((Prompt 2: You find a starving wild dog. It is defensive of the small kill it is protecting. (Bonus Event!)- (Bonus) 1: Nothing else happens.))
Chazama had lived in the bonelands for all of her life, and though it wasn't always easy, she couldn't remember a time where it had been this hard either. Her paws had carried her further than normal in search of prey to hunt, and she had been walking through the dry grass for what seemed like the better part of a day so far. She had urged her mother to spend some time resting so she could gather her strength for a journey with Bora, her mother's vulture companion. In the meantime, Chazama meant to check out the area around the pride's current location. Maybe she'd get lucky?
Pale pink eyes scanned the area as she came to sudden halt as there was a break in the grass cover. She was alone, which in retrospect may not have been the wisest of decisions, but she wasn't going far. As long as she was cautious and didn't draw too much attention to herself, the pale lioness was certain she would be okay. And even if she wasn't, the risk would be worth it if she could find some sign of food.
When her eyes did not detect anything out in the open, Chazama carefully stepped out of the brush cover and into the dusty, open area of the clearing. There were no signs of life that she could see, and not even a bird to dot the horizon. Their situation, as a pride, was certainly a dire one.
As her paws carefully took her forward it wasn't her eyes that alerted her to the presence of something else, but her ears. She paused in mid-step, her muscles tensing as she lowered herself into a semi crouched position. She could hear the faint sounds of rustling in the brush, just ahead of her. Whatever it was, it was something, and just maybe it would be a something to help fill her belly and those of the pride's as well. The dry grass wasn't terribly tall in this area, but maybe she had stumbled upon a bedded down prey beast? It was unlikely, but hunger drove her imagination as she stalked forward. Carefully. One little step at a time, with hardly a sound as her paws glided over the dry dirt. One she was certain she was within striking distance she gathered her muscles once more and attempted to ignore the gnawing hunger that had sprang up from her belly at the thought of food.
Just as the lioness was about to pounce, the tip of her tail flicking anxiously, the grass rustled right in front of her, and the small head of a wild dog snapped into view. The creature immediately came to a stop once it realized it was face to face with a lioness, but Chazama's gaze was drawn to the little morsel it held tight in its jaws. The remains of plump vole stuck out the sides of its mouth and for a long moment the lioness could only stare at it.
The wild dog was the first to raise its lips in warning, but Chazama was quick to counter with a snarl that had the dog jolting several paces away from her. They had been too close for comfort, and though Chazama considered attacking the wild dog for its mouthful of food, ultimately it wasn't worth the energy wasted to fight the dog for such a small reward. Despite her decision to let the dog leave in peace, the small thing stood its ground a few yards from Chazama, its body language threatening as it growled over the mouthful of meat it had managed to find. Chazama watched the wretched thing, as its skin was pulled tight over its ribs and chunks of hair were missing from its coat, before moving to pass back into the tall grass where she had come from. It was not worth her energy, or what remained of it, to scrap and risk injury over such a small mouthful of meat. As tasty as it would have been, it was certainly not enough to satisfy her hungry belly.
The lioness kept her eye on the aggressive dog as she moved out of sight and gave a growl of warning to it as she moved out of view. Chazama did not want it following her back to her pride, nor did she feel particularly inclined to deal with it any further. It was a shame that it hadn't been some small prey beast, but she would have to try again later. For now, she needed to head back to her pride before it got too late in the day and the sun too hot to travel.
On her way home, the lioness couldn't help but feel defeated and disappointed that she hadn't found something to hunt. She just had to hope and put faith into the pride and their abaholi. There had to be some solution to the problem, something they weren't seeing yet, but the longer they took to find it the worse off everyone would be. Her maw twisted into a deep frown at that thought as she slowly made her way back to the main body of the pride. How much longer could they hold out? How much longer could her mother hold out? Chazama let out a frustrated snarl as she struck at the brush next to her. Times were hard. And if they wanted to survive then they would need to act. To do something, anything that could help solve their problems.
The feeling of the dusty dirt and the dry grass under her paws was enough to remind her that this was their home. They had lived off these lands for generations, and she had been born here. It wasn't an easy life. It never had been, and it likely never would be. But it had always been the feeling of togetherness and family that had kept Chazama hopeful throughout the years. The lionesses were a close-knit group, and if it weren't for them, she didn't know if she'd have the strength needed to survive in these harsh lands.
((Word Count: 1,021))