Tooth and Claw

Tooth and Claw is a fanfiction story by A Friendly Lion and Songfire.

Part One: Hunt
There was really no hope for the antelope from the start, but that didn't stop it from trying. It plunged through the marshy grass of the moist grassland, kicking up clots of mud that splattered the faces of the lions hot on its trail. Gasping for breath, a ragged lioness with creamy tangelo fur sprinted briefly ahead of the rest, only to skid on the slippery earth, her paws, already swathed in a coat of damp soil, flying out from under her. She struck the ground hard, her broad head thankfully being spared by a stretch of verdant grass as the other lionesses whipped past her.

Sliding to a rough halt that sent a wave of muck flying over the fallen lioness, a muscular female looked down with blazing eyes the color of dried blood. "To your paws, Chokozi!" she commanded, stressing this with a sharp blow to the mud-spattered haunches of her companion. She had not bothered to sheathe her claws, unwilling to pardon Chokozi from injury, though she knew that it would further hinder her fellow huntress's progress. She took a brief moment to admire the glistening crimson liquid as it slowly rose to the edges of the wounds before overflowing and cascading down Chokozi's legs and over her tail.

Chokozi stifled a cry and jerked herself upwards. "Yes, Your Majesty!" she choked out. Digging her hind claws into the earth as deeply as she could, she first stumbled, then charged forward, barely managing to catch up with the others. She attempted to ignore the debilitating wound on her haunches as she pursued their quarry, a wiry male with a slender frame. He darted over a river that Chokozi recognized- usually limpid, it was now turgid and murky due to a rainstorm that had struck the night before. She vaulted over it just it time, landing with her hind paws in the water but mustering the strength to drag them free.

Katili ascertained that Chokozi was refraining from showing her pain before lunging after her. As the queen of the Vurugu Pride, it was her duty to confirm that none of the members displayed any signs of weakness. Fortunately, Chokozi was a resilient huntress who knew good and well what would happen to her if she slacked off as a result of a little scrape. Satisfied, Katili broke into a steady sprint, her paws thumping against the earth and her claws ripped out tufts of damp grass. Putting on a burst of speed until she was moving at a breakneck pace, she surged past four other lions, landing herself a position in the lead. As the river loomed closer, the powerful muscles beneath Katili's russet coat jerked and tautened as she prepared her leap. With a harsh grunt, she propelled herself into the air, catching a glimpse of the roily waters below, roaring like a pride of hungry lions.

Moving more rapidly now, flecks of blood flying behind her, Chokozi coiled her body back and pounced, stretching her legs forward as far as she was capable of. To her own surprise, they found their mark. The antelope gave a sharp bawl of terror and her claws raked his shoulders, hind paws scrabbling for at his rear. Her assigned mate, an amorphous male named Gwafua, snapped at the buck's flanks.