Anii
Pridelands. Usually his days rolled by in quiet solitude with the occasional friendly meeting with rogue lions. Very rarely did he get to chase of suspicious characters or threaten lone hyenas. His days were, for lack of a better word, boring. These were peaceful times so every time he went to the border, finding some company – good or bad – was like hitting a jackpot. Occasionally his rounds had him cross another Scout’s path but since half the pride was related to him, that usually meant she ended up exchanging a few words with a family member before continuing on his way. Yup, the very exciting life of a Scout.
Anii knew she was approaching lion territory but she’d been following some track in an almost obsessive way and she refused to stop before finding the burrow of whatever she was following. The wild dog kept her nose on the ground, sniffing continuously as she neared her target. She hadn’t seen anyone for many hours now and she wasn’t paying attention to her surroundings. In retrospect, she should have. Lady Luck may favor the bold but not the stupidly oblivious.
Mheetu caught an unfamiliar scent in the air, unlike any other he’d smelled before. In an instant, he had jerked his body into full battle mode and he crouched low, the dry grass perfectly concealing his form – not that anyone was looking for him, mind you. Once his eyes caught the movement ahead, he waited only a few moments before stepping forward. He could hardly believe a hyena had dared to come this close to the border. It had to be either very young idiot – it did look a bit small for a hyena – or it was a rogue. Either way, Mheetu would make sure the beast never came this close to his pride again. With a quiet roar full of menace, the Scout lunged forward.
Anii’s head rose as she started backpedalling quickly, looking around wide-eyed for the roaring lion. When she saw the Scout he was almost on her and the wild down dove to the ground, trying to look as small as possible- not that it made much difference as he was five times her size and probably a lot more in terms of weight.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Don’t hurt me!” she blurting out so fast that it was almost impossible to tell what she was saying even though her tone said it all. She stayed low in the ground, half-waiting for something to hit her. She’d had a bad experience with a leopard and she didn’t expect this encounter to go any better.
Mheetu stopped right above the wild dog, looking down on her for a few moments before deflating. It was easy to see his mistake now that he was so close to the canine and realized that there was really no hunchback, no crazy laugh, no stink of the elephant graveyard… it was not a hyena.
“You are near the borders of the Pridelands but I apologize for the rude greeting.” He said softly, looking a little embarrassed. The Scout took a few steps back in order to give her a little bit of space. “I thought you were a hyena.” He stared at her beautiful grey eyes, realizing that she was quite pretty… you know, for a dog.
Wary at first but quickly growing in confidence, Anii stood and sat down, visibly relieved that the lion’s reaction had been caused by a mistake. She didn’t understand his reason for such a violent display but she was afraid of asking about it either.
“Why would it matter? You don’t like hyenas?” He’d said that she was near the border so not quite trespassing yet. Why would it matter who walked around their pride if they were careful not to cross into their territory? Clearly, this lion didn’t seem to mind her much now that he’d realized she was a wild dog but she would hate to think what couldn’t happened if she had been a hyena… or if he hadn’t realized his mistake in time.
Mheetu took a cue from the wild dog and sat down as well. He smiled at her, trying to look friendly but the question she’d asked caused a small frown to shadow his eyes. The war had ended when the lion had grown into a gangly adolescent but lions still talked as if had happened the day before. “Uncle” Samawati had lost twin brother and many other lions had died in battle. Even the King had been injured.
“There was a great war with the hyenas of the elephant graveyard pack. Our lands are lush and full of prey and they tried to take them. They failed, of course but many lives were lost. We don’t take kindly to their presence even if they don’t try to cross the border.” Looking at the wild dog, he suddenly remembered something else.
“You should stay away from them, too. I’ve heard they have some wild dogs as slaves there.” He turned, nodding towards a shadowy area in the distance. “The graveyard is in that direction. You really should avoid it.”
Anii had calmed down considerably but her still raced as she listened to the story of a war between lions and hyenas. She could hardly imagine what such a brutal event must’ve been like and she could tell there was something in the lion’s eyes that said the war had hit him in a very personal way.
“I see. Thank you for the warning.” She was actually surprised that the lion had turned out to be so friendly. It was a shame that their encounter had started with him nearly scaring her to death by almost trying to bite her head off. She made a small attempt at joking about it. “Well, I understand why you reacted like that. But I’m much pretty than a stinky hyena, don’t you agree?”
Mheetu chuckled, finding the sassy canine rather amusing. If she’d been born a lioness, she would’ve been a true beauty but like this, well… Mheetu could only see her as a cute doggie. Now that he had Mia though, not even the most stunning Goddess would ever get more than a smile out of him. He nodded a few times, grinning widely.
“You look nothing like one of them. And you do have beautiful eyes.” He chuckled again, surprised that she had somehow led him to compliment her looks. “But I think it’s time for me to get back to my shift.”
Anii grinned back. More playfully this time. Her tail wagged happily behind her as the wild dog stood, mimicking the lion. Time to leave, huh?
“You’re kind of cute for a kitty.” She said as she turned around, looking back over her shoulder to throw a long wink at the lion. “Bye bye, golden boy. Keep that mane pretty.”
Mheetu was laughing as he turned, thinking of how this was the first time that anyone had winked at him and it had been a wild dog who’d done it.
“Stay safe.” He told the wild dog before walking away.
- FIN -
