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Anju found herself in the same situation she had countless times before. It was starting to get late and while she would have to go back to dens soon, she had nothing to show for her day of hunting.

Not that she actually tried to do much hunting, but rather did her best to distract herself and avoid her duties for as long as possible.

The thought of seeking out a Ligi to help crossed her mind, but she was a bit more hesitant about approaching them than she had in the past. Her new friend Dada seemed so confident in her bold claims that the Ligi warriors were terrible lions who used the Shatkona as a puppet.

Could she be right? They had always been so considerate of her requests in the past. Anju would never forget the kind Ligi who was sent to tell her the news about her mother, he had been so comforting when even Junko wasn't there to share her grief with.

At this point though, the huntress had little choice. Anju looked out as the soon began to sink lower in the sky. Time was running short; if she saw someone, anyone, she would ask them for help.

Anju jumped in her skin when she herd an unfamiliar voice call out to her. Quickly turning around, it was revealed that the voice belonged to another lion. He had a white pelt for the most part, but his black mane and markings contrasted quite a bit with the rest of his coat. It was impossible to tell which house he might belong to just by looks, not that it mattered much to Anju.

"Hello sir." In the uncommon spot of being caught by surprise for once, Anju tried her best to gather her thoughts. She had found what she was looking for, or rather that help had found her.

"Excuse me sir, do you happen to be a Ligi?" Anju asked the male she knew nothing about enthusiastically, and her face lighted up with hope as she spoke. At first glance he didn't exactly look as impressive as some of the other Ligi she had met, but if he could approach a huntress without giving away his position he must be a trained warrior for the Shatkona.

"Why of course." Anju nodded furiously in unison with her words. The awkward silence before the male asked her anything though, was odd to her. "Oooh, are you one of those that thinks bad of the Ligi?"

The small lionesses enthusiasm suddenly dwindled with his question. Obviously this lion was not a Ligi. Or it was possible that doubt even streamed within their own ranks?

"Well despite what you might have heard, asking what haven't they done for me is the better question. They've always taken very good care of my family, even up until the end." She explained."But I do understand if your opinion on them is different, It seems like everyones does. Even my cousin Jun and my friend Dada don't like them."

"I have asked a few for help since..." Anju suddenly paused and her eyes looked down to the ground. She wanted to say Mom at first, but couldn't muster out the words. "Jun left." While she missed her cousin dearly, it was much easier to talk about Junko who she knew was happy and alive in the rogue lands. Plus it wasn't entirely untrue, Junko had gone on quite a few hunting trips with her.

"I can find the prey, but I make a kill by myself. I was actually just looking for some help when you came along." Anju's tail swayed almost in a wagging manner behind her, hoping that even if he wasn't a Ligi he would come along to come with her.

Anju's tail came to a stop as she realized this lion wasn't going to help her.

At first she looked at him with a confused look on her face as if she didn't know exactly where he was going with all of his conclusions, but her expression it quickly turned to a frown once he began speaking about the hungry pride members as if she was ignorant to the suffering.

"I know that very well, thank you very much. My whole family is made up of hunters and have sacrificed a lot during this prey drought." Which is what she had been told and believed was the reason for the lack of creatures in the valley.

"And I can hunt, I just can't do it myself." She spoke defensively.

Anju hunched down as he spoke. He revealed that he was a Ligi after all, but she never imagined one would be so tough on her. Had Dada been right all along about them? Where all of them like this and secretly controlling the poor Shatkona?

Her ears perked as he mentioned something about being related to the Mwanasheria. Suddenly she felt even worse that she had before. Someone who was obviously very important thought very lowly of her, it was the ultimate embarrassment for the huntress.

"I-I am..." Anju's limbs seemed to be shaking and giving way beneath her.



"I'm coming Anju!" A scratchy voice called out. Suddenly, a small blur flew by the two, then between them, then finally slowed down enough to reveal a white and red avian that eventually perched upon Anju's head.

"What do we have here? A tough little Ligi picking on women folk." The birds feathers fluffed up as she spoke. She was a small thing, but her personality was that of a mighty Atmaja lioness.

"Look you, I could care less who your mama is. This girls been through a lot of losses lately, and the last thing she needs is a lecture from a member of the laziest group of the pride." She spoke so furiously she almost honked out the words from her beak.

"Use her as my hunting partnet?" Anju said curiously. The though had never occurred to her, but maybe next time she needed help she would beg Cu. It couldn't hurt to ask at least, maybe she would be open to the idea.

"I hope you don't think I'm her pet or something." Cucco spitted. "I look out for Anju every now and then but there is absolutely no way you would catch me helping her kill whatever poor creature had the unfortunate luck of wandering into this hell ho-"

"We will try that, thanks." Anju while still terrified by the male, tried to speak warmly to make a good impression, while trying to end the encounter as quickly as possible.

"I'm not afraid of your kind you two faced-"

"Enough Cu!" Anju let out a firm growl to quite her small friend and began darting in the opposite direction that the male she had encountered was going. The whole thing had just been a terrifying ordeal, but she was still convinced that perhaps he was just a bad apple of the bunch. That Ligi who came to tell her that her Mom had been killed in a hunt had let her rest her head into his mane as she morned.

They just couldn't all be bad. They couldn't.