Preface: a new chapter, who'da thunk it? With apologies to, eh, everyone still following this here story. I got a new job, and been putting in a lot of overtime, so, yeah… Again, sincerest apologies!
Stuck together
Mheetu didn't feel like seeing anyone. But he also didn't want to be alone.
The young lion had only just lain down in the small alcove at the back of Priderock, where he'd retreated for some solitude, but now he got back up again, aiming to rejoin the rest of the pride. Then, just before setting paw outside, he changed his mind one more time.
Maybe the rain had something to do with it. It was still gloomy outside, and the previous days' showers continued unabated. It seemed to make the world so much smaller, veiling everything more than a few stone's throws away behind opaque watery curtains. All that was left was Priderock, with its damp caves, and its pride. A small island in the darkness, and on it were only those lions Mheetu had known his entire life. And he was stuck with them forever – that's what it meant to be a member of the pride.
Mheetu shuddered at the thought.
Then again, maybe being alone was what stirred those awful notions. Better to seek company, and be diverted by them even if only for a little while. Mheetu stepped outside, and was duly drenched. He made his way back to the main den, dragging his paws and staring at the ground.
Nobody paid him much heed as he entered: the den was packed with adults and cubs alike, and one young lion muscling his way in made little difference. With the weather being what it was, anyone who didn't have to hunt was more or less confined to the den – and since no one was out hunting at the moment... a dozen lionesses and half again as many cubs packed in close quarters, all while the air still hung thick and humid. The smell of wet fur and bad breath.
Entering fresh from outside, Mheetu almost retched.
He made his way over to the other cubs. They were coping with the oppressive conditions much like most adults were: all of them were trying to sleep through the hottest part of the day. The only one who was still awake was Kali.
He used to like her, back before everything suddenly changed. She'd been his best buddy. Why? That was hard to say. Her mischievous streak, most like – the way her mouth curled and her ivy-green eyes squinted whenever he proposed they do something they weren't supposed to. But as it turned out, she didn't like him back, not really.
She liked the image she'd had of Mheetu: the lion who bent the rules, and other lions, to his will – someone powerful in that way, someone on whose side you'd want yourself to be. Then Chumvi had put everything in perspective with his merciless beatdown: Mheetu turned out to be just another weak cub, not really all that strong inside, but just a bully. There was nothing to like in that – and more importantly, nothing to be gained from liking him. Not that she'd ever admit it in so many words, to others or herself.
When she saw the scarred cub approach, she still felt like she should say something to him, though.
"Where were you off to?"
"Outside."
"Duh. I mean what were you doing outside?"
"Dunno."
Mheetu went to lie down at some distance from Kali.
Even though she was so over the gloomy cub, that still irked her, somehow, the rejection implicit in it. He should have come and try to lie next to her, only so she could tell him he couldn't. Then he could go lie elsewhere - that's how it was supposed to work. Who did he think he was, anyway, to go venturing out all on his own, then come back without a word, setting himself apart from the others? The nerve!
So Kali got up and followed Mheetu.
"What's the matter, miss your new hyena-buddy?" she drawled.
"Go away."
"Why would I? All my friends are right here – not like yours. I'm fine right where I am."
Mheetu said nothing, and just turned around.
"You're pretty pathetic, you know? You get into one little fight, and there's nothing left of you – you're so weak you run off to try and makes friends with those stinky good-for-nothings."
"Noki isn't stinky."
"Oh, is that what your boyfriend is called, then?"
When even that failed to get a rise out of the young lion, however, Kali was ready to give up, and she turned back around. She did line up one last parting-shot, however, delivered in a sickly-sweet tone: "Oh well, it doesn't really matter, does it? It's not like you'll ever get to see him again anyway."
To her great satisfaction, Kali could hear Mheetu getting up behind her, and digging his claws into the rock.
Too easy.
When she looked back, she could see Mheetu standing there on all fours, claws out, fangs bared in a snarl. She turned, waiting for him to argue with her, or shout insults. Nothing came out. Mheetu just stood there frozen, his face a grimace.
There were a lot of things Mheetu wanted to say, but he was on the verge of crying, barely managing to bite back the tears. If he tried to say something now, it would come out as a smothered, off-pitch sob. Better to say nothing, then, and endure Kali's smug smirk with some dignity.
She was right, of course. Chances were he would never see Noki again.
