Trials Of The Fallen

Chapter 3 - Disputes

"You ruined the hunt!"

The angry cry of a lioness broke the dawn silence. Two of the tawny felines faced each other, tails lashing with fury and lips peeled back to reveal sharp gleaming fangs. One had a darker and duller coat, her pointed face creased in a snarl and long claws raking the dusty earth. The other lioness rolled her eyes and turned away to groom her beautiful golden-orange pelt, much to the chagrin of her hunting partner.

Vitani watched from a nearby rock, her eyes narrowing as she watched the confrontation. This was not the first time she had witnessed a spat like this recently. Sighing, she got up and leapt forward, landing in front of her two fellow pride members. Zuri and Jina. Of course it was them. For as long as Vitani had known her, Jina had always been harsh and unforgiving, not too dissimilar to the environment they called home. Zuri was a lioness she was less familiar with, but based off limited interactions, Vitani could not say she was eager to deal with her. Upon noticing her, Zuri wrinkled her nose and met Vitani's gaze with an expression of clear irritation. Off to a great start.

"What do you want?" Zuri huffed, smoothing out her fur. "Don't you have better things to do? Like patrol with that 'guard' of yours?" Vitani struggled not to claw her across the face. In the Outlands, that would have been an acceptable response. Here... not so much. Jina stayed silent, although a twitch of her ear indicated that she wasn't pleased either.

"It's my job to deal with conflict in the Pridelands - whether that be coming from outside or inside the pride." She replied, struggling to keep her voice even. "Now tell me what happened."

Jina was the one to speak first, much to Vitani's surprise. "We were assigned to hunt together by Queen Nala. I was stalking a gazelle and had told her to wait behind that rock over there and prepare to pounce. What does she do instead? Completely ignores it and starts grooming her fur instead. By the time I realise she isn't paying any attention, the gazelle has already sprung off into the distance." She let out a huff and glared at her companion, who had turned around to admire herself in a nearby pool. Vitani suppressed a sigh. This was not the first time she had ended up dealing with a situation like this since Zira's pride had rejoined Simba's. It always followed the same pattern: some lions would be sent off to hunt, they would refuse to cooperate, end up empty-pawed and blame each other. It was ridiculous. If she had to sort out this exact dispute one more time...

She took a deep breath and considered Jina's complaint. "Okay, it sounds like you two just aren't compatible for a hunting team. Different levels of experience perhaps." She was giving Zuri the benefit of the doubt here; the lioness didn't seem to be much older than Vitani herself. Maybe she was new to hunting. A strange concept to Vitani who had been practising her stalking and pouncing since she was old enough to walk. How different their experiences must have been while growing up.

Of course, there was also the possibility that Zuri was being purposefully difficult. Hopefully the reason for this incident was the former.

"I'll inform Nala of this. Maybe ask her to place you in hunting parties with lionesses you're more familiar with." In truth, it would be Kiara she would be informing. She found her significantly more approachable than her parents. Maybe because Kiara didn't have a reason to hate her. Either way, the message would reach Nala, whether directly or indirectly. "You'll probably be more successful with lions you're used to hunting with."

Jina nodded and opened her mouth, as if about to voice her agreement, but was cut off before she could get a word out. "As if that's a good idea," Zuri sneered, turning around, her deep blue eyes narrowed into slits. "No way that's going to happen. There's a reason hunting parties are organised like this currently and you know why." Vitani stiffened at the accusatory tone in the well-groomed lioness's words. She knew exactly what was going to come out of Zuri's mouth next.