Pindua Rangi, Saranyu, Hatsuharu, Tibuka, Fido and Ziwa
For once, they were well spread out.
Being part of a wandering group had it’s advantages, and Ziwa rather enjoyed being able to see so many places. Today, it had brought them somewhere strange. One that Kow’bakari had seemed familiar with, and had been reluctant to cross in to. She supposed it made sense. Though as a wild dog she didn’t care much for lion’s boundaries, by scent she could tell this was quite a pride. Besides, there wasn’t much here good for them. Simply water. The prey around here was the kind they weren’t prepared to hunt, and if they tried, their clumsy paws might just carry them a bit too far over the ridges.
Still, while the pack had stirred away from the lands, she’d figured it wouldn’t do harm to just scout it out a bit. She’d catch up with the pack tomorrow, no problem. Easier to as for forgiveness than permission, right?
But as Ziwa distractedly trotted about, she managed to trip and stumble down a rock slope. And ooh, that was just very not good. She held back the urge to yelp every time she bounced off a rock, each one seeming harder than the first, and then—
Something very soft. That screamed.
Fortunately, this something seemed to have stopped her tumble. Unfortunately, this something was a lion. A young lion, at least, but one that was not at all happy to see her. After a few moments of lying around in a mess, the juvenile leaped to his feet and promptly snarled at her.
“Hey! You’re trespassing! “ She blinked, still somewhat dazed, up at the lion. Scruffy and young-looking, just a boy. But with some sort of fierce determination on his face. Ziwa snorted. “Tell me something I don’t know. “ She grumbled, rolling to her paws.
Pindua Rangi did not appreciate the attitude. “And you attacked me! “ He accused, though quietly aware that if it was a real attack, it was really a very pathetic one. Ziwa, of course, knew this too, and growled right back at the cub.
“If I had attacked you, runt, you’d be bleedng. “ And that definitely got the cub’s attention. Snorting in satisfaction, Ziwa turned away to climb back up the ridge. When something collided into her again. She yelped, falling to her side as the young lion bravely pawed at her.
“You don’t look so tough! “ He cried, and Ziwa flailed her paws back at him, trying to stop the assault. Though he was young, wild dogs weren’t known for their strength, and he was almost as big as she was. Not to mention, after that tumble, Ziwa was feeling rather weak.
Fortunately for her, someone had noticed she was missing. They hadn’t been happy, and come to find her. Unfortunately for Pindua Rangi, they were Tibuka and Fido. And Tibuka hated lions. Somehow they’d managed to avoid contact with any guard, following the trail Ziwa had used in. Wild dogs and hyena’s were just small enough to occasionally be missed. The pride was still growing, after all. Security was hard to keep up with sometimes. Besides, they weren’t very deep in yet.
And that wasn’t working on Pin’s favor. Because soon, while attacking the trespassing wild-dog (and he really wasn’t going so hard on her, claws barely unseathed, he just wanted her out. ) he found himself tackled away by something much bigger. And tumbling back, he found that this time, he was bleeding. The black-and-white male gasped, drawing a paw up to his ear, looking awestruck at the hyena that had just showed up out of nowhere.
“Ziwa, you idiot! We didn’t come in for a reason! “ It was snarling, glaring back at the wild dog, who looked just as surprised. Pin saw the other hyena, and realized with a pang of dread that he was horribly outnumbered and outclassed. “And you, cub, “ The larger hyena was snarling, and Pin forced himself to focus. “Are in for a lot of trouble. “
For a few moments, Pin could only think of panicking. But then something happened. He remembered what he wanted to be. He remembered his pride, and his family, and how he wanted to protect them both. So a strange, though not exactly wise feeling was rising up in him, and got him on his feet, looking defiantly up at his attacker. “Oh, yeah?! “ And with that, he swiped a paw across the hyena’s nose.
And for a moment, the hyena looked dumbstruck. And Pin was extremely proud. But then that changed. “Bad idea. “
Pin didn’t doubt it, as the brown creature lunged for him. With a yelp, he dodged to the side, but still felt his hind legs crash against the hyena, making him loose his footing. Fortunately, Tibuka was in for a larger delay, because he had crashed right into stone behind the cub. “Hah! You’re so du—“
Pin had forgotten about the other two. And now the female hyena was coming at him too. With his best battle cry, he charged right back at her. Then promptly leapt over a very confused hyena, bouncing off her back and up a ledge. “Can’t catch me! “ He called, clambering up. Just as he was looking back to see their obviously-stunned faces, he found that, actually, they were coming after him. All three. Oh crap.
Now Pin was officially scared for his life, and the next few minutes of it were spent trying to escape the creatures currently threatening it. While trying to fend them off. Occasionally one would come at him from the side, and he’d manage to land a blow before avoiding and attack on himself.
And this was starting to get fun.
He never thought he would be so happy for the highland’s complicated terrain. Because now he knew it so well, and these three dumb dogs didn’t at all. So tricking them into falling, slipping, or just avoiding their attempts was going quite well.
Until, that is, Fido caught a break.
Now, one thing must be known about Fido. She wasn’t a particularly aggressive creature. She didn’t mind lions. But Tibuka was her boss, and her boss, right now, wanted this kid dead. Or very injured. So she would try to oblige. She hadn’t been trying too hard up til now, but then the boy managed to knock Tibuka off the trail, followed quickly by Ziwa, and Fido realized that, unless she did something now, they’d lose him.
So she carelessly lunged forward and crashed into the surprised juvenile.
The next few moments were a bit hazy for her, as she was stumbling down a rocky slope, until finally she flopped onto… the lion. Who had hit the floor before her. Stumbling away, she gasped at the realization that she had caught him.
