Fun Fact: Lion cubs are quick opportunists during meals. While the adults brawl and snarl over the prime cuts, cubs often sneak in from the edges, tugging away scraps when no one's looking. Mothers and young lionesses sometimes even shield them, ferrying chunks of meat to keep them fed, though dominant lions usually tolerate this only once their own hunger begins to ease.
While Tobey was keeping the big meanie preoccupied, the trio got to work as well. Zyphros had taken the lead, snarling back when the feeding lionesses growled at her. She etched closer to Narla – Tobey's mother – and nuzzled her in pleading, a moment of growls and slaps later, Narla agreed.
With a triumphant chirp, Zyphros rallied the sisters, and together they moved like a well-oiled machine. Radi, quick as lightning, took the role of delivery, ferrying the chunks Ayden was ripping free with brute force to the three hungry cubs waiting a few paces away. Zyphros tried to help Radi drag the larger pieces – thinking that she would struggle – but oh, how wrong she was.
The playful of the sisters proved to not only have agility, but prowess only second to her sister's. Radi wasn't just speed. She was fire and steel. By the time Zyphros had managed one trip, Radi had already completed two. Huffing in defeat, Zyphros switched roles, padding back to help Ayden with the butchering. But there, too, her silver eyes widened, Ayden was buried to her shoulders in the carcass, paws deep in gore, dragging half a ribcage free like a beast possessed. Bloody didn't even begin to describe her.
Narla watched over the three with a soft amusement. She'd been keeping an eye on them since cubhood, seeing how they warmed to her son and held their own with pride. This batch, she thought, carried promise. Having had her fill, she flicked an ear toward Kambo's snarls, ensuring the matriarch didn't push her cub too far, or the whole pride would have to intervene just to stop her from tearing the matriach's throat out!
Zyphros, though, stayed alert, her gaze often drifting to Tobey's scrap with Kambo. When their eyes met for a heartbeat, Tobey gave the smallest nod. Time was running out.
The cubs they were feeding had more to eat now, but the window was closing fast. Any moment, Kambo would whirl on them, and her wrath would fall like thunder. Zyphros urged haste, growling as she pointed toward the soft flank.
She growled at the sisters and walked towards the softer parts of the meal, they would have to bite off more than they could chew and gulp it down, godspeed!
But the sisters scoffed at her and walked away from the spot she'd delegated, a strange stillness came over them. They exchanged a glance, silent understanding flashing between them. If they were to bite off more than they could chew, then Ayden had a better idea, and Radi had apparently received the telepathic mail as well, with how rigid her frame was getting.
Zyphros stared as they padded towards the hind leg of the wildebeest. She gasped. The couldn't possibly be thinking of...
The sisters glanced at the other, and with a nod, they positioned themselves to their appropriate stations – Ayden at the hooves, and Radi leapt over the rear – and without further ado, they begun!
Radi nibbled strategically around the hip, tearing tendons with mild effort, the other lionesses, now well fed and sprawled across the grass, watched curiously at the scene.
Zyphros had never witnessed such ferocity from the typically playful sister. At this very moment, she was concentrated solely on trying to sever the whole limb. And praise to the Savannah, she was actually succeeding!
Thick hide tore from her fangs, giving way to tendons that she nipped at with her claws, then came muscles which she only focused on the softer, fatty areas, she wasn't a powerhouse, hers wasn't to outright chew through the whole musculature, no. Once her teeth bit into bone, she licked her bloody snout and leapt away, her work was done, while passing by, she flicked Ayden across the face with her tail. And that was her signal.
Ayden gritted her teeth, claws flexing deep into the dirt. She clamped her jaws around the lower leg, muscles coiling like springs. For a moment she was still, taut as a bowstring, then she snapped her neck to the side, leapt, twisted midair and flipped over to the other side of the limb and tagged.
Pop!
The joint gave way like a conjurer's trick. Gasps erupted across the clearing. Lionesses rose, startled, as Ayden and Radi dragged the entire limb clear of the carcass.
And that was when Kambo turned.
Lo and behold! She was just in time to watch three cubs dash from the pray she'd helped fell, and in tow, dragging behind them was a massive limb. She just watched, there was nothing she could do anymore. The cub she had been disciplining rose to his paws, dust clinging to his bloodied coat. With infuriating gall, Tobey barked a laugh at her before darting off.
With no more strength left to bother chasing after them, Kambo sighed and walked over to the remainder of the prey and grudgingly fed alone.
On the other hand, Tobey strode with a spring in his step. Their plan had worked. Everyone would eat, and none would suffer under the pointless ritual of tradition, many would've starved today. Now, it was time for him to have his fill, and he'd already had a spot in mind. His gaze lazily sought out the only hunter hunched over a single prey, feeding with zest, the world totally tuned from her mind. Tobey licked his muzzle and inched closer.
The huntress suddenly raised her head from the carcass, her entire muzzle drowned in crimson, strings of flesh clinging to her jaw. Her amber eyes locked on the little intruder who had crept too close. For a heartbeat the world narrowed, predator and cub, locked in a silent contest. The cub did not flinch, did not scamper away like instinct demanded. Instead, he stood, gaze steady, belly hollow but courage firmer still.
Dana's nostrils flared. She scoffed, a low, confused sound, more breath than growl. She could not comprehend it, this defiance in something so small. Yet before she could bare her teeth again, the cub moved. He walked straight to her side, bold as a lion thrice his size, and dipped his head into the prey she had caught.
Her jaws hung open. She blinked, once, twice, thrice, waiting for the vision to shatter like a mirage. But it held. The cub tore into the wildebeest's flank, feeding noisily as if her looming presence was no threat at all. A growl crawled up her throat, but it was thin, halfhearted, fading even before it left her mouth. He did not startle. He did not stop.
Dana hesitated, then lowered her head once more, her teeth sinking into the flesh with slow, distracted bites. Yet her mind was no longer on her meal. Subconsciously, her tail slid sideways across the bloodied grass, curling around the cub's small body. She drew him close in a silent, instinctive claim – half shield, half embrace – though she herself could not say why...