Hunter and prey

The young buck was nervous. In the early morning of the passing day he had barely escaped the lionesses of Pride Rock and was still struggling to calm down, despite it was already in the middle of the night. The whole day after his near-death experience he constantly was sure to notice predators sneaking up on him. Now he was exhausted from all the running, but still too scared to close his eyes. His ears constantly turned trying not to mis any possible telltale sound. Of course he knew the Pridelands' lionesses always hunted in the morning and by daylight. Now in the middle of the night they were sleeping but still it was hard for him to get rid of his paranoia.

The wind blew through the long grass and another dark figure moved forward. The breeze carried the buck's smell right into his nostrils. The wind stopped and so did he. One false move and he would fail. Another gust followed and a few noiseless steps later he saw his target.

Finally, the buck lowered his head. He had come to the conclusion it would do him no good to stay awake. Certainly, the lionesses would return by dawn to get him and if he didn't get some sleep, by then he would be too weak to escape. Slowly the tension left his body and he closed his eyes.

He snuck closer. By now he had left the cover of the grass and was close enough to pounce, but still his breath was calm and low. Only a body length separated him from his target. He took another step. The wind stopped only halve a second too early. The buck's ears rose and he held his breath. Completely frozen he stood there and watched the ears turning towards him until…

The breeze returned and softly ran through his pelt. It was just the wind. He forced himself to relax. Just the wind…

As usual, euphoria ran through his body like a shiver, as he lowered his fangs. His prey had no time to open its eyes or even realize what happened. Nothing more than a quiet crack was heard, as he closed his jaws. With his body he pressed the corps to the ground to prevent any possible twitches. Then it was over.

. . .

Roaring sounded through the canyons. Angrily Kenua bared his teeth and growled. What a rude awakening. It wasn't even noon. He had spent all night hunting, dragging his prey around and eating and now wanted nothing else than to sleep. Just as he was about to mumble a curse he stopped and listened closer. That voice had sounded way to familiar. He prayed it was nothing but an odd coincidence. If Jua seriously had tracked him into this wasteland that would mean she had reached a whole new level of desperation. Maybe he really had to teach her a lesson…

With that in mind he rose and carefully looked at the buck he had dragged here and made sure he wouldn't fall down into the canyon. It would be a shame if he returned only to find his prey down there, eaten by those filthy hyenas. Then he began to make his way into the direction of the roar.

When he reached the Outlands' borders there was no sign of Jua. Carefully he climbed down into the canyon to take a closer look and started sniffing the area. Her scent was weak, but still there. Even with the stench of a whole pack of hyenas in the air he would have smelled her. She definitely had been here. But why? Curious he began following her track and was glad to find out, that she hadn't been alone. He could smell at least two other lionesses… and something very stinky.

A short while after he reached the Pridelands border and stopped. Not sure if he should continue, he looked around. Last night he hadn't hesitated to enter for poaching. In the cover of darkness, he had been in his element and had fully trusted in his stealth skills but now by daylight… Struggling between curiosity and caution he stood there. Finally, overpowered by curiosity he continued his way.

. . .

It had been dumb! He cursed himself for his obviously falls decision and panted. Last night he had been the hunter in this area, but now the tables had turned. A short glance over his shoulder told him, that his pursuers were still behind him. Unfortunately, he knew at least one of them. He and the dark brown lion leading the chase had met before. Years had past since then but it seemed this guy had a good memory.

"Get that filthy rat!", the lion roared and the two lionesses sped up.

Silently calling him with the worst names he could imagine, Kenua dodged a small tree. Everything had been fine until this idiot came around.

By night no one had ever seen him coming, but now by day the two lionesses had spotted him from afar. Instead of attacking they had curiously approached him. As it turned out, the Pridelanders were way friendlier towards rogues under Simba's rule, than in the days of his predecessor. By the time of Kenua's last visit it had been Scar who ruled the land. In that night, the brown lion behind him had been the first to see the body and the only one who ever witnessed the Nightmare. Kenua had never been sure if he really saw what happened, but as it turned out now, this question was no longer of any importance.

"Shit!" That was everything he was able to shout as he felt the lion's claws reaching their target. His hindlegs were thrown aside and he fell face first into the dirt. Now he had no other chance but to fight his way out. Something he had tried to avoid. In the glimpse of an eye he was back on his feet and ducked. By the width of a hair the pouncing lion missed him, but as the attacker turned around, Kenua found himself surrounded by him and the lionesses. Now he had to be quick.

The first part of his escape plan worked. The dirt he threw at his opponent made him flinch and cough. Using the distraction, Kenua turned around and pounced at the lioness he considered the weaker one. He took her by surprise, managed to throw her down and was about to cut and run, when suddenly…

The blow came out of nothing. For a moment everything Kenua saw went black. The next thing he noticed, was laying on the ground, held down by a massive paw, which's claws dug into his neck.

"Nice try", the brown lion growled. His fangs were so close to Kenua's face that he could smell what this brute had had for breakfast. "Any last words, rat?"

Gasping for air Kenua tried to kick the lion's bely with his hindlegs, but he didn't even seem to notice it. A shadow fell on his face and disappeared.

"May I ask, what is going on?", an upset voice sounded from the left. "You are only a guest here, but you know Simba's rules! Rogues like you are one yourself are not to be chased of until they turn out to be hostile!"

"This one is", the lion simply replied looking at the hornbill landing next to Kenua's head.

The bird sighted. Then he looked at the young rogue. "And what has he done? What's his crime?"

"Murder."

. . .

Kenua didn't knew what would have been worse. Being killed at the spot or being dragged through halve the Pridelands only to be killed somewhere else. After the hornbill had determined, that the king himself would have to judge, the lion, whose name turned out to be Chumvi, had grabbed his captive by the neck to be sure he wouldn't escape, what made it impossible for Kenua to walk properly. When they finally reached their destination, he was sure, by now he looked even worse than Nuka. In the shadow of Pride Rock Chumvi loosened his grip and the rogue sank to the ground.

"If you try anything funny, you're dead", Chumvi promised and searched the sky for the hornbill who had flown ahead to inform the king.

They didn't have to wait for long, until a lion with a big red mane appeared and walked up to them. As he came closer, Kenua noticed how Chumvi bowed his head. So, this had to be Simba.

"Who is this?", the king asked and looked at the captive. "Zazu told me you have caught a murderer, but I don't know about any murders."

"My king, the murder in question was committed during your exile. You've never met Chagina", Chumvi explained. "But I'm sure the pride remembers her, as well as your queen does."

"Well, Nala is busy with our guest." He looked at the two lionesses who accompanied Chumvi.

"Chumvi is right, Simba", one of them confirmed. "She joined the pride during your uncle's reign. She was killed by two rogues who would later be called the Last Nightmare."

"It was the year of your return, if I remember it correctly", the other one added.

Simba took a closer look at Kenua. "He seems to be a bit young to be one of the rogues in question. That was quite a few years ago."

"His age doesn't matter", Chumvi growled. "I saw him that night. I saw, what the Nightmare had done to my friend. He is the lion I think he is and he's guilty."

Still lying on the ground Kenua glanced at the king's face. He could tell by the look he gave him, that Simba wasn't sure how to handle the situation, and smelled his chance. "Great King", the trapped rogue asked as kind as he was able to. "Sadly, I can't deny being involved in the said events. But would you allow me to tell you my version of this story?"