As soon as Mheetu returned from the Elephant Graveyard with Zira, his mother Kura had assailed them. Turns out the other cubs had let slip where they'd gone off to. They didn't even mean any harm by it; they just didn't know it was supposed to remain a secret – it was Zira and Tuli's own fault for simply offering their proposition to the group without further comment earlier.
That one of the cubs had gone off to the Elephant Graveyard to hang out with some hyenas quickly did the rounds 'round Priderock, and before long, Kura had gotten wind of it too. At first she was angry, then she was worried, then angry again – and Zira and Mheetu got back around that time. She was never, ever going to let her little sweetheart be talked into doing something that dangerous ever again – and it goes without saying that Mheetu actually deciding by himself to go and see his new hyena-friend was not only out of the question, it was even outside of the realm of imagining.
That wasn't the end of it, of course. Zira and Tuli were taken off all cub-sitting duties, guilty of behaving irresponsibly with other lionesses' cubs, and Zira would only ever be allowed to teach them again under the watchful eye of a chaperone – it spoke to her abilities that she was even kept on at all.
That was, however, cold comfort to Mheetu, who just wanted to get back to his new-found-friend as soon as he could. Who would take him, if not those two lionesses? He could of course try to run off on his own, but the Pridelands were enormous – he didn't even know where to start looking!
And then there was the problem that not every hyena he would run across would be friendly, as had so recently been illustrated. Mheetu's little sojourn had, after all, not been the biggest news of the day – no, that would be Sarafina being chased off a kill by a mob of hyenas. The king was up in his throneroom with the various aggrieved parties at that very moment, trying to settle the ensuing conflict in accordance with the Eternal and Sacred Law and yada yada – such matters were a bit too dry to interest Mheetu and the other cubs, or most adults for that matter. Point being that not all hyenas were friendly.
And where did that leave Mheetu? It left him alone, stuck on Priderock, having to endure Kali's arrogant grin.
"Leave him alone, Kali."
And just like that, the grin was gone. Looking beyond Kali, Mheetu saw that someone had gotten up from the tangle of cubs sleeping nearby. She was younger and smaller than the others, but had by now learned to address them in a resolute voice, without fear.
Easy enough when you've got Chumvi to back you up, Kali thought.
"Why do you care, Nala?"
"Because you're just being mean to Mheetu for no reason. You shouldn't do that – he hasn't done anything to you."
"Humpf! you're the last lioness I'd expect to stand up for a hyena-lover," Kali bristled.
But Nala refused to be provoked: "Please, Kali, just leave him alone, all right?"
There was only sadness in her voice. Maybe that, more than her fear of provoking Chumvi by going against his little pet, was what made Kali turn around, and go grumbling back to where the other cubs were sleeping. She left Mheetu facing Nala.
He wanted to thank her, he really did. By all accounts, he should have: the young cub had just stood up for him, after all. He who deserved it least. But maybe that was exactly why he couldn't spit out the word "thanks"; he felt so ashamed he couldn't look her in the eye, let alone talk to her. Not even to thank her. He looked at his paws.
He was ashamed – and how could it have been any other way? It had all started to sink in as soon as he left Noki behind, returned to the pride, and was again alone with his thoughts.
It was bleeding obvious, wasn't it? Noki, the little hyena everyone excluded, except for Mheetu, who became his… well, his friend. But it wasn't a big leap from him to Nala, the little lioness everyone excluded, thanks to Mheetu, who made her life miserable. And what had she ever done to him, really? He racked his mind, but all he came up with was her being younger than him, for which she could scarcely be blamed, and being a bit less willing to bend the rules. But after Mheetu's run in with near-death in the Elephant Graveyard, he could see the appeal of that, too.
The realization hadn't quite set in back when he was with Noki, but was fully formed by the time he saw Nala again upon his return to Priderock. It was because of the way she looked at him then. She'd looked worried.
After all he did to her, there was no anger, no hate. She was just worried for her pridemate. Just like she was now, facing him in the cramped and damp confines of the den.
"Is everything all right?"
"It's fine," Mheetu managed to squeak weakly, sniffing.
"Mheetu, look, I… I know it's not been easy for you lately…"
Now Mheetu did manage to look up, and he narrowed his teary eyes. All of Kali's taunts hadn't managed to provoke him, but that well-meaning euphemism finally did kindle some of his earlier anger. That things weren't easy on him was at least partly on Nala's account after all, in Mheetu's mind.
And it was almost like Nala could hear his thoughts: "Do you think it's because of me?"
