It had taken a while to recover fully from the wound to her arm and the wounds to her spirit. To her dignity, her pride, and her trust! Pia had expected the rouge lands to be dangerous, but she had never expected to be beaten up by a hyena (tiny creatures that should not rightfully be so strong) and a lioness barely larger than an adolescent. She had only been trying to make friends! When Pia caught the scent of another stranger on her track, she was immediately wary. Someone else coming to attack her? The brown lioness moved off the path she had been following and stood behind a convenient tree, waiting and watching.
Mkaguzi hadn’t had any luck so far in tracking the murdering lioness. She had killed her own mate, and her pride wanted her brought back for a fair trial. Unfortunately, it didn’t seem as though Mka would be able to do that. He had lost her trail completely. When he found the new tracks he was delighted. He couldn’t smell anything useful from them – the wind was moving in the wrong direction. They looked like they belonged to a lion though, and one lighter than a full grown male. He followed them closely, remaining alert for any sign of the lioness that had made them. They might belong to an innocent person, of course … but they might not. Catching a glimpse of movement near a tree off to his left, Mka halted and peered over. There was a lioness there, watching him. He couldn’t make out her color or form in the shade of the tree. What to do, what to do? Calling out to her might make her run, but approaching her might be dangerous.
It was another one of those horrible beasts! Pia tried to hold still as she watched the creature approach, but she couldn’t help shifting a bit with nervousness. She didn’t want to regard this creature suspiciously, but she couldn’t help it. She had learned that hyenas, although smaller and weaker than lions, were definitely a force to be reckoned with. She had always thought her old pride’s ways of violence were wrong, but now she was starting to believe that its ways of thinking were wrong, too. No lion could have made a thrall of that crazy, vicious hyena. She shivered slightly as she watched the male hyena eyeballing her. He didn’t seem friendly. “Hello,” Pia called finally, hoping against hope that t he male didn’t want to fight. If he did, she would just run.
Mka could tell that the lioness was tense, but he still couldn’t quite see her! When she spoke, he took a careful step towards her. He didn’t know what the murdering lioness’s voice had sounded like, so it was worthless for identification. “Hello,” he replied, hoping to lure her out of the shade of the tree. “Nice day, isn’t it?” That was pretty bland. Maybe it would ease her tension somewhat and get her to come out.
Pia could tell that the hyena seemed tense, but his voice sounded pleasant enough. She wanted to think the best of him and head out to say hello, but she was learning to be very cautious about making new friends. She definitely didn’t want to get into another tangle with a hyena. “Yes, it’s a very nice day,” Pia said cautiously. She took a step towards the hyena as well, to get a better look at him. He didn’t look much like the female that had attacked her. The female had been all big and grey and brawny. This fellow was smaller and much more nicely colored. She relaxed just a teeny tiny bit.
As the lioness moved closer, Mkaguzi got a good look at her color and his hopes fell. The lioness he had been sent after had been described as tan, with a dark tailtip. This female was a pleasant medium shade of brown, with pale legs and a light tailtip. He was sure that the pride would have mentioned the pretty swirly marks on her legs if this lioness was the one he was after. Oh, well. He hadn’t expected it to be so easy, after all … at least he wouldn’t have to try to intimidate this lioness into following him home. “I’m sorry if I startled you,” Mkaguzi offered, wondering if the female had detected him trailing her. “I thought you were a friend for a moment.”
Pia relaxed more fully. So this hyena had friends, did he? That was good. She couldn’t imagine that awful hyena and the nasty little lioness that had attacked her having friends … although apparently they were friends with each other. Yech. She smiled at the cream-colored hyena, happy to have met a nice representative of the species. “That’s fine. I’m alone, so I have to be a bit careful of strangers.” If he had been a nasty hyena, her careless advertisement that she was alone might have been a bad mistake … but although Pia had begun to learn some lessons about the harsh world, she had a long way to go before her naiveté was completely lost. “I’m Pia.”
The thought of attacking some random lioness would never have occurred to Mkaguzi, and so Pia was safe. He returned her smile, pleased to have met a kind soul. “I’m Mkaguzi. I’m just wandering through, looking for my friend. I hope she wasn’t one of the strangers who frightened you.” Secretly, he hoped she was one of the strangers that had frightened Pia … it would make things a lot easier if he had a lead.
Pia shrugged, doubtful. “I don’t know … I met a nasty grey hyena and a nasty grey lioness a while ago. They didn’t seem like the friendly type.” And if they were his friends, she would run far, far away, just as quickly as her feet could carry her. Thankfully, Mkaguzi was shaking his head.
“No, she’s more of a brown color,” Mkaguzi said vaguely. If Pia didn’t have any information for him, he didn’t want her to become too involved in his search. Unfortunately, he couldn’t become involved in a real conversation with her, either. If he fell any further behind, he didn’t think he would ever catch up with the lioness he was chasing. “I should keep looking for her. It was good to meet you though, Pia,” Mkaguzi said, somewhat regretfully. “If I come back this way, I’ll stop and talk.”
Pia was sorry that the hyena was busy, but she nodded in acceptance. “It’s always nice to meet new people,” she said politely, and watched him go. It was too bad that the hyena hadn’t stopped to talk. Maybe she could have made a friend out here after all. But at least he hadn’t attacked her. She waited until he was out of sight and then continued on her own way, pensive. Perhaps all the people of the rogue lands weren’t so nasty after all.
WC: 1172
