Strength of Heart

Strength of Heart is a fanfiction story by Friendly that features the Moyo Hodari Pride.

Chapter 1: Heir Unchosen
The male lion trained his eyes on the horizon, waiting. He stood completely still, his ochraceous eyes never leaving the skyline. The ground was cold against his paws, and a light wind tousled the brown fur of his mane. The only movement from him was the slight rise and fall of his chest as he breathed. Each breath he took tasted of dust and grass, as well as the faint rich odors of the small prey animals lurking about. The air was filled with their sounds, the squeaking and the chirping.

"They have not returned yet?" The lion did not turn at the sound of the soft, low voice that spoke behind him. A vaguely rotund lioness with pale cream-colored fur sat down on his left side, following his gaze with her own tan eyes.

"They'll be back," the lion answered unconcernedly.

"I know they will. But in the meantime, I've been wanting to talk to you, King Hodari, and now is as good of a time as any," the lioness announced in a tone that sounded like she was attempting to cover up any nervousness she might feel.

"You want to talk to me?" The lion's surprise was evident on his face, but he said no more and looked expectantly at the lioness. Meeting his eyes, she hesitated briefly before she spoke.

"You still haven't chosen an heir."

King Hodari sighed, his gaze dropping to his paws. "I know what I am doing, Darahani," he responded flatly, his voice expressionless.

"I don't think you do," Darahani answered simply, her tail twitching.

"It is not your place to challenge my decisions," Hodari replied, his claws flexing and leaving furrows in the soil. It came out sharper than he had intended, and Darahani stepped back.

"I know. Perhaps I am not the one to speak with you about this. But I know the cubs. Any of the males could succeed you, they're all full of spirit . . ."

"Not yet, Darahani. Please, leave me in peace."

But Darahani did not leave. Instead, she tilted her head back, gazing up at the stars. "I heard from one of the hares, the old one who made the journey over the Poromoko Cliffs and started a drove here, that the stars are lion kings that have died."

"The stars? The deceased kings? Well, it figures that you heard that from a hare, Darahani," Hodari replied, his voice politely amused. "The kings, along with the other fallen, are still with us, of course you know that. Listen, here them now."

Darahani fell silent. Above the noise made by the small night creatures, the sound of the faint wind rustling the grass was audible.

"That is more than a breeze," Hodari continued softly. "It is one of our pride members, invisible to us. But we can still hear them."

"Yes, I know," Darahani murmured. She yawned briefly before turning around. As she walked quietly back up a slope, she paused and glanced back. "Please think about what I said, King Hodari. The future of the pride depends on your decision."

Though Hodari did not watch her retreat, he heard her faint pawsteps fading away. He exhaled slowly and inhaled a long breath of fresh night air, deep in thought. The cubs. There were male cubs, as Darahani had pointed out. Spirited cubs. And it wasn't like they were the first in a long time, either. There were those who were already solid-coated, just ready to be selected. . . but he hadn't done it. He hadn't chosen any of them yet. He knew his pride was getting worried, and that was not good. Yet he wasn't certain whom he would choose. ..

A new scent wafted on the air- many new scents, in fact. Badilifu, Ekundu, Fahari, and all of the other lionesses mixed with the mouthwatering aroma of fresh wildebeest. Kumbufu, a lioness with a very good memory, had been right as usual, it seemed. The wildebeest herd must be moving through their territory as she had predicted based on the routes of their previous migrations.

Sure enough, he could see the lionesses dragging something big, horned, and limp. Its brown fur, black it the darkness of the night, was streaked with blood and scored with tooth marks. Not the cleanest kill he had ever seen, but it would certainly feed the pride, and that was what mattered. Hodari thought for a moment, then decided to help to speed up the process. In a couple of bounds he was in front of the lionesses, who greeted him with friendly looks. With a nod, Hodari sank his teeth into the shoulder of the great animal and began dragging it along. The flavor of the blood on his tongue made it hard not to tear away a strip of meat, but he resisted the impulse and continued pulling until, finally, the wildebeest had been dragged up the hill.

"What is the reason for your lateness?" Hodari asked, once all of their mouths were free from the burden of the prey.

"Fahari took a nasty kick in the head," Ntulivu explained. "She needed to rest."

"Will she be all right?"

"Most likely, though you should ask Kumbufu. She'd know better than I would."

Hodari turned towards Kumbufu, who stopped grooming her hind paw, stood, and walked over to Fahari. Hodari noticed that the injured golden lioness appeared rather unsteady, her eyes dazed. Kumbufu gently guided her to a soft patch of grass. "Lie down here, let me look."

