A Hyena's Tale Ch. 12

Jasiri padded through the gorge as she kept her eyes on the land before her. Although she was worried about the good of her clan and the other two, she could not stop thinking about one thing.

Kion.

Right now, this was what prompted Jasiri to push forward. To get as far away from the Pridelands as possible. It had been three days since Kion had destroyed the home her parents had left her. That one act was the thing that made even her tough as nails bodyguard, Barbatus, skeptical about being around her. She knew she was being a bit harsh, but this was the only way to let the clans know her new rule: No Pridelands, no Lion Guard.

She also thought about how Tombie was doing.

--

"And then I tell him, "Oh sure, pick on the guy with Stripes!""

Janja chuckled a little bit as his brother gave his punchline. "So, what happened next?"

"So then he says, "Tell you what, I'll knock that rotten tree over so you can cross." And then I say, "Or we can just go AROUND the giant puddle of Quicksand, just for a change of pace. And also, a save of energy."

The two of them began to laugh. It had been a long time since Janja had heard a good joke like that. It was also the first time he had enjoyed another animals company like this in such a long time. As a Hyena, laughing was one of the things that made you so. Pure Laughter, however, was not something that just happened.

"That-that's actually pretty funny!" Janja laughed, "You know, Rhinos sure ain't too good at planning ahead."

"Not really." Tombie shrugged as his smile stayed on his face, "They sure know what to do when something tries to eat 'em, though."

"I guess they do." Janja slowly stopped laughing. His ears began to lower as he followed the two Hyenas that carried his brother. It was more than apparent that he had something on his mind that was troubling him. "Hey Tomb?" He asked the red Hyena. "I wanna tell ya somethin'."

"What's on your mind, Janja?" Tombie asked curiously.

As Tombie was about to find out, Janja was about to say something that came deep from inside. It may have been the case after he saved Tombie from the cliffs edge, but what he was going to say next must've been an older wound. One that hurt his ego more than stating that they were the same.

"I'm sorry."

"What? I didn't hear that." Tombie looked confused as he tilted his head. Janja had spoken so softly that he couldn't hear him.

"This is my fault." Janja's voice raised, his tone shaking from guilt. "I left you on your own when we were just pups. You could've died, Tombie! And it was all my fault! I mean, what happened to you three days ago was my fault, too. If I had been there instead of getting you stupid food, this would never ha-"

"Wait." Tombie put his paws up. "Janja, what're you talking about?"

"Everything is my fault." Janja said slowly. "It's my fault Ma and Pop died, It's my fault you almost died out in there, it's my fault Scar's back."

"Janja." Tombie swiftly set his paws on Janja's shoulders and stared him in the face. "It is not your fault Mom and Dad passed, and whatever else you did was in the past. I've let go of everything you did to me. Sure, I wanted to get you for it at first, but then I realized something: I was angry. Like you were." He closed his eyes as he seemed rather ashamed of admitting this. "If I kept on being as angry as you were, I would be like you. Alone."

Janja's ears lowered completely. "So, the reason all this has happened to me was because I was angry?"

"Exactly." Tombie nodded. "But you're not alone anymore, Janja. You got me, Jasiri, Madoa, and ball our clans."

Now Janja had always tried to hide his emotions, other than Mischief and Malice, so this was almost like a first for him. He hadn't considered family in his life other than his parents, and that was only when he was a Pup and when they were alive. When they were pups, Janja may have been a bully to him sometimes, but he would also be there to help bail him out whenever he gotten himself into trouble.

Before they could say more, something zoomed past them in the underbrush.

Janja looked in all directions. He had only just noticed that they had entered the Backlands. Few variations of the Foliage was found in the neighboring Pridelands. The Hyena, his brother, and the ones carrying him looked around for the shape that had just zipped past them. Suddenly, the unknown creature burst from the bushes and landed in front of Janja.

A Leopard.

"Oh, hi there." The Leopard waved kindly. "Sorry if I scared you, there. It's kinda a Leopard thing."

"Uh, who're you?" Janja asked as he raised his eyebrow.

"Oh, where are my manners?" The Leopard shook his head quickly. "I'm Badili, and i'm here to welcome you Hyenas to the Backlands."

"Uh..."

"Ah, Badili, I see you've found our guests of honor." The Hyenas and Badili looked up to a ledge on the hill before them to see a Leopard with Blue eyes and a Grey pelt approaching them. She turned her attention to Talen, one of Tombie's second in commands. She hopped off the ledge and growled as she approached him.

Talen lowered his ears and growled as well. "Your move." Was all that he said to her.

The Snow Leopard pounced on him and wrestled him in the dirt. Janja backed up as he watched the fight. Talen rolled around with her and launched her off of himself.

As soon as she landed, the Leopard began to laugh, "I see you've been training on that move, Talen." She chuckled.

"And it looked like your flying feline was much more thought through since last time, Theluji." Talen grinned. "Well done, hun, well done."

Janja kept looking on, and finally spoke up. "Uh, wait, you know each other?"

"Sure do, Janja." Talen nodded, "This here's my girl, Theluji."

"Your girl?"

"Yep, I'm his Girl." Theluji nodded. "Welcome, Hyenas one and all, to the Backlands."

Janja watched as the other Hyenas all arrived to a large rock that stood near a big Watering hole. He also saw Norok, Tombie's other second in command, rubbing his face against what looked like the Lead female Leopards face, and at his feet were six small creatures who all looked happy to see him. Now these creatures were an oddity to the eyes of Janja. Any animals that looked like some sort of mixes between Striped Hyenas and Leopards. ' Did that Norok guy marry that Leopard?' he thought.

Whatever the case, at least they would be safe from Scar.

--

The laughs of the demonic lions head rang through the Volcano. Never had such an otherworldly sound been heard in this mountain. The Lions head smirked as he looked back down to the two Lizards who had delivered the news that had riled him up so much. Next to them, Ushari looked down to his reptile friends with unblinking eyes.

"So a Pride of Leopards and some Komodo Dragons are banding together to protect themselves against me?" the fiery ghost asked the red Skink.

"That's right." Shupavu grinned, "We heard the Leopard leader, Katali, speaking with the leader of the Komodos."

"He said that he knows you're here, and wants to form an alliance." Njano added.

From below the ledge that stood before the Lava, Zira sat with the other two leaders, Reirei and Kiburi, all three of them listening to Scar speaking with the Skinks. "Leopards? Ha!" Zira declared. "Such ignorant cats should know better than to dare challenge us."

Scar looked down to his mate with a grin. "Oh, Zira, always so confident. Leopards and Komodo Dragons working together could be more of a threat than you think. And seeing as you succeeded in your last mission, taking out an entire group of them would be an easy task."

Zira stood up and Pridefully smirked. "Your trust in me is well placed, Scar. And what of Kovu?"

"Kovu shall be second in Command." Scar turned to Kiburi, Reirei, and the Vulture leader, Mzingo, with an authorative tone in his voice. "Whatever Kovu says goes, and none of you are to say otherwise. Understood?"

"Uh, sure thing, Scar." Kiburi nodded.

"You can count on it." Reirei smiled nervously.

"Undoubtedly so." Mzingo flew out of the Volcano entrance along with the other leaders. Scar watched as they left and turned to Ushari as the Skinks scuttled away as well. "Ah, Ushari, adding Zira to the Army was the best decision I ever made."

"It cccccertainly wasssss." Ushari hissed. "And I'm sssso glad thosssse Hyenasss are gone."

"Hyenas have never been good minions...." Scar growled. Apparently, Hyenas were more a pain to him than Ushari could've ever guessed.