Chronicles of the Pride Lands Part 27

Isha nosed her way along the animal's flank until she found a suitable spot. Nodding to herself, she cleared her throat, pausing until she had eveyone's attention. The others followed suit as she bowed her head. "Aiheu abahami, " she spoke. "Aiheu provides."

"Aiheu abahami, " they repeated. This was not a simple rote recital, for each lion spoke from the heart, thanking their Lord for the food recieved, as well as asking for protection from injury on future hunts. Any lioness who knew her craft was well aware of the evil spirits who plagued the hunt, waiting to turn a chance mishap into a fatal injury.

The blessing said, Isha raised her head eagerly. Seizing the spot she had previously selected with her incisors, she pulled sharply, opening the belly. She growled sharply, fighting for her position as her companions surged forward expectantly.

Ajenti pushed in, burying her head in the carca.s.s, her jaws working as she bolted her food greedily. Grumpily, Isha slid aside-barely; any lioness who was too timid at dinnertime would invariably go hungry. Uzuri crowded in from the other side, dexterously ducking her head in and s.n.a.t.c.hing away a huge chunk of flesh, which she swallowed whole. She growled slightly at Togo and Kombi, who were sidling a little too close for her liking.

Unpeturbed, the two cubs continued to edge closer until they were able to s.n.a.t.c.h away a sizeable piece for themselves, which they ran off with, each carrying one end whilst simeltaneously trying to yank the whole piece from the other's grasp.

Ajenti paused to grip the haunch of the bull between her teeth. Muscles bulging with the effort, she pulled it away from the body with a sharp popping sound. She dragged it to one side and dropped it, turning to the others. "We'll save this for Nala, since she couldn't come."

Uzuri nodded. "A good choice. Too bad she had to pull her leg like that; she'd have enjoyed this." She jerked back and growled in annoyance as Isha surged forward, burying herself up to the shoulders in the carca.s.s. "Isha, what are you doing?! "

Isha emerged, face stained crimson, but smiling in triumph at what she held in her jaws. "Hunter's choice, Uzuri. The heart; you brought the bull down; it's yours by right."

Uzuri grinned at her. "Thank you, sister." She snapped up the tender morsel in two bites, closing her eyes in ecstasy.

Isha turned back to the carca.s.s to discover Lisani crouched calmly in her place, gorging herself for all she was worth. "Hey! What do you think you're doing?! " The young female smiled up at her aunt, but didn't move; she had found a good spot to feed from and evidently intended to keep it.

Ajenti chuckled around a mouthful. "Isha, you taught her too well, I believe." She moved aside to give the cubs enough room to eat. "C'mon, kids."

Misha and Tanabi edged forward tentatively, uncertain. Experience had taught them to wait their turn until the adults had satisfied their hunger before trying to take their place at the carca.s.s. Seeing the lionesses chatting amiably, however, Tanabi concluded it was safe enough for him, anyway. He paced over to the eviscerated animal and nabbed a short length of intestine. Picking it up, he staggered off comically, the ends dragging behind him.

Kombi saw him pa.s.sing and snorted. "Naw, dummy, you ain't doin' it right."

Tanabi stopped and glared. "Oh yeah?" he mumbled around the mouthful. "Who says?"

"I says." Kombi trotted over next to Misha, who was apparently having trouble detaching her piece from the body. "Watch." Picking up the severed length of intestine she had been worrying, he pulled it free with a m.u.f.fled snap. The cubs watched him carefully as he grasped it between his front teeth. He paused, savoring the attention. "Here's the trick. Ready?" Tanabi and Misha nodded energetically. Grinning, Kombi pursed his lips. With a loud slurp, he sucked the innards into his mouth, the end giving a final little wiggle as it disappeared into his maw. He sat back and chewed serenely, a look of utter bliss on his face. "Mmmm."

Lisani looked over and shook her head despairingly. "Slob."

Tanabi and Misha gaped delightedly at the older cub. "AwwweSOME! " Tanabi said. He immediately bent to his own piece and gripped it in like fas.h.i.+on.

"Now, hold on, " Kombi said. "The secret is to-"

Tanabi ignored him and sucked mightily. The innards suddenly leapt off the ground, seeming to come alive as they wrapped around his head, smacking him wetly on the cheek.

