"Ana!"
"Hello, Aolani."
The ever-growing white cub raced forward, a bright smile on her face upon seeing the hyena laying down in the grass, having been woken up by the excited yelling of the little lioness. She had wanted to sleep some more, but wasn't going to discipline the cub. Wasn't her position to do so and besides, she didn't want to make Aolani upset when she was so eager to see her. It'd taken so long for her to open up to the hyena. Seeing the smile on her face only made Ana's all the wider.
The white cub came to rest next to the hyena, curling her long tufted tail around her body. She still kept her distance a bit, making sure not to touch the other female, but Ana attributed this to Aolani's more shy and reserved nature.
"Did you see the zebra herd crossing the water?" the cub excitedly exclaimed, the tuft of her tail thrashing about in the ground behind her, sending little dust clouds sailing towards the sky to disappear in the breeze. "The crocodiles are going to eat good today! I saw one catch an old zebra."
Why yes, she had. It was the whole reason Ana had left her home territory, where she lived with the lioness Mohini, so that she could follow the migrating herds. Of course she wasn't going to miss it, when they finally started to cross the river. The supply of food for them had been nearly depleted the last few days. She could tell they had been stretching their stay here for as long as they could, but they couldn't do that anymore. And she didn't blame them. Even predators like a lion had crocodiles to fear when they went to get a drink.
"I saw," the hyena answered, turning her head to look at the cub with a smile on her face. She did really enjoy her time with Aolani. She never found lions to be distrustful, like most of her hyena kin probably would. Why should she? Were they really so different? They ate the same animals, albeit hyena's went a step further in being able to consume rotten meat. They all had loving parents and close-knit communities they preferred to live in. They all got lonely when they were on their own. Even Aolani was lonely, even if she wouldn't admit it. The fact she kept returning to talk to Ana proved that. So why should the two species be at war with each other so much? "Wasn't it fun to watch?" she added, knowing the answer already.
"Yes!" Aolani nearly yelled, which for her was just a raised voice. "I was even rooting for some of the zebra. I don't know how that one got away when it's neck got snatched like that." She shivered, clearly imagining it happening to her. Ana gave her an affectionate lick on the top of her head, making the cub giggle a little.
"Is your family going to follow them?"
Aolani pursed her lips, frowning. "I don't know. We've been here before the herds. Are you going to follow them?"
Ana shifted her weight, not expecting this topic to come up this quickly. She'd only just found out recently herself. "I planned to, but...I can't anymore."
Looking worried, Aolani shifted closer, moving her body towards Ana's front to avoid making that physical contact. "Why not? Did something happen?"
"You could say that." The hyena laughed at herself, hearing how she was talking almost in riddles. Aolani was looking at her with her head titled, both curious and confused etched plain on her features. She couldn't resist leaning forward to boop her nose against the cub's, causing the youngster to shake her head. "I'll soon have babies to take care of."
"Babies?!" the little lioness called out, sending a pair of nearby birds soaring into the sky at the loud noise. At first, she still looked confused, to be replaced with a smile, to being replaced once more with a sad frown. "Oh...I'm happy for you."
That sounded anything but happy. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," Aolani answered quickly, sucking on her bottom lip. Than she sighed and laid down, placing her chin between her paws. "I've got such a big family, I liked that it was just the two of us." In other words, being around Ana wouldn't be as much different than hanging around her noisy family, with a ton of siblings always wanting to play. Sitting peacefully with someone had always been more her style. She only liked to play sometimes.
Ana lowered her own head to the ground so she could be at eye level with the white cub. "I don't think I feel too many in there." She had no one to ask for advice from, not even if she was back with Mohini. The lioness hadn't had a litter herself before. Aolani's mother would obviously know, but the thought of walking into a large family pride of lions made her stomach do flip-flops. She still remembered the look on the face of that mother lion she had encountered what felt so long ago, which was only a few years ago. "Shouldn't be too noisy." At least, she hoped there weren't too many. She had no one to help her raise cubs.
"Maybe," the cub answered, still sounding miserable at the prospect. She thought she'd finally found somewhere nice to escape to, but it would just be filled with more noisy babies soon enough. Still, she should be happy for her friend. Most adults were happy to be having children. Not that she could understand why. "I'll still come around. Even if it's noisy."
"I'd be very happy if you did."
Aolani shifted uncomfortably, not used to the sentimental turn the conversation had taken. She wasn't lying. She really would visit as often as she could, even after Ana had her cubs. Even if they were needy and she was left feeling forgotten, like she was back in her own large family.
Glancing nervously at the hyena, worried she had read her thoughts, the little lioness put a smile on her face, sat up, and changed the subject to something more interesting to the two of them: The migration of the last remaining herds.
----------
1049 Words