"You… you didn't do anything," Mheetu mumbled. When Nala kept staring at him, he found he had to look away again, "Nala, I… I haven't been… to you I… eh..."
"You were cruel to me," the young lioness stated matter-of-factly. The sudden bluntness shocked Mheetu. "You were cruel and mean to me, and you bullied me for the longest time. And I won't forget. I won't be your friend – ever."
That's only fair, Mheetu would have said, had he still been able to produce sound. The words got stuck in his throat.
"But… you are still part of the pride, and I don't want to take that away from you. I realize we haven't been treating you like we should a pridemate, and that was wrong of us. If… if you want, I could try and talk to the others about it, and see that we don't… see to it that you don't have to, you know, feel like you don't belong."
With some difficulty, Mheetu managed to look up again, and face Nala. Her posture was still unsure, and he could tell her smile was forced, but even so, the young cub seemed to him in that moment the mirror-image of queen Sarabi. It was obvious she did not want to do this thing, to reconcile with him, her former tormentor. But she did so anyway, because she felt she had to. Duty, to her pride, and to him, as her pridemate.
Now Mheetu did finally manage a smothered "Thank you," as tears ran down his muzzle.
Now Nala's smile became more sincere. "All right then. I'll make sure you can come back to the group. And if we don't push you away anymore, you won't have to put yourself in danger looking for friends in strange places."
"W-what?"
"Isn't it weird?" Nala giggled unperturbed, "Even I was worried for a while when you were gone."
"What did you say just now?"
"Hmmm? Oh, I meant you can just stay with us from now on. You don't have to run of and put yourself in danger again. Look, Mheetu, we all get it – you agreed to meet with the hyenas because you were cross with us. It was pretty obvious, and you made your point: from now on, we're going to make an effort to include you, so you don't have to act out like that again."
Nala wasn't wrong: that was exactly why Mheetu had agreed to go and meet with Noki in the first place. But that was then – things were different now. What had started out as a disingenuous exercise in contrarianism had, over the course of a most hazardous day, blossomed into something else entirely. Mheetu didn't quite know what to make of it himself, but one thing he was certain of: he wanted to see Noki again, as soon as possible.
"Nala, I'm… I'm touched you were worried for me, after all I've done, but..." Mheetu replied, starting to regain his composure.
"You bet I was worried – we all were," the young lioness interrupted, nodded emphatically, "It's like something clicked for me when you were away: even if I don't like you, I'd rather have you around than see you put your life in danger, around them."
"Don't say it like that."
"Huh?"
"You talk like it's a terrible thing, that I went and met with the hyenas..."
"But it's dangerous! We were all so worried about you..."
"Well don't be!" Mheetu snapped, "I had a great time, and met someone wonderful – and what I want now is to see him again as quickly as possible."
"But why? I just told you, we're here for you now, so you don't have to…
"What business is it of yours, who I want to be with? Why do you want to keep me here so badly?"
"Because you're my pridemate, and I don't want you to get hurt!"
"Why would I get hurt? You don't know what you're talking about!" Mheetu turned away from Nala dismissively.
"But I do! I know what they're like, hyenas. They tried to kill me once, remember? And now, they've threatened my mother, and stolen a kill from her – or hadn't you heard? You can't trust them, Mheetu, none of them!"
"I don't care what you think you know about "hyenas". Noki isn't like that – that's his name, in case you're wondering, my new friend. He has a name, same as us. And he gets lonely, and scared, and cold and hurt, all just like we do. And when he got hurt, he bled the same red we do... Don't talk like you know him!"
"Mheetu, you're not being reasonable..."
"Go to hell!" Mheetu shouted, tears welling up again, now mixed with flaring anger, "You just don't understand. He's my friend… he's my friend and I want to see him again – and I won't let you or anyone else keep me locked up in here!"
"Hey, what do you think you're doing? Get away from her!" a loud voice suddenly boomed through the den. Behind Nala, Chumvi emerged. His eyes were still puffy and his dark mane messy from sleeping, but his stance betrayed imminent violence. The shouting drew looks from all the lionesses in the den, waking those that had before been fast asleep, and all eyes turned towards the trio.
Nala quickly approached the young lion, to try and calm him down: "Chumvi, it's all right, we're just..."
Mheetu didn't bother to wait around and see how things would shake out. In stead, in sight of all the pridemembers, he stormed out.
