Maua was not happy. All sorts of little things niggled at her and made her disgruntled these days. Not the least of which was that she couldn't bring herself to be as unhappy as she felt she should have been, under the circumstances. After all, she had been promoted to a lead position that had been unthinkable before... but now there were quite a few others in that same position. Her ticket to power and renown had become a monster, then was killed, and had been replaced by her niece. This might have been for the best, except that it was clear the Queen was not the sort to take kindly to advances such as Maua might make in order to become important again.

And then there was all the changes, the turn back to niceties, the rewarding of bravery... it all tended to run counter to what Maua had trained herself to be like... except that she knew very well it was a good deal better than what things had been before. She herself had changed, even! She couldn't bring herself to hate or look down on her more sedate relatives as she used to. The whole thing was one big mess, and Maua still hadn't worked out for herself how she felt about any of it. And then there was this mad rush of cubs that had appeared! She was completely unwilling to admit to herself that she desperately wanted cubs of her own, a mate of her own, and so she had become waspish and curt with the young ones, earning herself a wide berth from any mother or their offspring. She snarled and told herself she wanted it that way, that she liked it that way, but deep in her heart, she knew differently.

So that led to tonight, with a darkened moon of ill omen. Cranky and unsettled, the dark lioness had gone out to hunt without telling anyone where she was going. In fact, she had already decided to travel well beyond the pride's borders. She told herself it was so she might find and kill something with a unique and appealing hide, that might catch the Queen's eye and earn her some favor. The truth was, she just wanted some space, where she didn't have to be related to anyone, worry about anyone, or be judged by anyone.

She was quite a long way from the pride, sneering to herself audibly about this person or that, when the sound of galloping paws reached her ears. She stopped stock still, twitching her ears this way and that, trying to identify where it was coming from, and who it might be. None of her pride was likely to be out this far, were they? So... that would mean a stranger. A thrill of dread ran down her spine like a drip of cold water, leaving fluffed fur in its wake. She was not used to dealing with outsiders... what if they were ruffians?

Just as she took a hold of herself and had resolved to stand up to whatever threat was approaching, two shapes barreled around a bush and straight into her. Both were pale, but still quite shadowed in the dark night. All three went down in a tangle of paws, legs, and tails. Yelps and gasps of pain came from all three before they rolled to a halt. Maua jerked her paws out from under bodies and scrambled to her feet to glare at the other two. To her annoyance and outrage, they weren't even lions! A cheetah and a wild dog, both looking rather worse for wear, staggered to their feet, panting heavily and looking panicked. Maua suppressed a snort. Rightfully so, they should be afraid! Accosting a lion like that! How dare they, lesser species as they were!

Before she could open her mouth to remonstrate, however, the cheetah gasped, "Oh please, miss, help us! He's coming! He'll kill us!" She turned frantically to the canine, nosing a dark, jagged line on her shoulder, which made the dog hiss in pain. "Can you still run?" she asked anxiously, turning a fearful look the way they'd come.

"Now see here! If you stole something, you should stay and own up to the punishment!" declared Maua in righteous fury. "You can't just do something wrong and expect me to help you run away!"

The wild dog gave her such a scathing look, Maua took a half step backward. "We were prisoners and slaves, not thieves!" Her voice was very soft, but it dripped with disdain. "We are escaping, and if you won't help, then get out of the way!" With that, she began limping off into the darkness, but spun back when a furious roar broke behind all three of them. Maua turned slowly to see a very large male lion pounding around the same bush and coming to a sliding halt. His eyes were wild with rage, and he bared his teeth at the sight of them.

"YOU!" he roared, pointing one bared claw at Maua, whose eyes widened in surprise. Surely he was after them, not her?! She had nothing to do with this! "THIEF!" he bellowed, spittle flying from his jaws. "You stole my slaves! I'll have your hide for my blanket by the night's end!" And with that, he lunged forward, jaws gaping, all claws extended.

With a yowl of surprise and terror, Maua spun and bolted after the other two, running to save her life. All thought on whose fault this was had flown from her mind. All that mattered now was escaping the sure death that snarled and roared behind them. A hot, searing sensation at the base of her tail made her tuck it beneath herself and haul all the faster after the other two. But the wild dog was flagging, limping badly on a foreleg and slowing down as a result. All the better, Maua thought... they could take his wrath and perhaps he'd let her go! But at the worst moment, the dog went down, sprawling directly in front of Maua before she had time to evade. The both of them went tumbling yet again, as the cheetah slid to a halt with a scream.

Reza was beside himself with rage. Not only had he nearly lost his precious dancer, but it turned out that some upstart female had stolen them! He'd caught her red-pawed, with his own eyes! She would die for this! He had not been making empty promises about having her hide for his very own. Tonight would be her last alive, if he had anything to say about it!

To his utter delight and fierce pleasure, he watched the dog (who he was certain had assisted in the theft) go down, taking the thief with her. With a roar of triumph, he pounced on the two of them, seizing the wild dog's neck in his jaws and tossing her aside, leaving the lioness under his significant weight and fighting prowess. He landed a heavy-pawed blow against the back of her head, and she went partially limp, stunned and his to eradicate!

However, there was another roar from the darkness, and shadow itself rose up and wrapped its paws around him, carrying him off the lioness and to the ground beyond. As the two large forms wrestled and fought, Maua unsteadily scrambled up and back, running into the cheetah who was hauling the wild dog away from the fight. The world was wavering and weaving beneath her paws, and she clung to the ground desperately, certain she was about to fall off the world. She was barely aware when the fight had ended, only that some large, dark feline was urging them up and moving, even at the hobbling pace that was all they could manage.

"Hurry," he urged them in a low, rumbling voice, "he will be back with guards, he says. Let's gain some ground before then." He chivied them along, goading and coaxing and sometimes even bullying. Maua was violently sick along the way, which seemed to help the world steady a bit, but she still felt terribly off-kilter and unsteady. The wild dog staggered along without complaining, though it was clear she was badly hurt. A sad little group they made as the dawn's light began to brighten the world around them, though it hurt Maua's eyes, and made her fuzzily alarmed to be out and about still after daylight shone. It was time to go home! But when she turned away from the others, the big black male lion, whom she could now distinguish from the shadows, kept guiding her back unerringly. Too muddled to protest much, she stumbled on, unable to think straight enough to do more than take direction until the next time alarm and the desire to return home flooded her. It was like one, long, unending nightmare. When he finally let them stop in a tumble of rocks, she dropped to the ground and was immediately asleep, lost in confused dreams of demons, non-lions, and fear.