Kako was greatly helped by the love and support of her new pride sisters, and she looked for a way to show her gratitude. She offered to join them on the evening hunt though she had not studied the land.
As the Pride Sisters gathered up, talk centered on the new arrival. The few details they could pry out of Kako’s dark past were tantalizing. She had borne cubs before and had survived an attempt on her life when she was three moons old. She said that she had once seen the white lioness herself, Minshasa the blessed. But the reason for her exile was sealed away behind her soft, enigmatic hazel eyes.
Kako had many questions herself. She did not understand why Taka put up with hyenas or why he did not require them to hunt for themselves. “You would think he owed them a big favor.”
Sarabi remembered how Taka had loved her once, and she raised a half-hearted defense for the sake of what he once meant to her.
“There is a curse on him. I used to deny it. I thought it was foolishness, but I have seen it grow and spread destruction over everything he touches. He despises life, but he fears death, and so he goes on through a never-ending nightmare.”
“I could see it in his eyes,” Kako said.
“We were going to be married, but he wanted to leave the Pride Lands with him. I told him that I couldn’t, so he asked me to choose between my home and his love.”
“And you chose to stay?”
Sarabi looked down. “Yes.” She sighed. “Kako, you must understand, I loved Taka like a brother, but not like a husband. I loved Mufasa, and if you’ve ever been in love, you know how hard it is to fight your own heart.”
Kako’s eyes filled with tears and her chin trembled. “It’s almost impossible, but it can be done. It really can.”
Sarabi blinked. A tear ran down her cheek. “Kako, honey tree, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring up painful things!”
“Don’t be sorry,” Kako said. She nuzzled Sarabi. “Where did the hyenas come into this?”
“Taka went away to find peace at the bottom of the gorge. Fabana stopped him. She adopted him, and when his mother Akase died, she was his only family. I must admit that her love for him is almost leonine in its strength and I feel she is a good person--for a hyena.”
“OK. I might have invited Fabana to stay, but her whole clan too? Does he always act without weighing the consequences??”
Sarabi sighed deeply. “I didn’t say it made sense. I only said he has known a lot of pain in his life, and somehow they make him feel better. It’s strange, but he’s always been a little strange.”
“A lot strange if you ask me,” Isha said.
“I didn’t,” Sarabi said with mild irritation.
Kako quickly nuzzled Sarabi. “Well you girls make ME feel better. I didn’t mean to cause any problems.”
“You didn’t,” Isha said, nuzzling Kako and then kissing Sarabi. “We have our little scrapes, but we’re a sisterhood.”
Kako set about to prove herself on the hunt. She was very focused, as intense on the hunt as she was facing Taka. The hunt was a dance between predator and prey, and Kako was a graceful ballerina, a thing of beauty and deadliness. Uzuri gave her wide latitude in choosing her own approach, sure she had another Avina in her care. It proved to be correct, and while the others pursued a group strategy, Kako silently crept up on a bontebok. Her rush was sudden, terrible, and victorious. Isha gasped with amazement at her effortless grace even in the kill, and came to her as she stood over her trophy. Isha nuzzled her warmly and said, “Well done, my sister!”
“May we be sisters?”
“Of course. I take some pride in my own hunting skills. It will be a bond between us.”
Kako nuzzled her back. “Even so. And we are passionate about our beliefs. That is another bond between us.”
Isha led her away a short distance. “Kako, I wouldn’t dream of asking you in front of the others. But if we are going to be sisters, confide in me.”
Kako looked away and sighed. “If we are going to be sisters, insist that I say nothing. Turn from me even if I come willingly to pour out my heart. You must give me the strength to bear this awful secret for the love of one I left behind and one I bear inside me. Help me, Isha--a lot depends on it. Help me!”
“Forgive me,” Isha said quietly. In lion fashion, she put her paw over Kako’s mouth and then kissed her. “I have sealed the secret away. But from this point on, let no new secrets divide us, Sis.”
“I’d like that,” Kako said, breathing out a sigh and smiling for the first time.