The Last Roar ( Previously "The Whitest Lioness")

8 - The Contempt of the Heir

At the heart of the pridelands where the water was cool and the tall grasses were sweet, the rustling from the long grass carried whispers of ancient voices through the silent plain. Voices that Nala liked to imagine were the murmurs of the lionesses before her, uttering words of comfort and praise that she would carry in her heart as she lead the hunt. A hunt that had been years in the making, the first chance for her to prove herself and combine her knowledge in the field. Nala felt alone, even though she knew her mother was behind her, as well as a handful of other lionesses whose silky coats glistened with a sheen of molten gold that dissolved their presence from the savanna. Her ears were tilted back, displaying the black markings painted there that the other hunters would see to tell them to wait for her signal. Ignoring the anxiety bubbling in her stomach, Nala crept forwards through the tall grasses and dropped to the floor, feeling the drag of the rock against her stomach. Commanding her predator's senses, she opened her nose to the scents of the world.

There was a pinch of saltiness in the wind that slunk even more carefully than she in the grass, a slight whiff of fowl from the trees to her right, the slightest touch of an aroma that wafted from the higher recesses of the craggy slopes that stretched jaggedly from the northernmost point of the pride lands - it was prey; about two days old, a rotting carcass that could not feed a pride such as theirs, for the pride was too big. Nala closed her eyes to expand her senses. This was not a pleasant smell she was looking for - but something much earthier. Snapping open her golden eyes, she grinned.
"Got you." She whispered, pleased and slowly slinked through the undergrowth to follow the scent's  invisible trail. Knowing well that her family of lionesses were behind her and that they were hungry.

A dazzle of zebras were meandering alongside the river; the only river where there were no crocodiles to trouble them as they rested. Nala decided to scope out the lay of the dazzle and to find the weakest link. A link that she would pull on so easily to unravel the entire herd.
The alpha male of the dazzle was the only one alert in the herd; he stood proudly and conducted his surveillance of the area, mindfully watching his children that frolicked through the field and splashed in the shallower waters of the rivers, carefully keeping an eye on his females who dazed in the shade, and spent his weary gaze on the young male that had joined his dazzle a week prior who was probably doing something suspicious with his adolescent daughters. Nala knew that he was the main problem to the hunt - he was an impressively built stallion with powerful legs and a crippling kick that could easily break a lion's jaw. She didn't know how she was going to take down such a stead, without help it would be impossible.
Cautiously, Nala flickered her left ear three times and sank further into the grass.
"Having doubts, my love?" A crisp yet caring voice whispered in her ear. Nala felt her mother's presence as she crept soundlessly beside her daughter, taking a closer look at the layout of the dazzle. Glancing at her mother, who was named Sarafina after her sapphire blue eyes, Nala's skin prickled with nervous tension. Sarafina glanced back.
"That male will risk his life for most of the herd, but not particularly for other males or older or sickly animals. He may abandon his children," Sarafina examined the male with her intensely blue glare, "but that depends on the male, and sometimes on his own fertility."
Nala flushed, he certainly looked fertile enough. 
"I don't see any sick animals," Nala murmured disappointedly, "or old ones."
Sarafina stifled a husky laugh under her breath, her blue eyes glinting mischievously as she regarded her daughter.
"You have much to learn." Sarafina said wistfully, "The herd will attempt to hide their - urm - 'damaged goods' from the outside world. A healthy herd remains a healthy herd, while all that's left of a weak herd is their remains."
Nala nodded and scanned the dazzle again, concentrating on select members of the herd. There was a small clearing off to the side of the river, a few hunched figures lay dazing in the sun far from the view of any hunters or rivals. That must be it, Nala reasoned.
"Do you know what you have to do?" Sarafina murmured, sensing the certainty in her daughter's rigidity.
Nala whispered, "I do."
Her mother's presence faded beside her and she once again found herself alone, with nothing but the whispers of the reeds, the saltiness in the wind and her own tempestuous thoughts.
Nala levelled herself into a crouching position and prepared for the final stage of the hunt.
"Nothing can stop me now." Nala whispered, about to pounce.