“Hyenas!” two of them shouted, whilst the third one was still gasping for air, apparently a bit shocked.
Hyenas?! Nala asked herself, as it had been a long time since she ever heard anyone mention them outside of the usual bedtime story of the Battle of Priderock. As she clearly was still lacking in information, and the lionesses who sounded the alarm in credibility, Nala rushed towards the ramp herself to take look, followed by the larger part of the pride present at the plaza. Even before she had the chance to confirm the rapport, the pride had already broke out in exceptionally noisy panic, everyone shouting back and forth in increasing volume without actually knowing what was going on. Nala peeked over the ramp. First thing she saw was a blood-red sunrise. But as she looked closer, she indeed noticed an approaching horde. Quite shocking actually, seeing your eternal enemy appearing out of nowhere, literally at your doorstep. Nala checked again, still hoping she was only seeing a mirage. Alas, the approaching onslaught was as real as it gets. Having recognized the threat (as they obviously hadn’t come over for a polite chat about the latest fun-facts concerning scavenger-lifestyle), the first thing Nala had to do was set priorities.

Where did they came from? No priority.
Why were they there? As of present irrelevant.
Why didn’t the lionesses notice sooner? Too late for that now.

Only thing that mattered now was: how many, what are they up to, how to stop them.
Nala estimated there were certainly no less than fifty, probably even sixty or more adversaries, advancing in tight formation.

And we add up to… twenty-five max, cubs included… twenty lionesses at best… tight call, very tight call.

It was obvious the hyenas were heading for Priderock, and they weren’t out sightseeing. Were they intent on conquering Priderock? Or were they after the lions themselves?

Irrelevant. We’re not letting ‘em have Pridrock either way. No scavenger sets foot in here while I still draw breath, not on the ground our forefathers fought and died for. Not again.

But how to stop them? The lions were obviously outnumbered, and Nala had no idea whatsoever concerning the enemy’s capabilities. But seeing as they had snuck up to Priderock undetected, she feared the worst. Plus, the enemy appeared oddly disciplined. A numerous enemy was already problematic – but a numerous, stealth gasping for air, apparently a bit shocked.
Hyenas?! Nala asked herself, as it had been a long time since she ever heard anyone mention them outside of the usual bedtime story of the Battle of Priderock. As she clearly was still lacking in information, and the lionesses who sounded the alarm in credibility, Nala rushed towards the ramp herself to take look, followed by the larger part of the pride present at the plaza. Even before she had the chance to confirm the rapport, the pride had already broke out in exceptionally noisy panic, everyone shouting back and forth in increasing volume without actually knowing what was going on. Nala peeked over the ramp. First thing she saw was a blood-red sunrise. But as she looked closer, she indeed noticed an approaching horde. Quite shocking actually, y and disciplined foe?

This is going to hurt… they caught us by surprise… best we can hope for is returning the favor by trying  a surprise breakout. But we can’t let them surround us, or their numbers will start paying off. We have to prevent them from pouring onto the plaza.

“Everyone, get here now! Hurry, rally to me!” Nala cried to the lionesses who were still dazed, just sitting on the Rock or the plaza, “Get up here, and do exactly as you’re told! Don’t think, run!”

Suddenly, she spotted a lone lioness descending from the den. In the blink of an eye, she identified her.

Kani, young, proud, obedient, reliable. Babysitting duty ‘till nightfall… Babysitting duty!

Nala suddenly remembered the cubs. If the hyenas reached the plaza, the cubs would be defenseless! But she couldn’t just divert half of her force to the den, she had to few lionesses at her disposal to do that… and the enemy was to close to get everyone a the den in time…

But we can’t just hope for the frontline to hold… damn, why did those mongrels to sneak up on us… well, it sure seems to have worked for them. Or wait, the back-passage! We could get the cubs out via the back-passage! Kani couldn’t possibly pull that all on her own though… but there’s always a second baby-sit; she probably stayed with the cubs while Kani came to check out the noise. Well, I sure hope Kani proves to be the promising lioness I’ve taken her for… Damn, this is all so improvisatory… but it’s our only shot at securing the cubs…

“Kani, get the cubs out of here, now! Use the passage!”

The young lioness stopped and stayed motionless for a moment.

Damn, girl, hurry up already! This ain’t no time for fancy explanations.

“NOW!”

Finally, Kani took off, now swift and determined. But Nala didn’t have time to see her disappear into the den, as the enemy was already at the figurative arm’s length. Luckily, all lionesses had already assembled behind Nala. Most of ‘em looked confused, stunned or not yet awake even. Well, as Nala didn’t have time for a fancy speech, she’d just have to hope they’d be able to charge the enemy before all those emotions turned to fear.

Time for the Prindelanders to show what we’re made of! Damn, this is starting to look bleak… I just hope…

Nala’s own thoughts, however, was interrupted by the sound of her own voice shouting the final order, and the rush of her body leaping forward. She just hoped everyone else would follow.

“Charge! Don’t let them reach the rock, drive ‘em back!”

And much to her own satisfaction, or whatever was left of it after adrenaline had turned her into a frenzied, three-hundred pound fighting machine, she could hear enthusiast, enraged, deafening and overly encouraging battleroars originating from her pridemates as they all stormed down the ramp, onto the approaching mass of opponents.

*

It was immediately crystal-clear the lioness had singled her out from the start, so as they raced towards each other, Kim mentally braced for impact. She had however, better braced physically, as the sudden leap of the lioness still caught her by surprise, in spite of any training or common sense.
She felt the enemy’s paws hit her hard as they threw her back onto the clanmate behind her.Kim hit the ground with a hard thump, being stunned from the ensuing blow of her head onto the ground. Unable to move for a split second, all she could do was stare at the lioness who was allready standing over her, paw pressing down on her chest so Kim couldn’t breathe, intent at finishing the job. Fearing it be the last thing she’d ever see as she was still unable to move, Kim took a last good look at the enemy’s face. The lioness actually looked rather young and pretty (for a lioness), being unscratched, pretty sleek and with a darker fur, not to mention a certain latent… innocence? But more important than her innocent look was the fact she acted innocent too, as in stead of going for Kim’s throat like any slightly experienced lion would do, she hesitated, like a youngling out on her first hunt, a mistake you usually pay for dearly when dealing with an eternal enemy. But she did, she hesitated, unable to make the kill, just staring back at Kim who felt both too scarred and too astonished to react. The young lioness, however, was suddenly swept aside as the massive yaws of Kali bit her in the shoulder whilst stomping her back by sheer impulse. As she had been standing atop Kim with one paw, the lioness immediately lost balance and tripped over onto the ground. Finding herself thrown back into battle again all of a sudden, Kim jumped up again, just in time to see how Kali readied herself to gut the young lioness. The lioness put up a last effort, violently kicking Kali in the chest with her back-paws (maybe breaking, or at least bruising one of Kali’s ribs), to no avail: Kali relentlessly gnawed at the lioness’ belly.

This is probably like, the stupidest thing I’ve ever done, if not the last thing… Kim, you stupid, stupid girl!

But as only inches separated Kali’s teeth from the lioness, Kim suddenly pounced at Kali, pushing her back and making her miss the young lioness by an arm’s length. The lioness briefly stared at Kim with a mixture of fear, relief and confusion, and of course gratitude. But then, she suddenly tried saying something, or shouting something in a rather desperate manner. Of course, Kim couldn’t hear her over all the background-noises that came with a full scale battle, but as the look in the lioness’ eyes more or less spoke for itself (and it said 'behind you!’), Kim tried