preface: with enduring gratitude to ograndebatata and Anon for the kind reviews and continued readership. My thoughts on this chapter below. For those of you who aren't reading this story in one go and can't immediately place this chapter: it's a continuation of Chapter 4 (Can't get out).
Lion gothic
Zira leapt through the bushes on the edge of the crater, landing between a sleeping Tuli and Kuti. They awoke with a start.
"Zira, what's ..." Tuli mumbled sleepily, before she was cut off by Zira.
"Tuli, Kuti, you need to wake up, now! There's hyenas, out there!"
As if on cue, the sounds of hyenas whooping and hollering could suddenly be heard beyond the crater walls. Zira moved over to Kuti, who seemed to have some trouble getting up. When she nudged her, the lioness produced an agonized groan.
"Kuti, please, you have to get up!" Zira cried out, turning to Tuli in desperation, "Tuli! She's not getting up, do something!"
Now Tuli was wide awake, too. She was breathing rapidly, and her eyes shot to and fro. With quivering voice, she uttered: "I... I don't..."
Lights appeared at the edge of the crater, moonlight reflected in dark, beady eyes. The hyenas had found them. When Zira saw, she started frantically shoving at Kuti, while Tuli still sat staring, paralyzed.
Eventually, the wounded lioness made to get up, only to collapse again immediately. This seemed to finally spur Tuli into action, and she positioned herself next to Kuti, opposite from Zira. With the other lionesses to support her on either side, Kuti was finally able to get up.
"Zira, what happened, where did they come from? How many are they?" Tuli asked. Her voice was still shaking, but at least she seemed to be thinking straight again.
"I don't know, it was dark and they were suddenly there... so many of them!"
"Ok. We can't let them surround us here - come on! We have to get out."
The trio shuffled towards the crater's edge, but they were brought to a dead-stop when a hyena blocked the way. Then Tuli suddenly jumped forward, claws outstretched. The hyena was only able to dodge her by a hair's breath, and it quickly scampered away into the darkness.
"Go on, stay with Kuti, I'll try and fend them off!" she shouted back at Zira, who nodded eagerly, and guided her wounded friend out of the crater. They went on for a bit, picking up pace, when Zira heard sounds of struggle behind her. She looked back just in time to see Tuli lunging a three hyenas facing her standing shoulder to shoulder. They drew back in the face of such a fierce attack, but unbeknownst to Tuli, a fourth hyena had circled around, and now came at her unseen.
"Tuli, behind you!" Zira screamed, hurrying back to help her.
The hyena snapped at the lioness' backpaw. If not for Tuli turning around when she heard Zira, the beast's jaws would have snapped shut 'round her joint, severing muscle and tendons, and crushing her bones. Even if she survived, she'd have likely lost the paw. Now, however, the hyena bit nothing but skin and flesh. Tuli screamed out in pain, and started tearing into the assailant to make it let go. The three other hyenas she'd been facing now made to attack again, but were stopped short by the arrival of Zira, who battered at their line until they fell back.
When Tuli tried to scramble away from her attacker, the hyena tore out a piece skin from her leg, and then hobbled out of reach of the lioness, until it was under the cover of its three henchmen. But the lionesses had given as good as they got: Tuli's claws were wet with blood, and Zira was sure she'd felt bones cracking when her blows had landed. There was no time to relish their small victory, however: noises of a struggle emanated from where Zira had left Kuti.
The two lionesses looked back to the sight of Kuti lying sprawled on the ground, a hyena digging its fangs into the paw of her wounded leg, while she put up a weak, desperate defense against two others menacing her front.
"No! You bastards, leave her alone!" Zira roared. In only a few leaps, with a speed that surprised everyone, not least of all the hyenas, she was on them. Before it could scamper away, Zira pounced on the hyena that had been gnawing at Kuti's paw. The beast collapsed under the lioness' weight, whining and yelping desperately, but to no avail. Zira bit down wherever she could while mercilessly beating at the hyena's chest, head and neck. When the other two that had been assailing Kuti tried to intervene, Tuli jumped in.
At some point, the hyena stopped crying, then it stopped moving. For a moment, Zira stood victoriously over the crumpled shape, mouth open, breathing heavily. Bloodlust was in her eyes. Then she looked over to Kuti.
The lioness still lay on the ground, whimpering, with Tuli at her side, licking her wounded paw. Zira bounded over, and positioned herself protectively above the prone lioness, nuzzling her gently under her chin.
