[I do NOT own the characters Rookus, Sly, and Eye, they are owned by Rookus_Hyena384
aminoapps.com/p/vvpxua
I do not own the character Tombie, he is owned by Tombie
aminoapps.com/p/jaihi8 ]
The Outlands normally would have become completely unlivable by this point. With the dry season coming back and hitting harder than it ever has before, the Outlands would practically had become like a desert. The dry and arid environment, the hot, blinding white sun, and the lack of water to spare. This year however, things were going to be different.
Nabii and her clan organized a new operation. Tombie and Nabii's clans worked together to bring in some water from up North. They found a giant river up in the Eastern part of the Backlands. A river hugged by trees and thick dense jungles on one side, and on the other, closer to the Outlands, rocky terrains and patches of moss.
About two months prior to the dry season rolling in, Tombie's clan began digging a giant canal that would break off of the river, and they managed to bring it all the way to the Outlands. Nabii's plan was to dig smaller canals breaking off of the homemade river and bring water to everyone in the Outlands. That brings you to today, where the next step would begin.
Jasiri watched from on top of a perch as Multiple clans came together. Rock Spires were all over the place, jetting up into the air. The ground slowly transitioned from yellow-green grass to just a few patches of it here and there, layered over rough stone and gravel piled up into piles and mountains. Even though it was only the afternoon and the sun was setting, with the sky being covered in lighter and darker purples, the heat was still almost unbearable. Jasiri was parched, panting like a dog in the extreme heat, and she was sure everyone else was as well. Because of this, she was fascinated with the idea. No one had ever tried to do this before, not in the Outlands at least. She could only imagine how great things will be when there's more water brought to the Outlands. The place will finally be able to support more life, it won't be so dry and gloomy all the time. No one would have to worry about trying to find water anymore, or worry if they'll be able to get a meal ever again. Jasiri was getting thirsty just thinking about it!
She climbed down from the perch and down to the ground below. There was some shade where she could rest under a rock that protruded from out of a wall of stone and patches of grass and plants. In the shade already was Reirei and Goigoi, but there was still room for one more. She walked over and plopped herself down beside the Jackals.
"Jasiri..." Reirei said in an unenthusiastic tone.
"Hi Reirei..."
They both sat and watched the crowd slowly trickle in to listen to what Nabii's clan had to say. Rookus and her clan of brown hyenas came in from the South, they were the first to arrive. Rookus went over to a tree that was just barely managing to grow in the Outlands, and she sat down under it. Mshale was the first to break off from Nabii's gathered clan and went over to sit down beside Rookus. Mshale now sporting a red symbol on his shoulders, along with Sevaga, Nabii, and a couple other hyenas in her clan. The red symbol of a bird talon lined up against a bone. This symbol was the mark Nabii's clan used.
"So how are things going?" He asked.
"Could be better..." She responded.
"What's wrong? Whenever I see you you're in a good mood."
She looked down at the ground.
"I'd rather not talk about it..."
One of Mshale's eyebrows raised.
"Oh come on, you can tell me! I can keep a secret!"
"It's just some personal things..."
"What kind of personal things?"
She thought about how to explain it for a moment.
"Well... I just recently became clan leader, and I'm afraid I might screw something up, or if my clan mates don't like me."
"How do you know they don't like you?"
"I...I just feel like they do. I mean, I wouldn't like me." She said.
Mshale thought for a moment.
"Why should that bother you?"
"Because I'm the leader, they're supposed to like me!"
"You're the leader, you should do what's best. In my career, I've had a lot of people not like me. I was even rejected from my original clan, they thought I was insane. I've learned that you ignore those people out there, and you move on. Not caring what others think was the best decision I've ever made." He said leaning back and propping his paws behind his head on the tree.
She looked up at him. "Don't you get hurt a lot though?"
He smirked.
"Yes, but I can handle it. I've wrestled with crocodiles, I've been rammed by buffalo before. Both my front legs were broke at the same time at one point."
She chuckled, "I bet that was a fun experience."
"Oh yeah it was! I had to push myself all the way to the nearest healer with my hind legs! Took me about three days! Oh course I had some help, just ask Sevaga. He was not happy about that one."
Rookus smiled, "How are you even still alive?"
"I have no clue, but here, let me tell you a little something about failure. Don't be afraid of it."
She looked away with a hint of worry on her eyes.
"But why shouldn't I be afraid? What if I mess up? What if they all hate me for it? What if it gets somebody hurt or even worse, killed?"
Mshale put his paw on her back.
"I'm in charge of a small part of Nabii's clan. Do you think I'm afraid of failing at all? I literally fail all the time, I've made a life out of it!"
"But you don't have any consequences or anything to worry about besides your own safety! I can't afford to fail!"
"That's not my point, what I'm saying is, you can always find some way to turn the situation around. Failure is never the end." Mshale said with a smile.