Outside of the den, all was as gloomy as it had been, and the rain still poured down incessantly, keeping the wider Pridelands shielded from view. Before he even reached the ramp off Priderock, Mheetu was already soaked and shivering. His pace slowed, then he fell down miserably, and cried. He was still just a lone cub, and against him were arrayed all the elements and the vastness of the Pridelands. He wasn't going anywhere, no matter what else he might have wished.
After a while, Mheetu didn't feel the rain anymore.
"It's no weather to be out on your own, young one."
The young lion looked up, startled, to see a lioness standing over him protectively. She was lean, with fur of a darker hue, but creases streaked her face, and her skin had started to sag in places, as was wont to happen to older lionesses. She gently licked Mheetu's back, which served to warm and dry him at the same time.
"Maybe it's better if we got back inside, out of the rain?"
Winda, that's what she was called – Chumvi's mother. He remembered her from cubsitting as being strict and no-nonsense, though never angry or mean. It was a mystery to Mheetu how she had ever begotten a son like that.
"Why should I? What's there for me, huh?"
"Well, if nothing else, at least it's dry," the lioness smiled weakly, "I heard what you kids were saying, just now. You have a friend, out there?"
Mheetu nodded, sniffing.
"A hyena?"
He wanted to shout, Yeah, but so what, but found he didn't have the strength left to do it. So he just nodded.
"You miss him?"
"I dunno – it hasn't even been that long, and I only met him once, but..." Mheetu looked up again, looked into Winda's eyes. Her expression was so warm – nothing at all like his own mother when he had tried to talk to her about Noki "Everybody in there hates me, I just know it. And the one animal that doesn't is out there, and… I'm afraid I won't see Noki again. Everyone tells me I shouldn't, tells me I can't… especially now that other hyenas have stolen a kill from Nala's mom… And I've heard Zira and Tuli aren't allowed to take me to him anymore, so how would I even find him again?"
Much as he tried not to, Mheetu started to cry again. Winda went on to lick him dry, uttering soothing words all the while, continuing to shield him from the rain. When he'd calmed down again, she picked him up by the scruff and deposited him at the entrance to the den.
"I'm sure they don't hate you, Mheetu. Even my son. I know he's… changed… recently, but still. Being cubs can be hard, and one of the hardest parts is learning to get along with everyone in the pride, but you will all manage eventually. As for your hyena friend..."
Winda turned he head and looked out over the Pridelands. When she turned to face Mheetu again, a sly smile curled her lips.
"You know, Tuli and Zira aren't the only lionesses to have ever gotten along with the hyenas. I'll see if I can't arrange something, one of these days."
"R-really? You've met with the hyenas before?" Mheetu gaped at the lioness in disbelief.
"Sure. Weren't expecting that of old Winda, were you? If anyone ever tells you an old lioness can't learn any new tricks, don't believe them."
"Thank you, thank you!" Mheetu threw himself at the lioness' paws, "But… why would you do this for me?"
Winda cupped the young lion's chin with one of her paws, and studied his broken fang and scarred nose, "Well… my son hasn't been entirely fair to you, so think of it as my trying to make up for that. And besides..." She let go of his chin, and tussled his scraggly mane, "The idea of lion and hyena cubs playing together, it's just too adorable!"
"It's all so tiresome..."
The black-maned lion let his gaze pass over all the faces present in the throneroom. On the one side, the lionesses, Sarabi and Sarafina, unmoved and snarling respectively. On the other side, the hyenas. Scar's gaze rested on the one-eyed hyena called Kato. It wasn't too hard to guess what she was thinking; contempt was writ all over her face. Scar felt anger boiling up inside of him at the sight of her. Who did she think she was, to show him such disdain? He would waste no time laying into her, no time at all.
And then there was Shenzi, who looked like she would rather be anywhere else. Understandable: of all animals in the room, probably only Scar wouldn't prefer to see her dead – and that included the other hyena. The worst part of it was that Shenzi was in fact there to defend that very same Kato, who was itching to take her place as matriarch. As far as Shenzi was concerned, at that very moment, she could well damn well have her wish. But it was not to be.
"Come, dear Shenzi, help a poor old lion understand: is it me? Do you so chafe under my rule? Or is it just that you don't like it here, in these beautiful Pridelands, and would rather crawl back to that stinking hellhole I pulled you out of?" Though he started out lying down, by the time Scar finished his sentence, he was craning over the edge of his podium like some terrible raptor ogling its prey. Shenzi shrank back.
