Hyena-

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Acacia-

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"Hey get up, wildebeest breath." Came the voice of someone Hyena recognized. "It's almost high sun."

Hyena looked up sleepily to the large teeth of a lioness in his face- which made him jump in surprise. They were mismatched, with one large tooth hanging out of her partially closed lips.

"Oh, Tusk!" Yelped Hyena, "What- why? Is something happening?"

"Rainbow got us a few rabbits to snack on." Tusk laughed at Hyena's face, "We already asked if it was alright to eat it and the council said we could so come on while it's still fresh!"

The lioness shoved Hyena's side, making him tumble onto his back. He squirmed up to his paws in a hurry, as Tusk seemed to be readying up to pounce on top of him. He blinked the sleep from his eyes as she led him to their friend group, huddled in the shade of a bushwillow just a few steps away from the sleeping cave. There were three lions there; Rainbow, Hornbill, and their new leader, Acacia. All had been friends with Hyena since they were cubs. Well, except Hornbill. He was younger than the rest of them, and just joined the friend group a couple sun cycles ago.

Acacia smiled as the two joined them, making room next to him. Hyena thought about his facial change back during his coronation. Maybe he should ask about it later... when they were alone..?

"Hey, sleeping in so late?" Acacia commented with a laugh, "You know that's not a good way to impress your leader."

Tusk pawed at Acacia's shoulder, grinning as she sat beside Rainbow. The two were close friends- born only days apart. They had a connection the moment they met. Hyena remembered playing pounce tag with them when they were supposed to be taking a bath.

"Well, Mr. High and Mighty King," Hyena sat, his paw lifting to his chest in a mocking tone. "I'm so sorry I'm not a perfect citizen. Hurry, I must be made an example of!"

Hyena laid his head on Acacia's paws, his neck offered up to his king. The other lions laughed as Acacia pushed Hyena off of him. Hyena pushed back against him, the two pitting their strength against each other in a very easily-lost fake fight.

"Hey guys, no fighting! We have food to eat." Rainbow sounded like she was trying not to laugh as she nosed a rabbit corpse closer to the pair. "We have a hunt to get to soon."

"Yeah, which you would have been late to had I not woken you up." Tusk grinned to Hyena, who snorted in response.

"Yeah, yeah. Hunting." Hyena gave a fake cheer and laid his head down, not thrilled.

"Hey, it's okay. I'll look into getting you a new job, okay?" Acacia put his paw on Hyena's gently.

"Sure, okay." The brown lion smiled in reply, sighing loudly..

"Hey, can we eat already?" Hornbill blurted out, licking his lips. "I can't stand listenin' to you all talk about all this stuff. Rainbow's right, let's dig in."

With a snort, Hyena nodded. The group continued talking as they ate their rabbits, talking about visiting the watering hole after the hunt took place. It wasn't long before a lioness came to fetch Hyena, Tusk, and Rainbow for the hunt to begin. Sharp was the leader of their hunting party, and a very stern lion at that. They'd barely finished their meal before she had tapped her paw impatiently.

Hyena rubbed his head on Acacia's and waved to Hornbill with his tail before following behind Rainbow, who was skipping as she walked beside Sharp. Seems like she was already annoying the strict lioness with her peppiness. But Hyena loved that about her, she was someone who could put a smile on anyone's face. Except maybe Sharp's. He tried not to laugh as Rainbow brushed her tail against Sharp's playfully.

--

The sun was high in the sky, practically melting the fur off the lions as they walked in a diamond pattern with Sharp's lead. She was following the scent of a pack of gazelle who had come into their territory from beyond the tree-line. Apparently they had stayed for the night and were headed towards the trees again, so they needed to act fast. Sharp had cornered them into the south corner of the hunting grounds, before her tail lashed as a warning. They were close and had to be quiet now. Tusk looked to Hyena with a fierce look on her face- she was excited for this hunt. Hunting had never been Hyena's thing. He was known to be one of the worst hunters in the pride. Which was .... stressful to say the least. He hated hunting- he'd never been good at it. He knew all the signs Sharp had commanded but never how to kill or trap something on his own.

Speaking on signing, Sharp's tail lifted and flicked to the left and right; surround the gazelle. The group parted- Rainbow and Tusk going right, Sharp and Hyena going left. Hyena watched as the grass moved slightly around the gazelle group, parsing where his friends were standing so he could stand opposite. Sharp stopped and Hyena almost bumped into her as she did. The lioness almost growled, her tail flicking back to tell him to back up. He complied instantly, backing up to whereabouts he had seen rainbow on the opposite side. They were all in position.

After a moment of silence, Sharp reared forward, her powerful leap taking her onto the back of a gazelle. Roaring in pursuit, Tusk struck the neck of the creature as it tried to escape, Hyena and Rainbow keeping the others scared and cornered. A gazelle ran towards Hyena, however, and fearfully he froze. How are you supposed to kill a creature? He knew it was his job but- Oh well, here goes. The lion jumped, his teeth meeting skin as he tried to bite down on the fleeing gazelle. It bucked, trying with all it's might to shake off Hyena. He heard other gazelles braying behind him as the gazelle sprinted towards the trees. Shit! Hyena leapt off as the hooved creature escaped into the acacia trees, to the other side.