"Kuti, it's all right, I'm here, I'm here with you. Oh, what have they done to you..."
She glanced back at Kuti's wounded paw, and at Tuli, who was tending it. She had the most dreadful look in here eyes.
"Zira, it's all the way down to the bone..."
Before she even had time to lament that ghastly news, Zira was reminded of the more immediate danger still facing them: by the light reflected in their eyes, she could recognize hyenas moving all around, circling them. They had caught up to the lionesses with their full strength, and were now closing in, working carefully in little groups of two or three. Zira struck out at the nearest pair, but they quickly drew back.
Tuli had gotten back up again in the meantime, and was similarly regarding the hyenas. Then she stepped forward, and shouted with cracking voice: "Why are you doing this? Just leave us alone! We were just passing through, we didn't want to hurt anyone!"
They gave no answer. Now that she had a moment to look at them more closely, however, Zira could venture a guess as to why the hyenas attacked them, based on the slobber running down heir chins, their famished, bony appearance, and the downright hungry looks they gave the lionesses. Tuli seemed to have reached the same conclusion.
"Zira, they won't stop until they've killed us all - we've got to get out of here!"
"No, I'm not going anywhere without Kuti!"
"Zira, she can't..."
"I know!" Zira cried, "I know! But I can't leave her, not like this. Tuli, you can still make it, if you go now..."
For a while, it seemed like panic would overcome Tuli, and she would indeed run for it by herself. But then she sighed, and a calm, grim determination came over her.
"No! I'm not going anywhere without you."
She took up position back to back with Zira, both of them shielding Kuti.
"Tuli, you don't have to..."
"But I do, Zira... I want to do this - for you."
"F-for me?" Zira stammered, momentarily dumbstruck. Where was this coming from? "Tuli, I... I'm sorry - I wish I could have got to know you better before this. I should have been a better friend while I still could."
Oblivious to the lionesses' conversation, the hyenas started to close in again. This time, with the full force of their superior numbers focused squarely on the trio of lionesses, there would be no backing out. They went in for the kill, falling on the lionesses, whooping and growling savagely. Every time Zira or Tuli struck or bit at one of them, that hyena would pull back, and others would attack in turn, a process they would keep up until they'd entirely worn down the lionesses, killing them one bite at a time.
Zira had just beaten back another one of these piecemeal attacks, incurring a nasty bite in the process, when the crowd of hyenas in front of her suddenly went into an uproar. They all rushed to the left and to the right of her, circling over to where Tuli was. Fearing the worst for her comrade, Zira spun around - only to find Tuli standing there no worse for the wear, her mouth agape.
Then she saw just what it was that had left Tuli awestruck, and had drawn away her assailants: three unknown lions were causing a carnage amid the scrum of hyenas, pouncing and swiping at them with vicious abandon. The hyenas that had been facing Zira now intervened, and they were able to blunt the onslaught somehowwhat, but their counterattack came to late for the one hyena caught between the jaws of the biggest of the newly arrived lions. One crushing blow to the neck was all it took to end that struggle.
Overcome by the surprise arrival of three new opponents, the rest of the hyenas broke and fled in a confused panic. The unknown lions attempted to give chase, but gave up before long and promptly returned. Zira realized that, hadn't it been for their intervention, neither she nor her friends would have made it out alive. Her first instinct, therefore, once over the shock of having survived at all, was gratitude.
"T-thank you! They were going to kill us all, if it hadn't been for you... you saved us!" she called out.
The tree unknown lions, upon returning from their abortive chase, had all gathered around the hyena they felled, bowing down and sniffing at it in a manner that seemed strange to Zira. They seemed oblivious to the presence of the other lionesses. Only when Zira addressed them, did they seem to notice her. They too were a trio: two lionesses and one lion. The lion approached cautiously. Zira had at first mistaken him for another lioness, on account that he had no manes, but when he came nearer his masculine build and muzzle became more obvious.
"You're lions then?" he asked in a cracked, rasping voice, "Didn't think there were any other lions left 'round these parts..."
"We're not from here," Zira admitted, "We're only passing through, hoping to make our way to somewhere not so affected by the drought. But then the hyenas attacked us..."
"Aye, they'll do that to unwary travelers such as yourselves..."
"Is it because we've strayed into their territory?"
"Territory? Ha!" The lion burst out in a strange, barking laugh. "Oh no, missus, there are no territories here. All these lands are dead, no use fighting over those anymore, now is there? No, here we only fight over what truly matters - meat."
