Ed meets a female hyena from another clan and it is automatically love at first sight. But unfortunately for the happy couple, the ones they most care about may also be obstacles.

I figured if I didn't post this story up this year I never would: as you may have guessed it is a Valentine's Day fic (that's been sitting in my documents for a couple years), and it's NOT solely dedicated to Shenzi and Banzai. Nope, this lovely little romance fic is all about Ed (and his girlfriend who'll be introduced in this story). I may post a 2nd chapter about Shenzi and Banzai, but that's not a promise (even though I would like to), since I can't really picture them being mushy or anything, which makes creating a romance chapter for them difficult.

Marini- healthy; pretty

Marini…I just like saying that name. Marini, Marini, Marini...

"198…199…200." T counted while staring outside the eye the trio's large elephant skull. She glanced down at Banzai and Shenzi, observing her from the ground. "That's all of 'em."

Banzai looked at Shenzi, who narrowed her eyes in thought. "Well, we got 'em outnumbered, but not by much." She looked back up to the eye socket. "Where they gatherin' at?" T examined the outside for a moment, then gazed down again.

"Pretty much just within the border." She informed, "I don't see anyone who looks authorative though."

Banzai watched Shenzi, her eyes unmoving as she stared hard at the ground. He glanced off to the side, then after feeling a tingle on his left foreleg, chewed at an irritating flea.

Late that morning, a group of newcomers appeared over the horizon, only to reveal more of them, and then more…and more. By the time it was discovered that all the ominous figures were hyenas, the entire plains on the western border had become flooded with their masses; what's more, they were all making their way to the Elephant Graveyard—for reasons unknown. The leaders, and T, had immediately congregated to figure out just who these foreigners were and why they were coming to their home.

Ed, who was always one to get bored in strategic situations, left to poke around for whatever food available. Shenzi had her paws full in working out their situation. Banzai remained at the skull; albeit no more drawn in to this than Ed, he waited at Shenzi's side to take out whatever orders she devised. And T was…a willing-to-aid volunteer.

"So, whadda we do?" The young female asked her matriarch.

"…Guess we can at least nip paranoia in the bud." She turned to her 2nd in command. "Banzai," he snapped at attention at her voice. "Meet me n' T at the edge of the borders," her tone became insinuating, "but not before tellin' everybody that we got company."

"Gotcha." He replied, getting up to leave. Shenzi rose too and the three ventured out together—her up front, Banzai in the middle, and T following closely. However, as Shenzi exited, Banzai lingered cautiously, and after glancing in her direction to confirm she was out of earshot, turned and gave T a nudge on her disc as she walked by.

"Hey," he spoke unusually low; she turned and looked at him curiously. "Watch her back, got it?" He said lightly. T gave him a once over, until her face grew a tiny smile, and she nodded, but not before giving him a wink. Pretending to be oblivious, he shoved her the rest of the way out and quickly made his way opposite their direction. But before any of them could get far, a voice called from above.

"I say, you three, down there!" Shenzi, Banzai and T halted in their tracks and exchanged puzzled glances, just before looking upward to see a blue-feathered, and…largely speech-enabled, hornbill. After observing the bird's appearance a moment, Shenzi and Banzai were dismayed to recognize him as a resident of the Pridelands; the king's majordomo to be exact. The winged Priderock official was hovering over them from a safe albeit audible distance.

"Whadda you want?" Banzai demanded irritably.

Zazu huffed, but nonetheless retained his diplomatic composure. "His royal sire would like to know what exactly is the meaning of this…this," he stammered—half out of fear, as he observed all the hyenas; half out of aggravation, as he knew he'd get little help with the situation from the graveyard leaders, "u-unforeseen assemblage of-of numerous masses! Particularly because it's hosting the specific carnivore the Pridelands has constantly worried over…"

Shenzi and T gave each other an uninterested glance during the majordomo's superfluous speech, whilst Banzai was trying to comprehend, between the accent and the advanced vocabulary, just what the heck the bird was trying to say.

"Look bird-brain," Shenzi interrupted, "whoevah these newcomahs think they are, you can tell his royal blindness that they definitely ain't with us."

The comment obviously ruffling his feathers, Zazu proceeded to rebuke her. But unfortunately, the trio had long scattered after Shenzi had made her point—the Kenyan matriarch continued on her way toward the ever-growing crowd of hyenas, T following suite. Banzai was running full speed to alert the rest of the clan. The three were now either too far out of earshot, or too close to that horde for the hornbill's comfort. Grumbling to himself, the mortified majordomo took wing back into the Pridelands to give King Simba the news.

Approaching with caution, the two graveyarders could now hear the disorderly mumblings of the foreign clan—they all sounded mainly confused. Shenzi and T penetrated into the crowd, coming to a halt in the midst of the gigantic body. T leaned in close. "Are you sure it's a good idea to put ourselves in the middle of these guys?" She whispered. "You know a better way to get their attention?" Was her answer.

