Mkaguzi had always prided himself on his intellectual ability. There had been nothing more pleasing to the hyena than a good challenge, a good puzzle to solve. He was coming to find, though, that Isipayisi was a more difficult puzzle than most. Oh, he was determined to help the poor lost hyena find her way, there was no question about that, but he was having more trouble than he had expected. Isipayisi was a true mystery. He hadn’t seen any hyenas that resembled her whatsoever, nor found anyone that had witnessed such hyenas themselves. In fact, he, Mkaguzi, was the hyena that looked the most like her with his red mane and pale fur … thankfully, he was quite certain that he wasn’t related to her. Oh, no! He had all the relatives he could handle, thank you very much, and none of them were a lost and bewildered hyena.
There was another female hyena before him now, a pale grey one. Pleased, Mkaguzi smiled. This new female didn’t look like she was related to Isipayisi, but one could never tell until one asked. Maybe she was even in a pack! That would be excellent. At this point in the investigation he was really grasping for straws. Any hyena might have some worthwhile information, any hyena at all. “Hello there,” Mkaguzi called, reaching her. She looked surprised but not frightened by his approach. A good sign. “Have you seen a white hyena female, with a red mane?”
Bahari had watched the male approach with some interest. He was a stranger to her. Intriguing. Although he approached with confidence, he wasn’t aggressive, which was also appealing. She had been keeping her eyes open for a new consort after Bekeli seemed so chagrined by her desire for more pups. Perhaps one had fallen into her lap. Now, wouldn’t that be nice and easy? She smiled at the male, bemused by his question.
“I’ve seen a white hyena male with a red mane,” she offered, chuckling. She raised her eyebrows. “Looking for your sister?” That would be interesting. Adding another female to their little pack would be a good thing.
Mkaguzi blinked, a bit startled by the question. How could this stranger know of Siri…? He backtracked in his mind. Oh, no. She assumed that because of the color … he cleared his throat slightly. “No, no. Not a sister. I ran across this hyena myself. She’s having a bit of trouble with her memory, so I’m trying to find out where she came from.” He smiled at the grey female, a bit embarrassed at not explaining himself earlier. “I’m Mkaguzi, by the way.”
Oh. Not a sister. Not a mate, either, she supposed … which was a good thing, but she didn’t much want a consort with some brain-damaged friend hanging around. The males were stupid enough, they didn’t need to see a stupid female. It would only confuse and frighten them. And give them improper ideas, probably.
Oh, well. Taking this stranger as a consort had only been an idle thought. And it wasn’t entirely off the table. She would have to talk to this hyena a bit more and find out what the whole story was. “I’m Bahari,” she said, looking at the male thoughtfully. “These lands belong to me and my sister.” And my cubs, and her cubs, and our consorts, and even a bit to our stupid lioness slave and her little lion-slaves. That was more explanation than Bahari was prepared to get into at the moment though. “I don’t think I’ve met a hyena having trouble with their memory. At least, if I did, I don’t remember it.” She let out a loud cackling laugh at her own joke.
Mkaguzi felt a bit crestfallen that the female didn’t have a whole clan to talk to. Only a sister? Well, she would surely know whether or not that sister was Isipayisi, then. Mkaguzi thought about asking to speak to her sister, and decided against it. If the two hyena sisters were content to guard this territory, they probably didn’t do much roaming outside of it. He supposed it was worth a shot to talk to the sister, but he had a hunch that he would be cackling up the wrong tree, as it were.
“I’m sure you would remember if you had met this one,” Mkaguzi said, smiling a bit despite his disappointment at not finding any leads. It seemed hyenas were scarce in this area. He had been so thrilled to see just this one! But on the other paw, he had managed to eliminate this place as a possible origin point for poor bewildered Isipayisi. It wasn’t as good as a nice solid lead, but it was worth something. “She can speak, but she has forgotten what many words mean. She has an … odd way of talking,” Mkaguzi continued. It probably wasn’t worth his time to elaborate, hoping to jog some bit of memory from Bahari, but he at least had to make the effort.
Bahari shook her head, amused by his description. If she (or Dikeledi) had seen any strange females encroaching on their lands, they would have investigated immediately. Even a brief encounter would have been memorable. An encounter with a hyena like the one Mkaguzi described would certainly have been an experience to remember. “No, no hyenas like that around here,” Bahari said cheerfully. And hopefully there never would be … but she wouldn’t tell this fellow that. She was still idly thinking of asking him to be her consort, if he would just ditch the dummy.
Although he had expected yet another negative, Mkaguzi was still disappointed when it came. He bit back a sigh, smiling at the nice grey female politely. “I should go, then,” he said. “I don’t want to leave her alone for long. She’s … well, she can get confused.” He didn’t want to call Isi stupid, but unfortunately the female could be a bit, well, perplexed. She was apt to go wandering off into some kind of terrible danger without even realizing it. Mkaguzi didn’t want to get back to find that she had been trying to eat a bee hive or climb up an elephant’s back. He bobbed his head politely to Bahari. “It was nice meeting you, Bahari.”
“Likewise,” Bahari said, amused by his formality. She nodded at him in return and watched as he turned and trotted away, continuing his search.
