Wekundu Hewa juu Wekundu Kiwara

The Cast

The Lions:

Najisi--rape a woman

Kipenyo--break

Kilio--weeping

Jito--small river

Kianga--a burst of light

Nyotakweu--starlight

The Cheetahs:

Duma--cheetah

Zulia--drive someone crazy

Mcheza--dance

Mara--turn

Kivumbi--dust

The Hyenas:

Koroma--sigh

Gandama--be frozen

Mwezi--moon

Chanjo--slash

Kifa--death

Kizuka--ghost

Rusho--throw

CHAPTER ONE

Author's note: This fic is set just before the first TLK movie, in an area near the Pride Lands. Any comments, questions, or corrections are welcome.

Koroma wasn't a"bad girl". Just because she was the matriarch, just because they had to poach to survive, didn't mean they were "bad". That was life, and they were proud of it.

Mwezi and Rusho, the most annoying sisters Koroma had ever seen, were busy bickering--again.

Mwezi, the smaller of the pair, was scarless and untouched--and loved to show it off. Rusho, being quite a bit larger, was the more battle-scarred one. Her right ear was reduced to a few scraps of dangling flesh, and her left upper lip, right where it ended, was scarred and cut so that a few glistening fangs were visible.

"That's my zebra leg, Rusho!"

"Well, I found it!"

"You gave it to me, you termite!"

A sharp bite sent Mwezi shrieking down the cobweb-encrusted earth, back to her quarters. Their home was really nothing more than a large cave with tunnels leading to other, smaller caves.

Rusho chuckled darkly, settling down to her meal.

"You know, I really wish you two wouldn't argue so much." Koroma commented.

"Aww, ya' no fun," Rusho whimpered, imitating a scolded pup.Koroma chuckled.

"Evil, evil, evil! That's what that little rat is!" Mwezi snarled, her voice echoing off the tunnel down to the pair.

Kifa, Koroma's "right-hand-scumbag", slid into the room. Her eyes, both of them scarred, were blind, but she still could find her way around.

"Can I help you, Koroma?" she asked, running a tongue over one of her teeth.

"She no fun," Rusho replied, still using a childish voice, then smirked and returned to her usual low-pitched growl. "Mwezi was bein' a Rhokhash-forsaken brat again. No worries. Ya' can go back to ya' dungheap now."

Kifa frowned, her voice lowering to a growl. "I'd worry about my ways if I were you," she warned. "You go back to argue with your sister, brat!"

Rusho snarled before joining her sister, still grousing under her breath about the zebra.

Kizuka appeared. Despite being in her late teens in hyena years, she was by far the most war-beaten. Her left hind foot was completely shattered and was always dragged behind her. She was missing her right eye, and due to several missing back teeth, she had to keep a large, rather thick root in her mouth.

"Rusho was being a no-good thief again, eh?"

"We all were," Koroma quipped. "It's a living."