"Alright!" Shenzi shouted, quickly turning some heads. "I'm the leader of this place y'all are trespassin' on, so I better speak to who's in charge 'a this lil' get together, NOW."

The outsiders were indecisive on how to react, but most of them backed away, glanced at each other warily, and remained silent. Uncomfortable stares were to be seen as far as the mass extended. Shenzi's intimidating stance happened as expected in grabbing their attention, but she half-feared it might also scare off whoever she needed to get to the bottom of this. T kept an eye out for any possible threats, as well as members of their own clan coming to assist them, just as her eye caught a moving figure within the crowd.

Keeping on her toes, she observed him attentively—this unknown hyena coming in their direction, judging from his agile physique, seemed to be an upper-rank hunting leader. Watching Shenzi's back as promised, she braced herself for whatever this newcomer wanted to dole out. She watched as he cautiously emerged from the crowd…then felt her heart skip a beat.

Shenzi, unaware of her comrade's stunned condition, prepared herself for any funny business as well. The young hyena carefully approached her, then rubbed his neck uneasily.

"Well, ya see," he began, "the matriarch would talk to you but…"

"But what?" She demanded.

He awkwardly glanced off to the side. Much to Shenzi's ignorance, T had kept staring at this hunting party leader the second he stepped out of ranks to talk—apparently she'd not braced herself enough.

When he finally did speak however, Shenzi herself couldn't have anticipated what came out of his mouth.

"…We can't find her."

Ed pressed his nose flat to the ground, trudging carefully to be sure he didn't overlook a promising scent. Stepping over yet another barren skeleton, he quietly, albeit somewhat clumsily, lurked through the shadows of a murky area in the Elephant Graveyard. Mist leaking from nearby geysers, he kept his ears sharply at attention to compensate for the limited visual range. No luck from his quest for food so far, but it was better than getting in the way of one of Shenzi's complex battle plans.

He stumbled upon a large tusk, and after inspecting it a moment, gave it a tap to see if any marrow remained inside. A hollow echo was his answer. Shrugging, he continued his leisurely expedition until a flicker up ahead caught him by surprise. Dropping close to the ground, he could see the shadow of an unknown creature just on the other side of a turned-over elephant's skull. Treading softly, he skulked around the bony structure close enough to hear it moving; from its own careful steps, it too must've been trying to sneak around. But what for? …Unless it was some unfortunate prey that took the wrong turn and now found itself ear-deep in hyenas. Giggling softly, not caring if the animal heard him—it wouldn't get far when it tried to flee if his clan had anything to say about it—Ed braced himself, and with a snarl leapt into sight.

Whatever he thought was lurking by that skull packed a pretty good wallop—if there was any prey there it was blocked out by the strong paw mining into his face. With a hard "THUMP!" Ed's back was to the ground.

Gibberish cursing echoed throughout every inch of the graveyard, then the 3rd-in-command brought his foreleg to one of his bulbous eyes. Suddenly a gasp reached his ears.

"Oh! I-I'm sorry! I thought-!! …Wow, I really did a number on you, didn't I?"

Albeit he couldn't see whoever was talking to him—his eyes were clenched from pain—he growled and nodded. Sounds of somebody approaching from the left came just before the unknown, feminine, voice spoke again.

"Here, lemme help you up."

Ed managed to get to all fours thanks to this stranger, and peeled his eyes open to see her.

"Sorry," She laughed, "I'm just getting used to my strength too."

One look at her spot pattern and he was without words. Without clue what to do next, Ed's jaw dropped—although this female did help him after injuring him, her reasons for doing so were quickly discovered. She was an outsider! …Albeit a pretty outsider.

His reaction not lost to her, she bashfully, and warily, took a few steps back. "Yeah, you caught me, I'm trespassing." She gave him a jesting yet determined look. "Gonna try to kill me now?"

Ed gave her a once-over; no injuries, her fur was clean, and she seemed decently fed. What really caught his eye though, was her appearance. She looked…very good, to say the least. This puzzled him though—how could any outsider, no matter how resourceful, be in such impressive condition? She couldn't have been alone, but if that was the case how would a group of unidentified hyenas get this deep into the graveyard without being noticed?

Weighing the odds, he decided to let this female speak for herself, then see what could be done. So in response to her question, he shook his head.

She blinked, almost surprised, prior to crooking a brow in suspicion. "Turn me in?"

He shook his head again.

She turned her head slightly, giving him a once-over herself—obviously an alpha; he looked very stealthy, and from the cuts on his ears she assumed he was quite the scrapper. Though if he gave her any trouble she could easily take him, especially judging by their previous accident. His face seemed to intrigue her; it was…unique, but somehow cute.

