The queen's favorite

Growling and snarling the hyenas rolled over the ground.

"Guma!", Chege screamed, slipped right through the two males, who held him and his brother back, and rushed to his friend's aid. Unfortunately, his attempts made everything even worse. Careless in his eager to help, he took a deep breath of the dust the fight whirled up, sneezed, stumbled and crashed right into both opponents. The impact sent Guma to the ground, but sadly wasn't enough to do the same to Masoka. Big and muscular as he was, the larger male didn't even stagger.

"How dare you, you little…!" Furiously, he grabbed the way weaker hyena and threw him aside with ease. "Kill him if he tries that again!", Masoka shouted at his henchmen and turned back to his victim.

Just in time Guma managed to roll aside, as the powerful jaws closed right where his throat had been a split second ago. He got back on his feet only to be tackled down again instantly. All air left his lungs as Masoka threw his full bodyweight against him. He wanted to scream but without a single breath in his body nothing but a weak gasp left his throat as he felt the other's teeth on his skin. Teeth that could crush a buffalo's bones like dry twigs, teeth, that could crush him like a mouse.

"Stop it! Please! Take our prey, just let him go!"

The fearful screams of the wounded lioness sounded muffled and far away, even though Guma knew she was quite closed to them, laying right next to the dead antelope in the grass. It wasn't even a big one. What a stupid reason to get killed for. Why had he even tried to protect this stupid lioness and her even stupider son? Maybe he himself was the stupidest one here…

"Watch out!", someone shouted and ferocious growling and snarling was heard, but Guma couldn't see who it was. His eyes were covered by the short grass Masoka's paw pressed him into, exposing his neck. Then he felt the jaws slowly closing around his throat. He knew, that if Masoka wouldn't be enjoying this so much, he would be dead already. Despite the fact, that the fight was already lost, he tried to kick his enemy's belly with all the remaining strength he had left. There was no escape, but he wasn't willing to accept that. He yelped, as Masoka's teeth ripped through his skin, but it was more a sound of surprise than of pain. That was no bite.

His jaws not fully closed, Masoka was pulled back from his victim. Now it was him, who yelped in pain. Gasping for air, Guma rolled on his belly and finally registered what was happening.

More hyenas, this time females, had arrived and were busy beating the shit out of Masoka's five henchmen, while he himself now was in serious distress. The hyena, who had grabbed him furiously tormented him with her teeth, covering him in countless wounds. She was big, even bigger than Masoka was and at least as muscular. The short hair tuft that extended from her head a bit down her neck flew from one side to the other, as she threw the male to the ground. Her brown fur with the black spots was already speckled with his blood. She looked both terrifyingly fearsome and ferocious but also incredibly beautiful at the same time, or in short, just like the hyena queen she was.

Within seconds Siyogwaya had Masoka crawling in the dust before her feet. Despite the visual brutality of her attack, she hadn't severely wounded the male. None of the injuries were fatal, but surely incredibly painful.

"Siyo… why…?", Masoka whimpered, squirming with pain.

"SHUT UP!"

"But Siyo, I did all this just for…ARGH!" He screamed, as she snapped at him and mercilessly tore one of his ears into shreds.

"I said, SHUT UP!"

Desperately trying to swallow the pain and his fear, Masoka clenched his teeth, fighting against the urge to whine.

"Good", the queen growled dangerously quiet. "Now get out of my sight!"

He didn't need to be told twice. As soon as he managed to get up, Masoka turned around and haltingly got on the run, followed by his companions.

"Guma!" Chege, no longer held back came running at his friend. His brother joined him and together they helped Guma up.

With a grimace he came back on his feet. His wounds surely weren't as painful as Masoka's so he simply couldn't risk showing any more signs of weakness in front of Siyogwaya. There had already been too many.

"What happened here?"

With relief, Guma noticed, that the queen wasn't looking at him. He wasn't sure, if he could talk right now. On the other hand, it didn't seem to be a good sign that she wanted to hear it from the lioness and not from him.

"We… we were out hunting, your grace", Kara began to tell her, and looked at her son, who sat next to the dead antelope. "Moto caught his first own prey and I was about to go find Ifu, when these brutes showed up."

"They tried to steal my kill", the young lion continued her story. "And when I tried to defend it, they attacked us! They hurt my mom!"

"Yes." Kara nodded. "And I don't know what they would have done to us, if Guma had not showed up."

Finally, the queen turned to him. "Come. We'll go for a walk", she said after a moment of silence.