Misha fell back, shrieking delightedly. "Oh, GROSS! Do it again! "

Ajenti shook her head as she pa.s.sed by, her stomach bulging alarmingly. "You'd better quit playing with your food and go eat, hon; there won't me much to pick from when Simba gets here."

Isha, following behind, snickered. "Amen to that. Now there's a lion who appreciates his food! " Chuckling, the two lionesses wandered a short distance away, flopping to the gra.s.s comfortably as they began to groom each other, clearing away the crimson stains on their faces.

Shaking the offending entrails away, Tanabi bounded over to the carca.s.s, Misha alongside. They slinked past Uzuri, who was still busying herself with something inside, and made their way over to the remaining haunch, where Habusu sat quietly, chewing his meat and looking out over the savanna reflectively. "Hey, Habu, what's up?"

Tanabi batted his friend's face playfully, the larger cub grinning down at him as he accepted the blows good-naturedly. Tanabi's little swipes were always done in jest, unlike Togo and Kombi, who evidently felt the need to bludgeon everything they laid their paws on. Habusu returned the playful cuffs gently, then jerked his head toward the huge hunk of flesh he had been dining on. "Come on, there's plenty left here. Besides, I'm almost full."

Needing no further encouragement, the cubs attacked it hungrily, enjoying the chewy tendons on the back of the leg. Yawning, Habusu sat down and began to groom himself contentedly. Finally satisfied with his efforts, he closed his eyes drowsily and rolled over on his back, splaying his gangly legs in the air.

Misha looked over, curious, as Uzuri chucked something aside with a disgusted grunt. The round sac sailed a short distance away before coming to rest. "What was that?"

Uzuri shook her head. "That was full of gra.s.s, hon. It's not very tasty at all. Now this, " she said, motioning with a forepaw, "is downright good eating."

Misha peered inside, squinting. "That big brown thing?"

Uzuri nodded. "Mm-hmm. Here." She arched her neck and leaned in, tearing the item away with her teeth. "Try a piece." She watched, intrested, as the cub bit off a tiny section. "Don't worry, 'ol Uzuri won't steer you wrong."

Misha chewed thoughfully. "Hey, that is pretty good."

Uzuri chuckled. "Don't eat too much of that until you get a little bigger; it'll make you sick if you do."

Misha glanced down the length of the animal, towards the hindquarters where Tanabi sat, still gunning away at the haunch. Suddenly, her face twisted up in confusion. "Auntie Uzuri, how about that? Is it any good?"

Uzuri looked over to where the cub was staring and grimaced. "Uh, hon, that's...kind of difficult. You'd have to be a little older before I could explain."

"Huh? But I'm already four moons old-"

"-and that's not enough." Uzuri looked at her sternly. "Now hush up and eat before the meat stiffens."

SCENE: JOKE'S ON YOU

Misha stared, enchanted, as the little cubs squirmed sightlessly at their mother's belly. "They're so tiny, " she whispered.

Malaika smiled gently at her. Her labor had been fruitful; three healthy cubs lay suckling at her belly, their eyes shut tightly against the world. "You were smaller than that, as I recall."

"Really?"

Tanabi sat at the entrance to Malaika's cave, squirming agitatedly. "C'mon, Misha, let's go! Togo and Kombi are waiting for us."

"Shhh! " Misha glared at him. "You're gonna scare the babies! "

Tanabi looked skyward and rolled his eyes in frustration. "Aww, man...c'mon, Misha. Please?"

She shook her head. "Nope. I want to stay here and help Malaika." She looked at the lioness adoringly. "She's going to show me how to take care of the cubs."

Her playmate shook his head disgustedly. "Sissy stuff. Fine then! Stay here and watch your old babies! I'm gonna go have fun." He spun and stalked off, his lower lip stuck out in an enormous pout.

Malaika stared after him, a frown on her face. "Honey tree, you don't have to stay here. Go play with your friends; I'm fine."

Misha shook her head. "Uh-uh. I really want to help, Malaika. Please let me stay." She glanced over her shoulder at Tanabi's retreating form. "All he wants to do is go play with Togo and Kombi, anyway."