After deciding he wasn't seriously dangerous, the foreign hyena relaxed slightly, smiling at him nervously.

"I guess you're wondering why an outsider would be out here in range for half a ton of native clan to rip her to shreds."

He nodded.

"Actually, I'm not really alone, just…" she sighed in reluctance, "lost. My clan and I were separated when I um…" her gaze lowered to the side, a bit timid, "busied myself in personal affairs." Glancing back she noticed he was staring at her blankly, so she abruptly cut to the chase. "Anyway, listen, I've got to get back to my clan ASAP. Yours has probably noticed we're here and if I'm not with them to explain why to the matriarch, things could get ugly." Ed gave her a strange look, visibly perplexed. Reading his expression, the unknown female's eyes widened for a moment, prior to giving him an embarrassed smile.

"Oh, wait… I didn't say who I was, did I?" Ed just cocked his head, giving her a purposely creepy smile. Its intent however, was wholly opposite from its presumed effect—she laughed, not in a deriding manner, more in a "you're starting to grow on me" manner. The male was taken aback

"It's like this…" She continued, "In a nut shell, I'm the matriarch of that clan."

That however, made his jaw drop.

"Yeah, screwy huh? A matriarch who can't find her own clan."

He tilted his head, letting his tongue dangle. She blinked, tilting hers slightly to look at him from the same perspective.

"You don't…talk much, do you?"

Ed grinned—truly he did love it when introductions came to this—clearing his throat, he explained in his own words that he'd noticed a foreign clan but came here to hunt, entrusting the matriarch's judgment, then said how he'd mistaken her for prey and wanted to apologize, taking his time to prevent any stuttering of course.

She stared, giving him the expectation of either shuffling away awkwardly, exploding into laughter, or asking him if he ever suffered a head injury. But instead,

"Oh, I see. Apology accepted." She smiled at him tenderly. "And my bad for punching you."

A dumbstruck stare, tongue swaying left to right, was her reply.

"Well…can you take me to see the matriarch?" She asked after a momentary pause.

Straightening his head back in interest, Ed cackled at her inquisitively.

"My name?" She asked. He nodded, earning another smile from her.

"Marini."

"The herds migrate from the western lands this time of year, so Marini's clan migrates with them. We've been following them for about a month now, but after discussing which way to head in last night, she said for us to come here." The high-ranking male finished.

"To my lands?" Shenzi doubtfully replied.

"Not exactly. The herds were getting wise, so they took a new migration pattern. Marini figured if we cut through here, we'll meet 'em from the side. No one knew that anybody lived in…" he trailed off for a moment, clearly observing the barren landscape, especially the numerous chewed-on skeletons, "this kind of place."

Growing more impatient by the second, Shenzi put a paw on her hip. "Ok, so if I ain't talkin' to whatsername, who am I talkin' to?"

"Temporary hunting leader Nakaki." He replied respectfully.

"Temporary?"

"The matriarch has relatives in my clan. She asked for them to bring assistance with the new migration; I volunteered since-"

"You're the highest alpha male they have." Said a timid feminine voice. Nakaki gave Shenzi a puzzled look, "How'd you know that?"

She raised a brow. "I didn't say anythang." She told him simply, moving aside to reveal who did. She couldn't help but notice the size his eyes grew to once he saw who was behind her. "What's a mattah, never seen a girl your age before?"

He appeared too thunderstruck to answer.

"HEY!"

Quickly shaking his head to snap out of it, he directed full attention back to the Kenyan matriarch.

"U-uh, my apologies. You…surprised me." He rubbed his neck awkwardly. Bashful T hid behind Shenzi, who crooked a brow at the young male.

"…When I asked if ya'd ever seen a girl before it was originally sarcastic."

Meanwhile…

Banzai ran straight to the horde as fast as his four legs allowed—about half the clan bustling not far behind. The minute they heard the news, their first instincts were to confront the trespassers, but their orders were to stay put until either he arrived with further instruction, or if the foreign clan got hostile.

By the time he passed the skull again, the black line of the mass was just barely visible against the horizon. Boosting up speed, he was nearly in earshot to tell Shenzi he'd arrived…until the unfortunate male found himself kissing the dirt.

His face skidded a couple inches through solid ground, before he came to a complete stop. …To which he slowly lifted his head, hacked out the mud, raised a paw to his aching muzzle as he felt the dirt crumpling out of his fur, just before he growled slightly…

Then raised his head to shout a few livid obscenities—not caring if it was heard by someone in his clan or not; he could've embarrassed Shenzi in front of a bunch of shocked foreigners for all he cared.

"Looks like somebody had a bad trip! Hahahahaaa!"

