XV

A Free Ride

Soon, as the two - as well as the tiny white male cub - turned around, Banjija and Gatu gasped again, seeing that Ahadgna and the rest of the pride was racing down the hill to them.

"You won't take my cub!" roared the ghost lioness.

"C'mon!" Gatu said.

The two plunged into the water, but the cub was still on Banjija's back. He snarled and attempted to shake in the water so that the cub would fall off, but it was to no avail.

A low laughing sounded, and they looked in front of them to see a young female hippo say, "Need a lift?"

"Gali!" cried Gatu in relief.

He and Banjija scrambled on her, and she immediately turned and swam, further into the water hole, away from the edge where the Broken-Claw Pride now sat, stranded as they roared and snarled. A few more moments later, and they were now taking off along the edge of the lake-like river.

"Sheesh, what have you two been getting in to?" asked Gali with another grunt. But Banjija seemed to busy with the smaller cub now.

"Listen you," he said, struggling to keep the biting little cat in his front paws. "You bite me and I'll bite you back." he warned.

Suddenly, the lion sunk his baby teeth into Banjija's flesh, causing Banjija to cry out in pain.

"You didn't bite me back," snickered the cub.

"I bet you were the one to turn us in," snarled Banjija, glaring.

The sound of Gali's low snorts came again, before she dipped her head somewhat into the air, and it went back under the water, half-way as her ears twitched.

"By biting, I mean harming," exclaimed Banjija with a smirk, then he looked out to near wrestling hippos. "You do that again, kid, and I'll just chuck ya out there with 'em. And trust me, you don't want that t' happen,"

The cub fell silent and Banjija laughed.

"Thanks a lot, Gali," Gatu said, sitting down, tail curling around him.

"Ugh, I hate water," Banjija then said, looking around with disgust.

"Gali, what about your father?" asked Gatu abruptly, not-so-long-ago memories flashing back.

"It's all right. He's fighting with one of the challengers." she answered, glancing at the middle of the water hole where two large hippos - including her father - had their mouths open, endeavoring to get their tusks under the other hippo's chin as the splashed ruthlessly around, grunting loudly.

"Challenger?" asked Banjija with curiosity.

"Yeah. Like the fourth one this week...'Kay, deepish water. Hold on." she then warned.

With that, she dipped her head under all the way, and her body followed. The water flowed smoothly over her back, just a couple inches so that the cats' paws and tails became wet. Banjija quickly dropped the cub to latch his claws into Gali's back, so as not to fall off. As he grit his teeth hard, his eyes wide as they cast over the water that was now running on and around him, Gatu couldn't help but chuckle at his fright.

"Ow, not so hard!" snorted Gali, her head coming up for a second to spit that remark out before it went back under while she continued to tred carefully on the bottom of the water hole.

"S-sorry," muttered Banjija

Gatu then turned to him. "Ban...her family - Gali's I mean - they are ruled over by a leader."

"Yeah, so?"

"Well, that leader has to fight of challengers that want to take over the family and rule it. The leader must fight them back to stay 'the king'. But one sun, that leader will be too old to carry it on, and will eventually be defeated. Then there will be a new leader that will give new life to the family, extending it and making more and new kin."

"Your point?" Banjija was now much calmer it seemed.

The little cub was trying to stay on the hippo as it looked around, smirking and attempting to look tough and strong, but both cub-lions, as well as Gali could since his fright.

"I mean," Gatu went on. "We're the same. We're all one."

"Not everyone has it that way, though. Some live alone. With others, it's totally different."

"Yeah but, Meersha was right; we should learn from other animals - study 'em, ya know."

"She meant hunting animals. So that we could hunt." snorted Banjija.

Gatu sighed, glancing at the fighting hippos once more. Gali's father had won, and was now chasing away the younger challenger, snorting and grunting as he did so. Soon, the two were trotting quickly on land, faraway, from the cub-lions, though. But there was another challenger, and so the leader was still too preoccupied to notice the rough lions.

Finally they came to the other side of the water hole, and Gali was about to le them off when suddenly, an ear-splitting roar cracked the mixture of brawl and splashes in the air. Ahadgna and her pride had made it to the other side as well, rounding about the edge of the waters. They soon came near the edge where Gali and the lions were.

"Give me back my cub, you rats!" she snarled. "Give me my little Chioke! I'll rip your throats out! I'll make you wish you weren't even born!"

"Well, she's real nice," Gali sarcastically said to the lions atop her back as she dipped her head out from the surface.

"Yeah," growled Banjija lowly as he crouched on her back.

"What'd you do?"

"Have...manes...?" Gatu suggested.

"Mama says males are ignorant lions who only seek to possess other families and kill young cubs who aren't their own. Mama says that each male cub will grow up to be a killer and murderer. But she also says my brothers and I are lucky to live with her and be taught by her and the other lionesses so they can teach us what's right. Then we can grow up in that pride and won't have to be killed by a lion."

Banjija laughed. "Is that what this is all about? Kid, listen to yourself!"

"Mama also says I can stay in that pride 'cause I will give more cubs to them one sun."

"That's disgusting." Gatu remarked. "Even if you're adopted. You still call her Mama."

"News flash," said Banjija to Chioke. "What happens if you have sons and they grow up? If you don't chase 'em away, then they'll eventually chase you away."

"But Mama says-"

"Who cares what she says? You can't stop it. It's life. It's part of the Circle of Life."

Something about Banjija's explanation caused Gatu to flinch inwardly, as he heard the words pour from the teen's mouth.

"Give me my cub!" Ahadgna suddenly roared to them, causing the lions to jump with a start.

"Here! Take 'im! We don't want the little fur ball anyway, ya crazy freaks!" roared Banjija back as he tossed Chioke onto the land from the hippo.

