Your Job is Not to Question Why...

[Narifia]

Mahiri's ear flicked thoughtfully at Tunza's compliment, but she made no other indication that she had heard him. This was training time, and the only time Mahiri spoke was when she was instructed to, or when it was absolutely necessary. Which, most of the time, it wasn't. After all, combat had little to do with conversation.

Aside from that though, she had mixed feelings about the young lion. Mahiri wanted to like Tunza. He was good at heart, and a sweetheart with the cubs for certain. He was definitely a welcome relief from the rest of the males of the pride, and especially Byron's sexist attitude. However, like the rest of the pride, even Tunza shared in the disdainful treatment of her brother Hamali. As much as she wanted to like Tunza, her loyalty and love of her brother just wouldn't allow her to do it.

Besides, Tunza would never make a fine warrior. At least, not like Hamali or Nyota. Not by a long shot.

Byron took in the sight of the felled log, and the scent of Mahiri's blood immediately caught his nostrils. Unlike Tunza, he wasn't impressed. He scowled in contempt and thought, 'If I had been the one to do it, I wouldn't have been so weak as to break my teeth over it. It's just one more reason why Mahiri doesn't belong here.'

He kept his thoughts to himself for now and stood up straight, replying dutifully to his mother, "I'm as ready as ever!"

Mahiri, too, chimed in dutifully, "Yes, Zengea."

[Kai]

Zengea looked them over for a moment as she considered what today's exercise should be.

"The Ghost Lion will not be defeated easily, it will take all of your skills and tactics, all of your cunning, all of your knowledge. But as that tree could not stand without it's base, so is everything I taught you useless without the basics. So we'll start with something to help us brush up." She looked to her elder son and tossed him a leg of zebra that had been recently caught, "Byron, you're the King." And then glancing to the other two she said, "Mahiri, Tunza, you're the hyenas."

Tunza stared at his mother for a moment, deeply confused. "Mother, that sounds like... King's Cache?"

King's Cache was a cub's game most young lions would have played. The lion playing the King was guarding his food from two marauding hyenas trying to steal it, played by the other cubs. "The King" had the advantage of taking his meat wherever he chose, and the "hyenas" had to choose how they would try to steal it. Why on earth would Zengea want them to play a cub's game?

Tunza almost wanted to laugh at the absurity, but Zengea looked dead serious. "Sometimes games have very practical uses." She said shortly. Then she waited. Tunza knew she would be watching every move they made.

[Narifia]

With a growl of contentment Byron reached and snapped his jaws easily around the tossed zebra leg. He listened to his mother's instructions and smirked triumphantly when she told him he was to be king. Even though it was only a game, he felt that the title had been placed on the correct lion. He cast a smug glance at Tunza and Mahiri, who had been named the lowly hyenas.

Byron's smug glance was wasted on Mahiri, whose eyes never left Zengea until the great instructor had finished speaking. Mahiri did not question the use of a cubs' game in their training; as she reflected on the cubhood game, she saw straight through to its practicality and usefulness and had, indeed, employed similar tactics with her training of her brothers in the past. When Zengea finished speaking, Mahiri's attention swiveled immediately to Byron, who was still smugly standing by holding the zebra leg as if it were a distinction of honor. She sighed inwardly and suppressed an indignant growl; 'Is he even going to try to take this seriously?' she wondered, slightly annoyed.

[Kai]

There as a minute or so of Byron's mental gloating before Zengea got tired of waiting and looked at him.
"Well?" She asked expectantly.

"You gonna pick your territory or what, Byron? You have the whole of Busare." Tunza asked. Mentally he was going through possible areas in his head. Maybe Byron would choose a high place to give himself a good vantage point to see them coming, like the hill or one of the big rocks. Or perhaps a sheltered place so he wouldn't be exposed, like one of the caves, or in a grove of trees. The King of the game always had possibilities. Tunza was beginnign to understand how this fit in as training.

[Narifia]

Byron winced, slightly embarrassed, as his mother had to bring him out of his own little world of self-worship. 'Heh, whoops!' he thought to himself as he nodded and growled shortly in response to Tunza's statement. He sprang off, heading out between two small sandbanks. There was a nearby copse that had the perfect cover of undergrowth and low-hanging branches. It was just big enough for one adult lion to be able to stand inside, and it was protected on all sides by the thick undergrowth. He and Tunza used to play here as cubs; now, it was going to serve as the King's Own Fortress.

