Chapter 27: Bravery

When it was time for bed, Jayden didn't know weather to meet Dark or not. A whole day had passed since she'd seen him and talked to him. Of course she'd started to miss him. She didn't debate long when suddenly she bumped into him when heading toward the cave.

"Oh!" she said with surprise. She had been looking at her paws and so lost in thought, she hadn't seen him. Dark looked surprised too.

"Hi." he said.

"Hi."

He glanced around. There were still some pride members around, so their conversation couldn't be in depth. It had to stay friendly.

"Is everything okay?" he asked.

"Yes," she said, seeing sorrow in his eyes.

"Would you like to stop by the waterhole for a quick drink?" he asked casually.

"No, not right now, I think I'm just going to go to bed."

Dark visually shrank.

"But everything is okay," Jayden said quickly, and lightly touched his paw with hers. She gave him a look in the eye that portrayed love. He must have understood because he nodded. It looked like he wanted to say more, but didn't or couldn't.

He settled with a quiet, "I'm sorry."

She nodded and said, "I know," then whispered, "I am thinking about what you said."

He nodded again.

"Well, goodnight!" she said cheerily as if to any regular friend in the pride, and headed up the stairs. He returned the phrase and moved away.

Before entering the cave, Jayden stopped when she noticed Kiara, Kovu and Kivu standing in the gathering area near the cave's mouth. At their feet was the white hornbill, Kudzu. Jayden wondered if they had just gotten back from the tour of the lands. She listened in.

"We really appreciate your attention today, Kudzu." Kovu was saying, "I know it was a lot to take in, so as your first small assignment, I'd like you to take tomorrow as a day to review. Please fly around the lands and get used to the landmarks and remember the story that goes with each. After you feel adequately reviewed, you may have the rest of the day off."

While Kovu talked, the white bird was sort of shifting feet, beak down looking at them. Once, he pecked at something, nothing, on the floor. He fluttered his feathers a few times. Jayden caught Kiara giving Kivu a strange glance.

"Then the following day," Kovu continued, "I'd like you to report to me at dawn. Two of our young lionesses are having their first hunting test-"

"Mebala: golden-brown cub, Taeliss: strange-gray cub." Kudzu blurted.

"Yes," Kovu said, looking impressed, "That's correct, but they're adolescents, not cubs. Infact in a short time they'll be considered adults."

"Pah!" the bird said, fluttering his feathers again. "Splitting hairs, your strange lion-words."

Jayden wanted to laugh and it looked like Kivu did too.

Kovu stayed on track though, "I'm very glad you have already learned some of our member's names, though it's probably not a good idea to tell them your opinion on their coloring to their faces…"

"Of course not, do you think I'm dull?"

"Um…" Kovu said, glancing away for a second.

Kivu coughed and Kiara swatted him with her paw.

"Anyway, on the day of the hunting test, I will be watching the girls here from the peak, but I'd like you to keep watch on them without interfering and report back to me with any specific skills or weaknesses I may have missed.

Kudzu had gone back to hopping around and fluttering.

"Does that sound okay to you?" Kovu asked.

"Sounds easy." he said simply.

"Oh…kay. Well, then you're dismissed for the night. Thank you again for joining us, and for your work today."

"Yes, thank you." Kiara said, and Kivu repeated the phrase too.

"You are quite welcome, lions."

Kovu cleared his throat, "While working as our majordomo, you should address me as sire and Kiara as Queen or Your Highness. And Kivu as Prince. Alright?"

"Oh, alright. So long, Sire-Queen-Prince." he blurred the words into one big word, then spread his wings and took off.

Jayden saw Kiara and Kovu shakes their heads, but both had pleased looking smiled on their faces. Kivu bade them goodnight and headed toward the mouth of the cave where Jayden was listening.

"Boy, he seems… interesting." Jayden said to her cousin.

Kivu sighed, "I really like him, but he's just so strange!" They walked into the cave together. "Sometimes it doesn't look like he's listening, but he actually is. And he remembers well. That's a plus. He had already seen most of the Pridelands before today, my dad said, so today wasn't very hard on the bird. Which is good, I'm glad we didn't overwhelm him and scare him off."

"He seems good natured. Some creatures would think his task daunting. He seems up to it." Jayden said.

