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It was dawn in the Wanyama Valley, and for Fisi the hyena, that meant it was time to get a drink. His little black nose poked out from his burrow to sniff the air for any sign of danger, and once he was sure the coast was clear, he hauled himself out onto the dust by his long front legs, and shook his hunched back free of the dry soil. The sky was gold and the valley walls were blue as the spotted hyena began trotting across the savannah, heading for a small outcrop of rocks topped by a dead tree nearby. Fisi stopped at the bottom and whooped up at the golden tail he could see dangling from the highest boulders. “Simba! Are you coming down to the water-hole?” He was answered by a loud yawn, almost a roar, and the golden head of a lion rose up from the kopje. Simba had only recently reached maturity, and the beginnings of his mane formed a tight circle around his head and did not go further than his shoulders. His eyes dropped and he smacked his jaws lazily, looking around for the source of his disturbance. “Oh, hello Fisi. I’ll be down in a moment, hold on.” The lion stood up underneath the tree and began slowly clambering down the rocks. They were both young males without a group of their own species, so they often hunted and scavenged together, both for companionship and increased chances of success. “So, are we hunting today?” said the hyena once Simba was on the ground and had begun to walk. “I’m so hungry! When was the last time we ate?” “Yesterday,” Simba chuckled. “Surely you can wait a little longer to find something to eat?” “HAH! That shouldn’t take too long!” came a harsh caw from somewhere in the sky. The two animals looked up as a dark shadow passed overhead, and a large brown bird with a gangly pink face landed in front of them.“Good morning Tai,” Simba said civilly. The vulture sometimes followed the two carnivores around to scavenge their leftovers, so they knew her well enough, but she was not a particularly pleasant creature to be around. “What makes you say that?”The vulture hunched her shoulders as a grin spread across her hooked beak. “The water-hole has dried up!” “What?” Simba and Fisi looked at each other in horror. “Yep! Not a single drop left! Those fish flopping around in there will make an excellent midday meal once they’ve cooked for a while!” “I mean, sure we’ve had dry seasons before, but for it to completely vanish ?” Fisi whined, ignoring her and looking at Simba. “We’re supposed to be in the wet season just now! There’s been no rain for weeks!” the lion replied, sounding anxious. “Boys! No need to be upset!” Tai smiled, clearly revelling in their distress. “After all, lots of very thirsty animals mean lots of meat for you and I! Well, mostly for me, once you two inevitably shrivel up as well.” Observing the dumbfounded expressions on their faces, the vulture smirked and took off. “Well, I’d best go spread the good news! See you later boys, sooner than you think! Haw-haw!” Lion and hyena stood silent until the steady flap of the vulture’s wings faded into the distance. Then wordlessly, they began to walk, their previous destination gone and forgotten. “So…” Fisi began after a short while. “Do you think we should go check it out? See how bad it really is?” Simba shook his head. “No point, if it’s gone then it’s gone; nothing we can do about it. We had better get to the river instead, if we don’t get there first then all the water there might be gone soon as well.” “Hold on,” Fisi stopped, angling his large ears towards the sky. “Do you hear that?” “What is it?” Simba, with less sensitive hearing, stopped and listened. Then he heard it: roaring and crashing, hisses and grunts, all accompanied by the sound of splashing water. “It sounds like it’s coming from the river! Come on, let’s go!” They raced forward in the direction of the noise, the cat easily outstripping the loping hyena. As Simba got nearer to the river, he could make out the shapes of the animals standing around it, though not the water, as it had shrunk far beyond its usual level. The animals on both sides of the river turned their heads when Simba skidded to a halt on the bank, followed closely by a panting Fisi; they all knew to be wary of two of the valley’s most proficient predators. On their side, Muhangu the aardvark and his mate stepped backward nervously, and Mbuni the ostrich spread her wings out over her chicks. On the opposite bank, Punda Milia the zebra and a few of his mares whinnied and stomped, and Twiga the giraffe loftily turned his head away as