Serengeti Snow: Chapter Four: Coldest Night by Kiradeki

Serengeti Snow: Chapter Four: Coldest Night

Kiradeki, Fight, Lion, Plot Development, Serengeti Snow, song

(DISCLAIMER: There are TWO songs in this chapter. The first, in bold italics, is "The Device Has Been Modified" by Victims Of Science. The second, in regular italics, is "So Contagious" by Acceptance. I do NOT own these songs.

DISCLAIMER TWO: Implied drug use lies ahead. Be wary.)

Hello

Hello, and welcome to the enrichment center

The cold night air swirled through the dusty landscape, kicking up swirls of dried grass and dusty soil. The savannah was silently screaming out for rain. Deep in the impoverished lands, the pride's den sat, the rocks withering from the driving sands blown up by the icy winds. This was perhaps the worst drought in years. Baridi stood by the edge of the river that ran beside the den, bending low to lap up some of the cold water. Even this river, one that never dried out before, was beginning to thin. The crocodiles and hippos in it's depths all looked nervous, knowing their home was drying up a tiny bit more with every mouthful the lioness pulled up with her rough tongue. After drinking her fill and receiving some nasty snarls, Baridi slowly rose to her paws and looked out over the river to the drying land on the other side. She padded jauntily back to the den, and slipped inside, her eyes easily adjusting to the darkness inside. Hasira, Kishoka, Neva, and all the cubs lay near the back, talking quietly, laughing and smiling. A small smile pulled on the lioness's black lips as she moved to lie beside the others in her pride, easily picking up on the topic of conversation and joining in between liberal licks along her daughter's spine, her tongue scraping dust and debris from Paka's golden fur.

Hello, your specimen has been processed

Hello, and we are now ready to begin the test proper

This quiet, gentle talking continued for a while, until the cold air brought a distinct smell to the pride's noses. Hasira rose to her paws instantly, her tail giving an agitated flick. Neva looked up, moving to lay more squarely on her stomach, hiding her son and daughter between her and the den wall. Baridi silenced herself and sat up, ears swiveling forward to catch any slight noise from the approaching creature. Kishoka moved last, settling himself in front of an odd crack in the den, where steam and smoke rose up lightly. This crack to a thermal vent was always leaking smoke, but the pride male took care to keep outsiders from seeing it...because a thermal crack meant one thing...the den stayed warm when it was cold out, and some small plant growth around the den would remain in such a drought.

She came then, a slender, odd cat. A jaguar raised by Hasira's parents, with shimmering, mischievous blue eyes and notably pale fur dappled with dark blotches. Ufisadi. She moved with an odd, bouncy step, as if her paws were rubber. She padded right into the den boldly, circling around the tense pride, their eyes locked on her circling form. Ufisadi settled between Kishoka and the rest of his pride, strategically the worst place for a female from another pride to be. "Hello Hasira, little sister!" She purred. "We need to have a pride meeting right now. Now, I noticed your den has all these things laying about in it...and since it was mom and dad's, shouldn't you clean it?" She smirked.

Hello

The device has been modified

Hasira's hackles rose and she snarled dangerously. "Ufisadi! This is our home! Why are you coming in here telling us to clean up? It is clean! We don't have rotting food laying all about like you do!" Her lips pulled back to expose her teeth, her white paws churned the loose rocks on the den floor as she padded forward, brushing past Baridi to stand inches from her sister, defending her pride from the jaguar.

Said jaguar lifted her head high. "Well. It's good you don't have food laying about to rot, but what about all these bones and rocks? Mother and father will be livid to see that you and your pride have ruined their den. It's bad enough that you all were left with the lands when they moved! Look, I'll bring my pride by in a few days, and we'll help you clean, leaving only what matters most." Her black lips stretched into a wide, morbid grin, and her eyes shone evilly.

Hello, there you are friend

Hey hey, hey hey hey, put me down

I don't hate you

The pride's queen stood tall. "Only what matters most, huh? So that means you'd throw out the skull from my first kill? Neva's gemstones? Kishoka's blue grass? Even Baridi's casting bones? The skull of the elephant we all took down, our first kill as a united pride?" She padded forward, paws brushing the objects as she mentioned them, taking great pride in the bizarre, macabre little souvenirs her pride had gathered in their time in these lands. Chief among them she seemed proudest of the large elephant skull in the back of the den.

