Chapter 2 Coordination
"So nice of you to have joined us, prince Simba. " Said Sarafine with a friendly smile.
Simba just nodded awkwardly.
"Obviously you won't get any special treatment during these lessons since hunting is a team effort." Sarafine mentioned offhandedly.
Simba nodded yet again, still feeling awkward.
"Well then, " Sarafine said. "Which one of you knows the traditional hunting formation ?"
"Ooh, ooh." One of the other cubs raised their left front paw enthusiastically.
"Yes, Mkuki." Sarafine motioned towards the cub.
"The triangle of death." The cub said with theatrical gravitas and a smirk on her face.
"Meaning?" Sarafine asked for elaboration.
"Two lionesses in front of the prey and one lioness at the back." Mkuki explained.
"Alright. That is correct." Said Sarafine. "So let's pretend for a second that I am your prey."
Sarafine moved into the midst of the four cubs.
"Nala and Simba, you two move to either side of me, so that I can see you. Mkakati, you go behind me." Sarsafina directed everyone.
The cubs did as they were told.
"I am not a lioness tho." Mumbled Simba but got into position.
Sarafine didn't hear him.
"Alright. Now, Mkuki, what is the point of this formation ?" Asked Sarafine, testing the enthusiastic cub.
"Well, the front lionesses can distract and tire the prey, so that the lioness behind the prey can go for the kill." Mkuki explained.
"Not a lioness." Simba mumbled again under his breath.
Sarafine did hear him this time but chose to ignore him for now.
"That's right. What rules are important for each segment of the formation ?" Srafina asked.
The cubs just looked at each other with question marks on their faces.
"Distance, always keep appropriate distance to your prey unless it is too tired to defend itself or injured." Sarafine explained.
"Yeah, my mom got a nasty bruise from a gazelle that she and a few other lionesses were hunting two days ago." Mkuki blurted out.
"See, that's why distance is important for a good hunt. A lioness must know when to strike and when to stand down." Sarafine elaborated.
"I'm not a lioness." Simba had mumbled a bit too loudly this time.
"Something you want to add, young prince ?" Sarafine turned to Simba.
Simba froze again, as now, all eyes were on him.
"I just wanted to clarify that I am not a lioness." Simba said, meekly looking at Sarafine.
Sarafine gave a chuckle. "It hardly matters in this case. At least not now." She told Simba.
"Yes it does." Simba responded quickly." Only lionesses hunt, and I am not a lioness." He stated.
"But you want to learn ?" Sarafine inquired quickly.
"Yes." Simba responded just as quickly.
"Also, your father is a great hunter, so obviously hunting is not just done by lionesses." Sarafine added.
"I am not girly." Simba blurted out.
A giggle could be heard from Mkuki and Mkakati.
Srafine shot them a quick glance, and they went quiet.
"I see what the problem is." Sarafine said to Simba.
"You feel insecure because of what others might think if you do something that is mostly done by lionesses. Am I correct ? " Sarafine asked.
"Maybe." Simba said sheepishly.
"Well, I can tell you that you don't need to worry about any of that. Learning how to hunt is not gonna make you any more or less girly than you already are, Simba. Also, right now it doesn't even matter that you aren't a lioness, since you weigh about the same as Nala or any of the other two." Sarafine explained.
"Why would that matter ?" Asked Simba.
"Simple, the lioness," Sarafine chuckled and looked at Simba, "or lion who is positioned behind the prey should ideally be the heaviest of the group." She explained.
"Because, once they strike, the prey will try to shake them off. The heavier the lioness...or lion behind the prey, the quicker will the prey get tired out." Sarafine finished.
"Oh, I see." Simba slowly started to warm up to this initially uncomfortable situation. "So if my dad is hunting with you and the other lionesses, he will get the back position.
"He is the heaviest member of the pride." Sarafine agreed.
"That's so cool." Simba exclaimed in amazement.
"That it is." "Sarafine nodded.
"Anyhow, first exercise. I will keep moving while Simba and Nala, you try to figure out at what distance I react to your presence. Make me move between these two boulders over there." Sarafine pointed at two boulders that narrowed an otherwise open path nearby.
"Once I am positioned correctly, Mkakati has to try and jump on me. The exercise is a success once Mkakati has put a paw on my neck." Sarafine explained.
"Mkuki, you have to try and give Nala and Simba advice from an outside perspective since they will be focused on me. This can be anything from making sure that they are not getting too cocky or to warn if a threat approaches. Should push come to shove, in a real hunting situation your role may even be to drag an injured party member out of harm's way." Sarafine finished.
"Everyone understood ?" Sarafine asked.
Simba raised a paw.
"Yes Simba." Sarafine acknowledged.
"Why can't I be the one who is behind you ?" He asked, a twitch of protest swinging in the prince's voice.
"Because a good hunter is ready to take on any role that may be required." Sarafine explained.
"But I'll be the biggest member of the pride when I am king." Simba reasoned.
"Well, are you the biggest member of the pride right now, Simba ?" Sarafine answered with a question.
Simba lowered his head.
"No." He mumbled.
