AN: Greetings once again, fellow Lion King fanatics! Not a long time ago, I spent a few hours on the Tube watching films about the life of lions. They were so amazing and inspiring, that I decided to write another piece of fan fiction. Some of it is actually going to be based on real scenes I saw about those fascinating animals, that the Lion King series shows quite well.
So my idea is to describe a little how the situation in the Pridelands looked like during Scar's reign, mostly from the lionesses' POV. The story contains long fighting scenes and such, but I hope you'll enjoy it. I will be grateful for every review.
CHAPTER 1 – A Midnight Ambush
The night was very silent. Only the waving of the tall grass and the buzzing of countless mosquitoes could be heard under the starry sky. Someone inexperienced might easily omit the slow movement of a small herd of zebras, invisible among the darkness, cautious and silent enough to mix in with the rest of the sounds of sleeping nature. The animals from the Pridelands were all strongly overhunted, mostly by hyena packs. And if that wasn't enough, there was also a great drought, causing their number to decrease alarmingly. This was why the zebras, along with others as well, changed their typical manner of existence to a safer, nocturnal one. They were now wading through the savannah, pasturing on the meager grass while searching for water, which became really difficult to obtain. And perhaps maybe tonight they would have even found it, if only they were the only ones to be awake.
It all started with a snap of a twig. One of the adult mares had only enough time to raise her head and pick up a swiftly approaching sound of paws, hitting the ground as if they were banging a war drum. The pale lioness pounced at her as if released from a slingshot. In the following commotion, a stallion guard managed to catch sight of what was actually going on.
-Lions! – he neighed from the top of his lungs. Not soon enough.
The zebra herd panicked, not sure from which direction had it been attacked. Unfortunately, the animals soon found out that they have been stalked for quite some time now, as they were surrounded by a pride of more than ten lionesses.
Although the attack had already started, an older huntress laid motionlessly on the ground, attempting only to raise her reddish eyes above the line of the grass in order to see what was going on.
-Okay Sarabi, you know what to do – she said to herself. – Stay low and wait for the right moment. If you go too fast, it will all be for nothing.
As the leader of the pack, she had high hopes about tonight's hunt. It was a great opportunity for the whole pride to finally satisfy their appetites, as nowadays the hyenas stole a great amount of game and the lionesses could do nothing against it. They became forced to just move further and further, pursuing the herds by day and stalking them at night.
Sarabi strained her ears and prepared for leaping out of her hiding spot. The rest of the huntresses have just scared a greater part of the zebras towards her position. Perfect, she thought. Sarabi waited a moment for them to approach, carefully chose her target- a nice, grown stallion- and then sprung from the middle of the bush, running as fast as she could. The zebra noticed her in the nick of time, momentarily changing its direction and breaking away from the rest of the group. The pursuit was vicious. Sarabi used all of her strength to get close to the escaping animal, but the young stallion just had more stamina, and soon the distance between them started to extend. The lioness slowed up, observing the cloud of dust coming from under the zebra's hooves.
-Your turn, girl – she whispered, panting.
Suddenly another lioness leapt straight on the stallion's side, totally surprising the animal. She hit it with all her weight, and when it stumbled, she tried to strike it down to the ground with her sharp claws. Somehow, the zebra managed to stand up back on it's legs, and neighing desperately, attempted to make a run for it. But the lioness was right behind it, roaring with passion and not as tired, as her prey. Once again she leapt on the stallion's back with barren claws… and she would have definitely caught it, if only a rock hard hoof wouldn't kick her it the chest. The lioness shrieked, falling to the ground like a collapsed tree.
-Oh no, Nala… - Sarabi, observing the whole thing from a distance, said silently and painfully. - I told you to look out for the kicks…
She watched the young huntress raise from the ground and shake her head in angry disbelief. And then she took a quick look at the still escaping zebra. Well, another time maybe- she thought.
But at that very moment something happened. Something rather unexpected. From a far away position, to which Sarabi hadn't assigned none of the huntresses, another young lioness pounced out at the dazzled stallion, hitting his neck with her fangs as fast as lightening hits the ground. She momentarily brought it down, wrestling with it using her paws until the animal was strangled to death.
-Unbelievable… - the leader of the pack said to herself in shock.
The hunt was over. Sarabi quickly approached the dead zebra, determined to find out who was it that caught it. Beside the carcass, there laid a young, slim lioness with a dark stripe on her head. Sarabi noticed that also Nala came from beyond the bush, and stood in front of the victorious huntress astonished, but also with a dose of admiration in her eyes.
-Well… good work there, Zira. I must say I'm... really surprised – said Nala panting, laying her tired and sore body on the ground.
-Yes, Nala's right – said Sarabi, joining the resting pair. – I am a little concerned about you working on your own and breaking our positions, but you seem to have handled yourself quite fine.
Zira, still embracing the dead stallion, obviously not yet fully out of her hunting amok, turned her head towards them and released her grip, taking a second to meditate about what she had just heard. Then she started licking the blood from her paws, superiority filling her tired voice.
-Well… it seems that… my plan was simply… better than yours, doesn't it, Sarabi?
The young lioness bared her teeth in a smile, which the pack's leader didn't quite consider as very kind. As an answer, she just sighed. She was old and had enough experience to know that sooner or later some of the younger lionesses will be contradicting to her decisions. Especially Zira. She laid silently on the ground for a few moments, and then turned to Nala, who was resting by her side.