The lionesses immediately circled their young one, hissing at the lions. But Gali was backing up now, and within a couple more moments, she turned all the way around, and was heading away.

"I'll find a better place t' let you guys off at. Not in the main water hole."

"Main?" asked Gatu.

"Yeah. This is the main one."

"What about the one where you had gotten us that carcass?"

"That's a couple miles southwest from here." she answered before her head went back under the surface.

"Stupid jerks," growled Banjija as he sat backwards on Gali's back, glaring at the now-faraway lionesses. "Jerks!"

"Don't make them hate us anymore, Banjija." advised Gatu. "What if they did catch us?"

A few minutes later, Gali turned right, and was now heading down a small river in the south.

"It's been a sun and a moon and those cubs still haven't come back," growled Unaro heavily.

"Something must've happened," whined Meersha, worried. "We have to go check on them!"

"Ah, good riddens." said Unaro then, swiping his paw in the air.

The day Banjija and Gatu had left - which was just yesterday - Meersha had stayed with Unaro near the tree. She hadn't a clue what he would've done if she tried to run away. In her mind, the best thing to do was to have stay with this rouge and get this "thing" over with with his grandmother. Then, after her brother and Gatu gave them the meat, they could leave. But, she grew increasingly worried as the hours snaked by and there was no return of the cub-lions. What had happened to them? "They'll show up in the mornin'" Unaro had said. "A lot of times they're invited for the night." His comment had calmed her a bit, and she was able to curl up and find a fitful and awkward sleep, where all she dreamt about was being back with her mother in the small den away from the pride, so that she and her brothers were together with Kinara, left in her safety. Though Meersha had drifted in and out of sleep, and awoke from the lightest sound or movement, as did Unaro. He had kept a wary eye on her, and had been the one on the look out for the younger males to come back.

Finally, when morning came, Unaro led her to a river. Meersha had thought that her brother and Gatu would not know where they are, but all the rouge did was shrug and explain how they would find them by scent. The cold, bone-aching water soothed her a bit.

They were now on a hill near a small river.

Meersha suddenly gasped and cried out in relief and surprise, "Banjija! Gatu! You guys!"

She ran down the hill, and Unaro was close behind. "Gali?" she then asked.

"Do you know any other hippos?" snorted Gali as her head came slightly out of the water.

"What happened?!"

"Yeah, what happened?" growled Unaro, darkly as the hippo gave a grunt. "Where's the meat?"

"Long story," said Gatu.

"That's not an excuse. We had a deal."

He suddenly stepped forward, but Gali pushed her hooves into the ground under the water, pushing herself backwards a few yards with the two still on her.

"There came back two cubs with no meat. Now they'll have to be the replacement." Unaro said, before pouncing near the edge.

He stopped abruptly as Gali suddenly opened her huge mouth, showing her tusks as she made a laughing grunt. Unaro took a step back, still glaring as Gali fell back down slightly, allowing Gatu and Banjija to stare back at the older rouge.

"Fine." he then said. "I can't get you, but I still got the sheela. Remember what the deal was? No meat, and she gets harmed. There is no meat, so she does get harmed."

With that, he grasped Meersha, holding her tight with this front paws, his claws extended as they began to stroke her fur. She shivered at the sensation of those sharp claws rubbing against her skin, knowing they could pierce her any time.

"Let her go!" snarled Banjija.

Just then, Unaro raised one of his paws so that the claws came up to Meersha's throat.

"I want meat." demanded Unaro. "You give me yourself, so we have some fresh meat, and I might let her go."

"Might?" growled Gatu, stunned at the lion's orders.

"Don't!" hissed Meersha as Banjija got ready to pounce on the land in front of Unaro. "It's a trap! Don't worry about me, he still needs me!" she explained, remembering how she had not yet Natira.

"Needs you?" they both asked.

"Yes."

With those words, Unaro snarled and pushed Meersha aside. She tumbled over in the dirt a bit, but quickly leapt back up, fur bristling as she snarled at him. But he was too busy, narrowing his eyes at her brother and friend. Seeing her opportunity, Meersha suddenly took a jump, only to land by the males on the hippo, who snorted and quickly pushed back again. Unaro roared out, somewhat astonished, but shook it off and began to make his way into the water. Once more, Gali threatened, and he backed off again. She turned, and the hippo was once again swimming back to the main water hole.

"What's with you cubs and other lions?" she said as she swam away from the rouge, her grunts as well as the other hippos' sounding out everywhere.

"God, lions everywhere are gonna hate us," said Banjija, gravely. "I mean, every lion we have met so far does."

"Why? What happened?" asked Meersha

The two quickly explained as they continued to ride on Gali.

"Gali, where we going now?" Gatu suddenly asked.

The hippo was trying her best to push herself up a small but forceful river, against its currant. She snorted and grunted.

"If I take you up a river, land animals like those lions might not expect I did, so they would probably be looking for you somewhere down the river and water hole." she explained, with yet another laugh-like grunt.

"So what happened with you while we were gone?" asked Banjija.

Meersha told her side of the story. They tilted their heads in awe.

"You might be able to...do 'something' for an unknown lioness?" asked Gatu.

Meersha shrugged. "I guess...But it doesn't matter now. We're away from them, just like you are with that crazy Broken-Claw Pride."

Banjija nodded and Gatu sighed, watching the savannah to the north pass. Soon, Gali came to a stop.

"This is the farthest I can go," she snorted.

The three lions leapt off of her and turned to face the hippo to thank her.

"Thanks, Gali. Don't know what we would've done without ya," said Banjija.

"Yeah, thank you." Gatu replied.

"A bunch!" cried out Meersha.

Gali grunted in response before turning around to let the river almost carry her down the currant, back to the main water hole.

"Hope you guys find a pride!" she called.