~~~ How Shenzi and Banzai Met, by Laura the writer ~~~ Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from The Lion King, ok? I'm not Walt Disney, alright? This 'fic stars Shenzi and Banzai out of The Lion King. I am a Hyena- holic. This 'fic starts before The Lion King actually begins. It's a PG because it has blood in it and mild swearwords. Ok? Don't say I didn't warn you. ~~~ Shenzi hated Humans. She hated Humans even more than she hated Lions. This was partly because at least Lions kept themselves to themselves, but Humans went about using up everything until it was all gone, and partly because they hunted all the best meat for themselves. But she hated Humans most of all because she was currently stuck in a trap made by Humans just a few hundred yards from a Human village. One of those metal ones with teeth that we call 'fox traps'. It was wrapped around one of her hind legs, and the teeth were digging right down to the bone. She was sure that her leg wasn't supposed to bend that way. As well as that, a muscle or five had been torn by the feel of the fire in her leg, Although the bone hadn't broken through the skin, it was still a compound break. And what made it worse (if it could possibly get any worse), was that she'd been stuck in it for two days, and she was starving. It seemed that whoever had set the trap had forgotten about it entirely, and instead of dying a slow, painful death by being ripped apart by the Humans' dogs, she was instead going to die an even slower, even more painful death by either dehydration, starvation or blood loss. Shenzi was a young Rouge Hyena, wandering on her own. She had left her own pack in the far south-east when they had all been killed by Humans who had wanted the land for their own. Shenzi hadn't waited around to suffer the same fate, and had been heading north-west ever since, looking for a pack that would accept her. Suddenly, a Jackal passed her by on his way to the village, probably to kill some chickens for his dinner, like she had been, "Help me!" Shenzi cried to him. "Thanks for setting the trap off for me," said the Jackal, sneering. Then he went off in the direction of the village. Just as Shenzi was adding this particular Jackal to the already considerable list of animals she hated, she heard a scream as he walked straight into another metal trap she hadn't set off. She smiled grimly. There was a god, after all. It started to rain. A small puddle started to form by Shenzi's fore- paws, and she lapped some water from it. She turned to look at the trap again. She had torn at the leg it held with her teeth, tried pulling it open with her paws, and even tried hitting it against the nearby rock that now had a lot of marks down it where she had dug her claws in and scraped them down the rock. Nothing seemed to help, but at least the pain was now busy being just unbearable, instead of the horrible shock when the trap had first closed. She looked at it again. She might as well give up hoping now; who would help a hyena? And even if they would, how could they? She curled up in a little ball and started crying. ~~~ Banzai looked around him. He was a Pack Hyena. He was, however, hunting on his own tonight. He was planning to break into the Human village to steal a few chickens when he heard a noise to the left of him. It sounded a little like someone trying to cry quietly. Padding over, he saw a female Hyena, curled up in a ball. She didn't smell like a member of his pack. Almost instantly he could smell the blood, and saw the cruel trap wound around her hind leg. Both were covered in blood, and the leg was almost certainly broken. "Well," he thought to himself, "Now I know these Humans use metal traps." He was about to turn and leave the strange Hyena and try another, safer village, when he realised what a twat he was. Looking at her face - she was too busy crying to take any notice of him - he could see the pain and misery ingrained into her face. In normal circumstances, she was probably stunningly beautiful. In normal circumstances, however, her hind leg was unlikely to be caught in a metal trap. "What sort of people would we be if we didn't help strangers on occasion?" he thought. ~~~ "Er..." Shenzi heard a male voice. The owner of the voice tapped Shenzi cautiously on the shoulder. She uncurled and looked up into a rather concerned male Hyena's face, "This might seem kind of like a stupid question, but do you need any help to get out of that trap?" He was incredibly handsome (for a hyena), with bushy eyebrows, sleek fur and a great body. But right now, Shenzi would have accepted help from a Hunting Dog. Being stuck in a metal trap for more than 48 hours changed one's outlook on things, "What do you think, male? Do I look as if I'm in here for the fun of it?" Shenzi would have liked to tack a smart comment on the end of the question, but it's never wise to insult the first person who's offered to help you in two days. "How long have you been in that thing?" "More than 48 hours. The Humans must have forgotten this trap. I know I won't." The male padded over to the trap and inspected it, "What's your name, female?" "My name's Shenzi. I'm a Rouge Hyena from the far south-east," Shenzi winced as her leg gave another shock of pain, "I left when my pack was all killed by Humans. What's your name?" "I'm Banzai. I live north-west of here in a pack." Banzai tugged at the trap a little. Shenzi squealed as it tore at her leg some more and kicked out at Banzai with her good leg. He jumped back and the blow just missed his face, "Hey! I'm trying to help you here!" "You don't have to pull my paw off to do it!" Banzai was amazed to see tears in Shenzi's eyes. The trap must be really hurting her, "Here let me try this..." He straightened her leg as best he could, then grabbed the jaws of the trap and tried to pull them apart with raw strength. But each time he relaxed his grip, the trap tightened some more. He sighed, "I'm not strong enough on my own to open it. Sorry, uh, Shenzi." He turned away. Shenzi looked at the trap, and in sheer frustration started to tear at it with her teeth. Banzai turned around again, "Hey, don't do that!" he called out. "Shut up!" she screamed, "Just shut up! Go get your own leg caught in a metal trap, and you'll do anything to get it out too!" Banzai looked at Shenzi for a moment. Then he made his decision and jumped over to the trap again. He sighed, "I must be crazy. Okay, when I say 'now', take your leg out of the trap," he said. Then he started to pull it open with all his strength. Shenzi screamed as she felt the teeth slowly start to open, "Now!" he barked. Shenzi managed to jerk her leg out of the trap just before it snapped closed again. Then she slumped to the ground, beginning to cry from the sheer exaustion and relief she felt. Finally, she turned to Banzai again. "Th - thank you." Shenzi tried to stand, then slumped back to the ground again. Banzai looked at the hind leg that had been caught in the trap. It had been mangled. Shenzi whimpered quietly as he looked, almost as if even that was hurting it, "N - no, I can manage." She started to try and straighten the broken leg by herself, unsucessfully. "No, you can't do it on your own," Banzai took the leg in his own two paws, then gently straightened it so that when it healed, at least it would not leave Shenzi crippled, "Here, lean on me. I'll take you to our pack." Shenzi stood again, and Banzai supported her as she grimaced. As the pair staggered away, Shenzi leaning on Banzai, Banzai supporting Shenzi, neither had the least idea what that night would lead to... ~~~ The Beginning...