Death and tragedy had found a home in the Ashnai'le pride lands. The canyon itself and the jungle within it bore no physical scars of Sahen's tyrannous reign, save for the weak and abused bodies of the lions that moved like ghosts across the lands; empty vessels with broken spirits, it could no longer be said that the Ashnai'le lions lived. They simply existed, terrified of their ruthless King's Ligi, his league of personal warriors, who he had granted special favour- with the exception of the First Blood, the Ligi always ate first. They killed when Sahen asked them to kill, and they effectively trapped anyone seeking to flee the Shatkona's bloodthirsty grip on the pride inside.
The Mwanasheria, Tama's Head and the Advisor of Justice, one of the few remaining who dared challenge Sahen's rule, stood in the shadows of a cave that was, more or less, halfway up the rock wall on the east side of the canyon. There were a dozen or so hollows here, used by mothers to raise families back when the pride was strong enough to boast such numbers. Since Sahen's takeover, the pride's population had diminished and these comfortably sized caves generally went unused. The trek up the canyon wall was an easy one, the stone path made smooth and wide by decades of families travelling from the caves into the jungle, but that was not the point.
The purpose of this drill was for her boys to learn how to track, and how to work together. She had left them at home, with her instructions and, as she foresaw it to be a necessity, appointed Shahil the leader of the little trio.
"Children," she'd addressed them with an authoritative nod of her head, and locked eyes with each of them in turn, "Today, you are going to practice hunting. You are going to work as a team. Jabari and Kayin, if the situation calls for it, you will listen to Shahil. Shahil, you will not abuse your position as leader for this drill, or your brothers will tell me about it and you will be punished."
She'd waited for them to absorb the information before she'd continued.
"Since I can't have you tripping over yourself and scaring off all of the game, what little of it there is left, you will be hunting me. I am going to hide somewhere in the valley, and it will be your job to find me. If you run into any Ligi, or any of them approach you, behave with dignity and respect. They know who you are (I have made sure of that) and will not harm you. If you do not complete your task by sundown, you will go hungry and I will come looking for you in the morning."
The threat was only half true. Indira knew better than to leave her precious sons unsupervised at night.
It had not taken her long to reach the Old Family Caves, as she'd been there many times before, and she'd chosen one that was situated in such a spot that she could observe the border of the jungle, and look down upon the trees. She stood as still as the stone under her paws, and kept her ears and eyes peeled for any sign of her boys.
The sun was still very high in the sky. There were hours left before sundown.
The eager attitude that he had shown their mother disappeared the moment she was gone, and Jabari looked over at his two brothers with a hint of cynicism. Well, of course she would pick Sahil as the leader. He was the hot headed one that always charged in first. Of course, that didn't make him the smartest one in Jabari's opinion.