The Lion King: Bleeding Paws

by TheLegendaryBlackDragonKnight

Retribution is the name for this hyena who is rescued from living a life in the gorge, and taken to her clan to become what his father and mother wanted him to become. As soon as memories of what led Jeyluxhal into being who he is today returns to his mind, he's out for blood and to give some hell to what the pride in the Outlands had done that night. The C.O.L means little to him

12. Savior

(A/N: A warning before we start this chapter is that this is low, even for the Pridelanders and even for Baridi to allow it to happen because he's the one who orchestrates this. There's a lot of lines one doesn't cross and Baridi crosses all of these, there is no hope for redemption but judging by the way that Tabari had talked about him; there was never hope for redeeming an lion like him. Even before murdering Najira with his paws and his pride of lions, what Tabari's words about him ring true because he doesn't have remorse for what he did, he is not owning up to his crimes. He did it not just because he was betrayed by Tabari, he did it for the hell of it and he would do it again; call it what you will but Baridi is just this really selfish lion who is going to do a lot of horrible shit to someone for the hell of it. Think of him the same way that everyone thinks of Richard Biegenwald, he's a serial killer who had a very troubled childhood when he was young but that's where the comparisons begin. Baridi was loved by his mother, and he still kills people because he's just a piece of shit just like how Dhalimu, Jeyluxhal and his friends' old bully who was a zebra and disrespected everyone like his mother who loved him, was and the zebra himself ended up getting killed by being eaten alive by Jeyluxhal as he was already angry enough with Jasiri for something that she didn't know is all but going to happen in the first place. But yes, Richard had a troubled history like trying to burn down his home at five, set himself on fire when he was eleven, convicted of car theft as a teenager as well as shooting and killing a owner of a store weeks after serving a year in jail in 1958; serial killer like him could've been executed but he was sentenced to life in prison and in 1974 after serving sixteen years, he was paroled. Late on Halloween night in 1981, Maria Ciallella came to have the unfortunate honor to meet Mr. Biegenwald when she walked home from a night of trick-or-treating; she was only seventeen at the time. A police deputy spotted her while on route to another location and he meant to give her a ride back, but she was gone by the time he returned; she was shot, dismembered and buried alongside the others back in the backyard of Mr. Biegenwald. His wife Diane, married in 1980, was aware of his activities after he showed his first victim later that year; he did it "just for the hell of it". Now you see what kind of comparison I'm making? He has no qualms about targeting others either and just like what you saw at the end of Chapter 9: Timon and Pumbaa, this is the plan that he's putting to action. He's orchestrating his pride to humiliate both Tabari and this hyena that Tabari has by his side, by the time he's well absorbed into the chaos of this humiliation that Baridi believes is deserving; he will be gone if Tabari tries to find him. It is not all lost however, because this is where Hatima the wildcat truly appears for the first time and it's here where Jeyluxhal has come to meet his true love interest. I got the meeting between the two from The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1995) because I feel like Jeyluxhal is a sullen version of Quasimodo, that and this is supposed to show the animals of the Pride Lands going too far this time and not doing anything to help him; sure enough, it seems like they're diagnosed with Bystander Syndrome but they're actually just being dicks. The lot of them are. Also, a lot of their comments toward Jeyluxhal and Tabari were taken from the "Making the bus monitor cry" video that if you are aware of, then it's even worse because these are fully grown animals trying to bully and, why not, harass a father whose loving mate was taken from him. Absolutely shameless, but I did write two notes at the start of the first chapter in the AO3 version, which you can view right here: /works/46528810/chapters/117162772, as AO3 allows you to write a note at the beginning and the end, about how many of the characters from the films, shows and the media may not act like themselves because it's really the hardest part of any fanfic; to make them believe this was all coming from Disney's writers themselves and what's to be expected of them. I also wrote that you should know there's a dark side to the world of The