Her sister, however, did not carry this respect. "Of course I would. It's trash...and that little pile of small bones is disgusting. You don't want me roaring to mom and dad about this, do you? They'd have a fit and come down here to kick you all out, making you into a measly band of rogues." Her sneer pulled her face into an ugly arrangement that showed off her pointed teeth and made her dark eyes seem bloodthirsty and cruel. Hasira and her pride held no hate for Ufisadi, just disdain because of how she showed up, walking all over them like they were the trash. Once, when Neva had injured her leg in a hunt, Ufisadi had laughed at the bloody gashes covering the poor half-cheetah, saying that it was nothing, and that her hunt to find a male to have cubs with was more important than helping find grasses and herbs to help her heal. Since then, she had popped by only a few times to leave old bones on the prides lands so they could bleach and become beautiful enough for her to decorate her lands with. And here she was judging them for doing the same.

Well you found me

Congratulations

Was it worth it?

The only thing you've managed to break so far

Is my heart

Baridi and Neva seemed to begin shaking from the palpable tension rising in the den, the white lioness burying her head in her paws, which she shifted to cover her ears and block out some of the noise. Kishoka was shaking with rage. He turned then, slipping into a lower portion of the den and slashing his long, dark claws against some rocks, kicking up sparks. A deep snarl ripped through his chest, and he quivered with the desire to pounce on and attack Ufisadi.

A soft, nearly inaudible rumble shook Baridi's body, breaking into the earth and traveling along the ground until it reached the paws of a rogue male far away. Feeling the rumble under his paws, he knowingly translated the shakes into words, and lay flat, rumbling as well, sending his reply back to Baridi. A tiny smile stretched the white lioness's lips as she got a reply in her secret rumble-language from her friend. As the fight raged on beside her, she continued to rumble softly back and forth with the male, pausing to purr softly now and then. Neva, who lay beside her, picked up on the rumbling and purring and nudged her friend to silently ask what she was doing. Baridi did not respond.

Ufisadi laughed. "If you want me to, Hasira, all I need to do is say a little to mom and dad, and you and your pride will all starve." She stood up, threatening and rude. "I'm sure you don't want that....do you?" She snickered. Now the jaguar padded back and forth, getting dangerously close to the vulnerable cubs surrounding her, silently threatening their lives with her meager presence. If she did as she was threatening, the cubs would be the first to starve and die. A thought that wrenched at Hasira's heart and made the brave queen want to shred her sister. But that would just anger her parents more.

This isn't brave

It's murder

What did I ever do to you?

You don't even care, do you?

The argument raged on, the two females now circling each other, snarling with every breath, threatening to come to blows in seconds. Hasira kept making the valid point that Ufisadi had no right to be on their land, let alone in their den, and Ufisadi kept taunting Hasira with the thought of becoming a band of rogues, thus starving the cubs to death. Growing tired of the bickering, and wanting to find some level of peace, Neva stood, opening her maw and letting out an angry roar that reverberated off the den walls. "PAUSE!" She yelled, slamming one of her front paws down on the ground for emphasis.

Please proceed into Android Hell

Android Hell

Ufisadi turned, lunging forward at the hybrid and snapping her jaws on air. "I WILL NOT PAUSE!" She snarled, her eyes hot coals of deadly anger, growling and snapping her jaws over the sound of Kishoka slamming his weight into rock walls further in the den. "You little RUNTS need to wake up! This is REAL LIFE, and you can't go on playing like an adult pride! You should all be roaming on your own, BEGGING for food! Mother and father gave you a break by moving to nicer territory and letting YOU have the den, not me, and I won't stand by and lie to mom and dad saying it's shining and glorious when you've let it go to hell!"

Weighted storage cube, destroyed

Weighted storage cube destroyed

Hasira sheathed and unsheathed her paws, wanting so badly to end her sister's life, but she knew without a shadow of a doubt that that would only serve to make things worse. Her body shook as she heard her mate going on an angry rampage deep in the den. They would have to clean up chunks of rock and broke skeleton pieces down there soon. She took a deep breath, looking down at her paws. "Ufisadi, get OUT." She snarled. "I won't say it again...get out or we will kill you." She warned, her tail lashing to prove her seriousness.