Byron skidded into the hidden hollow and dropped the zebra leg at the back of the copse's little shelter of undergrowth and branches, confident that no lion would dare stick his head through the horrid tangle of thorns to try to get to it. It was the perfect defensive wall. Byron turned in the little hideaway place and stood, his claws out as he let out a smug growl. 'Perfect. There's no way either of them can squeeze in here without dragging me out first. And that just won't happen,' he thought with a fang-showing grin.

Mahiri waited by for Zengea's signal that she and Tunza could go after him. As she remembered from the cubhood game, the King was given a certain amount of time to pick his territory. Zengea would undoubtedly let them know when that time was up.

[Kai]

After Zengea had allowed "The King" the alotted time, she looked towards Tunza and Mahiri. When their eyes met, she simply nodded.

Tunza knew that was their signal to start. He was not much of a leader by nature, not in training at least, so his first instinct was to look to Mahiri and follow her lead. She would know what was best to do. However, he knew very well that Zengea would not be happy if they stayed here for too long, even if they were strategising. They could work out their plan while they went to look for Byron.

[Narifia]

Mahiri chose not to waste any time. She nodded to Tunza and set off in the direction that Byron had gone, her pace even and quick. She took care to semi-match her pace to Tunza's--just enough so that he could keep up with her, but also slightly faster so as to goad her fellow apprentice into going faster. It was a method she had taken to using in her training of her brothers, and now she subconsciously did the same for Tunza, as if she regarded him as her pupil as well.

Byron scented Mahiri and Tunza on the breeze, and not long later he heard their familiar paw-steps as they raced towards his hidden hollow. He smirked with anticipation; he couldn't wait to win this game!

Mahiri stopped just at the edge of the copse, scenting Byron nearby. She scanned the hollow and her eyes rested on the little shelter of undergrowth. Immediately she knew that her target was there. She frowned in thought; it was a strategically well-picked spot. Mahiri ran through several courses of action she and Tunza could take until finally she let out a satisfied little snort and turned to Tunza.

"He's well-guarded on all sides. You know this place; Byron bragged about it all the time when we were cubs," Mahiri said, reflecting on the memory. Byron had never let any other cubs play there with him and Tunza except for Nyota; and that was just so that he could be noticed by King Hadhi. Mahiri slid the memory to the sidelines and continued, "It's just a huge thorn-trap. It's the perfect place for him to hide inside because of how protected it is on all sides by those thorns. There's only one way in, and he's guarding that way. But, we have a chance, if we can run him out."

Mahiri's eyes gleamed with mischief. An idea had come to her that seemed to tickle her to death. She concluded, "And I think I know exactly how we can do that."

[Kai]

Tunza followed Mahiri's line of sight. "Oh, I remember that place."

Not only were they playing a game they played as cubs, Byron had picked the favorite place to use as his fortress. Although, he had never liked the way Byron had barred Mahiri, and he'd had one or two bad incidents with the thorns. Tunza shook himself, all this familiarity meant he was having to keep himself from being swept away by the memories and sense of nostalgia he was getting today. This was training, and Zengea would flay his hide if she knew he was getting distracted like this. Mahiri might have something to say about it too, although he noticed that she seemed to have an idea that appeared to be very amusing. It was a noticeable change from her often serious attitude.

"What's the plan?" He asked, eager and curious.

[Narifia]

Although Mahiri's expression was as serious as ever, her eyes seemed to dance with the thought of what she was about to say next.

"Those thorns are his protection, but we're going to turn them into his weakness," Mahiri explained, "Here's the plan; I'm going to sneak around behind the enclosure and pounce right on top of it. The undergrowth and thorn branches might be thick, but they can't possibly hold the weight of a lion. It'll bend in to the pressure of my weight, and push the thorns right into Byron's rear. If he has any sense at all, he'll abandon the leg and get the hell out of there. While he's distracted by trying to pick the thorns out of his butt, you rush in and take the leg. Run as fast as you can back to Zengea with the zebra leg, and we'll have completed the mission."

Of course, to Mahiri it had ceased to be a cubhood game and instead become a mission. She knew that she would sustain damage of her own from jumping willingly into a tangle of thorns, but however serious she was, it was evident in her eyes that she was going to enjoy this. It was a small price to pay to not only win the game, but to see Byron running in circles with thorns in his rump!

[Kai]

Tunza could not entirely surpress a little smile of amusement. He didn't entirely like the idea of anybody getting poked with those thorns, but again this was training. Last time I tried to make sure nobody got hurt Mother gave me quite a lecture about how things like this are just part of proper training. Oh well, It's not like anybody's going to have any lasting damage anyway. He thought.

Tunza went to get into position. He tried his best to be stealthy and silent, but even if Byron did hear him he would be expecting them, but he wouldn't be expecting what would come next.

