| S H E N Z I the hyena’s belly is never full |
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Shenzi shifts her posture ever so slightly, suddenly appearing feline-like in the smugness of her smile, the gleam of pride in her eyes at the truth of Collision’s words. Her body not sleek or graceful in the manner of many that roamed the Dunes. But there was not a soul dwelling upon the sands that had a strength as potent as that which Shenzi possessed, and she was coming to realise this. “There is no need for apology,” she says to Collision. “It is my nature. For a time I was lost, but no longer. My blood is fire, my bones are iron. My spirit is unbroken.” She falls silent at that, and listens to his tale with piercing eyes. “Kendry fought with honour, he had sense,” Shenzi finds herself interrupting, her mind racing as she processes all that she was hearing, and struggles to keep the ferocity of her emotions in check. “If you speak the truth, then he fought to defend the right of mares, to protect the freedom that ones like me have every right to. I am every bit as strong as any stallion, stronger even, for the babes I’ve carried in my belly.” In the heat of things, she let slip something she’d have preferred to keep to herself, and realising this, her lip twitched in a snarl that she quickly shook off. “No matter what it was that endeared you to the brute who led the Lagoon band into battle, it is evident that he is flawed in his core beliefs. He would look upon me and view me as lesser. Kendry did not. He saw me, as Maslakhat sees me.” A pause, and a softening in her expression, in her voice and her eyes. “Look at me and see me, Collision. Am I not worthy to stand before you as an equal?” With a shake of her head, she shows that she does not wish for an answer, at least, not one shaped with words. And she falls silent, allowing Collision to continue. A smile, genuine despite the fact it is small and fleeting, turns up the corners of her lips, and she dips her head in acknowledgement of Collision’s concern for her. “Perhaps you were misguided, but your heart won out in the end. I am glad.” His heart was in the right place. There was more she wanted to say, but she bit down on them, because they were a truth that didn’t need telling – Shenzi was not the sort who needed saving, she saved herself – for to do so would only serve to demean Collision’s noble intentions. It is subtle, the effect the unfolding tale has upon the mare. Much has gone unsaid between her and the custodian of the Dunes, namely the circumstances that had brought her to the fringes of his domain. She does not look at him, but still her body betrays her in the twitching of a single ear, turned towards him but for a moment. But she does not show fear, nor seem to wither at the hopelessness of the picture that Collision’s telling painted. She bristles at the names he speaks, but says nothing more. (In days to come, she knows, all her truths will out.) And the barb mare knows what it is she must do, in order to settle the unease that ripples in her heart. Collision had spoken well of the Peak, mentioned more than one mare with whom he had formed some kind of connection. It would be a good place for him, if he chose to return there. “See for yourself, Collision Course,” Shenzi says finally, echoing Maslakhat’s words, attempting to give an answer to the both of them in her characteristically ambiguous way. Lifting her head high, she looks the black and white male in the eye, for a moment seeming so much more than her stature, shorter than both males. “You need not worry about me. May your heart be content knowing that I am where I belong.” There was no promise offered of her own safety, Shenzi more than anyone knew that there was no such thing as guaranteed safety. There were dangers aplenty to be found in any stretch of sandy wasteland, but these were dangers less daunting than the ones that lurked in the depths of the Lagoon. Of course, her omission of the matter of her safety was in no way a reflection upon the faith she had in the golden bay Teke. After all, she had chosen him for herself. “Tutakutana tena,” she says in parting to Collision Course, and she reaches forwards to share breaths with him. “We will meet again.” And with that, she turns and departs, ascending the mountains of sand that rise before her. She pauses upon a crest, hooves kicking up sand as she rears, tail snapping through the air. There is no call summoning Maslakhat to her side, but she waits expectantly for him to come to her. Her time of running was over, and she would prove herself worth the confidence Maslakhat had shown her. |