Chapter Four: Mashindano in the Outlands

Wajinga had entered into the volcanic den and was just finishing up the meat when Janja spotted him licking his chops.

“Wajinga!” Janja snapped.

The guilty hyena turned to look at his superior. “What?” Wajinga asked, letting a small smile show.

“Where’d you get the meat?” asked Janja.

At the mention of the word ‘meat’, a multitude of hungry hyenas came pouring out from inside the caves.

“You can go back fellas,” said Janja. “Looks like our friend Wajinga ate it all without asking.”

There were a few growls from the hyenas as well as some disappointed whimpers.

“Wajinga, I’d like an answer,” said Janja.

“Janja,” said Wajinga, mocking Janja’s tone, “I’d like to not give one.”

Janja rose from his perch upon a rock. “You’d better tell me Wajinga,” he threatened, “I’m asking you one more time, where in the Outlands did you get the meat?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” said Wajinga. “I didn’t eat any meat.”

“That’s the biggest lie I ever heard,” said Janja. “You were missing all afternoon.”

“Yeah!” Cheezi shouted. “You were out eatin’ while Janja, Chungu and I were gettin’ our butts kicked by The Lion Guard!”

Janja put a paw over Cheezi’s mouth. “Stuff it,” he muttered.

Wajinga laughed. “Well then, looks like it’s a good thing I was gone!”

Janja walked over to Wajinga and began to circle him. “I smell it,” said Janja, lifting his nose into the air. He smiled. “Zebra.”

“Zebra?!” Chungu shouted. “Where? I want some!”

Janja smiled deviously as Wajinga gulped. “You’re lying to me straight through those teeth that you just devoured half a zebra with. I ought to set you straight.”

Wajinga flared his nostrils. “Go on, Janja. Try me.”

“Very well,” said Janja. “Just like they do in the Pride Lands, we’ll do in the Outlands-a mashindano, to determine who is the dominant hyena in this clan-you or me. At sundown, according to tradition.”

“Fine!” said Wajinga, “challenge accepted.”

The hyenas gathered around a bubbling pit of lava that night in the Outlands. Each hyena bowed as Janja walked into the center of the ring. They all laughed as Wajinga stepped up to face him. “Oh well,” he shrugged. “They always say, the best hyenas get the most laughs.”

“Not this time,” said Janja. He bared his teeth.

Wajinga rushed at the hyena leader, and Janja landed on the ground. Once Wajinga was on top of him, Janja lifted up his rear legs and landed a kick into Wajinga’s stomach. The older hyena groaned. Wajinga fell off of Janja and backed up, ready to charge at him again. But Janja made the first move. He wheeled around, using his rear legs again to strike at Wajinga’s flank, making him skid across the rocky ground into a steamy geyser. Wajinga screeched as the geyser propelled him 6 feet into the air and dropped him back into the ring.

“Ready to give up?” Janja asked.

Wajinga scooted on his steamy rear end, muttering a few “ow”s as he tried to ease the pain. “No,” he said. “I’m..ow..just..ow..getting started, Janja…ow!”

The hyenas laughed.

“C’mon Wajinga!” Cheezi shouted. “Give us some excitement! You’re better than this!”

“Oh, I’m afraid he’s finished, fellas,” said Janja. “Everyone knows you can’t fight with a belly as full as his.”

Wajinga growled. “You only wish you could’ve gotten a bite of that zebra,” he said. “You’re jealous.”

Janja gave a high-pitched laugh. “I knew you’d admit it! See, fellas, he just admitted he ate zebra earlier and never offered us any of it!”

The clan snarled.

“Oh well,” said Janja, “Next time Wajinga finds meat, he’ll share. Won’t you, Waji?”

Wajinga nodded. “Absolutely,” he said.

Janja motioned for the other hyenas to gather around him. “I got a plan fellas,” he said. “I caught a glimpse of an oryx herd grazing on the edge of the Pride Lands this evening. Chances are, they’ll still be around by morning, and if they are, we’re gonna strike. Who wants to go with me?”

Cheezi and Chungu raised their paws first. “Us, Janja! Take us!”

“Fine, Cheezi and Chungu will come with me. If we can get in and out of the Pride Lands without the Lion Guard seeing us, then we’ll make sure to bring back plenty for the whole clan.”

The hyenas cheered.

Meanwhile, in a den across the Outlands, Jasiri was laying down on the warm ground, trying to think up an idea of how she could sneak out of her mother’s territory and go exploring the next day. It wasn’t going to be easy, but she had a plan. Jasiri smiled, then drifted off into a deep sleep.