Ufisadi stood tall, staring her younger sister, the pride's queen down, before snarling. "I'll be back in a few days to clean out this mess." She spat, turning and dashing out of the den, full of anger and spite for the young pride. As she left, Neva collapsed to the ground, her momentary bravery having taken a toll on her and made her feel insignificant and small because she had been ignored. After laying on the stone floor for a while. she stood, padding to the thermal vent and breathing in some of the smoke, letting the thick blackness calm her a little. Finally she looked up, not surprised to find that she had to raise her head above Baridi's to let the other female breathe in the calming air, and even less surprised to see the silhouette of Kishoka further down, doing the same as them.

_ Thank you for participating in this aperture science computer-aided enrichment activity _

_ Goodbye _

"We have to let her clean the den. We can hide our treasures somewhere on the outskirts of our land, that way she can't destroy them." She said calmly. Hasira nodded, tears of frustration staining her grey-blue fur. She took the time to bury her face into Asili's pelt and cry into her daughter's fur. The tension in them all made them quake with anger.

Oh, no

This couldn't be more unexpected

And I can tell that I've been moving in so slow

Don't let it throw you off too far

'Cause I'll be running right behind you

Kishoka finally resurfaced. "I'm inviting Mauaji back over...he can help us move the elephant skull." He mumbled softly before curling up with his mate. The pride noticed, but said nothing as Baridi pulled her head free of the vent and took off at a jaunty, limping run into the night. They knew her. She needed to get away...but she'd be back...she always came back.

Could this be out of line

To say you're the only one

Breaking me down like this

You're the only one

I would take a shot on

Keep me hanging on

So Contagiously

The white lioness's paws stroked the earth as she ran, leaping over thorny shrubs and small rocks, her body made for this terrain despite it's odd color. Even with the fight having just ended, her heart was oddly light, due entirely to her rumbling conversation with the rogue male. Nyekundu. A red maned male who was a year younger than her, but so much wiser. His pale eyes having seen far too much for his age somehow. He was the male she had been trying to contact back when she had fought with Punda, he was her wiser, younger friend...the rogue she had started to notice was...well, growing into his mane nicely, to put it lightly. She let a stupid grin stretch her black lips as she moved, giddy off the thought of getting to see him. He had promised her he'd come to see her as soon as he was done wrestling with some other rogue males to test out his strength.

And what strength he had. Baridi couldn't help but picture him in her mind's eye as she moved. Molten gold for fur, eyes that were so light of a blue that they were nearly white, and blazing red for a mane and tail. A frame that was muscular and strong, without being bulky and unattractive. And with a cunning and wit unlike anything she had seen in a male ever. She giggled like a cub as she leaped over a dry creek bed, her charcoal paws hitting the ground with steep force, making a slight indent. She was headed toward where they had agreed to meet, a little glen in the woods where few lions went...a nice, private spot where she would have his undivided attention. He promised.

Ooooh, when I'm around you I''m predictable

'Cause I believe in loving you at first sight

I know it's crazy but I'm hoping to...

To take a hold of you

At long last. The forest. Baridi smiled, stepping into the odd land of trees and thick green that backed up the big river, all the way on the opposite side of the large, open hunting savannah from her pride's territory. WAY out of her neck of the woods, so to speak. She strode in with confidence that looked bizarre with her limp, and made her way through the dark and the green to the glen. It was beautiful here, the moonlight reflecting down on the tiny creek that made it's way through, the water in it shining like lifeblood. The leaves were a pure verdant hue that nearly looked alien in the current drought. The ground under her paws was springy and soft with moss, and everything smelt fresh and clean. She looked over her dusty pelt and with a huff, set about the careful task of grooming her snow white fur, making it shine gorgeously in the moonlight, as if she herself where a creature made entirely of moon beams and legend.

When she finished grooming herself, she got a long drink from the creek to get the burn of dust out of her throat. With a happy swish of her tail at how nicely she had cleaned herself up, Baridi looked about, finding a spot where the moonlight fell just so, and she settled in, trying not to look like she was too comfortable, or like she had been waiting here too long. She crossed her paws politely and tried nearly a million smiles out to see if they felt casual yet excited enough to warrant use in Nyekundu's presence. Her heart nearly beat a hole in her cream colored chest.