Banzai steered toward the direction of that voice, to see two adolescent males hooting it up on a nearby rock, slanted in a ramp-like formation. Obviously outsiders, they were completely identical with the exception of one with a spot on his front leg. That same hyena smirked directly at him.

"Hey buddy, why the rush?" He cackled.

The injured male's growls rumbled in the back of his throat, loud enough for them to hear. The male glanced at him amusingly.

"Uh-oh. Hey bro, I think we made 'em mad." He elbowed his cohort in mock horror.

"Maybe we better get outta here." The second prankster replied mirthfully. They both started laughing at their prankish deed once again.

Banzai was about to storm up to that slanted rock and give them a beating so unspeakable their mother would feel it…until he noticed something lying by their feet—something he just realized was tangled around one of his. Albeit the object was now loosely wound, its likelihood of growing in this place made its ill-use plain as the dirt on his face. Banzai cut the rest of the extended vine from his back leg, then growled furiously, causing both hyenas to shut up.

"What the heck do you two boneheads think you're doin'?!" He yelled, his faintly bleeding lip stinging in reaction. The one with no spot on his leg, smiling blithely, gave him a half-serious look, taking a couple steps down the ramp.

"Uh, passing time?"

His brother walked aside him. "Allow me to introduce the two genius pranksters, who just graced you with their latest idea—name's Burufan." He turned to elbow his sibling again. "And this here's my twin, Burutan."

Burutan, the one with no spot on his leg, half-grinned at the fuming alpha male. "You really need to loosen up, dude."

"Where'd you get that anyway?!" Banzai demanded, gesturing to the vine he untangled from his leg. "No wonder that banana beak was givin' us the third degree! And another thing—if you're gonna swipe from the Pridelands, do it right and get a wildebeest or something!"

"Oh we're saving our appetites for when we blow this joint." Burufan replied. Burutan nodded, "Our matriarch should have us outta here any minute."

"Not fast enough." Banzai growled, just before leaping at them.

Both brothers' eyes widened, until they scrambled out of the way; just inches from losing a chunk of their hides.

"Ed? Hmmm, that's an unusual name." Marini said, walking by the 3rd-in-command as they traveled to the border of the graveyard. "Don't think I've ever met anybody with one like that. …But, it's cute." She smiled. "I think it fits you."

Ed shrugged—hiding a faint smile—trying to avoid flattery. "So, how're you going to get me to your matriarch anyway?" She heard him laugh out a brief sentence. "Easy? How is getting an audience with the highest leader easy?"

This time he didn't bother hiding the grin, and told her simply and bluntly, exactly how it would be no problem. She started.

"3rd-in-command?! I assumed you were up in ranks but, definitely not like this. N-not that I don't think you couldn't do it, it's just-" The western matriarch stopped there, after looking directly at Ed and seeing the bothered look he had. Realizing how that must've sounded, she looked away, clear regret in her eyes.

"It's just…" She tried to make amends, but the male was starting to get ahead of her. The foreign hyena ran to catch up with him. Upon reaching his side, she saw the look he previously gave her remained intact; only this time, he wasn't even looking at her. Marini felt ashamed. So, in an attempt to placate him, she spoke softly.

"Ed?" He glanced at her apathetically.

"I don't know if you noticed, but if you're really 3rd-in-command like you say you are, then you probably recognize a greenhorn matriarch when you see one." She looked to see if he was paying attention; his gaze had moved from her, but his ears were perked. Feeling a bit hopeful, she went on.

"My mom retired only a few months ago, and when she appointed me, I didn't have much time to plan things out for the herd migration. And when the herds changed pattern on us…that made things even worse." She giggled timorously. "Let's just say I bet the elders in my clan have seen less sloppy journeys for food." She looked at him to see if he'd changed his mood, but now his ears weren't even paying mind to her. Marini's head dropped, so she continued venturing with him to the native matriarch.

After a moment however, she felt a playful shove from the side. Looking over, she saw Ed, head tilting, a tongue-detailed grin on his face. Marini didn't know what to think. He chuckled, then assured her he'd seen worse than an accidental invasion, and it wasn't the worst a greenhorn matriarch could do. She nearly beamed. Ed tried not to ogle—she was technically a trespasser—but…with those bright eyes, that fur color a shade lighter than his, and that smile…she was just so darned cute.

Trying to make the situation not appear to be a big deal, Ed shrugged and just smiled at her sympathetically. Marini flushed, looking away self-consciously.

"You wanna know what I used to do before my mom stepped down?" He humored her, giving the female his attention.

"Baby-sit. If a hunting party, sentries, or some other group of alphas were out, guess who watched their pups? Chyeah, and they made me matriarch."

Knowing he could top that with any story from his puphood, Ed thought about countering, but let her go on.

"I did learn some things—once or twice, I baby sat teenagers! You'd be surprised at how protective those parents could be."

