"Well now", the leader chuckled, "How lucky. Maybe having to watch me eat your little friend alive is going to be enough payback for you".
Something struck the leader hard and bowled it over. Kelt fell from its jaws, unharmed. The leader, shocked, found itself on its back staring up at a lioness with her teeth bared and claws out.
Behind her the other seven lionesses charged in, led by Kiara. They swiped at the hyenas with their massive paws and sank their teeth into them whenever they could get the chance. The hyenas fought back with their snapping jaws.
Underneath the paws of the lioness Nadhari, mother of Kelt and Alyssa, the leader hyena squirmed about and wrenched himself free. He looked about at the fight. It was brutal and fierce but brief. The hyenas outnumbered the lionesses but not by enough, and the element of surprise had the hyenas on the back foot, barely able to defend themselves. Already half a dozen of the more timid hyenas were fleeing north without offering any resistance.
"Let's get out of here!" the leader yelled and turned tail and fled.
Yelping and whining the hyenas fled into the night, loping away at top speed. Three of the lionesses gave chase but turned back after a moment. Nadhari was standing over the lifeless Kelt with tears in her eyes.
"Oh…no…please no…" she whispered.
Kelt coughed and rolled over in the dust. His eyes opened slowly and he smiled weakly at Nadhari.
"Hi Mom…I'm sorry I got mixed up in all this".
He slumped back over, coughing. Nadhari sobbed and pressed her nose into her son's side. Aetti padded over tentatively and looked at him.
"He looks fine", she said after a moment, "He's breathing well and he doesn't have any broken bones. Can you stand up, kid?"
Kelt nodded, "I think so", slowly and painfully he climbed to his feet and walked back and forth to make sure he was okay, "I'm fine, just a bit winded".
"You won't be!" Nadhari snapped between sobs, "I'll kill you for making me worry like this!"
"And you as well, Amabi!" Amaryllis roared up at her quivering adopted son, "Who's stupid idea was it to come marching out here in the middle of the night with hyenas around the in the middle of the night?" she looked back and forth at the different cubs in the tree, "Well?"
Amabi cowered down and his face behind his paws.
"Let's just calm down, shall we?" Kiara said gently, "Let's just go home. You can all shout at your kids some more on the way. But for now there might be more hyenas around. Let's just concentrate on getting them down from the tree, okay? And how did you get up there anyway?" she asked, looking up at the cubs.
"Uh…we'll explain on the way", Alyssa said, "Let's just get down from here. The leopard left these claw marks for us to use as footholds".
"What…leopard?!" Sharhal exclaimed, "Oh…you're going to be very sorry when you get down here you little idiots!"
Kiara grinned, still a little flushed from the excitement of the fight, "Maybe, but not as sorry as the hyenas are feeling now, I bet".
"Oh man, you gotta admit that was funny Ridikill!"
The hyenas were walking home, away from the Pride Lands, giggling about the cheeky lion cub's "smell" joke. Except for the leader who was walking ahead with an angry scowl on its face.
"I thought I told you to shut up!" it snapped.
"Oh, never mind Ridikill", the female called Sarkil grinned at the first hyena, "He's just sulking because he couldn't get his own back on that little hairball. Aren't you Ridikill?"
"Garn, you shut your mouth!" Ridikill barked.
"Hehehehe, I'm gonna be laughing about this for weeks!" the little runt hyena called Groco sniggered, before checking the distance between him and the leader Ridikill and skipping back out of the way a little.
"Argh, just shut up and keep moving! The less talking all you idiots do the faster we walk and the sooner we get home", Ridikill muttered.
"We didn't catch anything, you know, except that hare Babaka grabbed. And he left that behind, and there wasn't enough meat on it to feed a jackal anyway", Kapungu grunted, looking back over his shoulder at the way they had came, "Man, Shenzi and Banzai are gonna be annoyed".
"Tell me about it", Ridikill replied, "But I'm the one who has to go ahead and give them my report. I could give them a much nicer report if some of you wimps had moved a little faster and snapped up those little idiot lion cubs! But no, you all had to lose your heads and stampede around like fools".
"You know, it was your idea to keep hunting those cubs after we lost them in the gorge", Groco pointed out.
"You'd have all done the same. And like I told you, six little lion cubs all alone in the dark is not an opportunity to pass up, is it?"
"Ah, but they weren't alone were they?" Sarkil grumbled.
"Whose fault is that?" Ridikill grunted, "Not mine. Maybe you and your group should have scouted the area a little better first, Sarkil. Then maybe we could have cleared off before those lionesses descended on us".
"Oh, so it's my fault now, is it?" she shot back, "You know, just because you're the head of this hunting party doesn't make you my superior".
"When you're in my hunting party you follow my orders, see? Shenzi made me head of this little camping trip. And when it's our turn to go hunting, you'll do what I say! Got that?"
"You psychopath!" Sarkil screeched, "Don't you talk to me like that you brute, or I'll…"
Ridikill stopped walking and looked at her, baring his teeth and his mane bristling, "Or you'll what?"
Sarkil looked him up and down. Usually female hyenas were bigger and stronger than the males, not to mention higher-ranking. But Ridikill was a huge hyena who dwarfed her and he was a fierce hunter. The clan leaders hadn't made him the only male hunting chief for nothing. She bowed her head and turned away, unwilling to get into a scrap with her vicious leader over a little argument.
"Ah, take it easy you two guys", Groco chimed in again, "It sure wasn't Sarkil's fault the lionesses knew we were there, was it honey?"
Sarkil snorted and ignored Groco's transparent attempt at sucking up to her.
"At any rate", Groco grinned, "It was probably Ridikill's fault. The lionesses probably smelled him coming, right?"
The pack burst into laughter again. Ridikill snarled and whirled about to face Groco who had cleverly positioned himself behind Ridikill's scarred second-in-command Burudi and the grumpy Kapungu. The leader hyena lunged forward regardless, bowling his two companions over and pouncing on a shocked Groco.
Groco squealed as Ridikill grabbed him by the neck and shook him back and forth like a rag doll. Most of the other hyenas leapt up and leant in for a closer look at the fight, laughing as they were prone to do. However Burudi got back up on his feet and yelled at Ridikill.
"Let go of him you moron! You're gonna kill him like that and you know that's not a good idea".
Ridikill looked at him with savage eyes while still gripping the helpless Groco between his teeth. He grunted after a moment and then swung his neck as hard as he could and released Groco at the same time, hurling him over ten feet away to land on the hard ground.
"Get up on your feet and let's get moving!" Ridikill ordered to his followers, "Come on, let's get back to the Graveyard before dawn. And we'll have no more funny business, see? I've had enough tricks for tonight. Now come on! Move your feet!"
Grumbling the hyenas set off again. Groco picked himself up, wheezing heavily and limping slightly. Ridkill looked back over his shoulder at him.
"Come on you! Don't fall behind! You're dragging!"