preface: this one has a cliffhanger at the end.
Can't get out
"We can't go on like this - she needs rest!"
Tuli stopped and turned around. She saw Zira looking at her, eyes big, glowing faint in the weak moonlight. Pleading, desperate - and angry. Behind her, not quite out of earshot, was a third lioness, barely visible in the dark and struggling to catch up with her friends. Her gait was halting and awkward, and she tried in vain not to put too much weight on one of her backpaws with a long black smear running alongside it.
They were out in the deep of night, traversing a great flat plain only intermittently illuminated by a moon obscured more often than not by passing clouds. It was getting colder. Dead grass turned to dust underfoot, revealing dry, cracked earth, and all around them bunched clusters of parched, thorny bushes. The few trees they could see loomed barren and lifeless. They could hear no sounds but the soft thuds of their own paws, and when the third lioness caught up, that too gave way to eerie silence.
Zira could tell Tuli did not want to stop in this place. Neither did Zira. But then she looked at her other friend, the lioness named Kuti. Her eyes were listless and sunken, fur matted and lifeless on skin taut over bones now all clearly visible - Kuti looked ghastly. Not long ago, she'd been a stunning beauty, easily the most attractive of the trio, with her glowing bronze fur and those rare, bright-blue eyes you would sometimes see in lionesses of their former pride. No lion would have been able to resist one of her sultry, mischievous looks. But as she sat there now, breathing heavily, wheezing slightly, she looked nothing so much as a corpse.
Then again, Zira wondered, does Tuli look that much better? Do I?
"This place isn't safe, Zira. We don't have anywhere to hide here - there's no caves or burrows."
"There's no place to hide anywhere!" Zira shouted, annoyed at Tuli's matter-of-fact tone, thinking her dismissive, "We could walk a full day and night in any direction without running into anything other than more flats..."
Tuli looked around, frowning. Leafless, gangly trees and barren shrubs for as far as the eye could see, growing ever more shadowy, finally fading out into absolute blackness beyond her field of vision. She couldn't see all that far in the dark, but she knew Zira was right: there hadn't been any landmarks ahead during the daytime, so a comfy cave complex wasn't likely to just spring up out of the darkness now. And just as importantly, she could hear the anger in Zira's voice. Tuli didn't want Zira to be angry with her.
"All right," she relented, "You two stay put, I'll see if I can't find a ditch or something nearby, get some shelter at least..."
Even though she had gotten what she asked for, Zira couldn't help but hope for Kuti to object, act like nothing was amiss to reassure them, and maybe even volunteer to go looking for a hideout herself - back to her old self again! But she just sat there staring into the void, silent and listless. Zira felt a stabbing pain in her stomach, even more piercing than the constant pangs of hunger; she knew things were bad, but hand't realized quite how bad.
When they first started out, Kuti had been the one to take charge. It had even been her idea to flee in the first place, while they still could. She was the oldest, and by far the boldest, so naturally she was the natural leader for their little band.
There had still been four of them, then. Zira, Tuli, Kuti... and Kumata.
Kuti would take turns walking with each of the other three, always chatting to try and keep their spirits up, made sure no-one fell behind. She spent a lot of time with Kumata, especially. Kumata had been the odd one out, being the only male, and significantly younger than the lionesses. He was just a kid, really, and Kuti couldn't help but mother over him.
It was especially hard on her when they lost him, the only other time Zira had known her to go silent like that. It had been inevitable, though: Kumata was just too young, and the first leg of their journey had been particularly hard. He couldn't keep up. Youngsters need to stay put, with a pride looking after them. Out here, they die. Didn't make it any easier, though; they were all in a very dark place then.
They'd only been able to keep going thanks to Kuti: she recovered quickly, and helped drag the others out of the pits of despair. With her help, they soldiered on, hungry, and hunted, but determined.
Then they were attacked again. Luckily, they all made it out... only this time, Kuti got hurt. The bleeding stopped quickly enough, and she made light of it all, so Zira figured it musn't have been that bad. But the wound didn't heal, and Kuti started falling ever farther behind. She couldn't run, she couldn't hunt (if there had been anything to hunt!), and as time went on she grew more silent. Worried for her best friend, Zira started lagging, too, keeping with Kuti.
All this left Tuli out in front - cautious, placid Tuli, the last lioness anyone would look to for leadership. Things had gotten pretty bad indeed.
Zira inched over to Kuti.
"Sorry for this, Coots... You doing okay? You've been awfully silent..."