[Narifia]

As Tunza positioned himself, Mahiri turned and paced silently a good distance away from the copse. Once she was at a satisfying enough distance, she began to circle around to the the other side of the hollow. Now at the back of the enclosure (and downwind of Byron, so he couldn't scent her), she stalked slowly towards it.

Byron's ears swiveled at a very slight rustling of leaves. He sniffed the air, and then grinned as he caught Tunza's scent. His brother was well-hidden, so he couldn't see him, but he knew he was there. Byron didn't think about Mahiri or where she could be until he realized belatedly that her scent was nowhere to be found. He frowned; where had that lioness gotten to?

Once Mahiri was close enough she rocked on her haunches in preparation, and then pounced.

Suddenly, Byron's surprised and painful shriek filled the air as the numerous thorns thrust painfully into his rear. He shot out of the hidden hollow, too distracted by the pain of his stinging rump and the shock of the event to give a thought to grabbing the zebra leg. He cursed loudly as he turned to try to grab the thorns with his teeth and yank them out, still disoriented and unsure as to what had just happened.

[Kai]

Tunza ran in and out as swiftly as his legs would carry him, his laugh muffled by the zebra leg firmly clasped in his jaws. He would have to get a good start since Byron wouldn't be far behind once he realized what was going on, thorns or no thorns. On top of that, he'd be fueled by some pretty righteous anger. Zengea was in sight, but Tunza's stamina was running low and carrying the Zebra leg was beginning to have an effect on his breathing.

[Narifia]

'Wha..?' Byron thought distractedly as he heard the shuffling sound of his brother's paws. He looked up from his undignified thorn-pulling position just in time to see Tunza running out of the hollow with the prize of the game.

"WHAT!?" Byron yelled through a mouthful of thorns at the sight, and then movement from above the hollow caught his eye and he looked up. Up above on top of the now-squished thorny enclosure was Mahiri, who was just now leaping down. Knowing that it would be a hazard to her health to run with thorns on the bottom of her paws, she hastily picked out some thorns from her own bloodied paws and spit them out.

Suddenly Byron put the pieces together. For a moment he had assumed that maybe a tree limb had fallen from above and caused the cave-in, but as he realized that it had been a ploy of Mahiri's all along, he growled furiously and spit out the thorns he was still holding between his teeth. He snarled and began to chase down Tunza; he'd deal with Mahiri later, but he still had a chance to win this game by outrunning his brother.

Mahiri saw Byron give chase and knew that she no longer had the luxury of worrying over her paws. At least she had gotten most of the thorns; she'd have to see to the rest later and suffer the consequences. With no hesitation she leaped to her bloody and sore legs and raced after Byron.

Byron was furiously chasing down his brother. Enraged at being fooled and humiliated, he was ready to sink his claws and teeth into anyone, including Tunza. He sped up to Tunza and was nearly on his heels when suddenly Mahiri was upon his back. She had leaped onto him with such speed and force that the two lions tumbled over into a frenzied mass of flailing teeth and claws, giving Tunza ample time to escape.

[Kai]

Tunza chose this moment to steal a glance behind him, and panic momentarily gripped him as he saw his brother on his heels, enraged. Adrenaline fueled his steps and he glanced back again in time to see Mahiri take Byron down before he plowed into a tree. Thankfully it was only a small sapling, which bounced him back rather than knocked him out. Finally, he dropped the zebra leg in front of Zengea, panting heavilly as he tried to catch his breath.

[Narifia]

Byron, still in a tangled mess on the ground with Mahiri, glanced up and saw Tunza nearing Zengea. Even before the leg hit the ground at Zengea's paws, he knew he'd lost. Enraged even further, Byron jerked his head back to Mahiri, who was just now scrambling back to her feet.

"YOU... DAMN YOU, MAHIRI!"

Byron snarled savagely and, leaping to his feet, threw himself at Mahiri's throat. Mahiri, surprised by Byron's attack but not caught entirely off-guard, let out a threatening hiss and ducked down just in time to avoid Byron's teeth clamping on her throat. Byron, reacting quickly, managed to grab onto her back with his claws and flip her over instead. Byron seized the chance to go again for her throat, but a powerful swipe of Mahiri's paw staggered Byron back long enough for the lioness to roll back onto her feet. Byron came forward and attacked again, and the two lions fought viciously.

'This bastard's actually trying to kill me!' Mahiri realized with angered exasperation. Somehow, she didn't seem quite as surprised as she should be. She fought back readily, happy for a chance to teach the arrogant lion a thing or two and finally put him in his place.