" This is unbungalievable…" Bunga whispered.
" Well I didn't see that coming," Beshte said.
Kion stood still, gaping at the two hyenas cuddling. " Yeah…I didn't either."
" And it does seem like Janja really wants to change Kion," Fuli pointed out as she smirked at Kion. "I told you Janja was way too dumb to have this as a plan. "
" It seems like they will need our help," Ono said. " They seem to have a plan to go against Scar's army."
Kion looked down with a look of uncertainty. " I'm not sure how to feel exactly, but we should be ready to help out tomorrow anyway. It does seem like Scar's army is going to do something to them."
" Should we consider Janja an ally then?" Bunga asked.
" I think we should officially decide if Scar tries anything tomorrow," Kion responded, looking back up at the hyenas. " But… it really doesn't seem like Janja will cause any harm tonight. I don't think we should bother them tonight."
Bunga raised a brow. "Really?"
" Yeah really, Bunga. We should. We should probably get to sleep soon so we don't get tired in the morning." Kion turned away from the hyenas and headed towards Priderock. The Lion Guard went along with him.
The sun rose up the next morning, shining on the pelts of the two hyenas snuggling against each other. The grazing antelope had fallen asleep, but were most likely to wake within a few hours. The sky faded from the darkness of the night to the redness of dawn.
Janja slowly woke up from his sleep, lifting his head up slowly and blinking his eyes. He looked ahead of him at the antelope resting below. I must've fallen asleep.
Janja lowered his head back on paws, brushing his cheek against Jasiri's. He stared out into the field, thinking to himself for a moment. So today is the day. I'm going against Scar… with Jasiri...
But then he came to a realization. Wait…
He looked next to him and turned his head to face Jasiri, who was still asleep. She had her head rested on Janja's leg as the rest of her body touched him…
Jasiri?! Janja thought and he quickly lifted his head. His skin under his fur felt warmer than Scar's ghost, and his fur bristled rapidly. His heart was beating so fast, he thought it would bust out of his chest.
Janja wasn't sure how to feel to see her snuggle with him. Embarrassed? Excited? Appreciative? Curious? His eyes stayed widen as he tried to process what was getting on. Jasiri must've done this on accident, right? Maybe she accidently moved in her sleep? She couldn't view me any better than any other hyena, right? She probably just somehow ended up on me. She doesn't have any feelings for a hyena like me…
Janja kept looking at Jasiri, wondering what he should do. After a few moments, he nudged Jasiri's cheek with his nose, feeling more flustered by the minute. Jasiri didn't move after the first nudge, so Janja nudged her a bit harder. Jasiri slowly opened her eyes and yawned while lifting her head slightly, before laying back down on Janja's leg. " Good morning Janja," she whispered.
Janja gulped. " Well yeah-I- um… Good morning Jasiri. You do realize that you're...kinda close...to me…"
Jasiri stayed on Janja's leg for a moment longer before lifting up her head, turning to Janja. " Sorry if I'm making you uncomfortable."
" No, it's okay," Janja reassured her. " It's time to prepare for the trap now. We should probably get going before Scar launches the attack."
" Yeah...we should," Jasiri agreed. " I'll go to get the Lion Guard and then I'll go back to my clan and we'll set up where we usually meet."
" And I'll do the rest." Janja slowly stood up,still making eye contact with Jasiri.
" Should I go back to the Outlands with you?"
" I'll be find Jasiri. And if you hear a roar…"
Jasiri giggled. " Then I'll know where to find you and the guard!"
Janja chuckled as well. " Yep!"
" Then I'll see you later Janja." Jasiri looked down for a moment smiling.
Janja raised a brow curiously with a smirk. " What are you thinking about?"
" It's… nothing Janja." She looked back up at Janja. " Just be careful out there okay?" Unexpectedly she got a little bit closer to Janja's face, causing Janja to flatten his ears.
" What are you doing?" Janja questioned.
Jasiri smiled softly as they looked eye to eye. Then she moved towards his cheek, and started nuzzling him there with her nose for a moment. Janja's fur was bristling uncontrollably and Janja's jaw was gaping. " Uh… Jasiri?"
Jasiri only nuzzled him for a bit longer before moving back to face him. " I'll say it again. Be careful. And if anything happens, I'll find you and I will help you."
Janja just nodded quickly, looked downward. Jasiri smiled and raced down the hill they had snuggled on, going towards Priderock. Jasiri paused to look back before continuing to run.
Janja stood still, nearly shaken of shock and surprise. Did she just do that? Was that a dream? I kinda feel like it was. I'll just dismiss it as a dream before I freak out and never clean this cheek again. Janja just walked away towards the Outlands which was to his left. Let's get on with it.
" Hey look! Janja's home!" Cheezi exclaimed as Janja entered into the main part of his territory.