-How's your chest?
The blue eyed huntress looked at her with a sense of shame.
-Fine, I suppose…
-Listen, you have no need to feel embarrassed. You've still done very good despite your young age…
-Hm-hm, but still not good enough… - Zira laughed maliciously.
Sarabi looked at her with rebuke, to which she paid no attention whatsoever.
-She's right, Sarabi… I still need a lot of practice – Nala answered in a sad tone.
-Oh nonsense, my dear! Come on, I'm going to see how the others did. Want to come with me?
-Sure, why not? – the young huntress' mood improved on that proposition, and she stood up with a smile. Also Sarabi got up from the ground.
-You stay here, Zira, and guard the meat – she ordered.
-Yes, at least I have anything to guard… - the malicious lioness whispered back at her.
The rest of the hunting party have pretty much gathered round another hunted zebra, a young mare. Among the resting huntresses there laid Nala's mother, Sarafina. The young lioness came up to her and nuzzled her.
-And how have you done tonight, Nala? I suppose you were at least as successful as we had.
-Oh yes she was – said Sarabi, smiling at the others. – Your daughter is getting better every day.
Nala lowered her head, still feeling somewhat embarrassed.
-Well… actually, I almost caught a zebra tonight… if only it hadn't kicked me…
-Oh dear, I hope that you didn't get hurt! – said Sarafina, observing her daughter closely.
-Don't worry, she did just fine – Sarabi laid on the ground and covered Nala's paw with her own. – So tell me, how did the hunt go for the rest of the pride?
Sarafina smiled with content.
-Well, apart from this one here, we caught another adult mare. So that makes it two kills for tonight.
-Uh, well… - Nala interrupted. – Actually, that would make three, mom.
-Huh? How come?
-Uh, you see… the zebra that kicked me… the one I let go…
-Zira caught it – Sarabi finished instead of her younger pridemember. – She changed her position on her own and managed to take the zebra by surprise.
-Did she now…? – Sarafina expressed a concerned thought, but had no time to continue, as the whole pack heard a sudden shutter among the grass. Everybody turned to it's direction, but soon their concern left them, as they felt a well known scent. Or stink, to be précised. The smell of a male lion could be sensed aloft in the air, and, as usually, an additional stench of a large number of hyenas. From beyond the border of darkness came the shining green eyes of Scar. The king of Pridelands. The alpha male of their pride, at least in his own opinion.
-Marvelous. Simply marvelous, ladies! – he circled round the pray, observing the successful huntresses with a cheerful praise. Some looked at him with joy. Some, with no emotion at all. The rest, and especially Sarabi, who knew what was going to happen soon, watched the king with distaste. Scar came close, standing in front of her with a proud grin.
-How many did you catch?
-Three – the leader huntress answered passionlessly.
-Splendid… - the black crowned lion turned his head and growled towards the thicket, swallowed up in darkness. – The other two are yours!
The lionesses heard a loud, maniacal laugh of countless hyenas, hiding in the grass, now on their way to devour what they have caught with the highest effort just moments ago. Scar on the other hand laid himself lazily by the carcass of the young zebra, and bit into it, feasting on the best parts of the meat. The pride knew this ritual well- the king would always eat as first, then the lionesses. Especially the ones he himself favored best. Eating took him quite some time, and the huntresses guarding the two other zebras came to join the rest of the pride, leaving the pray for the ever hungry hyenas. Sarabi, Sarafina and Nala laid together, waiting for their turn to eat.
-Eh, it all used to be different during Mufasa's reign… - said the second one of them.
-Mom, don't say that aloud! You know that Scar gets furious every time we mention the king's name – said Nala.
-Pah, why should I bother? He isn't concerned much about anything besides eating and sleeping…
-Don't worry – Sarabi tried to console her. - Things like tonight's hunt give me hope that the situation is still going to be fine for us. Oh, I just hope there will be enough food left for the cubs…
The lionesses observed Scar as he finished his meal. He lifted his head, all smeared with blood, and yawned widely. He raised from the ground and looked around.
-Zira? Where are you? – he called. The young lioness was at his side in a flash, swinging her tail and proudly erect. – You're next, and then the others.
-Thank you, sire! – she smiled at him. The king just turned around passionlessly and laid himself among the grass, falling asleep instantly.
-Have you ever wondered how come she is so thin despite the amount of meat she usually gets? – asked Sarafina.
-I truly have no idea… - Sarabi answered absentmindedly, as she was thinking of something totally different at that moment. The mentioning of Mufasa's name made her remember things from the distant past, a happier past…
The three lionesses spent the rest of the time waiting for their turn to eat gazing at the stars. When they were laying themselves to sleep, they all wondered how come after such a successful hunt could they still feel hunger.
AN: I always think it's kind of grotesque that the 'nice lionesses' from Sarabi's pride were actually skillful killers during a hunt, but that's just what lions do. Years after Mufasa's death, they are slowly getting sick of how Scar makes them work themselves to death getting food for the hyenas apart from themselves. So what's going to happen later? You'll just have to continue reading, but I can hint that Sarabi, Nala, Sarafina and Zira are all going to take a very active role in the upcoming events. Cheers!