Madoa puts a paw over Tombie's as she recalls the story. Dalia notices this gesture and doesn't hesitate to flash Tombie a teasing glance, waggling her eyebrows at him playfully. He adverts eye-contact with the lioness and turns his face away cheekily.

Madoa doesn't take any notice of the interaction and continues. "It all started when one day, Jasiri and I had left the pups at home and decided to venture out and bring back food for the pups."

Jasiri tips her head into a nod, showing her agreement. "Under normal circumstances, we wouldn't have left the pups alone," she adds. "We had told them not to leave the cavern but, as expected, they didn't listen..."

{FLASHBACK}

Jasiri gave the pups a hard glare. For the past few minutes, she had been politely asking the twins to sit still long enough for them to listen to her instructions. Her attempt had been to no avail as the kids were still running around and chasing each other. "Wema! Tunu!" she finally shouted, startling the pups enough for them to sit still.

Madoa approached from behind the pups, glowering down at the pups. Once the pups sat still, Madoa's face softened. "Jasiri and I will be going to fetch you two dinner."

"So we're going to need you to stay in the cavern," Jasiri added, gesturing towards the cavern with her paw.

The pups didn't seem convinced, sticking out their lower lip into a pout. "But—"

"—No buts." Madoa shook her head firmly. Being a young hyena herself, she could empathize with the pups' disdain towards staying put. However, there could be no disagreements on this matter. "It's not safe for your little ones to be out and about by yourselves. So, I'm going to need the two of you to listen to me and stay in the cavern until we return."

They still didn't seem too happy about the arrangement, but reluctantly nodded their heads in agreement. Tails drooping, they made their way into the cavern.

"I feel bad," Jasiri sighed, "We've not been giving them as much time to run around. Pups should have that freedom."

Madoa made a 'tsking' noise with her tongue, showing her disapproval as well. "I know, I know." The hyena turned to her side, stretching out her leg. "But our priority right now isn't to have fun; it's to survive." Jasiri's gaze was still fixed on the ground, but she didn't argue any further. She knew her sister was right, but that didn't make it any easier. "C'mon, Jasiri," Madoa beckons, "We best be going."

It had been a few hours since Jasiri and Madoa left, and the pups were getting restless. Wema kicked herself off of the wall, head-butting her brother hard in the side. He let out a yelp before rabbit-kicking her away from him. The she-pup landed against the cavern wall with a 'thud', knocking the air out of her lungs. After a quick glance to make sure his sister wasn't actually hurt, Tunu let out a long yawn.

It sure was boring staying here in the cavern.

"I'm so bored," Tunu complained, resting his chin on his paws and tapping his tail against the rocky ground.

Wema furrowed her brow and approached her brother, tapping his side with her paw. "It's not that bad, Tunu," she offered. "Besides, we've got each other, right?"

"Right," Tunu replied, "But I much rather play outside of this dumb cavern."

The she-pup tilted her head to the side. "Tunu, I thought you liked the cavern!"

Tunu gave a sharp shake of the head. "Only for a few hours, but it's getting so boring now," he rebuffed.

Wema plopped onto the ground, her paws splayed out from under her in exasperation. Honestly, dealing with her brother sure is tiring. "Okay, genius," she retorted, rolling her eyes, "Whatcha say we do, then?"

A mischievous glint bounced off his eyes, one his sister is all too familiar with. "I say we take a little break from the cavern."

...

The two pups wandered out of the cavern, chasing each other about the long corridors of the Outlands. Tunu tackled his young sister to the ground, to which she quickly wiggled her way out from under him. Wema in turn tackled him to the ground, her brother letting out an annoyed grunt in response.

In their escapade, the two pups hadn't realized just how far they had ventured from the safety of their cavern. Wema rolled off her brother, looking around the unfamiliar grooves of the canyon walls.

"Tunu, are we lost?"

Tunu shook his head quickly, not missing a beat, but his sister noticed the uneasy look in his eyes. Tunu turned around, facing the fork in the path from which they came. They wound up there by following either the left or right path. "Of course not, Wema, we just gotta go that way," he pointed to the left before furrowing his eyebrows together. "Or was it that way?"

Wema groaned. "Great! We're lost!"

"Nuh-uh," Tunu rebuffed, "I'm pretty sure home's that way." Once again, he pointed to the left. Wema flashed him a dubious glance but nodded her head reluctantly. She had to take her chances and follow her brother. The slowly ventured down the left fork in the path, creeping along cautiously.