"It's okay, Zira," Kuti replied hoarsely, "Just a bit hungry, you know? They'd better have some good prey on the other side of these flats, or I'm going to kick somebody's ass!"
When the lioness tried to force a laugh, she started shivering badly. Zira quickly got Kuti to lay down on the ground, and then went to lay next to her and put her forpaws around her chest. She could feel the outline of Kuti's spine against her stomach, and her ribs under her paws. The other lioness was glowing.
The shivering subsided.
"Thanks, Zira," she whispered, "Guess I'm not doing as well as I thought, huh?"
"It's just cold out tonight, 's all," Zira replied, almost believing it herself, "You'll be all right, we just have to settle down for the night, move on tomorrow when it's warmer."
Kuti replied only with a contented murmur. They'd lain there for a while, keeping each other warm, when suddenly Tuli reappeared out of the brush. She looked startled to find them like that.
"You guys, is everything all right?"
To Zira's surprise, Kuti was the first to get back up and respond. Seemed like she recovered a bit.
"We're fine, just cold, and tired..."
"Yeah, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have tried to keep walking all night. I just don't want to stay in this place too long, you know? It's as dead and barren as anything else we've come through..."
"It's all right, Tuli, you're doing good. Keep this up, and you'll get us to a new home yet," Kuti managed a weak smile, "You find a good place for the night?"
Zira could see Tuli's face brighten at the compliment. Zira and Kuti had been best friends since childhood, but neither of them had been very close with Tuli, so it was hard on her now that it was down to just the three of them. Mercifully, Kuti made every effort to include her. Zira tried too, but she had a harder time dealing with Tuli's sometimes aloof manner.
"It's just this way, come on."
She led them to a sunken earthen crater surrounded by a few sparse bushes. During the daylight, you'd be able to see right through. Not a perfect hiding place, but at least it was slightly below ground-level, giving shelter from the wind, or any nighttime passerby's who didn't pay too close attention. The lionesses curled up next to each other in the center of the pit.
"Someone should try to stay awake, and keep watch," Tulli suggested as she watched Zira put her chin on Kuti's neck, "I'll take first shift..."
"Okay. Wake me up if you get too tired, I'll take over." Zira didn't really want to be woken up hallway through, but you have to at least offer.
"Right, see ya in a bit then." Tuli turned back, clambered out of the pit, and started patiently stalking around their hiding place. Befor she had done even one tour of the pit, Zira was allready fast asleep.
Suddenly, Tuli.
"Zira! Come on, Zira, wake up. Sorry, but I can't stay awake, gotta get some sleep."
"But I wasn't awake to start with," Zira grumbled annoyedly. How long had it been? The moon had gone completely, hard to see anything even with a lion's nightvision. Was it just the clouds, or getting closer to the dawn?
"You're awake now. It shouldn't be long until sunrise, and then we'll move on..."
Oh, great. So she had to stay awake until sunrise, and then they'd head out again - meaning that the paltry nap Tuli had just woken her from was the only sleep she'd be getting. Why even bother going to sleep at all if that is all you get out of it? But at least Kuti would get a double ration. Yawning, Zira took up position outside the pit, beyond the surrounding bushes. Now that it had gone completely dark, the place looked a lot different from what she remembered. Anything outside her immediate surroundings had become a shadowy blur. She circled their hiding place once, then twice, mostly to keep busy, but it felt pretty pointless; why bother looking around when she couldn't see anything to start with?
It made a lot more sense to settle down quietly, and simply try listening for trouble. Don't need any light for listning, and the place was pretty quiet besides. She would her any unwanted visitor coming a mile away if she didn't make any noise herself herself. So Zira settled down among the brush shielding the pit from view, and took to simply listening. Listening, and hearing nothing for the longest time...
Zira woke up with a start.
What was that? Where am I? Oh, right... ugh, I must have fallen asleep...
There it was again, a sound to her left. The wind? Someone walking through the bushes? Zira got up, cautiously moving towards the source of the sound. She couldn't see anything...
Then, the same sound, but to her right. Ahead of her. To the left again, but not the same place as before. Zira felt her heart-rate going up involuntarily, and she started taking ever bigger breaths. Where before she wanted to investigate, she now had to restrain herself from not making a blind dash into the night, away from the sounds. She started slowly backing up towards the pit. That's when the moon broke through the clouds again, and suddenly cast the whole scene in stark silvery light. A dozen pairs of staring eyes gleamed in the night, all fixed on Zira. Without a second's thought, she jumped back into the pit, screaming her friends awake.