Could this be out of line

To say you're the only one

Breaking me down like this

You're the only one

I would take a shot on

Keep me hanging on

So Contagiously

As she waited, Baridi used the moon's position above to judge when Nyekundu was likely to show up, her eyes never straying from it too far as she ran through ideas for conversation in her head excitedly. There was so much she wanted to say to him. so much she wanted to ask him. She needed to tell him about Punda, judge how he responded to the way she had been treated, and maybe bring up the notion of how....available she was at the moment if he seemed likely to fix that issue and tie his wanderer's soul to her and her pride. She also really needed to ask about all this she had heard about him possibly going off with other males, pride males and rogues, to fight the hyenas and the african wild dogs on the northern lands. She wasn't fond of the idea of him going to fight. She had already lost friends to the fight with the canines in the north, and the last thing she wanted was for Nyekundu's vibrant inner light to be snuffed out by a canine's hungry jaws.

The mere thought of such a terrible thing made Baridi's skin crawl. Nyekundu, her gorgeous flame-maned, golden-furred, ice-eyed rogue laying in a pool of his own blood, coughing and gasping out his last as hyena's cackling laughter shook the atmosphere like thunder. She imagined the hyenas would laugh loud enough that Baridi would be able to hear it far in the distance as she taught Paka to hunt mice on the edges of the pride's lands. She would fall to the ground and break into terrifying sobs, making her tiny daughter scream in fear and race to the pride, afraid for her mother's health and sanity. If she had any say in Nyekundu's life, she wouldn't allow him to put himself in such danger. She cared too much about him for that.

Oh you're everything I'm wanting

Come to think of it, I'm aching

On account of my transgression...

Will you welcome this confession?

At last, the time had arrived. It was so dark now, the moon high in the sky and casting precious little light into the glen. Surely by now the rogue's play fighting spats would be over, and Nyekundu would be on his way to Baridi's side. The eager lioness leaped to her paws and paced impatiently, her heart fluttering like a captured bird inside her ribcage. Here stomach was doing more flips than a baby rhesus monkey, and she was nearly mad with anticipation. At the soft snap of a twig she wheeled around, an excited, cub-like grin on her face. "Nyekundu!?" She called out into the dark, only to hear the quick retreating of a hoofed beast, likely a water buck, thanks to her outburst. Her heart sank momentarily, before she faithfully returned to her pacing, knowing deep in her heart that Nyekundu would show up. He must. He promised her he would. And she had to tell him the thing she had tried not to admit to herself...she loved him. Surely the importance of her need to say that would somehow ensure his arrival.

Could this be out of line

To say you're the only one

Breaking me down like this

You're the only one

I would take a shot on

Keep me hanging on

So Contagiously

The night grew colder and colder as it progressed, the driving wind enough to freeze a small cub to death. But Baridi kept pacing, using the energy in her muscles to keep her body warm. Her pacing lasted for hours. A small rut being worn into the moss under her paws as she repeatedly crossed and re-crossed the same path in the heart of the glen. Nyekundu still hadn't shown up. There was a creeping suspicion in her heart. Did he know what she wanted to say? Was he silently refusing her? Would he not show? Did he not care enough to talk to her? Had he been injured in the play fighting? Was he unable to come to her side? These thoughts and worse swarmed like angry bees in her mind, causing pangs of fear and pain to slowly reduce the lioness to a quivering, sniffling, crying mass on the mossy ground. She needed him to show up, if only to validate that despite her disgustingly off-colored pelt she was still worth something to someone outside her pride. Her tail curled tight around her, it's black tip hiding her reddening eyes from the world.

Could this be out of line

To say you're the only one

Breaking me down like this

You're the only one

I would take a shot on

Keep me hanging on

So Contagiously

Baridi lay there, not moving, not sleeping until the sun started to rise above the tops of the trees, the golden light spilling into the glen and ruining the magic that last night could have held. The moss, which looked dewy and fresh now revealed it's edged turning brown. A sure sign that the drought had reached here. The creek, while still moist, had notably once been higher, wetter, and was now reduced to half it's depth. The tree bark was drying and cracking lightly, and the leaves had begun to curl in a last attempt to keep from browning and falling off.

Baridi slowly rose, the tear stains on her face already half-faded. With a hefty sigh, she made her way slowly back toward the pride and her daughter, her limp more pronounced than usual. As she exited the forest, her pink nose twitched, catching the spicy, feral, gorgeous scent of Nyekundu on the wind, before a soft gust that barely shook the leaves blew it away as if it had never been there. She wouldn't be surprised if she had merely hallucinated the beautiful scent as a last ditch hope that she'd find him. A soft rustle of something large moving at the edge of the forest fell unnoticed against her ears before she took off with a none to eager run home, knowing that while she wanted to stay out and sulk, her pride needed her.

....Are you still there?

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