As the pups glanced around, they realized that the path was unfamiliar to them. Swallowing hard, Wemu turned around to her brother. To her surprise, when she glanced around, her brother wasn't there. "Tunu?" she called and turned her head around sharply, realizing they somehow got separated. How could they've gotten separated? She was looking away for one minute!

"Wema!" His distant voice cried out.

Instantly, panic filled the young pup. "Tunu!" she called back, running in the direction of his cries. As she neared the sound of the cries, she could also pick up unknown laughter. She recognized it as a hyena's laugh. She rounded another corner, where she saw her brother. Only, her brother wasn't alone. Flanking either side of her brother were two unknown hyenas, one with a lopsided tongue and the other with an abnormally large head.

"Wema!" He cried again, frightened eyes widening at the sight of the foreign hyenas.

Wema recognizes the hyenas as members of Janja's clan, though she doesn't quite remember their names. Emerging from behind the two hyenas flanking her brother, Janja walked into view, an eery smile lopsided on his face. "Well, what do we have here?" Janja snarled menacingly.

Tunu shrank back, making himself seem smaller than he is.

One hyena, the big-headed one, replied dumbly, "Uh, we got two pups, Janja."

The other hyena, the one with the lopsided tongue, nodded in an agreement. "They're on our territory too, Chungu."

Wema looked up, mustering up as much courage as possible. "I'm sorry, s-sir, we didn't know we were on your territory. Please let my brother go!"

"We won't bother you again!" Tunu added.

Janja didn't answer, instead cocking his head to the side with amusement. "Hold on a sec, fellas," he held out a paw, halting his goons, "These pups look a bit familiar, don't ya think?"

"Oh, yeah," the hyena with the lopsided tongue nodded. He grinned as well, which looked weird given his oral issue. "They're Jasiri's siblings, right?"

"Chungu," Janja barked at the big-headed one, "Hold down the boy."

"Hey!" Wema protested, watching in horror as the big-headed hyena, Chungu, held her brother down with a paw. Tunu let out a squeak, looking up at Chungu with righteous indignation. "That's my brother!" she cried angrily, bravely running forward to the aid of her brother.

Janja smirked before turning to the hyena with the lopsided tongue. "Cheezi, get the other one!"

Cheezi ran forward, pushing Wema back against the wall before holding her down as well with a paw. Wema and Tunu both squirmed and squealed, crying out for their sisters' aid.

Janja took a step forward, smirking triumphantly. "I say we keep 'em here 'till Jasiri comes around," he said, looking around at his crew. "Whatcha' say, boys?"

"Yeah!" Cheezi agreed, and Chungu nodded his head.

Janja began to snicker but stopped when he picked up the sound of approaching paw-steps. Wema turned her head around as far as she could to see the source of the noise. A new hyena walked into the opening of the gorge, an eyebrow quirked and smirk spread across his muzzle. Stripes ran the length of his back and an unusual red tinted his fur. Tilting his head to the side, he narrowed his eyes at Janja.

"Fellas," the new hyena drawled out slowly, shifting his weight to the other paw, "You think you're real brave picking on a couple of kids, don't ya'?"

Janja took a step forward, eyebrows furrowing. "Who are you?" he snarled, "Ya' know what? I don't care — just get outta here before we make ya'."

The hyena snickered, shaking his head lightly. "Yeah, that's not how this is going to work." Tensing his muscles, he flashed the other two hyenas a menacing glare. "The name's Tombie. I'm not native to these lands, so I'm not sure how you run things around here." He took a step forward. "But I do know that you're gonna let those kids go 'before I make ya'." He mocked Janja's voice when saying the last part.

All the while, the pups stared, terrified, at the encounter.

Janja let out a groan of annoyance. "It's three against one," he reminded.

Tombie slid out his claws, the black claws touching the rocky ground beneath him. "I'll take my chances," he growled, narrowing his eyes at the three hyenas. Without another word, Tombie ran past Janja swiftly, taking him by surprise. He then knocked over Cheezi and Chungu in one blow. The two hyenas rolled into each other before rolling down the rocky hill behind them. Janja watched his henchmen rolled down the hill, disappearing from view, leaving just him and Tombie.

"Looks like it's one against one, now," Tombie teased snarkily.

Wema and Tunu seized the opportunity and ran past Janja and Tombie. Janja growled at Tombie one last time, to which Tombie growled back. Janja wisely decided to leave the situation and started running away from Tombie.

Over his shoulder, Janja turned his head, a snarl present on his face. "This isn't over, freak!"

