Nakala

Chapter 46

"Hmm, You're back again..." Zira hummed as the hyena once stepped into her den. "What have you discovered this time?" With ears perking up the hyena looked around and realized that they didn't really know just how to relay the information they heard earlier.

"Well? Out with it?" the lioness spat, making the grey furred creature nearly jump out of their fur.

"Uh, well. I mean! It was what Nakala said," the hyena mumbled under her gaze. "He told us something. I mean... He told us himself that he talked to Scar!"

The lioness went from a seething annoyed look that instantly snapped into full attention. The hyena gave a yelp as Zira grew closer to them, expecting to be punished for something they must have done or said wrong. Rather than that the lioness simply padded forward to stand over the hyena. She looked down and told the hyena to repeat what they just said.

"He—said that he could talk to Scar," the smaller mammal quivered under the lioness' gaze. "And Scar gave him some kind of power."

"And not only that! He got into a fight earlier with another hyena named Hani and something happened to him. Nakala almost killed Hani. The only reason he stopped was because Janja stopped him."

While the hyena was relaying any information that came to their mind Zira was pacing back and forth, minding racing with everything she was told. "Go on. Continue," she demanded once again.

"W-well he said that Scar gave him extra power and that it's somehow taking over him. Like, he's losing control of himself," the hyena pawed the ground below. "Nakala even said that the power wants him to hurt others. The others think it's like Nakala's self defense. And what's crazier is Nakala can't even remember the stuff he did after he snaps out of it."

Zira said nothing in response at first, continuing her pacing. The hyena began to feel a pang of fear in their chest. Did they not tell her enough? But it was all they knew. All they could do was brace themselves, expecting the lioness to come pouncing on them.

"This is useful. This something I can use. Something I can work with to my advantage. But I'll have to involve myself for it to work," Zira thought aloud. The hyena perked up, feeling worry seep into them.

"A-are you sure that's a good idea?" the hyena dared to ask. A simple quick look for the lioness shut them up.

"But I have to figure out the best way to go about this..." Zira mused to herself. "This has to be done delicately or it won't work at all..." She finally stopped her pacing and turned her gaze to the entrance of the deeper dens.

"Yeah but do you really think—"

"Silence!" The snarl from the lioness echoes throughout the cave, making even the lioness prowling in the cave stop in their tracks. "Now listen to me. I'm going to send Vitani and Nuka with you. You're going to lead them back to your little clan. They already know what to do." The quivering hyena nodded frantically, feeling their heart pounding in their chest.

"Nuka! Vitani!" the lioness called. Within a few moments the lioness' children filed into the main cavern in front of their mother.

"I want the two of you to pay that lion, Nakala a little visit and deliver a message for me," Zira told the two of them. The two of them gave their mother a nod and padded past the concerned hyena. The smaller creature gave a little whimper and followed the two of them while Zira watched all of them leave with interest.

The sun rose over the horizon, bringing with it a new dawn and a new day. It was a day that Nakala was eager to take advantage of. After sitting down and telling the hyenas what was going on he felt light on his paws.

It was still early in the morning, only the hyenas who were coming back from and preparing to be deployed on the next patrol. That meant the training grounds would empty, save for the few hyenas who took their training as seriously as he did.

The lion padded through the dens and out of the entrance towards the grounds. From a distance he could see that the area was empty. For some reason that made him all the more eager to get back into his training. But the closer he got he could see that there was someone there. His eyes couldn't quite make out who or what it was from the distance so he continued his path forwards.

Once he got close enough to see who it was the lion stopped in his tracks. Sitting casually in the middle of the training grounds was a lion and lioness Nakala had never seen before. He nearly went into a panic thinking they were Pridelanders who came for him but upon a closer look it was clear to Nakala that these felines were from somewhere else. He cautiously padded closer to them.

"Uh, who are you two?" Nakala dared to ask.

The lioness, who was casually preening her fur looked up at the lion and gave a bored sigh. "We're here to give you a little message."

"Yeah, there's been a lot of talk about you. We know a very special lioness who wants to speak with you," the lankier male spoke up.

"They do?" Nakala responded, a hint of suspicion in his voice. Something about the two of them seemed off to the lion. They both seemed much too calm to be in the territory of a large hyena clan. How they were not seen by the patrols was a mystery in itself. All of it screamed at Nakala to be on his guard.

"Yeah, we'll come back tonight. Then we'll take you to her," the lioness spoke, standing up. The lion stood up as well. Nakala had many questions blazing in his mind when the other felines turned and began to walk away. Before Nakala could call after them the lioness kicked up a thick cloud of dirt.

Nakala coughed and spluttered as the dust caught in his eyes and nose. Once it cleared there was no sign of any of them, leaving the lion alone and confused about what just happened and an unshakable feeling of unease hanging over him.