His parent's own brief, yet hawk-like, period of overprotectiveness crossed Ed's mind as he took it in; raising a brow, he turned and gave her a look that said "Try me."

Pausing, as if deciding whether she should, the rookie matriarch placed a paw to her chin, even taking time to look at the scenery around them. For what reason she'd want to view the landscape, Ed had no clue; this place had about as much to see as a century-old rhinoceros.

Then at one moment, Ed believed to see her eyes light up; shortly afterward, Marini shrugged and grinned at him mischievously.

"Did you know that if your front paw is bigger than your mouth, you're going to die soon?"

Furrowing his brow, Ed held up his right foreleg to examine the size, when he was unexpectedly thrown off balance—right off a small ledge and into a heaping pile of crust-engraved bones. The pachyderm remains flew everywhere from his rough landing, and coughing up grime and years of dust, the tricked hyena stumbled his way out.

After hacking up the rest of the filth and muck, what had took place quickly set in, and Ed's normally bulbous eyes grew larger—usually it was he who could pull class-A stunts like this, but getting the butt-end himself was near impossible for anyone to pull off…until today.

Laughter approaching from the left side, Ed looked to see Marini melodiously coming down a slanted ledge in his direction. He could only gape—simply amazed.

"Like I said," she began, "I picked up a few things."

Meanwhile…

"Maybe he was a wrong target to pick!" Burutan panted, still running alongside his brother as Banzai snapped at their heels.

"How was I ta know he was an alpha?!" Burufan defended. "The guy looked like he was runnin' errands—alphas from our clan don't work like that! They just stand around to mark the borders all day!"

Burutan glanced back, "Well, if we don't find the clan soon, we'll be used to mark their borders!"

Suddenly, the elder of the two stared up ahead, "Wait, there they are!" He grinned. "Ha! This guy can't take on a whole clan; we'll be home free in no time!"

"If we get there!" Burutan said, still looking at the angry male on their tails.

"Hope you two got close relatives in there; they're gonna need somebody ta recognize the bodies." Banzai wickedly grinned, purposely showing all his razor-like teeth; some of them still smudged with dirt or blood. Burutan gulped, yet his older sibling frowned.

"C'mon 'Tan; just a few more feet to cover!" He shouted to his younger twin. But the distracted sibling didn't seem to hear; Burufan shoved him. "Focus! Keep your eyes on the-!"

The risk of colliding with about 20 hyenas is not rare in most parts of Africa, but the chances are highly increased when one is not watching where they're going. Catching the attention of Nakaki, Shenzi, and T, a nearby flank of hyenas were suddenly bowled over by causes unknown; though T believed she had made out a tail or two flickering out of eyeshot once the crowd had settled.

Detecting something from the corner of her own eye, Shenzi glanced back to see someone familiar rushing their way. To see him in a hurry to get to them was no surprise—to see him with a view veins pulsing in his neck wasn't either, just not under these conditions. Inquisitively, she watched him approach the group, heaving from exhaustion.

"What happened to you?" Shenzi said, noticing the dirt still flaking from his coat. Banzai growled in frustration.

"I'd show it on the guys who did it to me if I could find 'em!"

"Guys?" T questioned.

"Uh, anything we can do to help?" Nakaki asked.

"Yeah," Banzai spat, stalking toward the younger male, who backed away instinctively, "they were with you."

T got to all fours and quickly put herself between them, nervous but wanting to avoid hostility—the last thing this leaderless clan needed was any bloodshed.

"Alright, take it easy," she neutrally told him, "you're sure they were from this clan?"

"Dunno if it was this one; but they definitely had the same fur as him." He gestured to Nakaki again.

This time the young alpha's eyes bulged. "Wait, were they…identical?"

"Huh?" The Kenyan alpha male furrowed his brow.

"Twins, rock-for-brains!" Shenzi told him.

"Twins?" This time it was T's eyes that widened.

Shenzi took a second look at Banzai. "Wait, you're tellin' me—" she examined his busted-up face more closely, "they did that to you?"

He nodded petulantly.

"Was it a prank?" T inquired.

Banzai spat out another clump of dirt, "A pretty sick one!" Was his irritable reply. Shenzi focused back on the young hunting leader, anything but impressed.

"This is how your matriarch runs thangs? Runnin' off and lettin' her lackeys do whatever they want?"

"Look, I know you're mad," Nakaki calmly explained, trying his best not to offend anyone, "but try to understand—she's only been going at this a couple months."

"I've seen rookies pick fights with lions on a power-trip, but messin' with ME is just plain stupid."

"Let's try to look at this a different way," T offered, "if you really think about it, we're pretty lucky to have only Banzai—er, that is, only one of us get hurt. With a clan this big and no solid authority, we could be a lot worse off."

