A golden lioness moved swiftly through the grass. It was golden, almost the same color as her. It was that factor that made her the kind of hunter that she was. The tall, yellow grass shielded her from those she hunted. Mwujuzi paused to think. It was common for lionesses of the pride to become huntresses, and she was no different. Her blood was not an issue in the choice of her status in the pride. She was happy with who she was. The hunting was a part of that.
She continued on. Her keen sense of smell had picked up the scent of a zebra that had lost it's way. She could tell from the scent that there was only one. And it was scared. She bent low and concealed herself in the plant life of the plains. She was hunting just on the borders of the pride. It seemed that she had better luck in this particular area when it came to finding prey. Sure, she might go down to the river to catch fish. But Mwujuzi enjoyed the chase. She stopped again and laughed out loud to her own thoughts. There was a time when she could not even manage to sneak up onto snail let alone another animal that was nearly her size. It had taken her some time to learn the art of the hunt, but she persevered and now had it all but perfected.
It was just after she had taken her position as a huntress that the hunters had taken her out for her first hunt. And it was from that first hunt that they knew she would need as much training they could get.
The hunt was similar to the one she was on now. Another lioness had caught the scent of an Impala that had strayed from it's herd and, with the rest of the pack of hunter lions following her, had tracked it down. From there the hunt would have been as simple as can be, that was of course before Mwujuzi had joined the hunters. She had always been an interesting young one, for she was always interested in talking and chatting, but those that did speak with her had always gotten the impression that there was something always distracting her. And there was, for Mwujuzi would always find herself gazing at the way a cloud had formed, or had become entranced in the way the water rippled that she had forgotten she was talking to someone. In short she was always somewhat aloof. At times more than others, but always to some degree, and her first hunt was no different.
The more experienced hunters had begun to move into the positions that were second nature to the now. They would set themselves up so that the Impala would run exactly where they wanted it to go. Right into their trap. Of course Mwujuzi was not entirely aware of the whole plan, and so had not done her part correctly. She was meant to be a part of the group that would channel the Impala towards the one that would make the kill. However, just before they were to put their plan into action, a cloud in the distant had formed itself into the most interesting shape. Mwujuzi couldn't help but stare at it. Of course she had not stopped moving. One paw over the other, Mwujuzi moved forwards to where she was meant to be positioned, still keeping her bright teal eyes fixated on the peculiar shape the cloud happened to be making. The gold lioness was also not paying attention to where she was going, and found herself walking straight into a tree.
Her head was the first thing that made contact. Then the rest of her body caught up and found part of the tree as well. It wasn't very comfortable either. Mwujuzi let out a cry in anguish, her head sore from the collision. Realizing her mistake she tried to cover her mouth with one of her paws but it was too late. The Impala had heard her cry out and recognized what sort of animal made that sound and realized it did not want to stick around. It bounded in the opposite direction of the sound and escaped the group of hunters that had spent majority of their afternoon tracking it down.
Mwujuzi tried to hide herself behind the tree, fearful of the wrath of the head hunter, and fearful of the jeering she would get from the rest of the group. It was no use though, the knew where she was. For the return trip home she did not speak a word for she could not get one in. The rest of the group speaking their anger and making fun of her. It was from that point that Mwujuzi had decided she would practice until she was better. Then she would join the hunters again.
But that was a long time ago, and she had come a long way since her blundering days of her adolescence. Since then Mwujuzi had become a great hunter, and had not let any prey escape yet. It had taken time but she had finally learned how to do it properly.
Now she was focused on her latest target. She could sense she was getting close. She moved slower now. Her movement was more deliberate, planned, so that she would not give away her position. She made sure she was downwind, so that it would not smell her coming. She made sure that she was hidden well, and that there was nothing that could give her away. All these things she had learned. She could see the zebra now. It was small, a young colt. It was breathing heavily and moving in a hurried fashion. It was lost and scared. It had probably gone off alone and when it returned had found it's herd gone. The poor thing, she thought to herself as she looked it over. It seemed healthy otherwise, and would be a good meal for herself. But, she reasoned, this would definitely not be enough meat to feed even a portion of the pride. It would almost be a waste of energy to chase it down...
Sure of her decision, Mwujuzi let out a cry, not too dissimilar from the one that had alerted the Impala all that time ago. The young zebra heard and bolted into the opposite direction, away from the sound it's mother had warned it about and told stories to terrify the colt. Mwuzjui moved into the spot where it had just been, happy with her actions. Sure she hadn't managed to get any meat for the pride, but there was still time, and she needed to find something worth her while. The golden lioness smiled and hoped it would find its way back to its family.