He gave the lionesses a strangely intent look, unsettling Tuli. Zira, on the other hand, still felt nothing but gratitude.
"Regardless, I'm glad you showed up when you did - I don't think we could have lasted much longer against those horrid beasts otherwise."
"No, I don't reckon you would have," the lion smiled, "We, for our part, are always glad to serve a fellow lion in need, of course. Though, to be fair, I have to admit that our intervention was not entirely selfless... "
The lion seemed to suddenly notice Kuti: "Ah! But what is the matter with your friend, she seems most grievously hurt! Did we arrive too late perchance?"
That remark once again brought Kuti to the forefront of Zira's mind. In stead of answering the lion's questions, she bent down and nuzzled her friend, licking her nose. Kuti stirred, then weakly opened her eyes.
"Zira..." she murmured.
"Don't worry, I'm here for you. It'll be all right; we're safe now..."
Tuli carried on the conversation with the stranger: "We've had a troubled time getting here, and she was already hurt before we encountered the hyenas. Though I'm afraid they've made matters worse..."
"Oh, how dreadful..." The strange lion shook his head remorsefully, "It must be hard on her, traveling in that condition..."
"It..." Tuli hesitated, and her voice hardened. "It hasn't been easy, but we've managed so far."
"Until you ran into the hyenas..."
"Again, we can't thank you enough for saving us!" Zira broke in, "I'm not sure if we can ever repay you, but if there's anything we can do..."
The lion seemed to be weighing her words for a while, and then motioned towards Kuti: "You know, we might be able to help your friend there..."
"And how would that be, exactly?" Tuli immediately barked a reply. Zira was perplexed at that sudden hostile turn.
"Tuli! Sir, please, excuse my friend; we've been through a lot... Now, you've helped us out once already, and we don't want to impose..."
"Oh, but it would be scant trouble. We would only have to take her before Father Mauti - he is the elder of our pride... and has powerful magic. He can put an end to any affliction. All we'd have to do is leave your friend with him, for a little while..."
"Powerful magic?" Tuli repeated his words back at him, squinting suspiciously. The lion nodded placidly. "That's not an offer to be taken lightly... could you let me have a word with my friend first?"
"Of course!" the lion immediately agreed, "It pleases me to see you, so young a lioness, approach the issue with the appropriate reverence. The young do not always appreciate things powerful and ancient. I will be there, with my mates Kuooza and Chakaa, so you can talk frankly among yourselves. My name, by the way, is Oza."
"Thank you again, Oza," Tuli replied coolly, pointedly neglecting to tell him their own names. She turned back to Zira, who was by now resting her head on Kuti's chest. The wounded lioness had her eyes closed, and the expression on her face was disturbingly peaceful - Tuli was relieved when she saw Zira's head go softly up and down along with Kuti's breath. She waited for Oza to slink off, then addressed her friend.
"Zira... what do we do now?"
"I don't think Kuti can go on any more - at all. If they're offering to help, I don't think we can afford to turn them down. Besides, they already saved us once - why are you so suspicious all of a sudden?"
Tuli did not respond, except though a pained expression. She looked away. Zira touched a paw to her cheek.
"Tuli, you were ready to fight and die by my side just now. So why can't you just talk to me?"
The other lioness relaxed at Zira's touch, and smiled weakly. "Sorry, force of habit. It's just that... These lions, I think they look... strange, somehow. Don't you think so too? And now they speak of magic - it makes me uncomfortable."
Strange looking? Zira cast a quick glance over at their saviors. They were all sitting around the hyena carcass, staring at the lionesses. It was hard to make out their features from afar, in the darkness. All Zira could see was that they looked very thin, bony almost, and that Oza had no manes.
"I don't see anything. They look starved, but so do we. It makes sense - there's nothing to eat here..."
"It can't just be nothing - they seem to be surviving, somehow, so there must be something. But it's not just that they're thin - did you see the male's pelt? All scraggy, with bald and scabbed patches. He has no manes. And his eyes, all deep-set like that. Those lions don't look right."
"I don't think we look too hot either, at this point... small wonder we're even still alive; I can't even remember our last decent meal. At any length, I don't see any reason not to trust them, not after they just saved our lives. I say we take them up on their offer. If nothing else, we could at least rest for a little while; maybe that's all Kuti needs..."
