Kingdoms Of The Savanna #1 Alone

Chapter 4

Oel stared at the open grassland with wide amber eyes, trying to drink in every little detail.

This is the border of the Southern Kingdom! I'm staring at the very ground where a Pride lives!

As though summoned by her thoughts, a stream of lionesses flowed through the grass, only just close enough for Oel to see them properly.

Oel flattened herself to the ground to remain hidden and watched with intensity as the lionesses ran.

There were about a dozen of them, all running towards a waterhole. Clustered around the wide pool were two giraffes and a herd of antelope.

Oel licked her lips. She had tasted antelope only twice in her life. It had a strong, almost salty flavour that made her mouth water. She was sure that the lionesses were planning on hunting the antelope.

As they neared the herd, one of the lionesses sprang away from the group and charged through the middle of the herd, scattering the frightened antelope and causing the giraffes to gallop away.

The lionesses worked in teams of four or five to surround an antelope and then, before the creature could get away, one would pounce on the antelopes back, tackle it to the ground and then sink their long fangs into it's neck and cleanly kill.

"Having fun?"

Oel didn't even need to turn around to see the stern expression on Kima's face.

"Yes, actually." She growled. "I suppose Jak sent you to ruin it?"

"No actually." Kima said, moving up to crouch beside Oel. "I heard you leave the den so I followed you. I was unable to catch up though until you and Jak separated. I sent Jak back to the den, then followed you again to make sure you returned safely."

"Why are you always so boring?" Oel asked rudely. "I'm not doing anything wrong!"

"Great Spirit Hyenas! Must I always be the mature one?" Kima sighed. "No Oel, your not doing anything wrong... Except leaving the den without permission, abandoning Jak and spying on the Pride Of Hura!"

"Pride Of Hura..." Oel echoed, blocking out the frustration in Kima's voice. "That's the Pride I came from, right? The same one as Lullen?"

"Um, yes, I think so." Kima tipped her head to one side in thought. "They are the closest Pride to our den. The nearest Pride aside from them, The Pride Of Essan, is at least a full days travel from here according to mother."

"So these lionesses... They are my kin!" Oel couldn't contain her excitement. "Kima, for once please don't be a pain in the tail and let me go visit them!"

Kima laughed in her hyena-ish way and shook out her pelt.

"Pain in the tail, eh?" She cackled. "Seriously Oel, there is no way in the name of Great Hyaenidae that I'm letting you do that! Lullen would pluck your whiskers one by one!"

"But Kima if you just-"

"Get down!" Kima barked suddenly, hoping on top of Oel an wrestling her to the ground.

"Hey! Get off me!"

"Shhhh!"

"Why?" Oel gasped.

Kima didn't reply, instead she indicated with her tail towards the water hole.

Oel followed the direction and widened her eyes. The lionesses are gone!

"Kima, where did they go?" She whispered.

"Right here." A crisp voice growled. "Right where you don't belong."

Oel and Kima shrank back as the long grass surrounding them rustled unnaturally to expose about a dozen snarling lionesses.

"You're trespassing on Kingdom territory!" A wiry lioness with dark eyes growled. "Why are you here? To steal our prey?"

"We didn't steal anything!" Oel tried to sound braver then she felt. "We were just watching!"

"Oh, so you're spies then?" A particularly dark lioness leered. "What Pride are you from, Cub. And you, Whelp, which Clan spawned you?"

Oel pressed herself against Kima, hoping the sharp young whelp would think of something to say. They could not reveal where Lullen and Jaquin lived.

"W-we are orphans." Kima said in a small voice. "We are hungry and tired... We r-really mean you n-no harm."

Oel realised that Kima was sucking in her belly to make her look scawnyer and had fluffed out her fur so she looked mangy. Oel did the same, hoping her act was convincing enough.

"Orphans, eh?" A handsome looking lioness with a stern expression said. "Where are the rest of your litters?"

Kima sniffed and pulled a tragic expression. "Th-they died!" She wailed. "Along with Mother and Father!"

Oel nodded and tried to look saddened. "That's right." She added. "And I had to watch my two brothers get torn apart by vultures. I alone survived."

"Really?" The handsome lioness narrowed her eyes.

"Sharna, surely you don't believe them?" The dark lioness who had spoken earlier snorted. "I say we bring them to Karacore, see what he thinks of this."

"Karacore would rip them to pieces, Lechi." A lioness with hideous scars stretching across the left side of her face growled. "It would be better to let them free."

"How dare you speak for Karacore?!" The dark lioness, Lechi, snarled. "You hardly deserve to be in a Pride, let alone contrite it! Then again, you always were a rule breaker Yahara."

Yahara! There was something odd about the lionesses name to Oel. It seemed to awaken something deep within her, almost as if the name represented something of great importance...

Yahara flinched as though Lechi had raked her claws across her muzzle and shank back into the crowed.

"Please," Kima whispered. "Let us go."

"Sharna, you are the leader of the hunt and one of Karacore's most trusted Pride-mates," A younger lioness, not many moons older then Oel said. "What do you think?"

Sharna studied the young savannah-born creatures with her bright yellow gaze.

"We will let them go." She said eventually. "But," She quickly added as several lionesses growled in protest. "If they are caught on our territory again, there will be consequences."

"We won't be back." Oel promised, though her heart throbbed in rebellion.

"Good." Sharna murmured and turned away.

As one, the lionesses turned and disappeared into the grass, leaving nothing behind other then several threatening scent markers.

"Come on." A wide-eyed Kima gasped. "Lets get out of here!"

🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾

That could have been messy... Clever Kima! What did you think of the chapter the lionesses of the Pride Of Hura?

Anyone remember who Yahara is?

Fun Fact: There are four different types of hyena (Jaquin and her whelps are spotted hyenas).