Tanabi swatted angrily at an offending pebble in his path. He had been looking forward to this afternoon; he had planned to show Misha the neat joke Togo and Kombi had come up with to play on Uzuri. And now...he sighed, depressed. It had seemed funny at first, but now the whole joke seemed pointless.

"Phooey, " he said, disgusted. "Uzuri's no fun to tease, anyway." He started to turn, intending to head back to the main cave and take a nap, when something landed on him, bearing him to the ground with a startled "OOF! " Gasping, he rose to see Togo looking down at him with a mixture of amus.e.m.e.nt and disdain on his face. "Tsk tsk, " he clucked sadly. "Fell for it again, kid."

Kombi trotted out from behind a rock, yucking it up for all he was worth. "Sucker! How many times are you gonna get flattened before you figure it out?"

"Shaddap! " Tanabi snapped, startling them both. "Why do you always keep pouncing on me like that? You know how much I hate it! "

"Sheesh, calm down, w.i.l.l.ya?" Kombi peered at him, intrested. "What's got your fur on end today?"

"Misha." Tanabi cut his eyes away, suddenly embarra.s.sed. "She won't come and see the joke we were gonna do."

Togo's eyes widened. "You mean the one we were gonna pull on Mom?! " He shook his head vehemently. "Naw, man, we can't pa.s.s this one up. It's the best one we've come up with yet! " He looked at Kombi worriedly. "C'mon, Tanabi, we gotta do this one! "

Tanabi looked at the ground. "Nah. I really don't feel like it. You guys go ahead without me."

Kombi shook his head. "We can't, remember? You have to distract Mom for us; that's why we showed it to you. You've gotta come."

"Why don't you take Habu instead? He's a lot quieter than I am, anyway."

"That dweeb?" Togo snorted derisively. "He's no fun. Come on, T. Let's go."

"He's not a dweeb, buzzard brains, " Tanabi said sharply. "He's just not into jokes, that's all." The prince got up, shaking himself vigorously, and turned to leave. "Sorry."

"Wait a minute, here." Kombi squinched up his face in thought, an expression rarely seen from him. "If Misha DID come, would you go with us?"

Tanabi looked at him suspiciously. "Well, yeah, I guess so. But she's helping Malaika babysit her cubs. I already tried talking to her; she won't leave."

Kombi grinned at him. "No problem! We've just got to get Malaika to make Misha leave her alone; then she can go with us! "

Tanabi rolled his eyes and snorted. "Oh, brilliant. And just how, pray tell, are we going to get her to do that?"

"Simple. Ask her."

The young prince rolled onto his back, laughing. "Oh, now that's rich. You're going to go up to Malaika and say, 'Gee, we really want Misha to come and play with us; would you tell her to buzz off?'"

Kombi's smile spread into a predatory shark's grin. "Nope. You are."

"Okay, let me get this straight. You want me to tell the girl I don't want her to help me? Ridiculous." Malaika shook her head. "She's invaluable to me. Besides, I couldn't do that to her; it would break her heart."

"Aww, please?" Tanabi dredged up his most pitiful expression and turned it on full force. "It's no fun playing tag without Misha, Auntie Malaika."

Malaika raised an eyebrow. "You and Misha are going to go play 'tag' with those two? Right."

"Honest, we are! No fooling." Tanabi was secure in this fib; the prank on Uzuri DID involve them distracting her with a fake game of tag, so technically he wasn't lying. Well, sort of, anyway.

Malaika turned the matter over in her head for a minute or two, then appeared to come to a decision. "Oh, all right. I'll get her to go with you."

"Yeah! " Tanabi bussed her cheek. "Thanks, Malaika! " He scampered off, eager to inform his friends of the good news. The lioness stared after him, a faint smile on her face. "Misha, dear, did you catch that?"

"Uh-huh." The cub popped up from behind the lioness's bulk. "I don't wanna play with Togo and Kombi; they're always being mean to someone! Tanabi's always so nice to Habu and me; I don't know why he wants to hang out with those two."

The lioness looked at her thoughtfully. "You know, hon, I've got an idea that might just solve all our problems."

"Really?" Misha looked slightly perplexed. "What?"

Malaika laughed. "We're going to give them a taste of their own medicine, Misha." She bent to the cub's ear, whispering.