"… or maybe I'm reading too much into it." The king crouched down again, "Still, I can hardly be blamed for thinking there is some kind of hidden meaning in all this that seems to have passed me by. Because the alternative would be that you are sitting here in front of me today actually trying to defend a lawbreaker and a thief! And I just can't imagine why you would ever want to do such a thing."
"Careful who you call a thief," Kato grumbled. When Scar immediately turned on her, eyes alight and starting to bare his fangs, she added, hissing through her teeth: "… sire."
"I scarcely see what else we should call you thieving brigands," Zazu squawked from behind the safety of his king, seated as he was on his royal platform, "It has been well established you have in fact stolen a kill from huntress Sarafina, and you have not even bothered to deny it!"
"Taking back what was mine by right is thieving now? Shenzi, why did you even ask me to come attend this circus, if all they are going to do is talk nonsense?"
"Show some respect, you are in front of your king," Sarabi suddenly intoned, to the surprise of all. It was the first thing she'd said throughout the meeting. Not to mention that her sudden defense of Scar was all the more unexpected. It made sense though – Kato was as much insulting the entire pride as she was their king, and that was something for which Sarabi would not stand.
Her dignified intercession was quite effective too, because though the one-eyed hyena still glared at the lions with hostility, she bit her tongue, at least for a few seconds.
"Thank you, Sarabi – a most apt remark," Scar nodded with not a little satisfaction, "Though I do agree with Shenzi's most charming companion on one point: we should wrap this little circus of ours up as soon as possible. As far as I'm concerned, there is nothing much to discuss: the hyenas took a kill from Sarafina, and I am not hearing anyone actuality deny this, so the matter is settled…"
"What the hell does it matter who made the bloody kill?" Kato exploded again, "It was us that chased the damned thing all day! We did all the work! Shenzi, tell him!"
"She isn't wrong, Scar," Shenzi whined, at long last, "I mean, it's what all my people are telling me, and it's not like queensie's friend over here denied that one either, right? So this could be a lot more complex, you know, it might not just be such a simple, eh..."
Scar silenced her with one raised paw: "I will refer you to our much beloved majordomo. Take it away, Zazu."
"Right," the hornbill noted primly, going so far as to hop to the front of the king's platform and spread out his wings towards his audience, "What you two… charming young ladies have touched on is in fact a matter of long settled law, and the primary precedent all kings have heretofore referred to in cases such as these goes all the way back to third dry season of the reign of the Great King Mohatu, when the Pridelands had indeed been struck by a most prolonged drought. It was at this time that the king was called to mediate between the wild dogs of the Windward Downs, and a spotted leopard living in the..."
At this point, the king again raised his paw, motioning in cylindrical fashion, the universal sign for "get on with it".
"Er… right. Thus, the settled law of the Pridelands is that in any dispute, ownership of the kill is in fact determined by the animal dealing the killing blow, regardless of who else might have contributed to weakening or otherwise, eh, preparing the prey, as it were. So your concern is in fact addressed and very much overruled by settled law."
"Your law is shit, and so are you," Kato growled.
"Humpf! I will have you know, madam, that insults will get you nowhere with me..."
"Get me somewhere with you? Ha! How about I bite your head off, you uppity hors d'oeuvre?"
"… and neither will threats!"
"You see this? Typical!" Sarafina interjected, "That's just how you brutes are isn't it? All you know is violence – if you want something, you either take it by force or use threats to get it. Savages, the lot of you."
By now, Shenzi was having to physically restrain Kato from attacking Sarafina, who in turn relished the opportunity to take on the hyena one-on-one. At this point, Scar, who had been following the exchange with some amusement, jumped off his podium to put himself between the different parties. The prospect of facing a lion seemed to enough to get the belligerent hyena to back off.
"Please, ladies, that will suffice. Now, if no-one else has anything productive to add, in stead of more threats and insults, I will go on and pronounce..."
"No, Scar, wait..." Shenzi interrupted, egged on by the other hyena's accusing stare. She had to speak up, for her entire clan's sake. Scar's glare quickly reminded her there was a proper form to doing so in public, however: "… I mean, your highness, please, if I could say something."
"What could you possibly still have to add?" Zazu asked dismissively, "Sire, I doubt she will surprise us by referencing some obscure precedent..."
"You're right, I won't! But I'd still like to say something..."
"It's quite all right, go ahead, Shenzi. Don't mind Zazu, he's probably still a bit stung from his exchange with your oh-so charming compatriot."