though he were above the whole situation. But Simba and Fisi paid them no heed, and instead stared transfixed at the bottom of the riverbank. All that remained of the once great and powerful body of water was a muddy puddle, barely big enough for an elephant calf. Standing opposite in the water, and the source of the noise, a large crocodile and a huge hippo were facing off against one another. “The river has always belonged to mine, Mamba, go back to the water-hole!” The hippo charged forward, sending up a spray of mud and flashing her long yellow teeth. The crocodile recoiled, but quickly retaliated with a swipe of his massive tail and a snap of his jaws. “There is no water-hole anymore, Kiboko! And I need this water: more than you do!” Simba watched as they argued, charged, and retreated back and forth. So far, it looked as though no one had struck a blow yet, but they would need much convincing before they did. He stuck his claws into the mud and carefully slid down the bank and ran up to the water. “Stop! We shouldn’t be fighting! This is the only water left in the whole valley!” “Exactly!” The leader of the zebras stomped his hoof. “And we were here first, so back off, lion!” “Yes,” The giraffe turned his attention back to the argument, and snorted aggressively at Simba. “The last thing we need right now is some carnivore telling us what we can and can’t do. He’s only here so he can catch us while we’re drinking and sneak up on us! Him and that scavenger friend of his.” “What? No, I-“ Simba looked up at Twiga and the zebras. Mamba and Kiboko had ignored him, and the crocodile lunged forward at the hippo with full intent to bite. “Please, let us drink! My children haven’t had water for days!” Mbuni the ostrich begged, crouching low over her chicks who were sobbing at the noise. “What about my wife? She’s sick! She needs this water more than anyone!” Muhangu the aardvark stood forward and grunted, adding his voice to the mix. Fisi stood on the bank, looking from animal to animal as the arguments got progressively worse. Mamba and Kiboko were full-on fighting now, and Simba tried to escape the crossfire by heading for the other side, but he was harassed back down the bank by the shouting zebras and stomping giraffe. The ostriches and aardvarks were still complaining, and all the while Tai the vulture was circling overhead. Fisi could just imagine the hungry smirk on her face. “SILENCE!” Everybody froze. There was only creature in the entire savannah who could make a sound like that. Simba watched as a huge black shadow slowly came into view above the bank. It totally dwarfed every other creature at the river, making even Twiga look measly by comparison. The massive form blocked out the sun and the watching vulture, and huge ears flapped away at the flies that hovered around them. In the shadow, a pair of long tusks stuck out like the horns on a rhino. Nobody was arguing now. When Tembo the elephant spoke, it was best to listen. All eyes were on her as she slowly surveyed the scene, never once showing a hint of emotion. There was a long pause where she shut her eyes and appeared lost in thought. Then, she took a deep breath, and spoke in a soft, gentle voice, drastically different to her introduction. “Simba is right. We should not be fighting at this time of great need.” “But I-“ Mamba began, gesturing towards the hippo, but the elephant silenced him with a single look. “We all need water. Fighting to control it will accomplish nothing but more deaths than necessary. What we must do is share what we already have, and begin looking for an alternative source when it runs out.” The animals looked at their respective groups and murmured admiringly among themselves, except for Twiga, intent on discrediting her, even though he thought of the elephant as his only superior. “In case you missed it, Tembo,” the giraffe drawled, looking down on her and drawling all attention to him. “This is the only water left in the entire valley. Once this dries up, we are out of options! It’s every creature for themselves now!” The elephant shut her eyes to think again, and Simba was impressed with her patience towards the disrespectful giraffe. After another short while she opened her eyes to speak. “This is a problem, though not a new one.” Tembo raised her voice to address them all. “For years now the rains have fallen less and less, and now, it seems, they will not fall at all. The animals in our valley either migrated never to return, stayed and starved to death, or dwindled in numbers so severely that those who remain are the