The story begins with failure. The female leopard struggles to hunt effectively, and
she’s constantly harrassed by the hyena. At one point both have nothing to lose, and
when the leopard finally develops an effective hunting strategy, the hyena learns to
hang back and not complicate matters. An uneasy alliance begins to form between
the two lone predators. When the leopard stashes a valuable carcass in the treetops,
she drops scraps for the hyena to pick up below. Intentional? Maybe, maybe not…
After some weeks in the same territory the hyena decides to cooperate more fully,
herding prey towards the leopard’s night-time ambushes, and it works well. More
meat for both of them. Sometimes they even feed at each end of the carcass – a sight
rarely witnessed between these normally fierce rivals.
While this private symbiosis continues, the hyena clan is waging a full-scale war with
the local lion pride. The clan needs lots of meat, and they haven’t yet realised the
leopard’s hunting prowess. When they do, it could be trouble for both our characters.
How will their relationship be affected by this new threat and who will prevail?