"HYENAS! RUN!"
Zira shot up with a vicious growl. Eyes wide, claws out, every muscle in her body tensed. Her lips pulled back, bearing her fangs. She could feel the blood coursing madly through her veins - she was ready to kill anyone who came at her.
"Zira? Are you all right?"
That voice...
As if by magic, all the panic, terror, anxiety and tension she felt dissolved itself. The pressure she felt on her chest released, the knot in her stomach came undone. It gave her the chance to look around. She wasn't out on the plains anymore, but on a ridge under a large rocky overhang, looking out over pleasant green hill that stretched almost to the horizon. Not the deep of night, but rather the middle of a bright, hot and sunny day. Zira turned around. There, only inches away from her, was Tuli. She lay spread out over the rocks, one paw dangling lazily over the edge of their perch, and the only indication of being awake was her upraised head. Her eyes looked tiny, and her the fur on her head was a bit ruffled.
"Crap, I'm sorry... I guess I woke you up, huh?"
"It's..." Tuli yawned, and kept at it for the longest time, "It's nothing... Having those dreams again?"
Zira swallowed. They'd done this so many times now: Zira would wake in a panic, and Tuli would be there to calm her back down. It was fine, they didn't have to run anymore, they had a pride again. They were safe. But Zira din't feel safe, she never felt safe - not until she saw Tuli.
"Yeah... but it's over, I'm good now... You look tired, get back to sleep!" Zira couldn't help but make it sound like an order. I order you not to be inconvenienced. Tuli smiled sleepily.
"Whatever you say, boss. If you need me, I'll be right..." Her sentence ended in a snore.
Zira settled back down, too, but sleep wouldn't come. The panic might have subsided, but that dream had still left her all amped up and wide awake. Frustratedly, she got up, cast a parting glance at Tuli, and clambered down the rocky ledge. Following a narrow track winding down the Priderock peak, she ended up on the plaza below the promontory.
It was the hottest part of the day, leaving the air directly above the stamped-earth courtyard simmering. Not the best time to be out and about, but Zira shrugged it off. She'd had worse. It did mean she wouldn't encounter a single other lioness - they were all reposing in the main den to escape the worst of the day's heat. The main den might have been the most comfortable place in all Priderock, but Zira never slept there. Too many other lionesses. She was always more at ease finding a quiet place for herself - or with Tuli.
Zira crossed the plaza, and simply kept walking. She din't really have a destination or goal in mind, shed' just walk until she got tired, or until the sun started to set, whichever came first, and then she'd get back home. She wasn't getting any sleeping done, so it was as good a way to spend her day as any. She only met one other animal near Priderock: a lone hyena was lounging in the shade of a small copse of trees, and stirred when Zira neared.
It was only a single hyena, yet the sight of him stirred in Zira's mind the recollection of the attack she had just been forced to relive. And just like that, she was angry again. The lioness growled a vicious curse, and pulled a quick sprint in his direction. The hyena scampered off with a panicked yelp.
Good! I've about had my fill of those disgusting creatures stinking up the place. And how's that working out for you, Scar, letting the hyenas into the Pridelands? I bet that idea lost a lot of its shine when they crashed your coronation!
Zira paused. Why had he allowed that scum back into the Pridelands anyway? Zira vaguely remembered having a conversation along those lines with Tuli, but had no recollection of them ever settling on any one conclusion. Zira started walking again, but she kept mulling over the question of Scar and the hyenas. The more she thought about it, the less sense it made - not based on what she knew, anyway. The feeling of not knowing, not understanding - it drover her mad. She paused again, and looked around.
Without really noticing it, her paws had taken her a long way from Priderock. Just ahead of her, curling through the green hills like an enormous sandy snake, lay the Gorge. A fairly shallow, wide canyon cut into soft stone, that almost ran the length of the Pridelands. She'd never had the chance to witness it herself, but supposedly, when the rainy season got particularly bad, it filled up to become a great river.
This was where Mufasa died. She'd seen the body herself, along with the rest of the pride, when they had come to pay their respects the day after Scar announced the terrible news. Some of the lionesses broke down in tears, others looked away - pointedly, Sarabi never broke down, or looked away, even if tears ran down her face throughout. Zira remembered just staring at the dead king, feeling nothing.