last of their kind here.” Simba, Fisi, and Twiga all lowered their heads at that, and even Tembo seemed sunken. “Wanyama Valley was once a beautiful place filled with life: grass covered every inch of ground, birds burst from every tree, insects lived under every rock…and now it appears that its time has come. With the disappearance of our water-hole, the valley’s fate is sealed. Our home is dead, and we will be too if we don’t work together. We have always depended on each other for survival: does the lion not live only if the zebras flourish?” Bad example , thought Simba, cowering at the already angry zebras on the ridge above him, though they seemed distracted by Tembo’s speech. “Can’t we just leave ?” Punda Milia said, backed up by eager nods from his mares. “Zebras can go with zebras and everyone else can go with whomever they choose. I mean, grass is grass no matter which valley it’s in, isn’t it?” “You won’t get far!” Tai decided to join the conversation, and circled down to land next to Fisi, her talons gripping the ridge of the riverbank.”For one thing, the same thing is happening for miles around, and beyond that, the places are filled to the brim with herds that definitely won’t welcome more mouths to their watering holes, and starving lions and hyenas that will just look at you as a walking buffet! I mean,” the vulture rolled her shoulders and laughed. “You’re certainly welcome to try!” That caused more cries of outrage and despair from all sides, as hope seemed to be lost for the animals now. Simba said nothing, and looked around at the creatures gathered at the river, thinking. Suddenly he locked eyes with Tembo, who seemed to be watching him. She nodded, as though she was waiting on him to do something. Simba roared, silencing the arguing crowd in an instant. All eyes were suddenly on him, and he was unsure of what exactly he should do next. After a moment, the lion’s resolve hardened and he walked forward, in between the stunned Mamba and Kiboko until he stood directly under Tembo, and it was the elephant he was addressing when he looked up. “We should have a meeting, tonight, with everyone in the valley in attendance.” Simba half-turned in both directiond, projecting his voice for all the animals to hear. “We can all put our heads together, discuss our options, and maybe someone will come up with an idea!” “Everyone in the valley?” Twiga scoffed, bending his neck to Tembo’s ear for approval. “Sounds like he’s luring us all there to eat us if you ask me.” “I’m not,” Simba promised, stepping forward. “And I’ll make sure that the other carnivores know to not harm anyone. You have my word.” “And mine,” Fisi stepped forward, and even Mamba nodded his long snout in agreement. “And they have my trust.” Tembo rounded on Twiga with a stern look, and he straightened up with a gulp. “I think it is a marvellous idea. We will hold it by the great baobab tree at dusk today. Can I rely on the rest of you to spread the word to the others in the valley?” “I know where to find Pimbi the hyrax, and the lizards.” Muhangu said, twitching his snout in excitement.“We zebras can pass the message on to other creatures of the herd I suppose, the gazelles and antelopes and such.” Punda Milia added, looking to his mares who nodded in approval. “I should pass by the monkeys and birds on the way to my nest. We’ll let them know, won’t we children?” Mbuni offered, accompanied by the happy ‘peep’s of her chicks. Fisi wagged his tail. “Simba and I know where to find Duma and Nyoka! We’ll make sure they promise not to hurt anyone!” Tembo smiled and nodded her head. “Good, and I will stay here and make sure there are no more fights over the water. Speaking of which,” She twitched her head, and Mamba and Kiboko, ashamed of themselves, moved out of the puddle. “Very well, then I will see you all tonight at the great baobab. Until then, drink!” Pleased with the agreement, the animals moved down towards with the water with a general buzz of excitement. Kiboko and Mamba moved aside to let Mbuni’s chicks and Muhangu’s mate drink first, and Fisi went to stand beside Simba, congratulating him with a small smile. Twiga moved in among the zebras, trying not to draw attention to himself although he was five times their height. Tembo did not move, waiting until all of the others had drank their share before she would do so. Fisi noticed there was once creature absent, and he nudged Simba to look up at sky. The lion and hyena exchanged a glance and giggled under their paws as they watched Tai the vulture fly away, clearly in a very bad mood.