Neither Shenzi nor Banzai commented on that proposal; the Kenyan matriarch and 2nd-in-command exchanged arduous glances. T hoped that meant they saw her point, as did Nakaki.

"Believe it or not," she added, glancing at Banzai, "I've been pranked by them worse than that; they're members of my old clan."

"If that's true then how do I know the rest of 'em won't try anything funny while they're here either?" Shenzi glowered at Nakaki.

"Those two've been a handful for them and back home too; see the only reason they're here is because they've got relatives in high places." He explained. Hoping to get rid of any further qualms, he approached as Banzai respectfully as possible. "Could you identify the two on site?" He asked.

"I could, if you moved the flank they're hidin' behind!" Banzai motioned to a place in the crowd nearby.

Nakaki turned and upon seeing the aforementioned rank, signaled everyone to move. Once all had stepped aside, the twins were uncloaked beneath the veil of the mob, cowering like trapped rats.

A chorus of groans emitted once Marini's clan realized it was them. "It'd be just like those two to cause trouble!" One said.

Nakaki shook his head ashamedly, "Not again."

The twins, not oblivious to the number of glares and scowls they were getting, shrunk away from the mob. Nakaki gave them a stern look as well, before turning to Banzai apologetically.

"I collect responsibility for these two when their cousin isn't around—it was my fault and I'll make sure it won't happen again."

The 2nd in command rolled his eyes, looking away to wipe the blood from his chin.

"Aside from your lil' predicament, you can relax," Shenzi told him, "we ain't in trouble."

"They are." T stepped in.

"What?" Banzai looked back.

The Kenyan matriarch swung her head in Nakaki's direction, "Gender isolation over here says they got a missin' matriarch."

He crooked an eyebrow. "So…they're lookin' for her in here?"

"Sort of—they lost her in here." T explained.

"It was right when we entered these borders, so she couldn't have gotten far. If you'll help us, we'll be out of your fur in no time." The young hunting leader elaborated. "And for the record," he added, glancing at Shenzi politely, "I have seen females before."

"Go ahead and let 'im shred us!" A voice from the crowd spoke up. All eyes turned to look at Burufan glowering at Banzai impenitently. "Our cousin's the matriarch. We'll see if she'll take that lyin' down."

"If you haven't noticed," Nakaki told him, "your cousin isn't here."

Shenzi narrowed her eyes as she had this morning, looking off to the side a moment. Then in one motion, she was on all fours proficiently, turning her head right.

"T, you stay here and make sure everybody keeps 'emselves planted." She turned her head left. "Banzai, you come with me—we're gonna find whatsername if it kills ya."

At her instructions, T near-immediately flushed at making eye contact with Nakaki, who seemed intrigued; Banzai however was more than happy to get this over with. And trailing right behind Shenzi, the two were headed off to the heart of the graveyard.

"And that's how you get a guy to try to swallow his own foot." Marini laughed. Ed chuckled darkly, hanging onto every word. Her cleverly inconspicuous hi-jinx instantaneously catching his interest, he'd begged her to teach him all her mischievous little secrets in return for some info of his own. He couldn't wait to try out some new material on the guys first chance he got. …For now though, he could take awhile with her.

"I picked up a thing or two from my cousins; they've got a reputation back in their South African clan as quite the troublemakers. But the only one they've never pulled one over on, is ME." She grinned. Ed smiled at her fondly.

"So, I'm sorry for wondering, but, how'd you get those scars on your ears? Battle trophies?" She winked.

Ed chuckled, obviously flattered, and explained that he was born with them, and if there was anyone who could scrap around here, it was a close buddy of his. He himself was actually more interested in something else than fighting. It didn't top humor, and it came close to food, but it was enough to occupy quite a bit of his time. The foreign matriarch giggled.

"More of a lover than a fighter, huh?" She grinned flirtatiously. "Great minds think alike."

The smile he replied with revealed faint confusion. She read the expression, and looked away self-consciously.

"I don't really know if I should tell you this." She admitted. "But you seem real easy to talk to Ed," Marini paused, "actually…you're about the best of all the natives I've had to come across on this whole migration thing."

Ed smiled genteelly, leaning in close, and told her softly that she had nothing to worry about with him around. So what if she was technically a trespasser, and a rival matriarch to his best friend; she was also pretty fun. Not to mention the first female he'd met since Abeni who genuinely enjoyed being around him. And unlike the other ones who were meaningless flings, he didn't have to worry about the chance of her being yet another thrill-seeker wanting to date a hitman, since in all this time he'd never spoken a word to her about his past.

Marini blushed, her insolating fur nearly burning her face. "Geez, you've really had practice at knowing what a girl likes, haven't ya?"

He chuckled impishly and looked aside, shrugging.

"…Ok, I guess it wouldn't hurt. It's hard to say though;" she looked up at him candidly, "you remember that 'personal' thing I mentioned?"