Ahadi had been the one to take her in, all that time ago, and she had been sad when he passed away soon after. But his son, Mufasa... Zira never felt great love for him. Ahadi had been a king, Mufasa just played one. And the last iteration, Scar, had the same problem, except that he was even less convincing at it. Though, admittedly, he did look the part, moreso than his brother. Sure, Mufasa was more physically imposing by far, but Scar's looks were closer to those of Ahadi, with his unruly black mane and enigmatic green eyes. Score one for Scar on that front - a handsome lion, if absolutely nothing else.
Zira stalked along the edge of the canyon for a while, until she came across a depression in the rock-wall. It made for a perfect ramp into the Gorge. She sauntered down casually. Once below, she admired the view for a while: steep rock faces rising up on both sides, framed by trees, with the sun still directly overhead. Made her feel small.
It took her some time to remember the place where Mufasa had been found, but she eventually came across the very recognizable dead tree jutting out from a rocky outcropping right where the canyon narrowed a bit. Nothing remained to indicate the place had been the scene of such a recent tragedy - vultures and other scavengers had made sure of that.
I bet that Circle of Life seems a lot less grand when it's your turn to get eaten, Zira thought, smirking.
"Trampled," she wondered out loud. She was surprised at the amount of echo coming back at her.
If my voice gets amplified like that, imagine what kind of noise a rampaging herd of wildebeest makes!
Zira frowned. Must have been hard to miss, all that sound. Yet, if you heard Scar telling it, Simba had managed to get himself caught by surprise when the wildebeest swarmed down the canyon, whereupon his father tried in vain to save him, dying in the attempt. Zira looked around again. There were a few other ramps within viewing distance, not all that different from the one she had used to enter the Gorge - some steeper, others not quite as steep. Along most of the Gorge, even with little warning, you could conceivable make it out after hearing the approaching stampede, if you ran. But, supposing Simba had been caught by the sound of the approaching wildebeest in a particularly bad spot, she could see him not finding a way out in time - doubly so because he had only those little cub-legs to carry him.
So there is Simba, suddenly hearing a distant rumbling. It takes him a while before he figures out what is going on. He starts running, desperately looking for a way out of the canyon - but the wildebeest catch up with him before he finds anything. No way a cub can outrun a rampaging wildebeest, so he clings onto a dead tree hoping to stay above the fracas. He loses his grip, falls down.
They both died right here, on this spot. Zira tried to remember what exactly Scar had told the pride. Him and Mufasa had been patrolling nearby, when they heard a cry for help. Next thing Scar knew, they were standing at the Gorge's edge, looking down, seeing Simba struggle. They scrambled to find a way down, but then Simba fell, and Mufasa simply jumped down into the canyon in a desperate attempt to save his son. That was the last time Scar saw his brother alive, disappearing into the mad torrent of raging beasts.
Zira looked up. The edges of the canyon didn't rise as high here, and the side nearest Priderock looked more like a steep slope that a sheer face. You'd probably end up breaking all fours if you jumped from the top of the canyon, but scampering down that slope? That'd work. Was Mufasa mad enough to simply jump down in one go? Or did he rush down the slope... only to get crushed by the wildebeest?
Poor sod. Too bad he got trampled right away - I could see a lion climbing back up that slope and make it out.
Zira studied the canyon wall again. Perfectly climbable, except maybe for the last bit where the rock face turns vertical again - that might not work out. Still, worth a shot - beats getting trampled. The king should've just dodged the wildebeest, grabbed his son, and climbed out - or at least try to.
If I had to, I could have, Zira thought, I could have definitely made that climb. Pretty sure I could do it even now.
Why not?
Zira backed up a bit, did a quick sprint, and jumped. She landed more than a third of the way up the slope, but could feel herself sliding back down immediately. Hard to get a grip. It took her a while to dig in her paws in all the right places, stop the backslide. Then, claws outstretched and very cautiously, she started climbing up, always holding three paws in place while she sought a new place to put the fourth. Every muscle in her body strained with effort, and she was panting by the time she came to the last, vertical part of the cliff.
Very careful now, one paw here, feel if I can't find anything to grab on to there...
She was almost at the very top, when one of her backpaws suddenly slipped away. It was a close call, but she managed to recover, digging all her claws in the soft, yielding stone. Exhausted, trembling, she pushed her head sideways against the rocks.
Then suddenly, looking straight at it, she noticed. A little bit to the right of where she was now, on a part of the cliff she hand't been climbing, too far away to be visible from down below, or from the other side: two groups of four scratch-marks each, long and deep. Right at the spot where Mufasa had died, a lion had tried climbing out of the canyon.
The startling realization gave Zira the boost she needed to climb all the way up.
postscript: get it? 'cause she hangs from a cliff.
