The Midnight Snack

[Scar]

This subterranean water source known as the Waterhole was one of the few places in the Pridelands that seemed to retain its green despite of the season. It also seemed to retain some of its fauna; although the biggest creatures such as the gazelles and the hippos were gone, there were birds and turtles and other things a hungry hyena would like, especially one that had been late to dinner and had gotten none at all. Unfortunately, tonight Bakari wasn't having much luck -- whatever hadn't wings had fled underwater or buried itself in the mud.

The water splashed under the hyena's paws as it ran around erratically, pursuing everything that moved but always ending with empty paws.

[mistwolf]

The sun had not risen. It was pitch black night, and a cool breeze whisked through the few grasses that were still clinging on to life in the once glorious Pridelands. The rocks were shaded purple by the lack of light, and, to an overactive imagination, each stone was a monster looming in the darkness to take your life.
But these rocks were not what you should be worrying about.
A figure hunched in the grasses near the watering hole, the moonlight barely illuminating a flash of golden fur, a flick of a golden mane. Two eyes glared at a hyena that splashed erratically through the waters only a few yards away. The figure's lips curled back in disgust, showing the glint of white fangs.
Amatuer.
The figure's skin suddenly rippled as he began to move forward. A simple bird, late for roosting, flitted by, and as quick as a coiled spring, the figure burst forward, snatching its prey from the air, ignoring the hyena that was still, unsuccessfully, trying to catch dinner. The figure, now seen to be an adolescent male lion, his scruffy golden mane being whisked about by the wind, brough down the bird easily, then took it securly in its jaws. He knew that he could not eat his catch himself. There were lionesses who needed food far more than he. Cubs who still needed lunch from two days ago. There was little left of the once-glorious prideland that the adolescent, named Tojo, once knew, but he knew he had to conserve all of it he could.
Carrying his prize in his jaws, the stars sparkling over him, and the moon shining down on him, Tojo made his way back towards the tower of rocks that was the famous Pride Rock, where the lionesses, and his bluebird friends, slept.

[Scar]

Finally, Bakari came upon something slow enough for her mediocre hunting skills: a small turtle had gotten lost in the confusion of splashes and mud waves. Bakari pounced on the turtle-- but, even these slow animals had their few tricks, and before the hyena's jaws could close over it, the reptile had disappeared into the earthy ooze.

Frustrated, Bakari growled, and began to dig in the swampy ground, sending pawfulls of sludge flying in all directions; Tojo, although marvelously hidden and successfully fooling Bakari's senses with his stealth, would hardly have such good luck with the flying mud bullets.

After a while, the hyena stopped. Once more, her efforts had been futile. Taking a few steps back, defeated by the turtle, she howled pitifully:

"Why is it nothing ever comes right for me?!'" Of course, she was being dramatic. But Her day had been frustrating enough.

[mistwolf]

Toja's tail flicked as he walked past Bakari. Not that he knew the hyena's name, of course. He generally stayed as far away from them as possible. Hyenas were like termites in wood: they'd bring the pride's downfall. If Scar and his family didn't, the hyenas certainly would. They had almost completly succeeded in eating all the food from the Pridelands. What else could they do?
Tojo felt his anger stirring in him as he walked past and heard the hyena speak, wondering why nothing ever went right for her.
"Probably because you're a hyena," he muttered around a mouthful of bird. He glanced sideways, suddenly realizing he had said that outloud. Putting his head down, and looking straight ahead, he continued past the desperate hunter, trying to ignore it.

[Scar]

Then Bakari had no choice but actually notice Tojo's presence. She jumped in fright and looked about until her eyes finally found the adolescent's silhouette. Bakari felt an antipathy towards lions similar to what Tojo felt towards hyenas. It wasn't anything to be surprised about, however, not after a life of scrambling like mice every time a sentinel cried "Mufasa!"

"No, it can't be." Replied Bakari thoughtfully, as if she had seriously considered it.

"Shenzi and the others are awesome. I head Scar say so the other day." And if Scar said so, it had to be true.

Bakari immediately noted the bird in the young male's mouth. And she unwisely decided to follow him around, clumsily splashing over the shallow water until she was finally out of it. She was about to ask something about the bird, but she stopped and rubbed her cheek with a muddied paw, remembering last time he had swiped at her when she tried to eat one of his bluebird companions.

"Hey! You told me not to eat your birds, how come you can?!" Bakari barked.