He nodded.

"Well…the whole reason I got separated from my clan was because of Uwaka." She looked at him tenderly. "Uwaka is one of my boyfriends."

His former dream-like trance snapped wide open, he stared at her the minute he heard "boyfriends". Marini went on.

"He showed up right after I instructed everybody to cut through the graveyard. We flirted, slipped away, and…had some alone time in this old den he found. By the time we made it out the clan was long gone."

He stared at her open-mouthed. She raised an eyebrow, "What?"

The pitch of his "laughter" clearly indicating some sort of dilemma, Marini calmly and maturely stopped walking to look him in the eye, as did he. The two sat on their haunches, gazing at no one but each other.

"Ed, we're young—you can't tell me you've never sowed wild oats."

From his tone, Marini deciphered something along the lines of how his popularity with the females of his clan was completely different from hers with the males.

She gave him a look. "Well if males can fool around and get praised, at least I can do it and not hear lip."

Ed scowled, but wanting to keep his cool, told her simply that even if at first thought that seemed true, females were more in danger of getting hurt.

"Oh really? I've broken hearts just like any male would—yes, after dating. And briefly or not, the only difference was I at least had enough courtesy to remember their names!"

Ears now flat, he stated that names wouldn't matter if something…unfavorable happened to a female with her habits.

"Well something 'unfavorable' could happen to a male too." She seemed very headstrong about this. "He could get his heart broken."

His bulbous eyes narrowing, he told her straight out that lavishly dating females was safer because males were more…lusty.

"I know how to take care of myself—I may be new to the matriarch game, but I've been experiencing life for 22 years; if you count dating, 7 years."

Faintly baring his teeth, he said it wouldn't be fair when one of these days some dirt-bag male would show up to just use and lose her. Not bothering to make it a rhetorical female, but draw on her.

"If I were male, this wouldn't be an issue. How fair does that sound? But if you know any way that would make you more comfortable with my dating habits, please tell me." She told him boldly.

Ed's shoulders became stiff from all the altercation; looking at Marini, he saw that frown of hers unchanged. His scowl too remained intact. For awhile, they just glared at each other nonstop, not moving a single inch.

…Then surprising them both, he kissed her.

…Surprising them even more, she returned it.

Meanwhile…

The western clan bustled amongst each other; some waiting instruction, some glowering at the twins, the rest just as confused and agitated as they were this morning. T stood aside Nakaki, inspecting the border, waiting for Banzai, Shenzi and this greatly sought matriarch to return.

T shuffled her paws ineptly, butterflies whirling in her stomach. Nakaki too appeared tense over something. Hearing him take a small breath, the young female turned to face him…not expecting the alpha male to do the same thing in unison.

They held each other's gaze for a second, before he gawkily broke the pause, "Um…y-you kinda caught me off guard, back there." He grinned awkwardly

"Yeah, sorry." T flushed.

They smiled maladroitly, prior to looking back to observe the surroundings. Another pause went by, until Nakaki spoke again.

"So," he said, "this is where you live."

"Uh-huh…" She replied, aware he was taking in every single barren, soiled, decaying landmark this place was so gloriously festooned with.

"…I know what it looks like," she began, "but, it beats the other place." Nakaki nodded.

"Everybody mentions you down there. Havana still gripes. Plus the lionesses remember you well." He grinned diffidently.

She giggled coyly; he awkwardly chuckled. They smiled a bit, more confidently, as they continued to watch the landscape.

"You made a good call…leaving." He said.

T glanced at her forepaws, "Seems that way."

"You're happy here aren't you?" He asked, turning his head to look back at her. She did the same.

"Yeah, I like it here a lot. I'm being treated great, but…"

"…But?"

She timidly lowered her eyes. "…There's some things my old clan had, that this place…"

She didn't have to finish—he pressed his head against hers, warmly rubbing her cheek. T smiled, and delicately returned the affection.

Unbeknownst to the happy couple, two certain males observed their actions not far away. One, a spot on his foreleg, crinkled his nose in resentment as he curtly laid his head on his forepaws. The other, also showing enviousness, looked away dejectedly while he leaned against a rock.

Ed parted from Marini, tenderly laying his head upon hers. He felt her let out a contented sigh, cradling into his neck. The Kenyan male let out a breath as well…feeling strange for some reason. He'd kissed females before, but, with Marini…it felt different. He'd also never bonded as much with them, let alone had a desire to. It was then the ponderous male got it: he was in love.

…So, this is what it was like. After his break up with Abeni he'd almost forgotten how it felt: wonderful. He didn't want to let it go. He wanted it to stay like this. …Soon realizing he wanted her to stay with him. Deciding he had some changes to make, right after an apology of course, the once lustful hyena gently took hold of his love to ask if she felt the same…

…Just before his eyes locked on his friends staring at him.