"I think he sees it as a challenge to himself. Strange bird. But we'll take him!"

Jayden nodded and commended him. She'd have to remember to praise Kudzu the next time she saw him.

"Hitting the hay, Jay's Den?" Kivu smirked.

She laughed. "At least I'm not the only one with a nickname, though I don't think I'll tell Taeliss he thinks she has strange-gray fur."

"No, don't." he chuckled, then bade her goodnight. He headed toward the back of the den where Ciara was laying. Other Pride members were already resting in the den and more were coming in by the second. Jayden went to her usual area and Zula came in shortly after.

"Did you talk with Dark?" she asked right away.

"No. Well not really, we just said hi on the stairs. And he said sorry."

"About saying you made up the dream?"

"Yeah I guess." Jayden lay her head on her paws. She didn't really feel like discussing this tonight. Zula seemed too fired up though. She lay by her, but her head held high, and paws in front of her.

"Does that mean you've given him an answer? You're staying or going?"

"No, I didn't say anything about that."

"Oh. Well do you know which one yet?" Zula asked.

"If I didn't tell Dark the decision, wouldn't that mean I don't know the answer yet?" Jayden snapped.

Zula paused. "Yes, it would. I'm sorry."

Jayden turned her head the other way on her paws, hoping that would signify to Zula that she didn't want to talk about it anymore. The topic was weighing heavily on her nerves.

"I just ask because your decision alters my life too. I'm going to go with you, if you go. I'm actually kind of looking forward to it. You know, not seeing Clous and Zuna shoving their perfectly happy coupleness in my face."

"You shouldn't just run away from your problems like that." Jayden blurted, still turned away.

"What?"

Jayden rose her head and looked at the gray lioness. "You shouldn't go. You can't just erase your problems by leaving them. You're not gaining or solving anything that way." she said with a harsh tone.

"Isn't that exactly what you'd be doing if you left?"

Jayden just stared.

"You'll just pretend like a great guy hadn't given you the oputrinity to have a happy life with him, oh and pretend like he never existed? He's really upset, you know."

Jayden started to feel bad.

Zula's voice rose a bit, "And you think your problems are worse than mine? Like it's okay for you to run away from yours, but if I go, I'm wrong?"

Some nearby lionesses turned their heads to look at them.

"Sorry." Zula said to them, then lowered her voice. "I guess I'm just confused because your life seems pretty good to me. You have the chance to live your life with someone you love that loves you, but I…" Zula's voice cracked. Tears came to her eyes quickly, but she shook her head and shut her mouth. She stood and sighed quietly.

"Zula…I…" Jayden tried, not knowing what to say.

"It's fine. I'm just going to get some fresh air for a moment." the gray lioness said with a neutral tone, then moved away. Jayden watched her thin form exit the cave. Jayden couldn't think for a few seconds.

What just happened? she asked herself.

You lost your best friend, that's what.

No way, I didn't lose her, I was just insensitive. Gah, why'd I say that dumb stuff to her? I'll apologize as soon as she gets back.

She sighed quietly and put her head back down.

Wow, getting in a fight with your boyfriend one day, then your best friend the next… I must be trying to go for a record. Maybe tomorrow I'll fight with Tempest, or hey why not Dayya?

Jayden waited for a while, but Zula never came back. She felt really bad, but told herself maybe she went to the waterhole for a drink and wanted privacy. She probably even ran into Dark out there and was talking to him.

Jayden wanted to wait longer, but she fell asleep.

When she woke the next morning, Zula still wasn't there. Other lionesses were waking up all around her, so she got up too. She hoped none of them paid attention to her and Zula's quarrel that night, or noticed the empty nest beside Jayden.

She quickly left the den to find her friend.

What was I thinking? she scolded herself. She headed to the underside of Pride Rock was there with Torrent and Dayya, but no Zula. She stopped to say a brief hello, but moved on. She checked the spot where she and Dark would usually meet at night, but no one was there either.

She headed toward the sunning rocks on the opposite side of Pride Rock. Taeliss and Mebala were there with Tali, Toni, Kanai and Ciara. They were discussing hunting tips and strategies. Jayden didn't want to interrupt them, so she moved on. She was about to head toward the waterhole when she was intercepted by a skinny pale yellow-brown lioness.