"Right, thanks. So eh, I get that it's your law and all, and to obey it, Kato shouldn't have done what she did. But, well, the thing is… Look, I don't know how else to say it, but that law just don't work for us. We ain't lions, Scar..."
"Apt observation."
"Whatever! I just mean to say, we're different from you guys, and what works for you doesn't always work for us. We don't hunt like you do, for one. And we do hunt, whatever else some of you might think! And the way we do it, is we chase our prey. And we keep chasing it. And keep chasing it. If it slows down, we'll bite at it, and keep chasing it, make it bleed, and keep chasing it… until it can't run no more. That's how we hunt, and it's different from how you lions do it. So when you say, this is our law, or that is our law, that's great and all – but, you know, this law here, that you're throwing at us now, it just doesn't fit us! You say, it's about who deals the final blow, but with us hyenas, by the time it gets to that, all the work 's already been done!
"So when Missy lioness here comes in after my girls have been chasing the prey all night, takes it away at the last moment, and then says, "well it's mine now – that's just how the law is," well, that… that just isn't fair!"
Fair.
The word hung in the air for a while. The prattle of the rain started to drift in from outside.
Fair… well, life isn't fair, now is it? Scar thought. Even so, Shenzi wasn't wrong; it was a law very much fit for lions, at the expense of endurance hunters like the hyenas. And why wouldn't it be – it was made by lions, to apply in their very ow lion kingdom!
But that was then. Things were different now; Scar wasn't just the lion king anymore, and the hyenas were his subjects no less than the lions were. Sure, life wasn't fair, but so what? He was the king now, and it was well within his power to right what was wrong, to impose fairness at the point of his claws! Wasn't that why he'd wanted to make himself king, after all? If not for the power to change things for the better, what the hell was he king for anyway? What did he care for established laws, if they didn't suit him, he could just do away with them – he was the king!
So Scar made to lift his paw once more, ready to proclaim his judgment.
"We've been quite fair enough with you already," Sarabi suddenly barked, and she she strode over to the hyenas, who in turn backed away fearfully, "We've let you into our land without so much as a word of complaint from us lionesses. And ever since, you've been hunting herds that before would have been ours alone, even when the dry season dragged on and so much less food was to be had. And yet you complain of fairness? You settle in a lion kingdom, and are indignant to find laws tailored to lions – what exactly did you expect to find, pray do tell?
"You forget your place. We welcomed you into our lands, at the king's behest. If you find that things here are not entirely to your liking, then remember that no-one is forcing you to stay here. These are our lands, and you merely – guests. And you have the gall to demand laws should be changed to suit your convenience? I am telling you now: the lionesses won't stand for it."
As she finished her screed, the former queen casually cast an aside glance at Scar, and it was then the king realized her speech had not so much been addressed at the hyenas, but squarely at him. There was only so much the lionesses would put up with from him, and changing the way things were done to suit the hyenas would be going altogether too far.
Scar hesitated.
Zazu sensed an opportunity to make himself useful. For all his faults, he did have a nose – or beak – for sniffing out these kinds of unspoken powerstruggles, and for putting himself square in the middle of them.
"Sire, if I might suggest a – compromise?"
As the majordomo had expected, Scar latched on to his offer with both paws, though he could not resist throwing a barb in there for good measure: "Now Zazu, just now you spoke so eloquently of long settled laws – and moments later you already propose to compromise them? But go ahead, let it not be said that I won't take up a good idea, no matter where it comes from."
"Very well, Sire. Now, the law being what it is, I do think this case before us should be treated as a common theft, clearly. But, looking at the future, might it not be possible for the lionesses and the hyenas to come to a kind of, eh, ladylike understanding, if you will? That from now on, lionesses will always make a genuine effort to avoid going after those prey already being targeted by the hyenas. This way, hopefully, the current dispute will not repeat itself."
It was a reasonable enough workaround – if only the lionesses would agree to it. Scar cast a glance at Sarabi. The dowager-queen merely shrugged. Good enough. Scar Didn't bother to ask the hyenas what they thought, because this was the best deal they'd get regardless. He made both Sarabi and Sarafina state explicitly that they and the other lionesses would take care not to snatch any live prey from under the hyenas noses, and then summarily condemned a seething Kato to deliver to the lionesses before the waning of the next new moon the equivalent prey to thrice what she had stolen.
The one-eyed hyena stormed out in a rage, leaving a desperate looking Shenzi behind among the lions.
She never did deliver on those three kills. Nobody cared – they would all soon have far greater troubles on their minds.
