Chazama had lived her entire life in the bonelands pride, and though she was still young, just barely into adulthood, she felt as though her entire life revolved around one thing: hunting. That seemed to be the only constant in their lives, as females. They hunted, day in and day out, and hopefully someone would come back with a meal. As a cub Chazama hadn’t needed to hunt, food was brought to her; and, even as an adolescent she hadn’t been expected to be up to the level of most umzingeli. Now was different. If she thought her mother had been on her tail before about practicing, she couldn’t believe how much more her mother could lecture her now, as an adult. This was one such afternoon. Chazama had been lazing about in the shade, minding her own business, when Dina strode up to her like a hyena out of hell with just as much forwardness as a pissed off hippo. In the end, Chazama was left feeling ashamed and Dina had hot-headedly, almost forcefully, pushed her out into the wilderness savannah beyond the pride’s resting grounds. Now the lioness stood amiss in the vast openness, her pale and yellow-orange coat blending in with the tall grass. She didn’t like feeling as though she disappointed her mother, but Chazama was far from the greatest of hunters, and more often than not came home empty pawed and nothing but discouragement. A deep breath filled her lungs, pushed her sides out in a heave, and then left her in a sudden rush as she sighed. Why was this so hard?
The pale bird had been watching Dina-kin for awhile now, her beady blue eyes skeptical if not a little humored. She had known Chazama ever since she was a cub, though rarely spoke with her and more than often avoided her and her twin. It was bad enough she had to deal with one lion, she didn’t want to encourage others into thinking they could bother her. However, the buzzard’s curiosity got the better of her and she hopped, skipped and fluttered from her perch to land a few yards from the young lioness.Her lack of perception caused her to startle and leap away from the sudden appearance of the large avian, though Chazama’s tense stance soon dissipated as she recognized the bird. Chazama laid her ears flat against her skull, a look of annoyance plain on her face. ”What did you do that for? I could have attacked you!” Really, what was Bora thinking? The vulture spent enough time around lions, you’d think she’d learn not to jump out in front of them.
Now that had been an amusing response and Bora couldn’t help the sudden blurt of laughter that escaped her beak. Though this seemed to irritate the poor Dina-kin so she shushed herself out courtesy to the young one; a rare occurrence for the otherwise good-humored bird. ”Don’t worry Dina-kin, I know you too well. You would have not attacked me.” Whether or not that was an insult was difficult to judge, but Bora knew more or less how Chazama reacted to things, having watched her hunting practice many times before. The vulture was more or less amused watching a lion not know how to be a lion, and so decided to continue with her goading. ”After all you couldn’t have been hunting, there’s no prey around here to stalk,” she paused to fluff her feathers, ”You’ve likely scared them all away just standing there.” Maybe a little too far, but this was interesting.
As if she wasn’t feeling bad enough! Chazama glanced sharply away from the awful bird, glaring around her. Come to think of it… she didn’t see any herds or even stray beasts around her. Had she really scared them all away? What kind of great hunter would she be if she couldn’t even find the stupid herds? The lioness turned her glare on the vulture, having no one else to vent to and quite angry over Bora’s comments. Not only were they mean, they were kind of true. Weren’t they? ”So what? It’s not like you can do any better,” she huffed, the words leaving her maw before she really had a chance to think about it.
It took Bora a minute to realize just what the lion had said, but when she did she could not help the cackle that rose up in her throat. ”Goodness! You really don’t pay attention do you?” Of this was just rich, and Bora had to admit, maybe even a bit mean. She really didn’t mean the girl any harm, but it was hard to ignore all her flaws. ”I do not hunt Dina-kin, vultures are scavengers,” she informed the girl, fairly certain that she already knew this fact. Still, the vulture remained watching over this oddity, a quizzical glint in her eye.
There really was nothing she could say to argue that, though the lioness was feeling particularly stressed already and having Bora here to taunt her was making it much worse. This time her lips curled back in a crude snarl as she entertained the idea of pouncing on Bora, but it was short lived as she knew she would have to deal with her mother afterwards. That would not be a fun conversation, she knew. She didn’t even know why Dina liked the darn thing so much! It was yappy, uppity, and rude! Sure she could fly over stretches of the territory to locate water and herds…! Suddenly Chazama’s expression changed to delight, much akin to a ‘eureka!’ moment. ”Bora! Could you... could you do me a favor?” It was a long shot, and she didn’t want to beg, but she really wanted this.
The snarl surprised her a little bit, and Bora did manage to hop back a few paces, ruffling her feathers in a warning. She knew Chazama to be a lazy coward, but she had not forgotten just how unpredictable kitties could be. Chazama’s sudden change in expression confused the vulture, and she visibly shuttered at the words that came out of her mouth a moment later. Bora groaned audibly, spending most of her day out scouting with Dina had left her wanting to relax in her favorite tree. Maybe if she ignored it, it would go away.
When Bora seemed less enthused by the idea of helping her, Chazama crouched down low and got eye level with the pale bird, a grin pulling onto her maw. ”Just help me find a herd, any herd; I promise I won’t ask you to do it again!” When Bora didn’t give an immediate response Chazama frowned, furrowing her brow into a pout. It was so simple, and would be much faster than trying to find one on her own. ”Pleeease? I could really use the help,” she blurted in a whinny tone. … She was glad no one from her pride was here to see this.
Oh sweet giblets what had she unleashed? Bora was very tempted to simply take to the skies, but was wary of doing so. Chazama might just reach out and grab her if she was desperate enough! And then that look, that voice really got to her and the vulture flinched at the sound of it. Eww, whinnying! She threw her wings up in exasperation, a ‘I quit!’ gesture if one ever existed. ”Fine! Just don’t do that voice again. EVER!” It was still ringing in her ears!
(Word Count: 1253)