Hodari did not bother to watch as Kumbufu parted Fahari's fur with her right forepaw. With a wet renting sound, he tore a slab of meat away from the bones of the wildebeest and carried it to his den, which was a hollow dug out beneath a broad, blocky granite boulder.

Settling down with his meal, he took a small bite and chewed it slowly, savoring the rich flavor. As he ate, his eyes traced the top of the slope where the pride was now eating happily. Magharibi has roused the lions from their slumber, and they had emerged to join the wildebeest feast. Nguruma, the oldest member of the pride, shook his sleep-ruffled mane and sat down next to the young male Askari. The elder lion's yellowing teeth sank into the flank of the kill and gouged out a lump of meat, which he shared with Askari.

Hodari took note of Askari's flexible build, his long legs, the muscles that moved beneath his fur as he pulled his portion of meat closer. He was a protective lion, full of spirit, willing to learn. . . an almost ideal choice for an heir. He always had been. But Hodari had not chosen him. Why? Was it just that he was unwilling to choose an heir, and by doing so ascertain that one day, his reign would end? That was foolishness, he knew that someday he would grow old and let another lion take over, he had always known that. . . but was it still true? He shook his head irritably, unwilling to delve deeper into the thought. He turned his focus to his food, to the burying of his teeth into the still-warm flesh and ripping out large bites.

Soon he was licking bits of blood, flesh, and viscera off of his chops. Darahani's words had given him much to ponder, but it could wait? ''But for how long? ''a nagging voice in his head queried. Hodari sighed, unable to shake the troubling thought. He was not a young lion. He wasn't very old, either, but a lot of things could happen. His mind flashed back to his late father, gored by a Cape buffalo, hunched over on the ground as the life spilled out of him. If his own father had been king, would he have chosen his heir by now? Perhaps not- throughout the entire time Hodari had known him, his father had been the picture of stubbornness. Hodari had once been proud because he was different. He was a sensible lion who thought practically and realistically, and knew what was best for the pride. Wasn't he? Now he wasn't so sure.

Chapter 2: Hare Ears
(Incomplete)

Kimeta yawned widely and stretched the muscles in her forepaws, lowering her front half to the ground. The sun had not yet cleared the horizon, and glancing around, she saw that only a few others lionesses had arisen. King Hodari was still asleep. ''Might as well take a walk. ''Stretching out her limbs one last time, she strode briskly away from the lush patch of grass she had chosen as a sleeping spot and down the slope. "Hey, Ekundu!" she called out to the reddish lioness who was still sound asleep. "Ekundu!" At last, Ekundu jerked awake.

"Come on, Kimeta!" she whined. "Can't I at least sleep in on the days we don't hunt?"

"What, don't want to take a walk with a friend?" Kimeta answered, pretending to be hurt. Ekundu's glower vanished, replaced by her usual peaceful smile.

"Okay, okay. Let's go."

At the base of the hill, Kimeta tilted her head as a slight scurrying noise became audible. Her eyes scanned the ground and located the small circular opening. She slammed her paw over it just in time; less than a second later, something furry crashed into it from underground.

"Ouch!" she heard a nasal voice cry out. Grinning, Kimeta lifted her paw away to reveal Sikiza, the Cape hare, rubbing his little head with a paw.

"Whoops. Sorry, rabbit. Wasn't watchin' where I was walking. You leave these holes all over the place, did you know that?" Well, it's half true, she thought. Sikiza and his drove did leave the ground around the hill riddled with holes.

The long-eared leporid hesitated, then gave a strained sounding chuckle. "Ah- sorry. We need to get around, see . . . and, er, I'm a hare, you see . . ."

"Hare, rabbit," Ekundu responded languidly. "Is there a difference?"

"Ah . . . yes." Sikiza's voice grew terse, and he took a step back. "B-but I need to go report to King Hodari, you understand."

"'Course, don't let us stop you," Ekundu told him lazily.

"But our much-adored king is still asleep, he might eat you if you bug him," Kimeta put in. "Just kidding," she quickly added as pure terror flooded over the hare's face.

"Oh . . . very funny . . . quite funny indeed . . ." Taking a couple more steps back, Sikiza rapidly turned and darted up the hill, and white flash of his tail bobbing up and down. Kimeta and Ekundu watched him go, Ekundu visibly. suppressing laughter.

"I probably should not have said that Hodari would eat him," Kimeta muttered, feeling slightly guilty.