Though she obviously still had her doubts, Tuli finally relented. She went and told Oza, who seemed positively thrilled to invite them over to his pride's den, where "Father Mauti" would be waiting. The two lionesses with him remained entirely unmoved, however.
Confusingly, he then proposed to depart as soon as they'd finished dinner.
"Dinner?" Tuli wondered aloud, shooting a questioning look at Oza. Did they seriously consider to go hunting before helping Kuti? That would take ages - Tuli was sure there weren't any prey-animals for at least a day's walk in any direction.
She then looked over to the lionesses Kuooza and Chakaa, just in time to see them tearing into the dead hyena before them, ripping out and feasting on the entrails. Oza took her look of disgust for one of impatience: "Don't worry, we won't be long - there isn't much meat on them these days. The one you guys killed is all yours, of course..."
Tuli backed away slowly at first, then dashed for her friends.
"Wow, Tuli, slow down - what's gotten into you?" Zira wondered when she saw, "And what are they doing over there?"
"The hyena - they're eating the hyena!"
Zira looked over for herself, and her skeptical expression soon turned to disgust. Not that either lioness held any great love for hyenas - it's just that they didn't see them as food. Enemies, competitors, and pests, sure. But not food. If pressed they'd find it hard to explain just why, only knowing that they were somehow both above and below being eaten. Even so, Zira expressed some sympathy for the other lions.
"Disgusting! But... these are their lands, of a sort, and they can follow their own customs here. Maybe they just don't look at hyenas the same way we do, that's their business. And it's not like there is any other food here to choose from besides..."
Tuli, however, was more vehement: "I don't care how hungry I am, I would never, ever do that. It's just... it's wrong!" She looked over at the still shape of the hyena Zira had felled, laying nearby. "I don't like this, Zira. We should just go, leave this terrible place behind."
"Go if you want, but I'm not leaving Kuti's side. She's in no state to travel anywhere, and I'd rather try my luck with these strange lions than see her collapse on the road. Because that's what waiting for us if we go."
"Dammit, you're right, I'm sorry," Tuli sighed, looking at Kuti, "I wasn't thinking straight, this whole thing is getting to me... Try to forget what I said. I'm with you, the both of you, no matter what happens."
When the other lions were done with the first hyena, and after asking permission from a visibly repelled Zira, they set their sights on the second one. They stripped the carcass of what little meat it held, while Zira and Tuli huddled around Kuti, not daring to look at the gruesome spectacle. The sounds of crunching and munching that reached them were plenty sickening without even having to look.
They finally finished up and set out to move at the break of dawn. Where the night had been intermittently cloudy, they were now greeted by what looked to be a clear and sunny day, unbearably bright. What had looked like vague shadows in the night was now put into stark light: dead trees and barren brush, scorched grass and sun-cracked earth as far as the eye could see. A country of dead flats amid roiling, desolate hills.
"We should get going now, if we want to beat the midday heat," Oza said, turning away from what remained of the hyena. His front was covered in blood and gore, and along with the dawn had come a great many flies which now buzzed and crawled about his snout. "Is your friend okay to walk?"
It took considerable effort to just raise Kuti from her slumber, and only by having Tuli and Zira support her was she able to stand upright and walk forward with an irregular, stumbling gait. She held her wounded paw upraised throughout. It was thick and festering where the hyena had bitten into it, while the old wound farther up was turning black under her fur, smelling foul. Kuti herself would start shivering now and then, even though the weather soon turned sweltering hot, with the barren trees providing no shade. What should have been a short walk proved to be a miserable experience that seemed to drag on forever.
But, at long last, they did come to the den of Oza's pride, sometime around noon. What had looked like just a discoloration from afar turned out to be an outcropping of rock from the base of a steep hill: a big, flat slab of dark-grey stone jutting out of the ground, with a wide dug-out beneath. Two huge, elongated boulders lay in front, one of them overturned. At the bottom of the shallow pit the stone slab suddenly split in two, opening into a narrow, dark crack. It was impossible to say what lay beyond from the outside, as everything beyond the fissure was pitch-black. The area seemed deserted, muck like the lands that surrounded it.
Zira gave no thought to the fact that the den looked like a gaping maw, with two fangs in front. She was just happy for the shade it offered.
"This place looks dead. Where are your other pridemates? In that cave beyond the pit, maybe?" Tuli asked Oza.
"There are no others, only Father Mauri. The cave runs very deep, and indeed, that is where he has his sanctuary..."