Lion King, because outside what seems like a very friendly universe and behind the cameras that film the adventures of the main cast and other animals, people like the animals who are about to be shown here can be and are just pieces of shit. I described it like being a cesspool of hatred and evil, like modern Spongebob and how the Bikini Bottom is supposed to be this place that children think is safe and happy and I have no doubts that what children from 1994 felt back when the first film was released in that year. Those kids could believe they could all find the Pride Lands in the serengeti of Africa and interact with the characters that they love, but I'd have the same reaction as the late Ernest Borgine's Mermaid Man as soon as I learned there was evil hidden behind the cameras filming their world. I wrote that I imagined there's a level of arrogance in each one of these animals shown so far in these chapters that believe they know what's right, like Ahadi who is the father of Mufasa and Taka which at the time I'm not even sure he liked his second born son Taka because it's hard to describe the relationship between the two. I especially warned the viewers of the AO3 version there were animals of such who would try and moralize our protagonist against what he believes in, and I even had the courtesy to warn them about entitled Inahakis who not even the Lion Guard can deal with because it just might end up turning into a shouting match. And when I meant moralize, I had meant that they insist they know better than Jeyluxhal and believe he can't have an opinion; because he doesn't talk, and this is something that's going to annoy the shit out of you; they believe they are always right and always in the right, while he is always wrong and always in the wrong. The fact he's been seen in the Pride Lands commonly is treated like it's a problem when he isn't doing anything to terrorize and threaten the Circle of Life that Jeyluxhal doesn't like to focus on or care all that much for. Yes, it's what allows predator and prey to live side by side in peace with one another; but you have to remember that the Circle of Life is a ideology and that he has that right to believe in, but not have the desire to live a lifestyle based on the beliefs of the animals, the Pridelanders or otherwise. Jeyluxhal eats what he's hungry for and goes no further, and what Jasiri said is true and that most hyenas like her respect the Circle of Life. But keep in mind that what Jeyluxhal doesn't have to respect are animals who insist that he's breaking the law of the Pride Lands because he's in the Pride Lands themselves, he does not have to take their shit and if Jeyluxhal had a voice; he would tell them exactly that in the same way that Iago from Aladdin would tell them, acting like he's speaking as the hyena the same way that Mwindaji, Jeyluxhal's leather winged bat friend, does when he has something to say. More on that in the later chapters, as I said in the AO3 version of course as you readers in the version have seen, but that's not even the worst of what these animals act like towards Jeyluxhal. I also addressed something that really makes you understand our hero's cubhood and how his life was taken from him, and it's not pleasant, what I addressed was feralness. Becoming feral is not a joke and it's like turning into The Incredible Hulk, it's something that your friends don't want to see you become and it's something that would all but terrify even yourself. This is a threat that played a role in Chapter 7: The Beast Within, as you've read that chapter and understood why he was near the edge of becoming feral; if you are a obsessive foster mother who insists you're better than Jeyluxhal's biological mother as you go as far as to copy her appearance to make him accept you, then you have to be a real monster to go that far because you are nowhere, and I emphasize, you are nowhere near the loving and faithful mate of Tabari who remains as someone he considers that was all he had left. And Najira was more than a loving mother, she was a hyena who could stand her own up against a pride of lions alone by herself. But without further delay, all I wanted to say is that these animals can be and are simply pieces of shit not worth your pity who refuse to take or own up to their responsibility of harassing a hyena who wants nothing to do with what their beliefs; Jeyluxhal is looking out for one: himself, and he will kill Baridi because that lion can not, I emphasize for the sake of you understanding, can not be redeemed as I stress. I have delayed long enough, so here is the lowest of the low where you will be disappointed more in the way they acted than in The Rudest Karen You Know segment of Chapter 10: Jeyluxhal Tales. Here we go)