"Well, don't you have a lot of energy today." Vitani said.

"Good morning…" Jayden replied curtly.

"If you have so much energy, then why don't you lead the hunt today? It'll be an early morning hunt. Now would be grand, don't you think?"

Jayden groaned, "Not right now."

"Excuse me?" her mother said with narrowed eyes.

"I mean, yes," she sighed, "Yes, I'll do it. I'll go ask Ciara right now."

"Good." Vitani nodded, then sauntered off.

Why are you so hard on me… Jayden said in her mind while glaring at the lioness's back. Well if she's asked me to lead, then she must think I'm improving. Jayden kind of perked up. She'd never lead a hunt before. Well, maybe there were a couple times during a hunt that she was asked to make a decision to send a certain lioness one way or another, but it was always Kiara, Ciara or Vitani over her. This time, if it was okay with Ciara, she'd make all the decisions. It wasn't often someone other than Ciara or Kiara lead. On occasion Tali did, or sometimes even Nala, though she'd announced more than once she was feeling "too old" to do it. Jayden felt a little special.

Jayden trotted back to the sunning rocks. She approached Ciara. "I'm sorry to interrupt, my mother has asked me to ask you if I could lead a morning hunt right now."

Ciara lit up. "Oh yes! That would be great. Vitani and I have been talking about letting you do one sometime. Go ahead and pick your lionesses and go when you're ready."

Jayden felt surprised. Mother talked about me?

Before she could brood on it further, Mebala from the next rock over shouted, "Woo, Jayden!"

Taeliss added, "Go girl!"

Jayden swallowed, feeling a little pride. "Thanks. Toni? Kanai? Either one of you up for a hunt?"

"I'll go." Kanai said, standing. "Better get these old bones going."

Her friend giggled, "You're not old!" Toni said.

"Yeah yeah, says the lady who isn't a grandma."

"Hey, I might be soon!"

"Mom…" Ciara groaned, "Kivu and I haven't even had our ceremony yet."

On that note, Jayden lead Kanai away with a smile. While looking for more hunters, Jayden considered asking her mother to go on the hunt just for kicks. She'd feel sort of empowered. But it would be embarrassing if Vitani said no. It's not like she could make her mother go even though, if the tables were turned, Vitani would make Jayden go whether she wanted to or not.

She decided not to ask her in the end. The hunt would go easier for Jayden if she wasn't there anyway. Jayden ran into Jai Senior and she asked him if he wanted to join them on the hunt. He replied, "Sure!" in his particularly happy, sunny type of way. Jai Sr. joined the hunts on occasion, and was one of the lions Jayden worked well with.

Jayden rounded up a couple other lionesses who were nearby. She was looking for one more lioness when she suddenly spotted Zula. There she is! I'll talk to her quickly… She turned to Kanai, Jai Sr., and her other two recruits, Jika and Tamani, "Go ahead and move to the field, I will meet you there after I grab one more lioness."

Her group nodded and headed out. When they had their backs turned, Jayden trotted toward Zula. She was sitting casually licking her paw.

"Zula." Jayden called, briskly walking toward her. "Zula!"

The lioness turned. It wasn't Zula.

"Oh! Zuna, I'm sorry, I… well, I confused you for Zula." she chuckled nervously, "I'm sure that happens a lot, but I think that's the first time I ever did it."

"Yeah, that's not like you Jayden, is everything okay?"

"Yes, of course. I'm just um… nervous. My mother asked me to lead a hunting team. We're about to go now, actually. Would you like to come?"

"Certainly!" she stood happily and the two headed out.

"Where is your sister anyway?" Jayden asked casually.

"I'm not sure, I haven't seen her this morning yet."

Jayden nodded and they went on. Where was Zula? Was she avoiding Jayden?

Is she that mad at me?

Jayden started the hunt when she and Zuna joined up with the rest of the team. Because she felt a little distracted, she only instructed them in a simple hunt tactic. No big surprises or hard tricks, just simple hunting. After a few minutes, Jayden got into her groove, and instinct took over. They stalked some grazing okapi. With her tail, Jayden ordered Jai Sr. to go left, and Zuna to go right.

