Hyenas

The sun sank down and her light painted the sky with reddish clouds. With quick but save steps Kenua moved along the canyon's ledges like a shadow in the twilight. Tracking the hyenas was the easiest thing ever. The scavengers didn't even try to hide their presence. Their smell was simply everywhere and their noises could be heard through the whole Outlands. In no time he had spotted their lair. From up here he had a great view, but the chaotic barking, snarling and whining from below made it hard to eavesdrop on them.
In the cover of the clan's noises he clambered over the canyon's rock formations to get closer to the large female he assumed to be the leader. She seemed to be shouting at some males which Kenua recognized as the ones from yesterday.

"…wasn't even my fault!", the oldest guy among them tried to defend himself. "I told them not to rush in one by one, but they didn't listen!"

"That's not why you are here!", the matriarch snapped and sprinkled him with salvia. "You have left my young ones to save your own worthless hide! Look what this beast has done to my sons! I can't even tell their butts from their faces anymore!"

"Well, you can't blame him for that, Zuni", interjected another female who was laying close to them. "That has been a problem since they were born."
For a moment it became quiet in she canyon, as all eyes wandered between the two females. Then the matriarch busted out in laughter. Relieved, the other hyenas joined her, except for her sons, who looked pretty upset. "Tha… That was a good one, Shenzi!", the matriarch giggled gasping for air. Then, only a second later she got serious again. "Now be quiet everyone!" Instantly silence returned. Just one hyena sitting a little off couldn't stop laughing. "Banzai, I'll forgive you this one. But if I hear one more time you ran away from an intruder, I'll give you a real reason to run!"
Relive was seen on the hyena's face. "Understood! Thanks, Huzunisha."

"Yeah, yeah, now get lost." The matriarch wasn't even looking at him anymore. "And please could someone calm down Edaha? Don't want him to swallow his tongue again."
Up at the canyon's ledge Kenua rolled his eyes. This wasn't what he was here for. He strained his ears in order to listen to the hyenas, who returned to their former conversations and squabbles. And suddenly over all the recurred bubbling he heard it.

"Nuka? Seriously?" Shenzi stared at Banzai in disbelief.

"That's what the boys said."

"But Nuka is a wimp! You know him. Scar didn't even accept him as his son when he was born. When we had to leave Pride Rock he was…like this." She lifted a paw to show the puny height.

"Guess he has grown since then", Banzai adamantly replied. "That happens when you age. Think what you want. Neither I'll go near him anytime soon to find out, nor one of the boys will! We… they have learned their lesson."
So, in this point his nightly intervention has proven a success. Initially his attempt of beating some self-confidence back into Nuka had caused even more trouble for the poor guy. His yelping had been loud enough to make the termite mounds shake, as his mother punished him for waking her up in the middle of the night. Unfortunately, she didn't believe a single word of what he had told her. Despite that she wasn't able to break her son's certainty of his story being nothing but the truth. In the morning right after cleaning his wounds Nuka continued to tell everyone about his glorious fight against the hyenas. Not even Kenua had been able to miss his excitement for after telling his whole pride the youngster started wandering around the border, mumbling about his hidden strength and skill. If only he'd knew how to release them so he could show his mother… What should Kenua say, self-confidence restored… if not worse. It had been at this point, that he had left, to figure out if the other part of his plan had also been successful. Now he could say, he was more than satisfied with the outcome of his actions.
A small tumult down in the hyenas' lair drove his attention back to them. It seemed like a few of them had started a fight over some leftovers. A male hyena had grabbed a bone, shared by two others. Despite one of his adversaries being much bigger than him the male showed no sign of hesitation. He snapped and growled at the other males and only a moment later he was victorious. Satisfied he laid down, gnawing on his booty.

"Hay! That was our dinner!", the smaller one of his victims jelled.

"You're right. It was", the robber stated.
"Yes!" The bigger hyena agreed. From his stupid facial expression and tone Kenua concluded that he hadn't understood this statement in any way. "So, give it back!"

"I think you're missing the point, fur brain. It was yours, but now it's mine."

"You're mean!", the smaller hyena cried, forcing Kenua to cover his ears. This guy's voice had been weird before, but now it sounded like someone scratched his claws on a stonewall.

"Enough of this!" A nearby female stood up. With an expression somewhere between disgust and anger she walked up on the matriarch, who chatted with the hyena named Shenzi. "I'm sorry to interrupt, Huzunisha, but this has to stop!"
Annoyed the matriarch turned her head at the intruder. "Urgh…", she groaned. "What do you want?"

"Have a guess!" Furiously the female glanced at the arguing young ones. "Someone has to do something about Edaha's brats!"

"Then go tell him." Annoyed she turned back to Shenzi, but her answer hadn't solved the problem.

"And what exactly is he supposed to do?", the angry hyena growled. "Joining them? Laughing at them? Slobbering?"

"Hey, careful, Lady!", Shenzi entered the debate, snarling at her. "It's not Ed's fault they are like that."

"It's not? So they take after their mother? Huh… should have been obvious that her mental state wasn't the best, too. No sane hyena would have chosen this clown as a mate."
Within the glimpse of an eye Shenzi was on her feet. She rushed forwards and stopped right in front of the other female.

"Easy, girls!" Huzunisha stepped between them, preventing the imminent fight. "Calm down, Shenzi. You're a little long in the tooth for brawls. And you…" She gave the other female a push. "You should learn to hold your tongue! Speaking about the dead like that! Now clear off!"
For a moment the three of them stood there, angrily glancing at each other. Finally, the hyena who brought up the argument snorted and walked off.

"Pff! Long in the tooth…", Shenzi growled silently. "You're not that much younger than me."
"Wishful thinking." A grin appeared on the matriarch's face. Then she sighed and stood up. "Now come on. We have business to attend."

"Huh?"

"The young ones. That girl had a point after all. I know you are close to Ed, but that doesn't change, the fact that his kids aren't pups anymore and they need to start behaving like that. Their stupidity is no excuse. Same right for all juveniles. If they don't want to leave the clan, they have to prove they're useful."

"But Zuni… You know them. They'll never…"

"Don't worry. They won't be on their own out there." The grin returned to Huzunisha's face, as she glanced at the young hyena, who had bullied the other young ones earlier. "And I think I already know what their first task will be…"
The noises of the clan grew louder again and made it impossible for Kenua to continue listening. But he had heard enough, so it didn't bother him. As quiet as he had come, he set off on his way back and disappeared into the falling night.