Without a single word they had been wandering around for quite a while until Siyogwaya finally broke the silence. "So, wanna tell me what happened?"

"But… they already told you, my queen."

"I know", she said. Her voice had nothing left of the harsh tone from before. "But I want to hear it from you. What exactly happened between you and Masoka? Start at the point where you heard the lions' screams. And stop that my queen nonsense. Call me Siyo. I know you already do when you talk to the others."

"Of course, my q… Siyo." He was a little bit shocked about that information, but knew he should have expected it. "I was patrolling through your land with my boys as we often do lately when I heard them. I recognized the lioness's voice and Masoka's, of course and, I have to admit, I already knew at that moment what was happening."

"You knew? How comes?"

"Well, it's no secret that things haven't been very well between you and him for quite a while now and…" He stopped, not sure, if it would be smart to continue.

"Go on."

"I thought he started to see me as a threat since I convinced the rogues to offer you their prey", he admitted. "He saw that you appreciated my gift and tried to copy what I did."

Amused, Siyo snorted. It was an unexpectedly cute sound. "Yeah, that truly sounds like him. He's never been a very bright one. And I guess his actions today are prove enough of your theory. He really thinks of you as a threat and I can't blame him for that. He may be strong, probably the strongest male I've seen so far, but you are clever, very clever. And with that, you are a threat to him."

"Thank you, I guess", Guma said slowly, trying to make the insecure smile showing up on his face into a confident grin. If he understood her correctly, that had been a compliment. Or even more? A hint maybe? He could feel his heart beating faster. The day had started as a disaster, but now he found himself closer to his goal than ever.

"No need to thank me. I'm just saying the truth. But let me ask you another question. As clever as you are, what in all the great queens' names made you think it was a good idea to step between Masoka and a wounded lioness, despite knowing you were weaker and outnumbered? Please don't tell me you challenged him like this in order to impress me, because if so, I'm not."

It took Guma a moment to digest that, but luckily, she was right. That hadn't been the reason. "I… guess I felt responsible for their situation. If I hadn't used them to get you some food, he would never have bothered them. In a way, it is my fault, that he attacked them."

"So, you're not only clever, but also caring. Another thing Masoka lacks." Now she truly smiled at him.

"So, you… you're not disappointed in me after this?", he carefully asked. "Even though he could have killed me easily?"

"You met him on his battleground and had to fight him in his way, but only because you had no other choice. I know, that if it would have been your plan to confront him, the conditions would have been different. And that you would have been victorious."

"That's what she said to you?" Chadi stared at him in disbelieve.

"Believe it or not", Guma said, still the slightly stupid looking smile on his face that he couldn't get rid of since he had returned from his walk with the queen. "Today at noon I thought I wouldn't see another sunset and now…"

"Now you're the queen's new favorite!"

Startled, Guma hissed at him and looked around. Luckily, he couldn't see any other hyenas close enough to hear what Chege just had said. "Quiet, you Idiot! Do us all a favor and never say that again!"

"What? But… but… but why?", his friend stuttered perplexed.

"Because, only few female hyenas like braggarts", a voice from above scolded him. "Especially not our queen." With wide spread wings, Fupa landed between the three. "And it is common knowledge, that favorite is not a title or a rank and nothing that is openly announced. If you are a female's favorite, it will be quite obvious. You're constantly hanging around with her without being shooed away, she'll take you with her if she goes on a hunt, let you eat with her and show many other signs of affection… and she will protect you." Shaking its head, the bird looked at the brothers. "Seriously, boys, why do I know all of this and you two don't? I am not even a hyena!"

"Oh, don't blame them for their simple minds", Guma jokingly defended them, knowing they would most likely don't get it anyway. "I gave up on that long ago."

"I'm not sure if that is going to pay off for even one of you."

"Speaking of that", Guma changed the subject, thankfully bowing his head. "I guess I'll never be able to pay you off for what you did. I owe you my live as much as I do to Siyo."

"And you should never forget this. If I should ever happen to need you…" Giving him a meaningful look, Fupa spread the wings and rose into the air. "See you around, guys."

"What was that supposed to mean?", Chadi asked, gazing after the majordomo.

"Well, what do you think was the reason that Siyo showed up just in time to save our poor asses, huh? The lions? A straying cheetah? One of you two? I don't think so. Of course, it was Fupa, who saw what was going on. I told you guys, that bird on our side is worth more than all the strength Masoka has to offer."

AN: Guma is back again. Time for some hyena action! Was Siyo too harsh with Masoka? Up to you to decide.