Manyara was older now, older than she'd been when she first met the hyenas. Although she was definitely on the small side for a lioness, she was full-grown by anyone's standards. The hyenas were pleased. The hyena ladies had pups now, and, Bahari had explained to her, they needed more lions to look after them. Tractable lions being hard to find, it was up to Manyara to make more lions.
The grey lioness was vague on this whole procedure, but it seemed simple enough. Find a man. Do the baby making thing with him. Go home to the hyenas. Males liked making babies, Bahari had explained, and likely wouldn't care what happened to any cubs.
That was just fine with Manyara. Although she had met males on her travels and gotten along with some of them, she had a lot of duties right now. There were the hyena pups to take care of, and soon there would be her own cubs. She didn't want to take care of a male too, especially if he was bossy and demanding like the hyenas. And what if he tried to fight with them? Manyara was constantly bullied by her 'masters', but she didn't want anybody fighting. And she really was attached to the pups, even though some of them were horrible.
Mkaguzi didn't usually spend much time away from his sister (and, lately, son). The cream-colored hyena hadn't seen either of his family in over a day now. He was running backtrail on a suspect, trying to trace a suspicious lion to his home pride. An interesting case, but not much interesting to see on the trail. So far he hadn't met a single witness, no one that could tell him they'd seen the rogue lion passing through.
Spotting the grey lioness, Mka perked up slightly. He made a beeline for her, calling out to her. "Hello there, ma'am!" Maybe she was a local. That would be perfect. Nothing like nosy neighbors when you were looking for dirt on someone.
Manyara lifted her head, blinking curiously. Who was that? Oh! A hyena! She stood still, confused. He wasn't one of HER hyenas, he was a stranger. He didn't look like her hyenas either. They were all brown and grey. This one was white and red. Who was he? She wasn't sure how to behave around a strange hyena. She made an awkward bow to the strange male, keeping her blue eyes locked on him in a curious stare.
He didn't sound aggressive or cranky. He sounded cheery, and he had called to her quite politely. Manyara responded in kind. "Hello, sir!"
Reaching the lioness, Mka stood before her. She was quite young, probably barely out of adolescence. It was nice to meet someone with manners out in the roguelands, although Mka would have been polite no matter how snarly and unhelpful she might have been. You caught more lions with honey than vinegar, that was the truth! He had never been bowed to by a lion (or anyone, for that matter) before, but perhaps that was the custom of her pride. Mka' bowed himself, quite a bit more gracefully than the lioness had.
"Good to meet you, ma'am. I'm Mkaguzi, just passing through." He didn't want to jump straight into the questions. She seemed nice enough, but that might put her on the defensive.
"Hello Mkaguzi," Manyara said slowly, carefully pronouncing the name so that she would remember it later. Nope, not one of her hyenas. She was sure she'd never heard of them mention a Mkaguzi. " 'm Manyara. I'm looking for a man so I can make babies." He had told her his mission, and now she was telling him hers.
The cream-colored hyena blinked, slightly taken aback but struggling not to show it. Well, all prides had different customs. Wasn't his business to judge anyone for their culture, unless they were up to nefarious activities. This lioness was a little weird, but there was no harm in that. There would surely be male lions out there willing to oblige her if that was her objective. "Ah," He said, not sure exactly how to respond. It did give him a good opening though ... "As it happens, I'm looking for a male lion too. Maybe you've seen him? Taller than you, brown fur?"
That all sounded very strange too, but Manyara gave a mental shrug. Maybe man-hyenas usually looked for man-lions. The hyena males back home were pretty weird. Maybe that's why the ladies were so pushy to them. "How come you want a man lion?" She giggled, unable to help herself. "I don't think two mans can make babies, mister."
Mka's jaw dropped slightly. She thought he ... what?! Good grief! He wasn't sure whether to be insulted. Either the lioness was stupid or putting on a very clever act. Well, if she was acting obnoxious on purpose, no sense playing into her trap. And if she was just an idiot, no sense in upsetting her. He pulled himself together, dignity wounded. "You mistake me, ma'am," He said somewhat stiffly. "He's a friend I've lost track of. You haven't seen him then?"
Manyara shook her head. "No. I ain't seen no one." Too bad. It occurred to her that maybe she should stick with this hyena and try to find his friend. If his friend was a lion, they could make babies! It would be perfect! But if the hyena didn't know where this friend WAS, then she might be wandering around for ages and ages. She wanted to get this silly job done with as soon as possible.
Another idea occurred to her. A crazy idea ... or a crazily BRILLIANT idea?
Only one way to find out.
Her eyes lit with enthusiasm. "Say, you're a man, aintcha? You can make babies with me!"
Again, the hyena was shocked. Was she serious? How could anyone be this stupid? "Don't be ridiculous" He burst out. "A lion can't reproduce with a hyena!"
Manyara moved forward, looking somewhat predatory. "Sure you can. I got a hyena son back home."
Mka shook his head. "That is quite impossible. It is clear that you know nothing!" Now he was positive that she was just messing with him. A wonderful actress, for sure, but not a help at all. Even if she had seen his quarry, this obstinately irritating lioness wouldn't help him!
"You don't have to be mean, mister," Manyara said, feeling a little hurt. She'd thought this hyena was nice, unlike the ones back home. Then he went and called her stupid. She knew she wasn't the brightest, but she tried to be polite. "I don't want to have babies with no mean man anyways," She said darkly, turning and stomping away. It was hard to stomp on the soft grassy ground, but she made an effort.
"Good day," Mka said, turning and leaving himself. He shook his head as he went. What an odd lioness.
