The Pride Lands (Amanda, Moka, kovu42)

[Panda-chan]

The hyenas muttered quietly among themselves. Uzuri smiled. They would have to let them go now.
Finally, what looked like the leader of the hyenas stepped forward and grinned, showing all 16 pairs of razor-sharp teeth. "This isn't your land," he said, "it's ours."

[kovu42]

Bakari's journey had taken it's toll on him. His normally muscular body was giving way to hunger and his large red tinted mane was dirty and unkept. He had been travelling for what felt like an eternity, but he had been driven from every other home. Suddenly, his ears picked up on a rumbling sound, somewhere nearby. He opened his mouth and searched through the scents, the first one was the acrid scent of hyena, but the second scent he caught was that of a lion.

Bakari dropped into a stealth crouch and silently padded through the brush until he saw the lioness trapped by a group of hyenas with only a gopher at her side. He drew his lip back in the beginnings of a snarl, but he thought he saw a better way out of this situation. The lion emerged from the bushes and quickly forced his way next to the lioness. "Just let her pass through your territory this one time, and trust that she won't 'intrude' from now on. Besides, she is a princess and the last thing you'd need now is to get on a king's bad side." He addressed the lead hyena defiantly, hoping he could hide the fact that he was too weak to take them on.

[Moka]

The leader of the hyenas, Jino [ swahili: teeth ], was startled by the presence of such a large and rugged lion. "And just who are you?" asked Jino, "You don't look like a Desertlander." He paused for a while letting only the wind sound in the distance. "This is our land, and they intruded. They shall pay the price. We've never been on the King's good side anyway. Getting rid of her -" he flicked his head towards Uzuri "- would just mean one less royal lion for us to deal with."

He grinned with his 16 pairs of teeth.

[kovu42]

Bakari stood between the princess and the lead hyena, he could feel trouble coming. "No, I am not a Desertlander, but I will not leave another lion to slaughter. Just think for a moment, she is no threat to you, let her pass and everything can go back to the way it was." He was desperate to avoid a fight, but he could see the bloodlust in the hyenas' eyes. Protecting the lioness was his first priority, maybe his life was amounting to something after all! "I will not let you lay one paw on her." He narrowed his eyes and beared his own teeth back at the hyena.

[Panda-chan]

Uzuri couldn't believe what she was seeing. Some lion she didn't even know was risking his life to save hers. She suddenly felt very ashamed of herself.

[Moka]

Jino and Bakari were staring at each other. As they sized each other up, Jino did not see past the fatigue of Bakari. "All right, lion," he said, "We'll let her pass - but just this one time." The hyenas walked off away from the two lions and the gopher.

[kovu42]

Bakari let out a sigh of relief and turned back to the lioness. "So... You're a princess, huh?" he began. "I'll escort you back home if you'd like?" he suggested, although he wasn't sure how he would get along with a large pride. He had been driven from countless places, and he could only hope this time was different.

[Moka]

Before Uzuri could answer, a huge brownish tan lion leaped into view from behind the grasses. He looked as if he was running for several minutes. "Princess Uzuri!" gasped an exhausted Khali. "What happened? I heard Hyenas. Who is this?" he asked, looking towards Bakari. His first instinct was to growl, but he held it back. This lion seemed friendly.

[Panda-chan]

"Oh, er, this is Bakari." Uzuri told Khali, "He saved me from the hyenas. Thank-you." she added to Bakari.

[kovu42]

"I wouldn't leave a lion such as yourself to fend off hyenas on her own, but I think we best be leaving this territory." he added, casting a glance around to make sure the hyenas had really gone. "Which way is it to your pride?" he asked, just then remembering the gopher. "And what are you doing out here without any kind of escort?" he wondered.