[mistwolf]

Tojo felt Bakari's presence behind him, and tried to ignore the hyena. And the comment she had made. How could hyenas be so dumb? He rolled his eyes and walked on. But her voice made him stop. He sighed.
"This is not one of mine," he sighed. "Trust me. I know my birds. Now how about if you push off and leave me alone?"
Dumb hyenas, his mind echoed as he rolled his eyes. He always tried to act submissive and obediet around Scar, his ruse for trying to extend his position in the pride until something could be done about the unworthy king. But no amount of loyalty could quench his deep loathing of hyenas. Scar was intollerable enough as he was. Why, why did he have to invite the hyenas in?

[Scar]

Bakari's unbelieving gaze went from the bird to Tojo's face, then back at the bird. She could see no difference between this feathered animal and the ones that usually fluttered around the feline, except that this one certainly did not flutter around the feline.

"You lions are always so hostile." Bakari sighed.

"You only make this worse than it has to be." And by this, she meant their sharing of the territory. Bakari imagined that with a little effort on both sides, the living conditions of both species could upgrade greatly. But it seemed like she was the only with the idea: both neighboring families contented with their own happiness, usually at the cost of the other's, and so this nonsense vendetta carried on and on.

"Fine, fine. I guess I will be getting none of it anyway!" The hyena shrugged and went back towards the waterhole, where she found a careless frog and caught it.

Success at last!

[mistwolf]

Tojo growled his annoyance, ignoring the hyena's comments. He wanted so terribly bad to point out the fact that the lions were here first, before the hyenas decided it was appropriate to move onto their land. But he knew he would not get very far with the argument and decided it was best to leave it as was. He stalked forward, holding the bird tight in his mouth as he neared the giant rocks of Pride Rock. He stopped for a long moment, gazing up at the impending mound that had once signified a glorious monarchy. Now, in the dark, Tojo could really see what a symbol of fear it had become. Its jagged rocks seemed to be emphasized in the black of the night, as the moon danced along the black boulders. The lionesses had been pushed to a cave at the bottom of the rock, and now the large stone that jutted out over the savanna seemed like a symbol of death itself if it was approached. This was the royal family's home, and no one else could approach it but by invitation. Unless, of course, you were a hyena, who could do whatever you wanted.
Tojo shivered at the sight of Pride Rock. It was no longer the symbol of peace it once had been. Now it was the symbol of the death that now gripped the Pridelands.
Suddenly feeling very tired, Tojo turned his back on the stone jutting from the mound of boulders, and walked slowly back towards the lioness' cave. He could deliver this meal and go to sleep. It was only in sleep where he could sometimes find escape from this nightmare happening around him.

[Scar]

Lying down in the puddle of clay, Bakari began to chew on her hard earned meal. She watched Tojo walk away and shrugged. They certainly didn't get along, so she guessed it was for the better.

She was done with her meal in only a blink; nothing was left of the fat green frog, nothing was wasted, for she had practically swallowed it whole in a single gulp. She sniffed around the moist ground hungrily, and quickly starting to feeling all alone in the descending moonlight, she foolishly decided to follow Tojo towards Priderock.

It didn't take long for her to realize where he was going; the lionesses' lounge wasn't a particularly nice place for a hyena to be, so Bakari took a different route and silently entered the cavern through a small gap near the roof. Stealth might not have been her most prominent skill, but walking soundlessly across our own home was cub's play, even for her. Hidden among the stalactites, the hyena sat down and decided to do a little spying work for Scar -- after all, the lionesses might be up for something interesting, and if that something interesting was interesting enough, her status might rise! Who knew! It was certainly worth the try.

[mistwolf]

Tojo ignored Bakari's presence the first time, but he did not hear he come to follow him the second time. He knew nothing of the hyena's spying as he entered the lioness's cave, bird clutched tightly in his mouth. In the cool darkness, he could hear movement as the lionesses inside registered his presence and shifted into alert stances, just in case he was an enemy. He saw a pair of brown eyes appraoch him, and the shadows parted to show Sarabi. The sleek, graceful lioness had once been Queen of Priderock. Out of all of them, she was the one Tojo respected th most. After losing both her mate and her cub, she still stood strong, her spirit unbreaking, her hope for the pridelands still burning. What an amazing lioness.
She relaxed visibly when she recognized him.
"Oh, Tojo," she sighed. "it's you. We thought you might be Scar. Did you catch anything?"
"Yes," Tojo said and dropped the bird at her feet. "Its not much."
"It's enough," she thanked him, a small smile on her lips. From behind her feet came two blue-green eyes. A small lioness cub with a stripe on her head looked anxiously up at him. Tojo recognized her as Kayani. She had only come to them a few weeks ago, but already the lionesses were treating her like their own.
"Here, little one," Sarabi said gently. nudging the bird towards her. She sprang forward eagerly and fell on the kill and began to eat.
"What about you?" Tojo asked, looking worriedly at Sarabi. She looked tired and worn, but she shook her head.
"The cubs need to be kept fed," she said. "They are what's important."
Tojo saw a flash of sadness in her eyes, and he knew she was thinking of Simba. He, too, shared her greif. He and Simba had been close friends and children.
"I don't know how much longer I can keep this up," he said. 'Scar is so demanding these days. And food is scarce. I can do what I can..."
"Do what you think is safe," Sarabi told him firmly. "Do not get yourself in trouble for our sake. We will find out own way if you can't help us."
Tojo nodded.
"I have to elave," he said. Sarabi nodded, and he turned to leave, walking back into the cool night air.