Marini caught his gaze. "What's wrong?" She asked, her tone still dreamy as she brushed against him. Ed, not breaking his gaze from Shenzi or Banzai, slowly turned Marini's head for her to see. She quickly froze in place.

"…This—explains—much." Shenzi tonelessly stated. Banzai silently nodded in agreement.

The western matriarch darted an anxious glance toward the 3rd-in-command. He looked at her…long and hard…and after taking a breath, told her somberly that the female in front of them, was the matriarch of this clan. Her eyes grew large and she immediately turned around.

"Oh! Umm…so you're the one I needed…to talk to." Marini awkwardly said.

Shenzi nodded, "Yeah."

The western matriarch looked away uncomfortably, "Well um-"

"It's fine." Shenzi abruptly told her, "That hunting leader of yours explained everythang. As for your clan, they doin' alright, just…lookin' for you. Word to the wise though—I'd keep those cousins 'a yours under control."

Marini nodded, her eyes on the ground as she anticipated whatever her relatives would've conjured in her absence. "I should go to them then."

Without saying anything else, Shenzi and Banzai turned to leave in the direction they'd come. Ed took a mental sigh, then rose to follow. A grip on his foreleg stopped him in his tracks. The Kenyan male gritted his teeth—not wanting to do this—he knew what she was going to say. About their clans being so far apart, how it was unlikely they'd ever meet again, how her duty as a matriarch came first-

"Ed…" Marini said gently.

His shoulders slumped, but he acknowledged her. It was no surprise to see she was looking at the ground, reluctant to break his heart. Ed knew it would hurt, but did not resurrect any hope to have it hit him harder.

"I…I can't thank you enough for trying to help me. And, I'll always be thankful for it. …But," she sighed faintly, "I've got a lot to do. My job needs serious work; I've already dug myself deep into it on my first try alone. I got separated from my clan, could barely handle a simple migration change even with foreign aid, and from the look of your friend's face I can only imagine what my cousins did while I was gone."

Ed nodded, saying in barely audible gibberish that he understood; being friends with his own matriarch made him aware that a good leader always thought of her clan first. Marini smiled and moved forward to hug him, but he backed away; figuring this goodbye didn't have to be made worse.

She appeared hurt, which almost made him regret his actions; he looked at her softly, and tried to smile, but rethought at the last minute—it wouldn't be real. He heard her take a long breath.

"Ed…even if I keep having an active love life," she looked at him to see the response, "and, I think I might…"

Ed couldn't help but nod ; he'd probably do the same thing only to bury the loss of her once she left. Despite that, he stared at her longingly, she returned the affectionate gaze.

"I could never forget you: I've said that to a lot of males, some I've broken hearts of,"

The lustful hyena remembered the many hearts he'd broken as well—one of which, now with Kamau, still haunted him to this day.

"I…Ed, I-"

Her throat grew a lump, but that was alright; she didn't need to say more. Ed held her close as tears welt in her eyes. She buried her face into his shoulder disc, while he rested his head on hers. He loved her, so, so much; more than anything in life itself.

Not far off, as Shenzi and Banzai were delivering news of western matriarch's arrival, one young male and a certain young female were saying their goodbyes as well…

"Take care of yourself, T." Nakaki brushed his nose on her forehead affectionately.

She swallowed a lump in her throat. "You too."

That evening…

T and Ed sulked at the mouth of the skull, waiting for the day to end. Shenzi would've been staring at them perplexedly if it hadn't been for the late hour.

What really seemed to be distracting her, was Banzai's intolerable snoring—she kicked him in the ribs as she tried to get comfortable. He grunted slightly, but eventually continued on with his haggard breathing.

T's head rested on the border of the skull's mouth. "Alone again." She said to no one in particular.

Ed nodded, staring at the ash-covered ground, now being obscured by dusk's reflection on mist flowing from the geysers. Hearing a sigh, he saw T straighten her back from the formerly disheartened slump.

"…At least once was better than nothing. Spirits know when we'll meet again." Her tone was matter-of-factly, but not any sadder.

The dejected male gave another nod in agreement; he would miss her so much.

"So was their matriarch nice?" She asked. Instead of nodding a third time, Ed glanced at her solemnly, then back at the darkening horizon.

T understood. "Figures," she smiled softly, "he'd only go on a limb for someone who deserved it." Then for the first time today, she took a good look at her friend, taking in his miserable appearance. A pitiable veneer crossed her face, for only a moment, until a gentler one replaced it. Crinkling a smile—a real, genuine smile—she addressed no one specifically, but her words were, as always, kind.

"Well, I think the wait's more bearable…if you have some pretty great friends to keep you company."

Raising his head, Ed gazed at her warmly, and nodded a final time.