The red-furred hyena snickered and yelled out taunts as Janja fled. Tombie turned his head around briefly, and he could only see the pups rounding a corner before they ran out of sight. "Run, kids, and don't stop till you're home!" Tombie called after them.

"Thank you, mister!" Wema and Tunu's voice sounded distant as they didn't bother to waste time to thank Tombie face-to-face.

{End of Flashback}

"And after I single-handedly saved those pups," Tombie continues dramatically, to which Dalia snorts, "I decided just to make sure they got home safe."

Madoa chuckles softly, her eyes full of affection towards the red-furred hyena. "After that, we let him stick around our territory and, slowly, he made his way into our clan."

"And Madoa's heart, "Jasiri adds teasingly, batting her eyelashes mockingly at her sister and Tombie.

Dalia and Imba giggle and Dalia notices Tombie and Madoa both advertising eye contact. She decides that she would tease Tombie a great deal.

Tombie clears his throat, changing the topic. "Back to the point," he clears his throat once more, glaring daggers at Jasiri before continuing. "Jasiri and Madoa have both been good to me, and I love being around the pups as troublesome as they may be."

As if on cue, the two pups tumble out of one of the tunnels and land in between Jasiri and Madoa. The older sisters laugh before nudging the pups back on their feet. The pups start yawning, and Wema rubs her tired eye with the back of her paw. "Looks like someone's a little sleepy," Jasiri says in a sing-song voice.

Imba also yawns, covering it with her wing. "Make that two." Imba ducks her head down to preen her feathers a bit. "I think I'll hit the hay too." Taking a quick peek outside, the eagle realizes it's still raining outside. "Sorry to be a bother," she says apologetically, "As soon as the rain stops, we'll be out of your fur."

"It's no bother," Jasiri assures.

Imba flashes her an appreciative glance before flying over to a ledge. Scanning the cavern, she swiftly picks up pieces of moss from around the space and piles it up on the ledge. Settling herself into her freshly-made, make-shift, nest, she lets out a content sigh.

Madoa bends down, grabbing Tunu by the scruff and ignoring his indignant protests to be put down. "It's time for bed," she chides gently. Turning back around to Tombie and Dalia, she smiles warmly at the sight of the two friends reunited. "Jasiri and I'll put the pups down for bed."

"We'll leave the two of you to catch up," Jasiri adds before bending down to pick up Wema by the scruff as well. Unlike her brother, Wema doesn't put up much of a protest and Dalia suspects the girl pup's too tired to put up a fight.

The two older hyenas guide their younger siblings into a different room in the cavern, where Dalia assumes is their resting area. Once they're gone, Dalia turns to Tombie with a smirk.

"You've got a clan and a mate, now?" Dalia teases, quirking an eyebrow. She speaks quietly, considerate of those who are trying to get some rest.

Tombie smiles cheekily. "Madoa's not my mate," he insists.

"Yet," the lioness adds quickly. When he shakes his head 'no', she nudges him with a paw. "C'mon, Tombie. Give me the juicy details!"

The hyena puts his paws up in surrender. "There are no details to give, Lia," he replies. Tilting his head to the side, he adds, "But... when there are any more additions to the story, I'll be sure to let you know."

Dalia's grin widens at the last comment. Leaning her head against the rocky-wall behind her, she closes her eyes briefly and is taken back home. She can almost picture the vast expanse of rocky gorges that they once called home. "Hey, Tombie?" The hyena in question quirks an eyebrow to show he's listening. "Do you ever want to go back home?"

Tombie sits up straighter, careful to phrase his words correctly. "I used to," he admits after a few moments. "I used to a lot, actually." Sighing, he turns to face the lioness. "But now, I've found where I belong. I've found my family." Tombie gestures around the cavern. "This is my home, not up north."

Dalia gives a half-smile. It was a bittersweet moment, really. She's beyond happy that her friend has matured, settling down with a clan and finding a family. At the same time, she can't help but feel choked up thinking of the memories they shared when they were young. "I'm happy for you, Tombie. I really am."

"What about you, Lia?" Tombie lifts an eyebrow. "You ever want to go back home?"

Author's Note:

OK, I promise we'll be meeting Kion soon — maybe in the next 1 or 2 chapters. Last chapter, I got a Guest review asking if I've thought of any voice actor for the OCs in this story.

I'm not too familiar with voice actors (sorry), so if you could leave recommendations for voice actors for the OCs, that would be fantastic.

I'm pretty confident there are some typos in this chapter, so please excuse that. As always, please leave any criticism/feedback/comments in the reviews!

~Maddie