"Down there, huh? And you really think he can help our friend?"
"I know it."
"And there's no catch? Isn't that how it goes with magic?"
"Tuli, don't pry like that," Zira hissed, "They're just trying to help."
"I know, but it's just... You know the stories, don't you? Whenever someone tries to get something through magic, it goes very bad for them - they get their comeuppance, somehow, all ironic-like... I don't want Kuti to come back... unnatural."
"Tuli!"
"Oh, it's quite alright," Osa said soothingly, addressing both lionesses, "Your friend is right to be wary - you should be, when magic is involved. I know what stories you speak of - we have those too, and they never seem to end happily. But, beg your pardon missus, this ain't no story. This is real, and there will be no unnatural goings-on, no clever twist..."
Maybe it was the way he said it, but Tuli felt less than reassured. All the same, she didn't lodge any further protest, and prepared to walk Kuti into the cave along with Zira. They were stopped right before the entrance, though."
"Wait! You cannot go further. It is not permitted for outsiders to enter, and Father Mauri does not leave the sanctuary. We can make an exception for your friend because she is unwell, but you two will have to wait outside..."
"You didn't tell us about that before," Tuli grumbled, "What difference should it make if you are healthy or not before you enter the sanctuary?"
"Magic often works like that. Haven't you ever heard the story of the Rogue and the Monkey?"
There once was an old rogue without a pride. He would not be much longer for this world, because of a terrible growth around his eye, that threatened to make him blind.
Then one day out hunting, he caught a monkey, and before he was able to deliver the fatal bite, the creature cried out: "Wait, have mercy! Spare me, and I will reward you!"
He did not think much of the offer - what could a monkey possibly do for an old rogue? But even that little moment's hesitation was enough: the monkey laid his paw on the old rogue's head, and behold! he could see clearly again. The monkey had taken away the growth.
So he set the monkey free.
Not much later the old rogue came across a friend of his - another rogue, though this one young and hearty. The young rogue did have one regret: he never could grow a mane. (Naturally, I feel his pain). When he heard what had happened to the old rogue, he quickly hatched a scheme: if only he could catch the same monkey, he could ask for a fine set of manes to preen.
Many a monkey the young rogue did catch and kill, before finally happening upon the right mandrill.
"Have mercy!" the monkey again cried.
"That depends on what you can do for me," the young rogue replied, "Because I have heard from a friend of mine, about this growth of his you removed, see..."
"Say no more!" the monkey shouted out with glee, touching the young rogue's head, "There! I have put it on thee..."
Zira was still in the throes of laughter as the lionesses Kuooza and Chakaa led Kuti into the cave. Tuli just looked on with a surly expression. After a while, the two lionesses returned out of the cave without Kuti.
"Now, you wait. It might be a while, a day or more. You should try to get some sleep; it'll be too hot out to do anything else."
Osa and his lionesses settled themselves on one edge of the pit, and started cleaning off the blood that still clung to their snouts. Tuli sat down on the opposite side, making no secret of her mistrust. Zira lingered near Oza, and inquired about his pride and the lands they inhabited. He told her about how the territory had always been a bit arid, and prone to droughts.
"... yet it had never been this bad. We haven't seen any real rain for years now. Our pride had eight adults back then, but now it's down to us three, and Father Mauti. There are no cubs now - no way to feed them. It's rough. Used to be our territory had plenty of prey in it, but after a while, we had no choice but to turn elsewhere and hunt wherever the prey was, be it our territory, or that of the hyenas - they would similarly raid us, and we would fight over kills. Now... well, I guess all that's left is to hunt one another."
Oza smiled a cadaverous smile. It was unnerving enough to make even Zira feel uncomfortable. She let the other lions be, and returned to Tuli, who'd been eyeing them suspiciously throughout.
"What's up, Tuli? You still think we should have just gone on our way?"
"I'm sorry," she sighed, eyes downcast, "I just can't help it. They give me the creeps. Them, and this whole place too..."
"Hey, it'll be all right," Zira said, and she nuzzled her friend playfully, "I'm glad you stayed with me, you know..."
Tuli became too flustered to respond, beaming with delighted timidity.
"I think no matter what happens, if the two of us stick together, we can handle it. I mean, look at how well we stood up to those hyenas - must have been a dozen or more of them... speaking of which, didn't they get you pretty bad back there? How's your leg?"
"It's fine..."
