CHAPTER 2 – To steal a Kill
-… and what about new cubs? – Sarafina asked her best friend, Sarabi, who stood aside her preparing for the next hunt. The old lioness looked at her with a smile.
-Now don't tell me that after raising Nala to her adulthood you're beginning to feel maternal instincts waking in you again…
The two friends laughed.
-No, I'm not talking about myself. But I'm sure you see that our pride needs new life to continue it's existence.
-Yes, I know. Many of the girls have already reached a proper age for baring cubs. Including Nala. Well, you do understand there is one obstacle we have…
Sarafina frowned. Indeed, the problem of bringing new members of the pride to the world was not exactly the lionesses' problem…
-Yeah, we have to figure out where to find a proper male!
Sarabi lowered her head with a sigh.
-You're right, I'm afraid. None of us is ever going to be willing to make the sacrifice of mating Scar in order to sustain the wellbeing of the pride… or, at least, I don't think so.
-Well, who knows – Sarafina snorted. – Thereis someone who somehow managed to bear a cub in the recent time, and you know about the rumors…
The older lioness shook her head.
-Oh, don't pay attention to all the babble you here! Nuka isn't that similar to Scar… I know that he favors Zira, but I doubt that even she would… Eh, never mind. Besides, she herself says that some rogue male is Nuka's father.
-Yeah right, a rogue male… Those damned hyenas are patrolling the borders so tightly that even vultures can't go past them without being eaten… But who knows, maybe the rogues are some kind of solution? What do you think?
Sarabi looked at her friend with an inquiring smile.
-Aren't you too old to dream of some charming prince from the Outlands, Sarafina?
Her friend gave away a short giggle and looked towards the horizon.
-Pah! I've already had my 'fairytale love story', and Nala is the only good thing I have left after that. It's actually her I was thinking about. C'mon, let's just head to our positions…
And so the two huntresses left their bushy hiding spot and joined the rest of the pack on their way to the hunting grounds. Only one of them was missing, but she still had other matters to take care of.
-Nuka! – Zira screamed. -Stop playing around and listen to me. I want you to stay here and wait for me to return.
The scrawny brownish cub unwillingly quit his game of splattering the mud of a small puddle, and sat in front of his mother with reluctance.
-Aw, do I have to stay here alone again? I'm so bored whenever you go hunting…
-You can either stay here in safety… or leave and get eaten by some filthy creature! – she growled at him, the sight of her bared fangs made him back off with fear.
-Uhh… okay mother! It's okay, I'll just… stay here…
-Good!
Zira gave him another warning gaze and left him among the tall grass. When she was gone, Nuka hit the dirt with his paw, whining angrily.
-Oh darn it… what am I supposed to do here alone? Why won't anyone ever stay with me? Uh, I wish there were more cubs in the pride… Am I even safe here? Wh-what if some filthy creature decides to pass through these bushes and finds me? Maybe I better go find a better hiding spot…
Over at the hunting grounds, Zira stood hidden among the dead reeds of a dried up pond. In the middle of what was once a big waterhole, a family of warthogs was bathing in the leftover mud. They were a pretty promising chance for a decent dinner, yet the young lioness wasn't quite interested in them. She was looking for someone else.
-Where are you, Nala? – she whispered to herself. The two huntresses have been rivals ever since Sarafina's daughter came into adulthood. Although Zira was older than her, both of them had almost equal chances of taking over the hunting party after Sarabi's death. Of course, letting Nala win was the last thing Zira would let happen. She was the king's favorite, and above all she had a cub to feed. Even if she did wish that she had been wiser in that matter…
She observed the opposite side of the pond, where the rest of the hunting party was located at their assigned positions. She watched carefully, until she saw a pair of azure eyes hidden well among the thicket.
-Hm-hm, perfect… obedient and visible, as always…
Keeping herself below the line of grass, Zira moved towards a better spot, one she could use to attack more unexpectedly. Now she was able to see the other lionesses, already on their positions. They used a simple strategy, that in her eyes was utterly predictable and pathetic- a perfect sign of the way Sarabi lead the huntresses. She could already see it- three or four lionesses falling out of the thicket to scare the herd, then two, one from each flank, attacking to make sure the animals stay in a compacted group, leading them straight towards the positions of single huntresses, from who each was to pick a target- an animal falling behind the others. If the pursuit was to fail, those lionesses were supposed to lead the escaping prey close to the position of another hiding pridemember, which was to replace her tired friend and take down the tired target. Simple. Predictable. Pathetic. And so it was this time as well. Zira observed, as four of her pridesisters came charging out of the reeds, scaring the warthogs to a blind amok. Two others fell out of both sides a second later, and as the prey started forming a position, a few warthogs stayed a little in the back. They are this day's dinner, she thought. Only one more moment, only a few more seconds, and Nala is going to choose her target. And there… she… goes!
Zira's heart started pumping the adrenaline intensely as she saw the azure eyed huntress leaping out of the reeds, furiously charging at a large boar. The surprised animal changed it's direction, and started escaping closer towards Zira's position. It was perfect. Now she would attack without anyone suspecting, making the boar turn to another direction once again. Nala wouldn't have enough stamina to catch up, and so the kill would be hers. Zira carefully watched the approaching pursuit, every second as long as an hour…
Now!
She used all the strength of her legs to jump out from beyond the thicket, and after a mere flash she was charging at the warthog's side. She bared her teeth seeing the shock in Nala's eyes. But the boar occurred to be a particularly persistent one, as it decided not to change it's direction, which would undoubtedly slow it down and make them lose Nala. No, this boar decided to run it's legs off straight as it went, and so this time Zira was the one who was surprised. She had to turn and catch up with Nala, which made them both running at the warthog's heels, but also head to head between themselves.
-Huh… surrender… he's mine! – yelled Zira between breaths.
-Never! – Nala was also far from giving up.
The two huntresses noticed, that they were already approaching the reeds in their pursuit. They weren't getting closer to the boar by an inch, either. Their only chance was that someone finally gets tired- the rival or the prey, or both at the best case. Their determination was equal- their muscles were causing great pain, their lungs were exhausted, and yet they ran with the same speed. They saw the wall of reeds closing by, and then…
Thump!
At first none of them knew what was going on. The boar in front jumped between the grass and simply disappeared… They both hit something simultaneously, and ended up tripping, falling to the ground and stumbling on one another. Among a cloud of dust, coughing, Zira threw Nala off her back and roared, panting.
-Rrrah! What the hell was that?
The younger lioness got up, shook her head and threw out her tongue, exhausted, trying to catch her breath.
-You… tell me… - she wheezed.
They both lifted up their heads, only to observe… two male lions, running off towards the horizon, dragging the captured warthog in their mouths. It seemed that they had been hiding in the reeds, and snatched the huntresses' prey right in front of their noses.
-Oh… this can't be good… - said Nala, deeply troubled.
-This isn't good… this isn't good at all… - Zira answered her, angry to the limit.
This was probably the first time the two lionesses agreed with each other.
AN: I made an effort to describe the way lions actually hunt, although it may not really be very accurate. Besides that, I tried to imagine how the relations within Sarabi's pride looked like, and since the lionesses' life circles around hunting, I thinks there was a lot of competition between them, especially Zira and Nala (they were both good at hunting, and we can see just how much they 'like' each other in the second movie). The consequences of their relations are going to have a great influence on the upcoming events… and so are the mysterious lions that they saw. Are you still interested? Keep reading.