uhuru roared again.

it was the second of that early morning, and he had already heard the answering fickle cries of zebra.

now he strode in powerful lines through the golden tracery of first light, tail curled.

a leopardess watched him with gleaming green eyes.

a pair of jackals waited to see if he would lead them to a kill.

uhuru ignored his observers. his own eyes searched for those other lionesses of the savannah.

Word travelled as easily as a spore on the breeze; with Asha's voice had come the recognition of Uhuru as King, a declaration that had already been anticipated by the burly hunter. He claimed as much himself as he sought to familiarize himself with not only the land, but those who hunted there. Her interests in the man were as numerous as her doubts- a balance she hoped to tip in favour of the former, with time. And while Kings were good for making cubs, others were just as skilled at killing them. To save them all from the grief that lasted generations, she had to trust that Asha had chosen well in finding a man who could not only sire healthy cubs, but protect them as well.

Still spattered by the blood of the juvenile crocodile she had slain in the shallows of the watering hole, she sat up when she heard the man's voice ring out again. She wasn't keen to share her prize, and wished for a moment that she had the skill of a leopard- so she might hide her kill in the boughs of a marula tree. The two vultures hulking nearby might still find it there so, rather than leaving her meal to the raven-winged scavengers, she answered the man with a short, grunt-like call, picked the three foot crocodile carcass up and began dragging it along with her.

Curiosity might kill her one day, but she sure as hell wasn't going to let it make her give her meal to the vultures today.

it had the effect of stopping uhuru in his tracks, the guttural sound, and he watched with twitching tailtuft as the lioness came close. it is an impressive kill thou hast made, said the man as he caught a glimpse of scales glinting in growingly stark sun.

a very heavy bite, then, enough to crush larger bones he felt.

he flicked his gaze over the red stains upon her pelt with an approving purl.

were she his, he might claim his right to what she had slain.

she was not, and so uhuru lay comfortably with his back aligned toward the golden creature, watchful of those braver jackals which might come to investigate. but he had full confidence that no larger assailants would arrive, for he had killed enough among the hyena clans to abate their teeth for a time. thou knowest my name. i wouldst like to know thine.

a toss of the proud mane threw off the flies which sought to gather in the heat which had not yet begun to shimmer, and provided also a tinting of asha's scent: her further acceptance of his presence in this proud land.