A few chuckles could be heard from Mkuki and Mkakati again.
"Also, not every prey needs to be brought down by the biggest member. Sometimes you also may let others take the back position so that they can improve on their skills. Any other questions ?" Sarafine asked.
The other cubs shook their heads.
"If you get too close to me, I will try to push you over. Get pushed over more than three times, and you are out for this attempt. You can restart at any time, but if you do, I will obviously move back to the starting position.
"Alright, let's see how you get me." Sarafine said and lowered herself into a cautious position.
"Alright." Simba said, looking at Nala expectantly.
Nala took a careful step towards her mother.
Sarafine swiped at her daughter. She did so slower than she usually would and without her claws being extended.
It was still rather fast, and Nala, not expecting that, was promptly pushed over.
Nala got back to her paws and shook off the fall.
"Are you alright, Nala?" Sarafine said with mild concern in her voice.
Blushing in embarrassment, Nala got up.
"I'm fine, Mom. I just didn't expect you to strike so quickly." Nala explained to her mother.
"That is the point of this exercise, to get you girls to understand just how quickly you need to react in order to get your prey." Sarafine explained.
Simba cleared his throat to get Sarafine's attention.
"And the very insistent boy of our group as well. " She said while giving Simba a warm smile.
"Nala, imagine if I had been a zebra, striking you with its hooves." Sarafine elaborated, "You would have been seriously hurt, that is why you need to react the very moment you see your prey begin to move its front leg that is closest to you. So either it is taking a step back or striking at you."
Sarafine went on.
"But how do I know what my prey will do ?" Nala asked.
"Trust your intuition." Said Sarafine.
"Yeah, Nala. Trust your intuition." Said Mkakati and winked at Nala.
"What's an intuition ?" Asked Mkuki.
"I don't know, but it sounds cool." Responded Mkakati with an innocent smile.
"Ugh. Enough with the chitchat." Opined Simba impatiently.
"Can we please continue with the Exercise. You can yap about intunafish later." He growled.
"Excuse me. We are not yapping." Said Mkuki.
"Oh really, then what are you doing right now ?" Said Simba with a snarl in his voice.
"Trying to ignore you and your big yapping mouth. Cause you are the one who's yapping." Mkuki responded and then turned her back on Simba.
"Please, you two, calm down." Said Nala, trying to defuse the situation.
"I'm not yapping, you are yapping." Said Simba walking up to Mkuki.
"I'm not hearing your yapping. Your royal yappness." Mkuki blew a rasberry.
"Seriously, you two, cut it out. I want to keep learning about hunting techniques." Nala exclaimed.
"I don't want to get involved in any of that." Mumbled Mkakati.
Nala just about had enough.
She turned to the one person whom she knew could make the conflict stop.
"Mom. Please tell them to stop." Nala asked her mom.
"Me ? Why should I ? I am the prey and the huntresses seem busy."Sarafine chuckled.
"Ugh, not funny, mom." Nala protested.
Meanwhile the argument between Simba and Mkakati had become even pettier.
They were simply yelling the word "Yap" at each other with their eyes closed.
"Mkuki, could you please do something ?" Nala asked the uninvolved fourth cub.
"What could I possibly do ?" Mkuki asked with genuine cluelessness.
"I don't know, but they are two and we are two. So we can do something to get them to stop fighting." Nala reasoned.
"Well. We could try and talk to them separately." Suggested Mkuki.
"But we need to separate them first. I can barely think straight with their constant bickering." Nala complained.
"Why don't we just pounce on them at the same time and pin them down ?" Suggested Mkuki.
"How would that help ?" Asked Nala.
"They would be stunned for words ?" Guessed Mkuki.
"You know what that's not really a long term solution but both of them have their eyes closed and I would give anything for just a moment of quiet to collect my thoughts." Said Nala.
"On three." Said Mkuki.
"One." They said.
"Two."They continued.
"Three." They finished and pounced.
Nala pounced on the unsuspecting Simba and Mkuki on Mkakati.
Then there was quiet, be it only for a moment, as both Simba and Mkakati had some of their air knocked out of their lungs.
"Hey, what gives." Complained Simba merely seconds later as the shock subsided.
"You and Mkakati yelling the word yap at each other like idiots, thats whats giving." Said Nala, sternly.
"I wasn't yelling like an idiot. She was." Said Simba in protest.
"Takes one to know one." Responded Mkakati.
"Girls, seriously !" Exclaimed Mkuki, who was very much on edge by now.
Simba was so surprised by this outburst that he didn't even react to having been generalised as one of the girls.
"We have a prey to corner and you know what. I am the coordinator this round and I order you two back to your positions. NOW!." She sharply snarled and got off of Mkakati as Nala did the same for Simba.
Both Mkakati and Simba got up and sheepishly moved back next to Sarafine.
Neither one of them had expected this type of authority to come from Mkuki, who was normally perfectly happy to remain in the background.
"Nala, you too." She said, looking at a bewildered Nala who obeyed.
"Alright, lets trap that prey." She said much to Sarafines satisfaction.
End of Chapter 2