" Janja!" Chungu exclaimed as well. And the two ran up to Janja and pressed their cheeks against both sides of Janja's face. " Where were you?"
" Just somewhere.." Janja said a bit surprised. " Now I have to tell you guys-"
" There he is…" Janja looked up to see Nne beside a rock with a Shuvapu on it. " Talk to him about it."
" About what?"Janja said, brushing past Cheezi and Chungu towards the skink.
" The attack will be moved to tomorrow," Shupavu stated. " Scar said that there would be some complications if we did it today."
" What complications?"
" Scar didn't say…" Shupavu said with a growing smirk. " And he won't say until tomorrow."
Janja looked down for a moment. " Okay Shupavu. Thanks for the information."
The skink nodded and crawled off towards the volcano. After a few moments, making sure she wasn't within earshot, Janja turned to all of his hyenas.
" Boys. Tomorrow, we are going against Scar."
" Why?" Cheezi asked.
" Because he's in love with Jasiri," Nne said before Janja could answer. " And that would get us in trouble if we stayed with Scar." Janja looked away shyly, slightly blushing under his fur.
"Oh…" Cheezi said.
Janja sighed quietly. " Anyways, I have a plan to go against Scar. We are going against Scar's army tomorrow while helping out Jasiri and her clan, and we will never be with Scar's army
again. So we need to be prepared for tomorrow, and I'll explain everything in a moment but our lives are going to turn from what they used to be. "
Janja had explained the plan to his clan and had planned to teach his clan about the circle of life later on, but first, he needed to inform Jasiri and her clan and the Guard about the cancellation.
He approached the entrance to Jasiri's territory completely alone. Janja sniffed around caught the scents of Jasiri's clan and he could even smell some of the Lion Guard members in the crowd of scents. " Guys it's just me alone."
From a hole at the top of one of the cliffs, Jasiri peeked outside with her head poking outside. " Janja!" She leaped out of her cave and walked over to Janja. " What happened? Where's Scar's army."
Her clan leaped from different holes in the cliffs and Janja saw the Lion Guard come out from the rocks below. Janja looked back to Jasiri. " So apparently there were complications with Scar's plan so he moved to the attack to tomorrow." Janja looked back to Jasiri's clan and to Lion Guard. He flattened his ears as he was reminded of what he had done to them. Janja walked past Jasiri to approach the others that stood behind her. All of them looked at Janja curiously and some even seemed slightly suspicious of him. Especially Kion.
Janja released a big exhale before saying anything. " I'm sorry to you guys. All of you really. I haven't been the nicest hyena to you guys. I mean, I haven't been at all. I was cold and I was ruthless to all of you. I didn't follow the circle of life at all. And… I have realized my mistakes because of Jasiri." Jasiri widened her smile when Janja mentioned her. " I really want to genuinely apologize to all of you. After all, I have attacked you and your loved ones and I have put you guys in many dangerous situations that could have gotten you killed. I don't expect you guys to forgive me and I won't ask of that, but I really want to help you guys defeat Scar and I will. Starting with today."
Everyone was silent for a moment, thinking to themselves about Janja's apology. Some seemed a bit relieved of their suspicions and many were still very curious about Janja.
Suddenly, Madoa in the front of the crowd nodded in respect. " Thank you Janja for finally doing the right thing and warning and helping our clan with Scar's amy."
Janja bowed his head for a moment in respect. More of Jasiri's clan seemed more welcoming than suspicious once Madoa accepted him, with their murmurs and smiles as they faced him. Janja looked to the far end of the crowd with the Lion Guard standing there. He saw most of the Guard had small smiles on their faces, seemingly welcome to Janja joining their side. Kion didn't really smile but he gave a small nod. " Janja. I respect that you a lot more that you are trying to help out my friends. I believe you and what you say. But I think it will be weird to adjust …"
" I know Kion," Janja said. " I should probably talk to you one on one soon, because I know I've been more horrible things to you than everyone else."
Kion nodded in agreement. " Yes we should." Kion turned his attention towards Jasiri. " Jasiri. I think we should get going to morning patrol. But we'll be back tomorrow morning for the big battle."
" Thank you Kion for helping out," Jasiri said approaching him. " And I'm glad to see that you're actually willing to accept Janja." She quickly headbutted Kion before exchanging a few more words and the Lion Guard turned around to leave moments later. Jasiri invited Janja to walk back to her territory with her and her clan. Janja agreed to it.
As they were walking back. Janja started thinking deeply about Scar's plan. What kind of complications could possibly come up for him to cancel a plan? That's… so unusual… Maybe something to do with the Lion Guard.
Janja kept walking next to Jasiri and took some glances at her as he thought. I wonder…
What if Scar already knows about us?