[Scar]

Bakari's head peered from behind a fat stalactite. She watched without making a sound for a while, before she decided the scene unfolding below was far too boring to withstand. Looking around for something to quell her boredom, she came upon a little bat. Without second thoughts, the hungry hyena snapped at said bat, but only managed to catch the point of a wing, resulting in the panicked bat fluttering about, hitting her on the face with his other wing and screeching madly in the process.

Maybe its noises would've been hard to hear for a human, but for the lionesses it would be quite a noisy mess. The fact that the hyena had also come out of her hiding place and stood exposed on that high rock, also didn't help. Knowing she had been discovered, Bakari smiled at them ashamedly, without letting go of the bat which continued to hit the side of her face with its wings.

[- lauren]

S A R A B I;;

Something or someone had begun to make a lot of noise, and Sarabi was not able to ignore the racket. Something that sounded like a strange bird or something was coming from a platform above her. She turned and saw a hyena, she supposed, standing in the open among the stalactites. In the creature's mouth, a bat flapped wildly trying to escape. Sarabi felt bad for the small animal. The hyenas were eating everything, and soon, she predicted there would be nothing left. Pride Rock would be a desolate wasteland.

Sarabi then recognized the hyena. "Bakari," she stated. It wasn't so much a hello as it was an acknowledgment of the hyena's presence. Sarabi didn't care much that the hyena was here. Where were they not? She didn't care too much for her, though. Bakari was a Scar-loyalist. However, she was young, and so Sarabi didn't blame her all that much. "Are you going to continue to let that bat smack you around or are you going to let the thing go?" Of course, Sarabi had left out the third option: eat it. But maybe Bakari wasn't smart enough to catch that.

[Scar]

The authority in the voice of the former Queen made the hyena cringe and shrink like a little pup.

"Alright." Bakari agreed, and having been released, the bat flew away and disappeared into a crack in the wall. Just then...

"Hey!" She realized what had just happened.

With hungry determination, the spotted hyena strode towards the breach in the stone and gleefully discovered how her head fitted in.

"There are a lot of bats in here." She noticed, but the echoing sound of her voice caused a myriad little red eyes to sprout amidst the darkness. And they were a myriad little, red, angry eyes at that.

In no time at all, every bat in the gap started to flap its wings, the resulting mass of chaos nearly scaring off her spots. She retreated, too far back, and then her hind legs were surprised by the lack of floor beneath them.

Thus the hyena fell into the nasty lion pit below; all the Pride must have been gathered here, for, really, there were far too many lionesses in the cave. Fortunately for her, however, Bakari did land on something fluffy and soft...

Tojo.

[mistwolf]

Tojo had been leaving, and had even ignored Sarabi's short conversation with the hyena far above in the cave, who, apprently, was being tortured by bats. Sarcasm passed through the young male's mind, but he only stopped breifly to glanced up at the hyena and her annoyances. Shaking his head, he turned to leave.
Just as he was reaching the mouth of the cave, a sudden sound made him stop. But that wasn't teh only thing that made the young male forget his need to leave the lioness's cave. A sudden, heavy body landed hard on his. He growled in sudden shock and bucked like a frightened zebra, slinging the hyena to teh floor. He leaped forward to grab her by the throat before realizing who it was.
"What the heck are you doing?" he demanded, getting a hold on his actions. He backed away from her, shaking his head like he was clearing it. He looked around, feeling embaressed.

[- lauren]

Bakari listened, to her, but then realized what the old queen had intended, and went in search for more bats. The lioness watched as they young hyena stuck her head into an opening and heard the hyena's muffled words. Sarabi sat back and waited, knowing very well what would happen; the bats would try to get out. She didn't know the hyena would fall. Sarabi watched in disbelief as the young Bakari fell, right on top of a very shocked Tojo.

Sarabi walked toward the two, and saw that Tojo was yelling at Bakari. She felt a little sorry for the hyena, seeing as she was only trying to get a meal. But Bakari was eating pretty much the last thing left around the pride lands. There was little food left, and here Bakari, one of the hyenas that were getting more than the lions, was still looking for food. Sarabi sat back a few feet and watched Tojo scold the young hyena.