Pindua groaned, rubbing his head painfully. Owww, that hurt. He coughed and slowly sat up, looking around himself dizzily. “What just happened? “ He looked about, finding they’d fallen in some sort of shallow pit, like some giant paw and come down and scooped out some rock.
He also found that the female hyena was right there. And that woke him up. “Aah! “ He cried, scrambling to his feet to run away, but found she was quick enough to grab onto one of his hind paws. He could swear he heard some sort of apology from the fiend, and struggled to get away as he tried to ignore the pain in his paw.
But then the other hyena caught up, and Pin became still… He was done for.
Helplessly, he curled into a ball as the large male came closer…
And then something came and it was very loud. He didn’t quite understand what had happened, but when he opened his eyes, he saw something very bright. Someone very bright. A lioness! He was saved!
Saranyu hadn’t been doing anything. But she could have sworn she heard a commotion, and once she found the source of it, she was shocked. Horrified, really. That cub! She knew that cub! But those hyenas.. and that wild dog. No, this was bad. Now, Sara wasn’t a fighter. She was built lightly, ideal for a messenger. But she didn’t have time, so she had quickly dove in to action, tackling the largest male with a cry of “Leave him alone!”
For a few moments, Pin only watched as his savior fought the three “canine”s. He was amazed, he was so sure he was done for. And now… now he had hope! But then, a few minutes into the battle, he realized that the bright female who had saved him wasn’t that much better off herself. She was beginning to bleed from wounds to her paws as the dogs leaped and nipped at her. At one point, the two female “canine”s were holding her at bay, and he realized, with dread, that the larger male was planning a strike to her throat.
So re-summoing his previous heroic feelings, Pin launched himself to the largest hyena.
And instead got beat to the punch, crashing helplessly into a large black and white shape. He flopped to the floor, awestruck as one of the guards flung his paws forward, whacking Tibuka away as Ziwa yelped in surprise, pinned by Sara. That left Fido.
Pin was happy for this turn of tides. Now his side had three lions, and really all they would have needed was this new guy, Hatsuharu. A full-grown male could easily take these three! But still, as the male busied himself with Tibuka, and Sara was pinning Ziwa into submission…
He figured he’d get back at Fido. Who, right now, was hopelessly watching her comrades fight a losing battle. She cried out as the juvenile crashed into her, his front paws furiously grabbing on and proceeding to scratch and bite anything they could find. After this, it didn’t take long for the three invaders to give up.
The male, clearly the leader, barked some orders and Fido and Ziwa struggled away from their opponents, following the muddy male as he retreated, Hatsuharu hard on their heels, making sure they got out.
Which left Pin and Sara. And Pin was absolutely ecstatic. “That was awesome! “ He cried, breaking the silence. The bright female looked at him, shocked. “You enjoyed that?! “ Oh, oops. Yeah, Pin, maybe you should be uh… so excited.
“Oh. Um. No! Not at all! “ He mumbled awkwardly, and sat down, looking at his paws. Sara looked at him suspiciously a bit longer, before nodding. “Well, okay. Whatever. ”
Well, he supposed he’d outdone himself when it came to getting in trouble today. And as the adrenaline wore off, Pin found himself growing very pained. Owwwww, his paws. They sat a bit longer, looking in the direction the hyenas and Hatsuharu had left from, before Sara stood up. “I should go. I need to… tend to these. And warn any other guards. “ She motioned to the wounds, and Pin frowned. “I’m sorry… “ He mumbled. “Thanks for saving me. “
Sara softened slightly. “It’s alright. I would have done it all over again. “ And with that, she hurried off.
Pin wasn’t alone for much longer as Hatsuharu returned, looking very different than he had moments ago. The black and white male had looked furious, his eyes wild as he focused on his opponents. And now he looked… relaxed. Kind of spacey, even. Huuuh, that was weird.
Still, Pin excitedly hurried over to greet him. “That was awesome, Bo! “ He exclaimed, using the lion’s proper name. “Where did you learn to fight like that?! “
Now, Hatsuharu was confused. He looked down, dazedly at the boy, and absently patted his head. He shrugged. “It just… comes t me. Sometimes. “ The lion frowned slightly. “You should be more careful. They could have killed you. “ He told the cub bluntly, but not very sternly. It was unlikely that he sounded at all convincing.
Pin wasn’t too happy for being blown off like this. “Well, you’re the guard! “ He huffed, annoyed. “You shouldn’t have let them in in the fiiiirstplaaace…. “ He trailed off, realizing this was a rather pathetic way to thank his savior. Oops. “I mean, how did the get through? “
If the older male was offended, he showed no signs as he calmly sat down and looked to the sky. “Oh, I don’t know… I guess they walked. “ And then he focused his gaze back on Pin. “You were brave. Are you going to be a guard? “ Despite the monotone, it didn’t kill Pin’s excitement to hear that. “Yep! I’m gonna be the best one in the whole pride! Emperor Wei Gang will want me on his guard! “ He paused. “Or maybe Ting Lan will be empress by then… “ He mumbled, less excited about that. Uugh, girls. He supposed Afu and Ari were smart and all, but… Ahali was big and strong!
“That’s nice. “ The other lion said, failing to emulate Pin’s boyish enthusiasm. “Well, I better go back to my post now. I should make sure they stay away… “ And without giving Pin time to say anything, turned and walked off again. The juvenile looked on, and despite the oddness, fond himself dumbly amazed by the guard.
“Whoa… that was so cool… “
And so Pin hurried off to find his brother. Man, he’d never believe what happened!
