Characters: Kuhasa
Non-official SoA Species Characters: Zahif (Nile Crocodile, m)
Word Count: 1064

Ow.

Ow.

Ow.

Every step he took was agony. Kuhasa was freshly wounded and stubbornly refusing to give himself much time to heal before trying to do something about what had happened.. even though he knew exactly what had happened. It was just like him, to get in way over his head before realizing how bad things had gotten. But this time was different, this time it hadn’t been his own foolishness to blame. He had a pride depending on him, pressuring him. He was convinced he would have come out better off if he had been facing the gods-damned crocodile on his own.

It wouldn’t have been so bad, too, if his place here was permanent. His leg had to heal, he had to be independent.. because in time, he would be out on his own again. Not to mention the lasting impact it would have on those lionesses, on Isasa.. it was better not to think about them and focus on himself for now.

He’d finally started asking around to find Zahif, and he finally knew where to find the scaly b*****d. Instead of moving inward with Kuhasa, he’d moved in the opposite direction- outward, away from the Pride. Which explained why the lion had not been able to introduce his crocodile to the lionesses who had not seen them interact already.

It was a long walk for an injured lion but Kuhasa was determined to yell at Zahif, so he gritted his teeth and kept going. It was harder to find the section of the river that the crocodile occupied than expected.. but he found it. Or, he hoped he had found it. He didn’t see any crocodiles and that was more dangerous than seeing them. Still, he stood at the edge and roared shakily to alert Zahif, and any other occupants, of his arrival.

Then he waited.

A soft green ripple in the water came closer and closer until Zahif poked his head up out of the water properly. He stayed a comfortable distance away, still partially submerged in the water, and gave Kuhasa a good look over with a dark eye.

“Been a while, Kuhasa,” he said, guessing by the lion’s demeanour that this was not the time to joke around. He saw the fresh marks on his front leg and immediately had a pretty good guess of what had happened to him.

“Sure has, Zahif,” Kuhasa growled, “Why did you move out this way when I moved in the other way?”

“I followed the water,” Zahif answered, giving an emphatic splash in the muddy shallows he rested in, “Didn’t run into Afzal, did you?”

Kuhasa growled again, narrowing his eyes and glaring at his friend.. but after a moment, shook his head.

“No,” he said, “Didn’t recognize him.”

Zahif paused before responding. Kuhasa was arrogant but he wasn’t stupid, it was curious that he had let a crocodile get a hold of him. Other predators were typically of no interest to him and other crocodiles, but the drought was hard on all of them and even in better conditions it was unwise to provoke a croc where it could reach you.

“Trying to impress your mate?” he asked finally, giving the lion a good side-eye.

Kuhasa snorted and glared.

“No,” he said firmly, but then heaved a weary sigh and sat down, “Not exactly. Because of my 'rapport' with you, I’m expected to be able to handle just any crocodile. And the pride needs water, too.”

Zahif chuckled at the huffy accusation shot at him. Unfortunately for Kuhasa, Zahif only had a vague idea of how a pride worked- any pride- so he only really understood the basics of what he was saying.. and he didn’t care to clear up the details much. Lions were social, Kuhasa clearly had some standing as one of the few males (he didn’t know much but he saw plenty of the local pride over time), blah blah.

“So you’re here to blame me because I left?” he asked, “I’m not the one needing chasing out of your pride’s water.”

“Yes, but you left!” Kuhasa growled.

Now Zahif glared.

“And now I’ve gotten three lionesses injured,” the lion went on, rising back to his feet for a better view while shouting, “And myself! I don’t get to stay in the pride and look at me, I can barely walk! I’m lucky they don’t just throw me out!”

Zahif continued to glare and stayed silent, which only frustrated the injured lion. Kuhasa’s ego was bruised, his leg was hurt, and his independence was in danger.. there really wasn’t anything to say to that. Zahif wasn’t going to be able to make anything better, no matter what he said. He had no interest in leaving his territory to benefit the lions of the area, even for Kuhasa, not until the rain came.

It left them in a staring contest, with each stubbornly refusing to step down first. It was the pain in his leg that got Kuhasa to finally give in and sit down again. He kept on frowning but he finally stopped glaring.

“You won’t come with me, will you?” he asked, despite knowing the answer.

“No,” Zahif answered, “But if they don’t just throw you out, they’re welcome to come here for water. I suppose this is important to you.”

It wasn’t really a question but Kuhasa nodded. He clearly wasn’t very good at being part of a pride yet but he really did think this was what a lion was supposed to do.. and he rather enjoyed the company of all the lionesses he had met so far. He had mostly avoided excessive interaction with the Abaholi and the other Inselelo.. the lionesses were more interesting. And not just because he was a lion.

“So what happened exactly?” Zahif asked, slowly stepping out of the water and onto the shore, “You got off easy if you’ve still got your leg.”

Kuhasa growled at his friend and Zahif just laughed. It didn’t really look like it but just finding the crocodile had helped Kuhasa. The b*****d was going to give him hell for what happened to his leg, and a condescending lecture about water/crocodile safety that he didn’t need.. but it was nice to find an old friend again after all the new stuff.

“Yeah, yeah,” he grumbled, “All my fault, I know.”

Fin.