Several minutes later, Tanabi looked at his friend in utter shock. "She said WHAT?! "

Misha sobbed uncontrollably. "M-Malaika s-said I wasn't paying enough at-t-t-tention to the babies, that I kept ru-running off and playing with you guys instead of watching them." She collapsed on the ground and held her head in her paws. "S-She told me I'm not allowed to see them anymore..." her voice trailed up and away into a wail.

Togo looked at Kombi and grimaced. "Oops."

Tanabi patted Misha on the cheek worriedly. "Uhh, calm down, Misha. I'm sure she'll let you see them again; she's just sore, that's all."

"But I didn't DO anything! " Misha cried angrily. "I DID watch them, real careful. I did everything she said to do, Tanabi; what did I do wrong?" She buried her face in his chest, her tears soaking the fur.

"Aww, man..." Tanabi glanced at the brothers angrily, as if looking for support, but the two had suddenly found something fascinating about their toes, for they studied them intently, avoiding his gaze. He turned back to Misha and rubbed cheeks with her rea.s.suringly. "Well, since you're not babysitting, do you want to go see our joke?" He smiled halfheartedly. "Maybe it'll make you feel better, anyway."

"Oh, PHOOEY on you and your stupid joke! You don't even care, do you?" Misha's eyes blazed with anger. "What's my mama going to say when Malaika tells her I'm not even fit to look after newborn cubs? I'm worthless! " She fell back, tears streaming down her face. "I thought you were my friend, Tanabi. I guess I was wrong, wasn't I?" She turned and began to walk away.

Tanabi stood frozen, unable to speak as Togo stepped down and joined him. The older cub elbowed him and snorted. "Boy, she can't take a joke, can she?"

The tendons in Tanabi's neck creaked as he turned to face him. "Get away from me, " he said icily. Togo shrank back as Tanabi leapt up and sprinted after Misha, calling her name.

He raced around a granite outcropping and nearly blundered into her. "Misha, wait."

She stopped, but did not turn. "What do you want?"

He circled around her until he was face to face with her. "I-I have to tell you something." He cast his gaze down to the ground, unwilling to look her in the eye. "It-It's my fault Malaika kicked you out."

"Huh?" Misha c.o.c.ked an eyebrow at him. "What're you talking about?"

His right ear began to jitter nervously. "I asked Malaika to get you to come play with us, " he said in a small voice. "I didn't know she was going to freak out like that, though. I thought she'd just, you know, maybe let you take a break for a couple of hours, or something." He finally looked up and met her gaze miserably. "You aren't worthless, Misha; I am. I shouldn't have tried to make you do something you didn't want to. You're my bestest friend in the world, and I just wanted to spend some time with you, that's all." His eyes began to water and he rubbed his nose with a forepaw, sniffling. "I'm really sorry, Misha. Please don't hate me."

Misha stared at him silently, looking into his sad face. Abruptly, she grinned, and leapt through the air, tackling him. Caught off balance, the startled Tanabi toppled, again giving out a healthy "OOF! " as his bruised back once again made an aquaintance with the hard rock.

"You dimwit, your head must be full of dead gra.s.s." She laughed joyfully. "Of course I don't hate you! Malaika didn't throw me out; we planned this! "

Tanabi gaped up at her. "W-What? She knew?! " He laughed shakily. "Ohh, man, you had me going, Misha." He scowled suddenly. "That was a dirty trick! "

"So was what you had planned for me, young prince." Tanabi cringed at the familiar voice. Craning his head back, he saw the inverted form of Uzuri pacing nonchalantly toward him, her wayward cubs following her meekly. She stopped, her huge form looming overhead. Tanabi was utterly flabbergasted as he saw the serene smile on Uzuri's normally stern features. "By the way; it wouldn't have worked, Tanabi. I'm the hunt mistress, remember? I can spot an attack pattern a mile away, especially one I invented." She clucked disdainfully at her children. "Really, kids; you've GOT to learn to invent your own stalking patterns." The lioness chuckled and meandered away, with Togo and Kombi following reluctantly.

Misha put her paw under Tanabi's chin and shut his mouth gently. "You're drawing flies, T." Laughing softly, she rubbed up against his side. "Did you really mean what you said about wanting to spend some time with me?"

"Of course."

She grinned as he fell neatly into her trap. "Great. C'mon. I'll show you how to babysit."