There has been a lot of misconception about the hyena, reinforced by popular culture. One such erroneous belief was that hyenas were mostly scavengers and steal other predators' kills. While hyenas wouldn't pass up on carrion, they were quite capable of taking down big game by themselves. And Akia and Vita were going to prove it. Of course, there were only so many places that a pair of hyena Animalians could go hunting. Fortunately, Mayor Clara happened to know the perfect place.
"Horace Trifelter has a big enough property in a part of the Rockies," said Clara, "There's plenty of good game there. In fact, me and Rick brought down a moose there almost two years ago." She licked her lips as she thought back to that hunt. Running Animalia could be such a chore and it was nice for her to be able to hunt, even if it wasn't the same as she used to before she uplifted.
"We've been thinking of going back there for hunting," said Rick, "But if you two really want to hunt, you can go up with us."
"Well, we wouldn't want to impose," said Vita, "I mean, he's your friend."
"It's not a bother," said Rick, "Besides, it would do him some good to meet more people. It must get really lonely for him out there in the wilderness."
"Not quite so lonely," said Clara mildly.
"Oh, right," said Rick, "I almost forgot."
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The log cabin looked better than when Rick and Clara had last seen it. It looked more spruced up and repainted. And it was quite apparent who did those refurbishing. A bobcat Animalian walked out of the log cabin as soon as their truck came to a stop. "Rick, Clara, welcome back," he said.
"Looking good, Horace," said Rick as he got out of the truck.
"Well, I owe a lot of it to my better half," said Horace.
A female bobcat Animalian walked out and stood next to Horace. "Good to see you, Clara," she said, "Are the cubs here?"
"Good to see you too, Tierra," said Clara, "We left them back home this time. We have other people joining us." At that, another truck pulled up and Akia and Vita got out.
Tierra tilted her head and said, "What strange-looking dogs. Never seen anything like them around here."
"Actually, we hyenas aren't actually dogs," said Akia, "We just happened to evolve into a similar niche as canines. We're actually more related to cats than dogs."
"Never heard of a hyena before," said Tierra.
"Hyenas are from Africa," said Vita, "Though I hear there used to be some in North America during the last ice age."
"I'm presuming you brought these two ladies up here to do some hunting?" asked Horace.
"Ladies?" asked Vita, mildly affronted.
"Better get used to that, dear," said Akia with amusement.
"Yes, but nothing that need to be rushed," said Rick, "We can take the time to get to know one another."
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At dinner, Clara and Rick had explained a few things between the hyena and bobcat couples. Namely that Akia and Vita were both hermaphrodites.
"Huh, don't that beat all," commented Horace, "Doesn't it get confusing?"
"I'd like to think of it as a completely equal partnership," said Akia.
"Well, can't argue with that," said Horace.
"Well, I met Akia when I was a zookeeper at hir zoo and shi got selected for Project Hermaphroditus," said Vita, "Shi was still fond of me afterwards and eventually shi won me over."
"So shi's a zoo animal," said Tierra, "I guess you've never had to hunt before."
"Well, I never had to," said Akia.
"In which case, I think you'd better let me help you with your hunting," said Tierra, "I know this area a lot better than you do."
"So you're from here?" asked Vita.
"Found her in a nasty poacher's trap," said Horace, "I probably saved her from being made into a throw rug."
"And I was uplifted, we just hit it off," said Tierra.
"I'm just glad you were able to find someone who made you happy," said Clara. She had personally expected Horace to become a mountain lion, but this seems to work out better for him.
"I hope being a zoo animal hasn't made you forget your hunting instincts," said Tierra.
"How can one really forget?" asked Akia, "Besides, I've watched videos of hyenas hunting. All we have to do is lock our strong jaws around an animal's neck and it's game over."
Tierra sighed and said, "It looks like I will need to guide you through it."
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The next day, Tierra led the two hyenas into the wild to do some hunting. And they found quite the prize prey: a full-grown bull moose with an impressive set of antlers. Even a pack of wolves would think twice about taking on a beast that size. Of course, Akia and Vita were a lot smarter than the average hyena. And being Animalians, they were considerable stronger. And besides brains and muscles, the spotted hyena did have a very powerful bite. Not the strongest in the animal kingdom, but well above average. And once Akia's jaws got clamped around the moose's throat, the poor beast didn't stand a chance.
Clara marveled how the hyenas' hunt wasn't that much different from her and Rick's hunt nearly two years ago. Though she and Rick were going after smaller game, hunting deer with Horace. But she was aware that there was plenty of hunting going on this month. For instance, Tyra was hunting some feral pigs near her hometown with some raptor friends. She hadn't heard how successful they were yet, but she knew there was going to be plenty of meat at Thanksgiving this year.