Chumvi's Pride

It was a dry time and prey was scarce. Chumvi had carefully introduced his little pride to the surroundings of a village where there was live stock and a small well from which the humans took water and made it available over ground. Chumvi was careful not to let his pride hunt too much cattle, and never when the humans were awake, but it was only a matter of time until they would be discovered.

Chumvi's mate, Imara, was eager to hunt - or steal, for the domestic cattle offered little resistance - at least once every week so she could provide for her single cub, Bachur. Although a son was all she and Chumvi needed to keep their line alive, Bachur being the only cub in the pride was a sign of weakness to Chumvi. All other cubs had died, their mothers' milk dried up along with the tiny waterhole. Imara had given up telling Chumvi to take them back to the Pridelands. Chumvi had always refused, insisting that a pride of his own was a must for a male lion, and that Simba was not keen on outsiders. Chumvi and his sister Kula had fled the Pridelands when Scar's madness became too obvious to ignore. They took over a pride led by elderly males and settled on their territory.

One day, a rustle in the dry bushes alerted Chumvi to the squeaks that followed. As he and his pride looked on, two cubs, one younger than the other and probably from seperate mothers, emerged from the thicket. The older one, a girl, led the younger male along the fence that protected the village.

"You must never go beyond the wired posts," she explained and the younger cub nodded eagerly. "They have sticks that throw stones at you so fast they go right through you and I have the scar to prove it!"
As she walked, she flicked her front paw at her friend to show him the bare strip of skin where the bullet had grazed her paw.
"But," she continued, "The humans throw out enough for their watchdog. He is the one who alerts them when there are predators nearby."

At her words Chumvi pricked his ears. Indeed, that dog might just be the easily disposeable obstacle between his pride and the cattle. Why did he not think of that? He climbed off of his sunning rock and told Imara about the observation. However, she barely listened but immediately got up and started to stalk in the two strange cubs' direction.

"Where are you going?" Chumvi called after her. Imara flicked her tail at Bachur who was carefully creeping towards the two strangers.
"Who knows why they're on their own," Imara growled as Chumvi caught up with her. "If they carry a disease, I don't want my only son to catch it."
"They look healthy to me," Chumvi laughed. "Let him play with some lions his age. He needs it."

With a begrudging huff, Imara turned and followed Chumvi back to the sunning rocks where Kula and some pride sisters were baking themselves to a crisp, indifferent to any scrawny cubs that couldn't compete with them anyway.
Chumvi watched in amusement as his son introduced himself to the two cubs.

"My name is Bachur," he squeaked timidly. "Where are you from?"
"I'm Liron," the little lioness said. "I'm from... I don't know, but it's far away. And this is Nehedar. I met him on my way here. He was hungry, so I took him along."
"Wow!" Bachur gasped. "You get to leave your pride? I never get to go anywhere. My mom always tells me to stay close, where it's safe."
"Is that safe place where all the food is?" Liron asked with a hint of scorn. "Your gut growls louder than your mother."
Bachur flinched. From the corner of his eyes, he could indeed see his mother flashing her teeth at Liron.
"Come on," Liron squeaked and jumped to her paws. Nehedar was grinning widely, obviously expecting her to make good on her promise.

A grin crept over Chumvi's face as he watched. There was concern in his eyes, but the scene developing before his eyes was too interesting to interfere in. Liron crept up on the dozing dog who was tied up to a post a few yards away. In front of the dog stood a bowl full of meat scraps. Flies were buzzing over it, but what animal could afford to care about a few maggots when they came with an easy meal? With one big grin, Liron pounced on the dog and his bark was stifled by two heavy paws on his head. The young lioness was almost twice the dog's size and three times its weight in muscle. Scrabbling and squirming helplessly, the dog could only growl his meal good-bye when Nehedar pulled the bowl out of reach with his teeth. When he could be sure that the dog was taken out, Bachur took a probing jab at the meat.

"Go on," Liron said. "Eat it here so the humans won't find it anywhere near your pride. And hurry up, I'm getting sea-sick on this mutt."

Imara was appalled to see her son gorge on the watchdog's food so close to the humans. And she knew the dog would start barking as soon as Liron released him. Their cover would be blown and the pride would have to leave this buffet. Killing the dog was not an option because the humans knew what lion bites looked like.
Chumvi could tell what was on his mate's mind.

"If we need to leave, at least our only heir will do so with a full stomach. And new play mates."
Imara snorted. "I don't want that trouble maker anywhere near him. If the dog gets her when she climbs off, I won't interfere."
"Then who'll take the other little guy back to his pride?" Chumvi teased. His mate could not really be that cold. Could she?
"He could stay behind as a diversion when we have to run for our lives once that dog..."
"Oh please," Chumvi sighed. He was still trying to sound cheerful but Imara was making it hard. "If the dog causes any trouble, I'll take it out with one swipe to the mug. A broken neck isn't enough to suspect lions."
Imara huffed again and continued to watch her son interact with the other cubs. Even if Chumvi turned out to be right, meeting and then losing new friends when Liron and Nehedar would eventually leave, could crush her son's spirit.
Ignoring her mate, she got up and walked toward the cubs and the struggling dog. When she arrived just in front of the dog, she brought her muzzle close enough to his to feel his breath and uttered a growl that paralyzed the dog with fear.

"Wow. Thanks!" Liron chirped, jumped off of the dog and took a bite from his bowl as he scrambled to hide under the nearby thicket.
"As for you," Imara growled and looked at Liron. "I think its time you get back to your pride."
"But I have no-"
"And take your little friend with you."
Liron reluctantly turned, took a gulp from the bowl and flicked her tail at Nehedar to tell him to follow her.
As he watched them disappear in the far undergrowth, Bachur sighed.
"But mom, Liron said she had no pride. Nehedar is from a pride that don't want her."
"Sweetie," Imara said, "Every once in a while you'll meet a lion from a pride that don't want them. If we were to take care of all those rogues, we would have to steal dog food all the time."
"She may die," Bachur protested meekly.
"So may you if there were any more hungry cubs to grow."
And that was that.

A few days later, it was pouring down from skies dark as night. It was early afternoon and Kula spotted her brother emerge from the thicket. He had been on a border patrol to renew scent marks when the rain started and put his whole hard work to waste. Behind him, a young cub was limping on three legs, keeping one hindleg carefully above the ground. Kula blinked at the young lioness and then at Chumvi.
"Look what I found sneaking around at our borders," he said. "After having let her feed their cub, the neighbors decided to drive her out by force. Good thing we don't have such an attitude here, do we?"
He shot a glance at the snarling Imara and ended her last protest he would ever tolerate in the matter.

But Imara swore to herself that if that young lioness so much as broke a nail of her son's, she would put a scar on that cheeky face.



Uh, yeah, maybe TLK fanfiction ain't my strongest point but it's fun to make up a story around my drawings. I've always wanted to draw this, had a similar sketch in my sketch book for months but it looked like a pain to render. I leeched all of 's great brushes but deviantART doesn't have fences and huts and drawing that myself? Ugh. So I used a stock image from for the hut and reluctantly drew the fence myself. Not proud. Way too lazy. Yes, all the plants are brushes and so are the rocks and the broken ground
I know nothing says "drought" more than lush vegetation but...
Oh by the way? That shiny rectum is Kula.

Kula & Chumvi (c) Disney

Bachur

Liron

Nehedar

Imara