"Lemme see... ewww! Fine, she says!" Zira exclaimed when she saw the injury on Tuli's leg: where a chunk of skin should have been, there was now only a nasty messy of stickily dried blood, loose fur, and a lot of dirt.
"It nothing - all superficial. Just a flesh-wound."
Zira snorted incredulously, and without bothering to ask for permission she started to lick the wound clean. Tuli drew back, uttering a suppressed squeal, and she feebly tried to push Zira away. But the other lioness just swatted her paws aside and carried on unflinchingly. After that mostly symbolic gesture, Tuli put up no further resistance, and was happy to let Zira mother over her for a little while.
Later that afternoon, after a bit of a nap, Oza led them over to a nearby spring. It made for little more than a mud-pool, but it was enough to keep them from going thirsty. When they returned to the den and there was still no sight of Kuti, they settled in for more sleep, curling up next to one another away from the strange lions.
As they slept, day turned into night.
It was around midnight when Zira next woke up. She walked over to the edge of the dug-out beyond the overhanging rock-face that made up the den. The world beyond looked ghostly and pale in the wan moonlight. Only when she turned around did Zira realize she was alone. Tuli wasn't there, and neither were any of the strange lions.
It would be too much to say that Zira panicked, but she was definitely worried. Where was everyone? Most importantly, where was Tuli? A sudden fear gripped her: what if she had snuck off into the cave, into the "sanctuary"? Oza had forbidden them from entering, but Zira remembered how suspicious her friend had been throughout. It didn't seem likely she'd heed his commands if she thought something was off. Maybe Tuli had woken up to find the other lions gone, and decided to take that opportunity to have a peek inside the cave...
That musn't be allowed to happen, Zira quickly decided. Even disregarding what the other lions would do if they discovered Tuli sneaking around, there was the question of what effects it would have on whatever it was that was happening inside - maybe Tuli's presence would disturb the ritual, and end up harming both her and Kuti! Zira made a dash for the cave, coming to a stop just before the threshold. The blackness ahead seemed almost solid, and no sound could be heard from inside. Carefully, she put one paw forward...
Noting happened. She walked in just as she would any other cave. Once inside, her eyes quickly adapted to the deepest darkness, and she could vaguely make out the cave walls. Ahead lay a narrow tunnel, descending a bit. Zira moved ahead gingerly, and quickly came upon a number of twists and turns, as well as several obstacles she had to climb over. She wondered how Kuti had managed those. As she went further ahead, the surroundings became cooler, and she felt an arid draft coming from deeper inside the cave.
All the while, Zira saw or heard no sign of Tuli, or any of the other lions. She was just about to turn back, fearing that in her zeal to find Tuli, it had been her and not her friend that had violated the "sanctuary", when she saw light ahead. Did the tunnel perhaps not connect to a cave, but in stead go straight through the hill? Zira weighed her options. If she'd broken the spell of the place just by entering the tunnel, she might as well go all the way and see how Kuti was doing. On the other paw, if no harm had been done so far... maybe Oza had been a bit overzealous, and it was actually all good so long as she just stayed unnoticed by "Father Mauti"? If so, she could have a quick peek, undetected, then head back - no harm, no foul.
Curiosity got the better of her. She stalked forward carefully, silently, hugging the ground, as if she were trying to sneak up on unsuspecting prey. When she reached the source of the light, she could now see that the tunnel opened up to a high, cavernous grotto. A single shaft of moonlight fell in through a small opening in the ceiling, high above. The light petered out quickly away from the hole, and Zira only saw the faintest glimpses of high walls and a huge, dome-shaped roof to the cave. Awed by the sheer size of the thing, her eyes tracked the sides of the cave all the way down to the floor, finding there nothing but an opaque darkness, making it impossible to see much of anything.
The only part of the cave-floor that was clearly visible was directly bellow the opening in the ceiling, illuminated in pale silvery light: an upraised, flat slab of rock. From the cave floor, it reached the height of a tall lion, and then some. Zira couldn't quite see what was on the slab, or beyond it, except for what she saw lying near the edge closest to her: she could make out the contours of a lion's back.
That's where they must have put Kuti, she reasoned. But she couldn't see "Father Mauti" anywhere. Carefully, still trying to remain concealed, she hugged the wall, and slowly made her way around, trying to see what was behind the rock Kuti was resting on. When an image resolved out of the darkness, she froze. It was hard to make out any details, because what she saw was hidden in the shadows at the far end of the cave, but this much she could tell: there was a great lion there, lying on a similarly upraised platform. He sat with his backpaws under him, and his head rested on his forepaws, outstretched in front. Zira could discern an impressive set of manes all about his otherwise oddly slender form. She quickly slunk back to the entrance, before the lion could stir.