Rookus looked back at him and smiled, "Thanks... I guess you're right..."
Mshale then asked, "So, how's Eye doing?"
Eye was a member in Rookus's clan, she was more of a spy type for the group. She liked to look around and search for anything suspicious or interesting, especially after a major incident with a rebellious hyena the clan went through. She was also missing a right eye, similar to Mshale. They liked to hang out a lot, and Rookus suspected that they were into each other.
"Oh she's fine, I don't know where she's at actually, I never know where she's at. I do know however that she is around here somewhere, she came with us after all."
Mshale's ears perked up.
"I'll go find her. See you later."
He got up and walked away as Rookus waved to him. She wondered about her clan... and about Sly... a wicked brown hyena. He attacked her, and when she beat him he ran off with a couple others and hasn't returned since. She could only hope he hasn't went off and joined Thimba's army.
Mshale bumped into Tombie, the red hyena clan leader, on his way.
"Oh I'm sorry." He said.
"No it's quite alright, I wasn't looking where I was going either."
"Ok, well, you have a good day now." Mshale said as he walked off.
"You too!"
Tombie and his clan joined the crowd of animals. He turned around to his clan and said, "Alright guys, we're here! Have fun and be respectful."
They dispersed, and Tombie went to go and find his partner Madoa. He eventually found her sitting next to Jasiri. He also saw Reirei walking away with Goigoi. He went over and filled in the empty spot.
"Hey Tombie!" Madoa said excited.
"Hey there!"
They hugged each other.
"How's the cubs doing?" He asked.
"They're doing fantastic, thanks for asking." She said with a smile.
He laid his paw around her as she rested her head on his chest. They both closed their eyes as they snuggle with one another. Jasiri looked at it and smiled. She was happy that her sister had managed to find someone, though she slowly felt her smile fading. Jasiri realized then that she wasn't happy. Despite her demeanor and joyful exterior she put on for everyone, it was all just a mask to hide the fact that her life wasn't where she wanted it to be.
She felt bad for Janja, there had to be some kind of chance for him to be nice. After all, he did consider joining the Hyena Resistance, and he just recently decided to help the Guard out with Mzingo. In a way, she was kind of happy he didn't leave. After the battle of the Backlands, Mzingo and his Parliament moved to the Pridelands. Even though they're still trying to get along with everyone, they were allowed back in and are making an effort. Janja didn't want to leave the Outlands, he said, "They don't like me and I don't like them!"
He stayed at the volcano, which Nabii seemed kind of upset about. Jasiri was somewhat happy that he didn't go. She had been trying her best to get him to open up. So was Tombie and Rookus, but they knew Jasiri wanted nothing more at the moment than to see Janja open up with everyone. He wouldn't budge though. Sometimes she wondered what he was even thinking...
Janja finally made it to the gathering. He left Nne snd Tano back at the volcano because he didn't trust Cheezi and Chungu to watch the place. With his luck at the moment, those two would probably erupt the dang thing. They had trouble finding a spot, most of the good ones were taken. Jasiri looked over and saw Janja and his henchmen walking around and trying to find a spot. She waved at him to get his attention.
Cheezi said, "Hey Janja! How about we go sit by Jasiri!"
Janja's head snapped over. Oh great, Jasiri's here.
"No way... we can, we can find some place else to sit!"
Jasiri then got up and walked over to them. Just what Janja wanted, of course.
"Hey guys, you wanna come sit by us?"
"Um... sure!"
Why didn't he say no. Janja had no clue why he didn't say no. He couldn't, it was physically impossible for him to utter "No". It felt like a creature had possessed his body, and forced him to say yes. It didn't matter anymore, because he soon found himself walking back with Jasiri to join her and the others.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Mshale looked around for Eye, and his search had lead him away from the crowd and down a winding pathway. He managed to get ahold of her scent, and also one he wasn't familiar with going in the same direction. He followed it through a very narrow crevice in the wall, where he was just barely able to squeeze all the way through. He shoved all the way through the thin tunnel until he popped out in a small area, where Eye was standing there sniffing a corner.
He seized the moment, and as quietly as he could, he hung his body low to the ground, and crawled his way over to her. He snuck up behind her, and prepared to grab her and scare her.
She raised her head up, and suddenly smacked him in the face with her paw. He fell to the ground just as she turned around to great him, "Hello Mshale."
"Heh, nice to see you too."
He stood back up.
"You know Mshale, you're never gonna be able to sneak up on me. I've got eyes on the back of my head."
"Heh heh, don't brag about having more eyes than me!"
"Mshale I'm joking, and besides, we both only have one eye."
"I know I know. Anyways, how has my favorite brown hyena in the world been doing lately?" He said while trying to climb up a wall, noticing some vines hanging from up above.
"Heh, I'm flattered." She replied tilting her head, her hair now exposing the Cut out eye and deep scar, almost the exact same as Mshale's, only a bit more fresh.
