Maybe some hyena would be worried about living so close to a seemingly large pride of lions. And it wasn't like Anastasiya forgot her experience with the one mother. At least the nightmares over that encounter had long since stopped. She'd been aware of the struggle between lion and hyena ever since she was old enough to comprehend the world. And she'd heard stories from her own family pack of dangerous encounters between the two species. But she'd never been up close to one of the felines until that one time she'd almost accidentally stumbled into a litter of newborns protectively watched over by a lioness. Nothing in life had ever been that terrifying. Not even a herd of buffalo charging was that scary. Well, okay. Maybe that one was being a bit over-dramatic. Buffalo, if given the chance, would love to trample every predator out there threatening them and their young. But she understood. They just wanted to protect their family, as the lioness had. Oh, if only she could tell everyone in the world that she'd rather eat an already dead carcass than kill something on her own.
Earlier in the day, she'd had some luck in finding something and was now laying down, gnawing on a leg bone when a familiar white shape approached her. Looking up, the hyena saw the young lion cub from a few days before staring at her.
"Hello," she offered. What a strange cub this one was.
"Hello," Anastasiya got in return, with a small tilt of the head out of curiosity. Was the cub confused that Ana was still here or did she want a share of her bone? Did lions even chew on bones? Surely not for such dignified creatures. Her kind, well, they could eat anything, no matter its level of decay. Lions, leopards, cheetahs, and the various wild dogs needed fresh meat.
Nonetheless, Ana offered her bone to the cub, pushing it forward a few inches with her paws. The cub remained where she was sitting, now staring at the bone. She shook her head. Ana pulled it back towards her, putting a leg protectively over it. She hadn't wanted to give it up in the first place, but she always felt worse when she deprived someone of something they wanted. Now that she got to keep it, she felt defensive over it. Chewing on bones was a fun past-time.
"Is there something I can do for you?" the hyena asked the cub. She remembered she said her name was Aiolani. Ana hadn't seen any signs of her family in the few days she'd been here since, but that didn't mean anything. Their hunting grounds could be on the other side of their temporary territory. The buffalo and zebra herds Ana had been watching were now crossing the river, taking with them a good source of food it seemed the lions didn't even realize was there. Pity. Pickings might be even better when the crocodiles started picking off more of them. If any bits of flesh washed up onto the shore. The crocodiles couldn't possibly eat an entire buffalo on their own, right?
Aiolani continued to watch Ana, starting to make the hyena feel uncomfortable. "No. I came by to see if you were still here."
"Oh. I see." Was that a good thing? Hard to tell with this one. Weren't children supposed to be active and want to play a lot? This one didn't seem to want to play at all, just be silent or ask questions. At least the asking questions part was common for kids. With how little Ana did know about them. Which was only from being one herself. As soon as she was old enough to survive on her own, she had left her family group, wanting to forge a way for herself in life and see what was out there to explore and experience. A lot of the questions she remembered came from herself to her parents. So she could understand this cub's similar need to explore a little of the world around her.
Odd, now, that she was the object of someone's curiosity.
"Still here. I was watching the migration of the buffalo and zebra."
Aiolani's eyes went wide. Apparently she hadn't realized the herds were nearby. As if she expected them to be behind the hyena, she arched her body to one side to see behind Ana. The river was nearby, but not that close to properly see what was going on. The cub looked disappointed. She got an idea.
"I can walk you over if you want to see them."
At once Aiolani's eyes brightened and she nodded her head briskly, her tail thumping on the ground behind her. "Yes, please! Grandma won't let us get too close to other animals."
Smiling in response to the cute enthusiasm, Ana rose, leaving her bone where it was on the ground. She assumed it would still be there when she got back, as there was no meat left on it. She was sure there were no other families of predators around her save this one's. Leading the way, hearing the soft patter of the small paws behind her, Ana made her way to the river, where a long line of buffalo were attempting to cross the river. She sat down, indicating this is as far as they were going to go.
"She's right. Other animals can be dangerous. Buffalo will run you over and zebra will try to trample you with their hooves if they feel threatened. And in the water--" A large splash broke up her sentence. In the middle of the river, an old buffalo had disappeared underneath the water, only to surface with another large splash and a crocodile locked onto its neck, trying to drag it down to drown it. "In the water, there are hidden dangers."
"Wow." Aiolani was transfixed on the scene before her. She was still so young, far too young to have seen these things for herself. If she had a responsible family, that was, they wouldn't take the cubs anywhere near potential hunts. Which it seemed that she did. have a very responsible family. Ana would love to meet them one day. There must be many other lions out there who were fine with hyena. It couldn't just be Mohini. She wanted to meet all the different species out there. It was interesting to see how each one lived just a little bit differently from each other, but, in the end, they were all the same.
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