She'd resolved to leave, but paused before heading once again into the tunnel. She looked back at Kuti. All she could see was her back, from a low angle. The wounded lioness lay unmoving.
Must be asleep.
Zira swallowed. Then she put one pas into the direction of Kuti. Then another. She felt nothing underfoot but smooth rock. The cave remained eerily silent. The closer she got, the less she could see of her friend, on account of how high up Kuti was. Once in front of the rocky platform, she put her paws two-thirds of the way up, while keeping her head down. If she straightened herself out, she'd be able to look down on Kuti - but she'd also be in full view of "Father Mauti".
Tensing up, Zira took a big breath. She could smell the putrid stench she remembered coming from Kuti's old wound, but also something else. A most familiar smell, metallic.
Her mind blanked.
In one quick jerk, she puller herself up and stood leaning against the boulder, towering above Kuti.
The first thing she saw was her friend's face. Her mouth was opened slightly, and her eyes fully. They stared ahead into nothingness, glazed over, dead. Zira's gaze was drawn irresistibly sideways. Where Kuti's chest and stomach had been, nothing remained but cracked ribs and some bloody fur. The rock bellow was covered in grimy smears, appearing black in the moonlight.
Zira wanted to scream, but no sound came out. She wanted to breathe, but her throat felt like it 'd been clamped shut. She wanted to run, but stayed frozen in place. She wanted most of all to wake from the nightmare.
Slowly, she looked up at the lion sitting at the far end of the cave, now much closer by and perfectly visible. Empty sockets stared back at her, above a fixed, toothy grin. An empty husk of fur over bones, forever unmoved.
Now Zira did scream, recoiling. As she did, her grip slipped, and she fell sideways to the cave-floor, landing hard. Unlike the direct approach to the platform, this part of the floor was, upon closer inspection, littered with debris. Directly in front of her lay a lion's skull turned upside-down, broken fangs jutting upward. In a panic, she scrambled to get back up, frustrated by the many bones all around that rolled or slipped away when stepped on, making it difficult to stand. The dull rattle of her struggle echoed mockingly throughout the cave.
When she'd finally found her footing, Zira made to run for the exit, only to smack down to the floor again when an unbearable weight suddenly pressed down on her shoulders. Bones jabbed painfully at her chest. She struggled to get back up, growling angrily, but the weight would not abate, a warm bulk pressed against her back. She tried to move her paws, but they were kept locked in place by someone else's. Turning her head side to side, Zira saw the lionesses Kuooza and Chakaa. They did not look back, and their faces remained expressionless.
She could feel and hear the lion on top of her panting, his breath hot against her ear. She struggled even more desperately than she had before, to no avail.
Zira's writhing in place did nothing, nor did her cursing, or her shouting.
"It can be rough, with no prey around," Oza eventually whispered, his voice now shrill and cruel, with none of the oily amicability it had before, "But we get by. You have to, if you want to survive, or you end up like ol' Mauti up there. I keep him around to remind me what happens when you can't make the tough choices..."
Zira fell silent. It was strange: there were all these things she wanted to shout at the three lions keeping her down, about how she'd kill them, tear out their guts, scratch out their eyes, and drown them in their own blood. But all she heard herself utter were whimpering pleas to let her go. It felt like she was listening to someone else talk.
Not that it mattered much. Oza ignored her, too engrossed in his own wickedness. She could feel his face beside her own, foul breath wafting over her as he prattled on:
"When hunger beckons, you can't always luck into a hyena. Hard choices, yes... The cubs, that was easy enough - they die first whenever things go south anyway, don't you know? Then the mother that put up a fight. Then whomever was weakest. Life belongs to the strong.
"And life rewards the strong, too; every now and then, it'll send an unwary traveler your way - or three of them. Always good for a bite, and a little fun..."
The lion bit into her neck, and Zira could do naught but scream.
author's notes: the more I think about it, the less I am convinced AGAGF needs Zira's backstory. It's a bit of a staple of TLK fanfics of course, yet I think that the way I've written her up 'till now works just fine without the origins of that having to be explained. If / when I do a final edit, I'll probably leave it out, and just throw what I have into an appendix-chapter or something. Your thoughts?
