Old Enemies

[Scar]

"Yes. Go with them and ensure the hyenas keep their word." Scar commanded.

Behind him, the initially friendly competition over a scrap of zebra meat was rapidly evolving into a pointless brawl.

"They have been a little--" Scar was then interrupted by a flying bone which one of the fighting hyenas kicked and accidentally hit him in the back of his head with.

"UNCONTROLLED. As of late." Scar snarled, turning to face the hyenas, and causing the culprits to slink away, terror hidden under their silly grins. Maybe because he was in the middle of something important, Scar let them go.

"Once you are done, go to the Pride and select a loyal and trustworthy lioness (besides Sarabi...) to stand guard over the Herd." He continued. Scar's attempt at solving the food scarcity ordeal was to have the hyenas travel far in search for prey that they would herd towards the Grasslands, where they wold be guarded to ensure none escaped.

"Mind who you choose. If any reports of food robbery come to my ears, consider you two banished from this Pride." Scar warned, hoping that the terrible punishment that threatened any mistakes regarding the distribution of the food would better his image before the Pride. The fact that lions would be the ones in charge of guarding the food, besides of being a necessity, since Scar wouldn't dream with letting the hyenas in charge of the food, would also help with his image.

[mistwolf]

Tojo mentally shuddered at Scar's last words. Banished? He couldn't risk that. He'd half to tell the lionesses that they'd have to be careful. He would have to make sure that the food as well protected as well. He couldn't risk anything going missing.
"Yes, You Majesty," he said. "I can assure you that, under my watch, no food will go missing."
He nodded seriously to the king and turned to follow the hyenas. He glanced back over at the lioness's cave and sighed, but quickly straightened and ran after the hyenas. He did not like them.
"Keep in line!" he called gruffly. "The sooner we find more food, the happier King Scar will be! And you know how His Majesty gets when you fail at the hunting..."
As he ran after the hyenas, though, he marveled in what had just happened. Scar had practically made him fourth-in-command, under Zira and the hyenas Shenzi and Banzai! He was amazed! But now he knew that his position was even more critical. One wrong move, and he was unsure how much mercy, if any, he would receive from Scar before he decided Tojo had overspent his time in the pride...

[Kita]

Shenzi had done a bit of a victory dance after her new promotion, puffing out her chest slightly and glancing around with a grin. She patted her chest once with one of her paws, as if to say Yeah. That's right. Lead Huntress, right here..

She didn't have a chance to say anything, though. As soon as the words had come out of his mouth, they were replaced by a wave of anger directed in Sarabi's direction. The former queen had disappeared--off to her usual sulk whenever things didn't go her way. It happened quite often, though, which was really. really. nice. The longer she was out of Scar's hair, the longer she stayed out of Shenzi's hair.

"Hear that, miss queen? I'm lead hunter now." She called into the cave as she walked by, a long snicker following. A small horde of hyenas followed her, most likely expecting that Shenzi was off to try out her new role.

She was. She wasn't too excited about it, though. This would probably mean more work on her part. The only perk so far was rubbing it in into Sarabi's face. And that was definitely worth it.

"Keep in line!" A stupid young voice called after her. Shenzi stopped in her tracks, a low growl rising in her throat. Her group was slow to follow, lumbering forward for a moment or two before realizing that something was up. The nerve of some lions.

"Excuse me?" She snarled.

[- lauren]

Sarabi had stayed with Sarafina, trying to hear as Scar and Tojo talked. All she heard was 'Go', 'uncontrolled' and 'banished', and some other stuff that she wasn't sure about. She was about to retreat back in the little cave when she caught the scent of a couple hyenas, and heard Shenzi rubbing in her new position. Not that Sarabi mattered about her position, but really? She turned around and went back to look out, but before she could say anything to Shenzi, she heard Tojo coming after the pack.

Shenzi was NOT happy with Tojo's choice of words, and though Sarabi knew he could probably handle himself, she stayed nearby to watch after him. Shenzi didn't hold back from a fight nine times out of ten. Scar's influence may have changed that for now, but Sarabi wanted to be sure. She looked on from a safe distance, but knew Shenzi would see her.