"Hyena!" Sharp yelled, her face covered in blood from her kill. "What the fuck were you doing? Why didn't you kill it?"

"I-I!" Hyena stammered. "I tried!"

"Not hard enough.." Sharp sighed, her tail lashing. "Come on, let's get what we have back home.

Lowering his head, Hyena helped Sharp lift a gazelle by it's throat, the two dragging one body while Rainbow and Sharp dragged the other.

Why did it not go down? I got it by the throat! Hyena thought to himself miserably as they made it to the land bridge connecting the hunting grounds with their home. Their home jutted above the ground in a large bowl of rocks. It could be seen from the hunting grounds, lifting above the ground in a majestic mound, but Hyena's eyes gazed at the ground instead.

Acacia welcomed the party home warmly, helping drag the bodies into their den. Lions gathered as they waited for the council of elders to join, moving as the elder lions moved to the front of the group. Sharp parted to the back, following Rainbow and Tusk, and Hyena sauntered behind. They had to wait their turn to eat, which made his mouth only water more at the taste of blood in his maw.

"Lions of the Savannah!" Acacia roared, spooking Hyena. "This feast can only be brought to us by the Zimwi, the monster of the trees. We must thank it for it's kindness in letting us have our meal." Murmurs came from the crowd as they thanked the monster in a prayer of voices.

"Now, let the council feast." Acacia bowed his head at the elders, who dug in immediately. Taking big portions, Hyena thought, his frown deepening. When it was their turn they'd barely get any meat on the ribs. Acacia had joined the elders, as was tradition, but took only a small amount in comparison. It took a while of drooling mouths and licked lips before it was cubs and their mother's turn. Then the male lions of the pride. Then finally, the hunters. Finally. The rest of the scraps were being pulled off the meat by the lionesses who hadn't gotten a part yet. The cave was full of bones being chewed, creating a cacophony of teeth clicking.

By the time Rainbow and Hyena had gotten up to take their turn, there wasn't much meat left. Hyena felt terrible for the lionesses who had to eat after him, taking some left-over rib meat. It was a long night afterwards.

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What was he thinking, up there on stage when he took his Father's place? Hyena thought, wondering why Acacia's face had changed. He hadn't been able to speak with him since the day before, which bothered him immensely. He hadn't been able to ask..

"Hey, stinkbug." Tusk brought Hyena back from his thoughts- which were racing about his failure during yesterday's hunt. Her face looked concerned, but her voice was teasing as she brought a paw to drop on Hyena's head. "Flying off like a bird in there?"

"Shut up." Hyena smiled, shoving her paw off. "Just thinking about the hunt."

"What happened in the hunt?" Hornbill inserted himself, gnawing on a bone from the gazelle.

"Ugh, I just- missed a gazelle okay?" Hyena laid down his head, glaring at Hornbill. "Let's not talk about it."

"Ooooh, that sucks. We would'a had more to eat huh?" Hornbill stared off into space, his teeth clicking as he bit the bone. Tusk shoved him. "What?"

"He's sad about it, Hornbill." Rainbow explained, her paw lowering the rib as he tried to take another bite at it.

"Oh. Well don't be sad. I bet Sharp's missed a kill too."

"Not that I've seen." Hyena responded miserably. He rolled a rock with his paw, fidgeting with his paws was a nervous tic of his.

"Shut the fuck up, please, Hornbill." Tusk hissed, tucking Hyena into her side. "Look, Hyena, you're still only, what... like a year old?"

"A year and ten moons." Hyena corrected her, frowning. He tried to scoot away from her, tousling his short mane in the process.

"Yeah, you're young. You're still learning."

"You're only four moons older." Hyena countered, huffing. "Whatever it doesn't matter- let's talk about the fact that Acacia isn't here again"

"Why, ya got a crush on him? So clingy, you lionesses." Hornbill joked, back to mashing his teeth against the rib. Hyena groaned at the mention of him being a lioness, and looked even more miserable than before.

"He's busy with leadership duties." Rainbow shrugged, looking around at the others. Hornbill looked like he was about to speak again before he was shot a look by Tusk. Shrinking down, Hornbill went back to gnawing on his bone.

"Yeah, he'll be busy until he's used to it, ya know." Tusk shrugged, leaning against Hyena. "Let's get to the watering hole, yeah? I'm thirsty."

"We're not gonna wait for him?" Hyena countered, his paw fidgeting.

"No, c'mon he'll know where we are." Tusk got up, stretching back. Her muscles rippled in her back as she did, which Rainbow also seemed to note.

"I think I might meet up with you guys later." Hyena lowered his head again.

"Oh.. uh, okay. See ya later." Tusk licked at her friend's nose. "Be safe out there. Never know when the monster will strike this moon yeah?"

"Yeah, I'll be safe." Hyena smiled, though he felt uncomfortable by the mention of Zimwi.

"Don't go off on your own." Rainbow added, with a worried smile.

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