"Don't worry about it," Ekundu told her. "That animal is a nervous wreck. Always has been."

''Don't worry about it. ''That seemed to be Ekundu's response to everything. "Okay," Kimeta replied. "Should we keep going, or head back?"

"Are you kidding? We just got out here."

"Yeah, but our chat with Sikiza wasted some of our time. Anyway, I'd like to here Sikiza's report," Kimeta explained, turning back.

Ekundu sighed. "Fine. But next time, don't wake me up and bring me down here only to drag me back up," she consented with good humor.

Back up the hill, almost all of the lionesses were awake. Sikiza was waiting outside of Hodari's den, nervously cleaning between his elongated hind toes while waiting for the king. When the lion emerged, shaking his short brown mane, Sikiza scratchily cleared his throat. "We heard some rumors, Your Majesty, of some strange lion in the area," he announced.

This proclamation was followed by a babble of mutters from the rest of the pride. Rouge lions usually meant trouble. But as usual, King Hodari's expression was difficult to read. "Continue," he instructed Sikiza.

"Well, from what we heard, the trespasser has orange-brown fur. That's all we know. Only one gazelle saw him. The rest has just been traces of scent- that's how we know he is a male."

"Does the scent lead anywhere?" Hodari inquired.

"We followed it for a short time, but the trail disappeared at the Mkondo River."

King Hodari nodded. "Anything else, Sikiza?"

"No, Your Majesty."

"I want your hares on the lookout more than ever. Be our ears. We need to find out more about this rouge lion."

"Yes, Your Majesty." In several swift bounds, Sikiza had vanished down the slope.

"A rouge lion, huh?" Kimeta turned to see her uncle, Nguruma, approaching her.

"As long as he doesn't interfere with our hunting, it doesn't concern me," Kimeta told him. "The lions are the ones who will have to fight him off if he doesn't leave peacefully. Though I would certainly help if I got there in time."

"I know you would," Nguruma told her.

A peaceful silence settled over the pride, though some were still debating about the rogue lion. Nguruma began picking over the remains of the previous night's meal, though little was left but a pile of bones that had been licked clean.

Kimeta lay down and rested her head on her forelegs. Maybe she'd take a nap. The hunt had taken a lot of her energy yesterday. It had been worth it, though. Wildebeest was one of her favorite types of prey, and the hunt had been so successful that only one lioness had been injured. Fahari would recover, too, so no harm had really been done.

She drifted in and out of a doze for the next couple of hours, the sun warming the fur on her back. When she fully awoke, she saw that the sun had just started to set. She stood and stretched, not bothering to smooth her rumpled fur. She gazed at the Kavu Sana Plains, the land surrounding the hill. Everything seemed normal. Wait- she narrowed her eyes- what was that shape emerging from the ground? ''A hare, of course. Huh. Looks like two of them. I wonder if they've seen anything.''

"King Hodari!" she called, and heard the king's snores falter. "We have a couple of hares coming up here."

"Sikiza?" the king grunted sleepily.

Kimeta looked more closely. ''Ugh, they both look just like Sikiza. ''

"I don't think so," she deduced, as the hares neared the top of the slope. One of them looked to fat to be Sikiza, and the other had fur that was slightly more brownish. This one was the first to speak, in a panting, out-of breath voice that was clearly female.

"We need the king!" she exclaimed. "Right now, something has happened!"

"His den is over there," Kimeta told them, pointing with a paw. As they darted over, Kimeta decided to follow them. Let me see why they look so nervous.

"-attacked!" the rotund hare was squealing to Hodari as Kimeta approached. "Blood and fur everywhere! I heard him, too! He was being dragged away by a lion!"

"A lion?" King Hodari growled, his piercing ochre eyes narrowed to slits.

"Yes! Lion scent, too! And heavy paws! I heard them!"

Hodari rose to his paws. "Lead the way." Raising his voice, he called for a couple of the lions to join him.

"Me, too," Kimeta added, stepping forward. The king hesitated. "Come on. I'm a better fighter than he is, and he's going." She gestured to a young lion with a half-grown mane as she spoke. The young one growled, but Hodari nodded. Without another word, the group set off, the hares leading the way.

Characters(In Order of Appearance)

 * Hodari
 * Darahani
 * Badilifu
 * Ekundu
 * Fahari
 * Ntulivu
 * Kumbufu
 * Magharibi
 * Nguruma
 * Askari
 * Kimeta
 * Sikiza