It didn't talk long before Jayden and her team had the okapi surrounded. They crept closer and closer to the small herd. Jayden leaped out when she thought they were close enough. The other lions followed her and jumped out too; a few of them let out excited growls. Jayden managed to leap on one of the horned beasts and sunk her teeth and claws into its hide. One of her team mates helped her bring it down. She was half aware of the other lions wrestling with another beast. She focused on her own kill and finished it off.

"It's done." Jika said, releasing the animal. Jayden unfastened her teeth and looked about. The rest of the team was chasing after the other okapi that must have given them the slip. It ws getting away; Jai Sr., Zuna, Kanai and Tamani were too far from it. Jayden could tell they wouldn't be able to catch it, so she stopped them with a roar. When they heard it, they stopped immediately and trotted back to her.

"Save your energy, that one was gone." she said. Kanai was breathing heavily. "Is everyone up for more? Maybe we can catch another one."

Everyone nodded and Jai Sr. said, "Yes, let's keep moving."

"Right." Jayden lead them away.

About an hour later, the team was heading home. Jayden and Jika dragged their okapi while Jai Sr. and Zuna dragged a gazelle they had caught. Jayden decided what they got was enough for the morning meal. When they arrived home, the pride was appreciative. Clous was the first one to come over.

"Yes! I'm starving!" he said. "You all read my mind." He started to dig in.

"Glad we could be of service." Zuna said with a mocking bow.

Clous laughed, "Come here, Princess." he put his arm around her and gave her a hug. She laughed, then the two of them ate together. More lions gathered and ate. Jayden took a few bites as well, then let others move in. Dark approached her.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey, you gonna get some breakfast?" Jayden asked casually.

"Eh, maybe. I might wait to eat til later."

"There will probably be another hunt in the evening."

"Will you have to join that one too?"

"Hah, maybe." Jayden said.

"Aren't you exhausted?"

"Yeah, actually. I might go rest on the sunning rocks. Hey, if you see Zula, will you send her my way?"

"Sure." he smiled at her.

"Thanks." she almost started to walk away, but stopped. "I'll um… meet you tonight." she said quietly. He smiled wider as a response and they parted ways. Jayden trotted to the sunning rocks and laid down on one of the broad rocks. No one else was there at the moment, and she was glad. She needed the peace and quiet. The brown lioness napped for a short time, and when she woke, she was hot, sweaty and felt wrong. Her heart was heavy.

"I need to find Zula. Now." she muttered to herself and stood. She checked around the usual places for her again. She saw nearly everyone else, included Drayden who tried to stop to talk to her. She told him briefly she and Zula had a fight and she really wanted to find her right away. Drayden advised her to check the waterhole. Jayden nodded her thanks and dashed away. She ran the entire way. When she stopped, she was out of breath.

Where is she? She thought, tossing her head around. Then she spotted her. She had her back turned and she was looking over the water. "Oh good! Zula!" she ran over to her.

"The gray lioness turned, then looked surprised, "Jayden."

The brown lioness sighed when she was at her friend's side. "I'm so glad I found you, I've been wanting to talk to you, I am so sorry about what I said last night. I don't really think I was quite myself. Well, no, I don't mean to make excuses. I was a jerk, and I'm sorry.

"Well, thank you for saying that. I'm sorry too-"

"You have nothing to be sorry about."

"The things I said weren't exactly nice either." Zula said, "And I was feeling bad about it, so I'm glad you're here now."

The brown lioness sighed with relief. "I'm glad too. I felt really horrible about everything I said." She chuckled, "I'm the queen of running from my problems, I have no place saying anyone else does."

"You were right though, I shouldn't leave the Pridelands."

"I shouldn't have said that, it's your decision, if you do go, I'll be so glad to have you. More than glad, ecstatic." Jayden said.

"I've been thinking really hard since last night. I've decided I should tell Zuna and Clous about my feelings for him."

Jayden's eyes widened. She's gonna tell him?

"I need to be brave and strong and just get it over with. Cuz I really think I can get over him and get on with my life, as long as the first step is telling him."

"You…you're really going to?"

"Yeah, I know it's not like my confession will make him love me back or anything, hm! But it'll just make me feel…better I guess. With Closure. And I know I'll start to heal after that.

"That's so brave of you…" Jayden said, impressed. I can't say I'd be brave enough to do the same if I were her. "When are you going to do it?"

Zula paused for a second, then said, "I was thinking tonight."