She looked away to study what she had found, paying no attention to what Mshale was attempting to do with the vines. What she found was paw prints, familiar paw prints. They seemed to be the prints of a Hyena, and they went up to the wall and seemed to disappear up the side. The scent was familiar as well, but she couldn't quite put her paw on it.
Suddenly Mshale appeared beside her hanging from some vines in a sort of small hammock he fashioned.
"Have I ever told you the story of how I got my scar?"
She rolled her eye. Mshale told it only a thousand times, he loved telling that story. She played along though.
In a sarcastic tone she replied, "No Mshale, I've never heard that story before. Please, do tell!"
He chuckled at her tone. He loved messing with her.
"Ok ok, since you insist. There was once a group of hyenas, but not just any group, a clan! A clan of hyenas and friends, best friends one and all! Then there was the leader, who was like, king friend of friendship kingdom (and the walking definition of a handsome gentleman)"
Mahale winked.
Eye said, "Let me guess, that guy was you."
"Oh you better believe it was me! This clan of friends loved to explore the jungles and savannas of Africa and find adventure! See what eexcitements and wonders the world had to offer! What would we find this time! A group of Baboons? An old ruin left behind by ancient humans? A lake made entirely out of honey? Or perhaps a group of scary and spooky ghosts, and join forces to find a lake made entirely out of honey! One day we found ourselves making out way through a thick and dense jungle. Spirits were uncrushabley high, and everyone was singing and playing and having a jolly time!"
"And then what happened next, oh great story teller?" She said in a joking way.
Mshale smiled at her, knowing how many times she's heard this.
"Well then, a massive storm rolled in. BANG! SMASH! CRACKLE! POP! Who? What? Where? When? Why? How? There? Here? Wow! Bam!
You would think the thick plant life would have stopped the storm from affecting us down below, but unfortunately this storm was so powerful it could put any volcanic eruption to shame!"
"Sounds terrible!" She exclaimed in a mocking tone.
Mshale laughed at her reactions.
"It was! The lighting felt scorching and imposing! The rain was showering down like shards of broken dreams! And then Mr. Observant from the back walks up and says, "I dare say, it does seem like we're in quite the spot of bother!" And someone else said, "Really?! What tipped you off genius?!" And I was all like "Hey be nice"!"
Eye laughed. Mshale was one of the only ones who could make her do that.
He swung around in his vine hammock for some more dramatic affect.
"And like that, it was over. "Boy wasn't that exciting!" I told them. They didn't seem to think so however. Unfortunately for us though, it came back! The storm came back even bigger this time! BANG BANG BANG SMASH! And then one of them goes, "Guys I think there is a Tiger, yep there he is oh god!". A massive Tiger was right in front of us! Of course me being the fearless hyena I am, challenged him head on! Ain't no big cat gonna scare me! My clan thought I was insane though and begged me not to do it. If I had listened, I wouldn't have gotten this scar I have today!"
"And how did you end up here?"
"Well my clan had ran off. Luckily he went after them instead of me, guess he found them more appetizing. I gave chase to that overgrown feline because I wasn't gonna let anyone harm my clan! Sadly though, I couldn't find any of them. Saddened, I walked and walked, until I came on to you guys! While it had seemed like the end, it was only the beginning for another adventure of the clan of Friendship!"
He said as the vines finally snapped and he fell to the ground. Eye laughed as she walked over to him.
"Everytime, you never cease to exaggerate more and more."
"Heh heh, only speaking from the heart my love." He said while still laying on the ground. Eye had began to blush.
"You poor thing." She said helping him up, and then hugged him.
"I'm sorry that you lost you're clan."
"Don't you worry about that. I'm mostly fine now, thanks to you." He said as he hugged back.
Suddenly, two familiar Jackals squeezed through the cravice in the wall. Reirei and Goigoi were surprised to see the place was already occupied by two hyenas.
"Oh great, we just can't get a little peace from hyenas can't we?" She exclaimed.
"What are you guys even doing back here in the first place?"
Eye said, "I smelled something I recognize, and it lead me to these hyena tracks."
She walked over to them, Mshale followed.
"This whole area is very suspicious, all the vines across the place especially. You don't see this kind of stuff in the Outlands."
She thought about it for a moment. Suddenly she realized. Sly! Sly was the only person who could have been here.
"Sly!" She yelled.
Just as she said that, the ground erupted with vines popping out of place, just hidden below the dirt and rocks. They snapped into a giant net, forcing them all inside of it like a venus flytrap catching it's prey. A Trap! Now they were stuck in the net together. A yellow bat was seen flying away during the process.
"What the!" Reirei yelled.
Suddenly, a couple of rugged looking brown hyenas dropped down from above. One walked forward that Eye knew all too well. Sly, his sharp demeanor and face covered in scars.
"Well well well, look who we have here." He cackled.
What did this fiend have planned?