章 22: Chapter 22: Strategy
Katari disappeared completely from sight, even Kael could not see her anymore. But he didn't need to.
He turned his head away from the spot Katari was and turned back to see the cubs bewildered by Katari's disappearance. They were the only ones in the pride that saw this.
Kael turned away from them, 'Let's see…' He crouched down and began following the lionesses.
Since he was still small, the tall grass did well to hide his eye-catching golden form. Once he got closer to the lionesses, he activated his lionheart with a thought.
Immediately, Kaels fur changed from gold into a mix of colors. His body perfectly blended in with the tall grass, making it hard to spot him.
The cubs behind him grew restless once again. First, it was Katari, and now Kael also disappeared.
The contract Katari signed had allowed Kael to share her powers. This camouflage ability was just one of them.
Burdo looked at the happenings with a cautious gaze, wondering where his brother suddenly went, but he didn't stop walking. Eidel and Ruda looked around worriedly, wondering where their brother went to.
Meanwhile, Kael and Katari, crouching side by side, closed in on the lionessess. Although they couldn't see each other clearly, they could sense themselves with the pride mark.
They passed by big Aunt who suddenly looked in their direction. The duo stopped moving, holding their breath. Big Aunt looked at the spot carefully, she thought, she heard the grass get hit by something but she couldn't see anything.
Giving up, she continued forward, leading the hunting team to their target. Kael sighed with relief before he continued following them.
He made sure to stay away from Big Aunt. She was the oldest and most experienced of the lionesses.
Kael guessed that she was at least one generation older than Nalii if not more. Meaning she had a lot more skills when it came to hunting.
One wrong move and she would quickly discover them. Kael and Katari moved to the edge of their bowl formation, making sure to make as little noise as possible.
The lionesses in their bowl-shaped formation got closer and closer to the zebra mega herd. Big Aunt stopped in her tracks, her eyes searching for the perfect prey.
Soon, her eyes locked on one of the zebras closer to them. An old zebra quietly grazed by the edge of the herd.
One look at its trembling legs and she could tell it would be very unlikely for it to be able to see the next rainy season. If they did hunt this old zebra, someone else would.
The zebra was weak, it was grazing at the edge of the pride out of preference but because it was being stigmatized. Zebra's were not too bright in the head but they knew that when predators come to feast, they would pick the weakest prey closest to them.
Plus, this old zebra would just slow them down. This was just how things were done in the wilderness. The herd mentality could only do so much to protect herd members, nothing about personal feelings was involved.
Surely, Big Aunt won't ignore a gift that had been presented to her. She released a small growl, signaling for the other lionesses to notice her choice.
As soon as they saw the old zebra, the atmosphere around them changed. Their eyes became sharper and their muscles bulged a little.
Big Aunt crouched down, leading the rest to crouch with her. The hunt had begun.
Kael also noticed the zebra, although a bit difficult. He wasn't as tall as the adults so he had to strain extra hard to spot any close creature with the tall grass in the way.
He and Katari moved slowly with the pride toward their target, ever so slowly they got closer to the oblivious zebra.
Eventually, all that was left between the lions and the zebra was almost a hundred meters, a distance that could be covered by the lionesses in a few seconds.
The lionesses were very careful to not make a noise so that they could get as close as possible. They didn't want to have to spend a lot of energy chasing down one prey.
However, it was bound to happen for the zebra to notice. There was a barely audible swish sound from the body of a lioness rubbing against the tall grass.
The zebra's head shot up, and its eyes stared at the swaying grass with extreme vigilance. The lionesses stopped moving, crouching even lower, practically letting their belly touch the ground.
They slowed their breath and their muscles bulged, ready to explode with force.
For a few moments, the only sound that could be heard was the sound of the wind blowing and the grass swaying.
The zebra, not seeing any immediate threat, returned to eating the succulent grass from the ground.
To the left, three lionesses broke off from the formation, Big Aunt saw this and waited patiently for them.
The three lionesses began closing on the zebra in such a way that they would easily be able to cut off its escape route back to the mega herd.
*SNAP!*
A wet stick broke under the paw of Kael. He froze, the lionesses froze, and the zebra froze. 'Fuck…' he cursed
Now the zebra was super alert, its ear twitched repeatedly, trying to find the source of the sound.
If it had happened once, then it might have been thought of as a coincidence, forgettable. But it happened twice with such a short time interval.
Big Aunt did not dare give the zebra more time to make a decision, she shot out of the tall grass with her full might, her powerful hind legs pushing her for meters within a second.
The lionesses followed immediately, matching Big Aunt speed for speed. At the same time, the zebra reacted with its fast reflexes, moving almost at the same time the lionesses appeared.
Kael burst out of the grass cover with swiftness. Katari, being more aware and less distracted by the stick snapping, was ahead of him.
Pandemonium ensued, zebras ran away and scattered themselves all over the field. The lionesses kept their eyes and direction on their target, the old zebra.
The herd quickly noticed that the predators were only chasing after the old zebra. Like some collective decision was made, they started creating distance between them and the old zebra.
The old zebra ran for his life, he tried to escape into the dense cluster of his fellow zebras but three lionesses had blocked his path, running him out of the way.
He had no choice but to run to a farther herd, there was no obstruction in his way. If only he could make it.
Alas, the lions were faster than him and had way more stamina, the other herd was too far away. Before he could reach them, he was already becoming weary and tired.
As an old zebra, his speed and endurance wasn't what it used to be. He had run from predators before, but it looked like this would be the first time he would get caught.
*HUAEEHUAEEHUAEE!*
The zebra let out a sorrowful cry as one of the lions latched onto his butt with her sharp claws. This signaled the end for him.
He was too weak to shoulder the weight of this lioness, he had to slow down. And just like that, the other lionesses caught up and jumped on him one after the other.
Big Aunt took her usual spot, clamping the windpipe of the zebra with her powerful jaws. Her sharp canines dug into the flesh of the black-striped beast, taking away its ability to make any sort of noise.
The zebra was still alive, albeit for a very short while. In the last moments of its agony, it saw two trails suddenly appear in front of it.
While the lionesses were holding down the old zebra, Kael and Katari whizzed past them, carrying a strong breeze due to the speed they were moving at.
The sudden movement of these two invisible beings started the lionesses so much that they almost made an accident and let the old zebra escape.
Kael and Katari indeed joined the hunt, the thing was that the pride had a target as a whole and Kael had his own target.
Kael never intended to help the pride hunt for food, he couldn't afford to for his long-term plan to succeed.
So while the pride lionesses were dealing with their prey, he and Katari sped unnoticed towards their own prey.
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