[mistwolf]

Tojo saw his least favorite hyena- Shenzi- turn and talk back to him. His tail lashed, but he glanced breifly back over his shoulder at Scar. Fight with her and be punished. And his punishment probably wouldn't be a simple smack across the muzzle, either. His position was hanging in the balance.
He only breifly glanced at Shenzi. He didn't want to grovel before her- he had too much dignity to do that, and even he couldn't pretend to be below a hyena. Instead, he chose simply to ignore her and move along. He moved to the outside of the pack, walking beside the group of hyenas and looking at them, making sure they weren't wasting time. He wanted to get this over, but he kept his mouth shut. One false move and Shenzi would be on him. And he didn't want to get on her bad side.
He saw Sarabi breifly out of teh corner of his eyes, and gave her a nod saying everything's fine. Then he turned his attention back to the pack.

[Kita]

Shenzi kept her dark ears swiveled back, waiting for a telltale, angered snort or whine or cry or roar from Sarabi. She took a few steps forward, and then paused for a moment, not caring about the two hyenas dumbly stumbling into her. She glanced over her shoulder, noticing that she'd walked out of the cave. Shenzi just smirked. The demoted lioness's annoyed expression was enough in itself.

Her eyes swiveled back over to the overly-confident young lion. She watched him meet her gaze and quickly glance away. He continued his long walk forward, although after a few steps it was clear that he purposely made his way to the outskirts of the mini pack. The nearest hyenas scattered forward like a spooked flock of pigeons.

Shenzi raised her eyebrows at the brown lion, clearly noticing his new distance. "That's what I thought, bird boy." she laughed, before finally continuing her walk towards the desolate grasslands. "Now who's ready to hunt?!" She called back to the now-energetic pack of hyenas.

[Scar]

"I am, great Mistress!" Bakari announced energetically, as she saluted Shenzi by putting a paw on her own forehead; however, she did so with so much energy she accidentally uppercut a nearby hyena, knocking it to the floor.

---

"But Shenzi..." Banzai pleaded, "We've just eaten, we haven't even digested our food, and we haven't even properly celebrated your new rank yet!"

But hadn't he finished talking, when Ed began to frantically signal at him to look at something.

"What is it, Ed?!" He growled, but he did turn, and found out he was the victim of Scar's killer glare. He cringed and immediately changed to a saluting pose just like Bakari.

"On your word, Lead Huntress!" He said as he elbowed Bakari out of the way with dissimulation. After all, Shenzi only had one favorite hyena in the whole Clan, and that was him.

---

"Excellent." Scar praised Shenzi. That was the spirit he wanted to see -- once the lionesses had food again, you would see that his initial popularity would return and then everything would be fine again. He also sounded like he sided with Shenzi in the small brush she just had with Tojo... but that was exactly the case-- the teen was below the hyena, anyway, that was how things were; and he better learned to stay in his place if he valued his stay in this Pride. At any rate, Shenzi would ensure he did, Scar was convinced, there was nothing to be worried about here.

So feeling that his job was done, the false King turned to leave, his gaze straying once towards Sarabi's cave before he did. He may tell himself whatever he wanted, but deep down he knew that no, he hadn't done the right thing.

[mistwolf]

Tojo's tail lashed. He needed to calm down. He hated hyenas. He really did. As he watched Bakari, Banzai, and Ed, he had to suppress a shudder. Thjey were so stupid!
Instead, he glared icily at the ground, and stayed on the outskirts of the group. He also hated being forced to submit to hyenas. He hated that he was below them. He hated....
So much hate! He never remembered feeling all this when he was a cub under Mufasa's rule!
Tojo breathed in deep and let out a long breath. He didn't know how much longer he could last like this. He really didn't.

[- lauren]

Sarabi looked on with disgust as the new lead huntress took her position over Tojo happily. It was not surprising to Sarabi that Scar had put Shenzi over Tojo. They were close, and Tojo was young. But did that bode well for the lioness'? The fact that the hyenas were already hunting again proved that Sarabi should have stayed in charge, not that she was about to say that to the rest. They were scaring off the herds. There needed to be order. She was afraid, though, that if they did catch something and the lionesses got to eat, that they would side with Scar and Shenzi. If that happened, Sarabi feared there would be no hope. If only Simba were here...

Shenzi asserted herself over Tojo and Sarabi felt a growl rising in her throat. Before she could stop herself, she growled softly, feeling a bit hateful towards the hyena. Even Banzai was against the plan, but one look from Scar set him straight. Sarabi turned her glare to the king briefly before looking at Tojo. He was mad; she could tell the much. She gave him a look that said 'good luck' and stood, head high, and went back inside the cave. Shenzi may be cross with her, but she would not stand to watch the demise of the pride any longer.