The Pride Lands, this morning, was celebrating a kind of festivity that's similar to that of the Feast of Fools in Paris, called the Shangwe ya Wajinga (SHANG-WAY YA WAH-JEENG-AH) as it translates to "celebration of fools" in the Swahili language as it's upbeat for a festival name, though the celebrations had their own various activities to make it their own and not attempt to plagiarize another European country's holiday; although there's no such thing as plagiarizing one's holiday as they cannot be trademarked and neither can the term "react" be. The sky had a eastern to a glacier as well as a fountain and a fountain to a half baked, as well as an danube and a neptune to a hippie and a cornflower blue color with streaks of cirrus and cirrostratus; as well as altocumulus and cirrocumulus clouds running through the sky and the air. The animals who attended are colorful and lively, the celebrations with the flora and the fauna radiantly shining among the sun that's as high in the sky

Several tents from different coats of the furry fauna were even set up by the monkeys thanks to their dexterous hands and were upheld all by the the supports of trees thanks to the strength of elephants with their prehensile trunks and the reach of giraffes with their long necks who set them all up. The grass was a woodland to a yellow metal and a birch to a black olive as well as a crete to camouflage olive green, as a english walnut and mondo brown came in the form of the soil under the grass; the rocks were a fuscous gray and dallas olive green color. All the greens, the tans, the browns, the blues and the greys here in the Pride Lands and Pumbaa's red skin stood out amongst all of that as both Timon and he attended this festivity that was all about making jackasses of one's self and be a fool to let off the built up steam from being serious all the time

Being the sullen hyena that Jeyluxhal is, he joined in but was in no mood to participate in the festivities as every animal be it whom he's supposed to be rooting for and rooting against, as those would be the lions for the former, were invited. The only reason he was here was due to the fact that he heard the likes of Baridi and his pride were attending, alongside some that were known to be anti-hyena insurgents as they believed his kind was unimportant and only lions were needed for the Circle of Life to retain balance alongside others; that however was far from the truth more than anything

Having gone back to walking bipedally like a bultungin from North Africa, wearing the same caribou skin flap on his back to his exposed chest resting on either of his shoulders, and his manskirt bearskin kilt, with that same expression as he had when he first met both Timon as well as his buddy warthog Pumbaa

His saliva leaked out more than usual as well and retained the expression of his limited amount of vocals that are exclusively limited to simply huffing through his black nose, but now did more than give off a giggle or a chuckle that gave off unwelcoming vibes of instability as if he's ashamed of himself. Hunched over as his red hair tinted black mane mullet being split into three with either side resting on either of his shoulder, he didn't give off a whoop or anything distinctive as he did not laugh nor did he whine; he didn't growl, he just made deep guttural lows that usually communicates as an form of alarm or danger but also challenge to other hyenas or to mark territory and groaned, which were low rumbling sounds that communicated in the form of aggression or dominance but were also used by other hyenas as a greeting or expressing excitement, neither of which were used in this context

He didn't come here without reason though outside of being told by Tabari that Baridi would be here, his jackal friend Kuplinka was leading the festivities as if he were the Clopin for this day and occasion; to further add to the scene of this celebration of foolishness where all of the people act like idiots, the description of the animals who attended should be described: with lions wearing makeup, zebras wearing stupid hats, elephants having painted toenails for the feet on them with one lion dressed as a zebra; a giraffe dressed as a bird, a monkey dressed as a king, though it's not to be confused with the Monkey King from Chinese Mythology, at least in the context of the 16th century novel called Journey to the West, who was born from a stone as he acquired his supernatural powers through Toaist practices

The story goes that by rebelling against heaven, he was imprisoned under a mountain by the Buddha as five hundred years passed until he was free; accompanying Tang Sanzang who rode on the White Dragon Horse and two other disciples as they are Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing on a journey to obtain the Buddhist sutras from India, as it is also where the Buddha and his followers dwell

This character has amazing strength that allows him to support the weight of two heaven mountains on his shoulders all while running with the speed of a meteor streaking across the sky, he's extremely fast to travel fifty four thousand kilometers in one somersault, he has vast memorization skills and Jeyluxhal is honestly past the point of giving a damn. Some of the giraffes took their bird costumes with cleverness by having them appear like they're gliding high through the sky, but all in the same they were all dressed in their most ridiculous costumes

Zebras wore hats with long droopy ears and scarves with their stripes, some with their stripes being painted differently in many colors. That wasn't all as giraffes have dresses made of leaves, tall hats with long necks and scarves, even stilts to make themselves taller like they even need to be taller than they already were. Elephants wore trunks made of balloons and dresses made of elephant skin of course, and it should be said again that all animals were invited so there's no reason that hyenas can be in this festival as they wore costumes made of other animals' fur

Monkeys wore masks and hats made of bananas with clothes made of leaves as they climbed around on each other, birds wore silly feathers as they flew with streamers attached to their wings along, with some leaves in their tufts of feathery hair, as well as hats made of flowers. Lions being regal of course all came in wearing funny crowns and capes, as they too dressed as other animals, the elephants were also adding onto their appearances with bigger floppier ears and trunks with paint on their faces; warthogs wearing funny tails

Jeyluxhal would've gone into further detail about what else was happening in the Shangwe ya Wajinga, but he's got nothing; because he is past the point of giving a fuck about what the other animals look like

This is supposed to be a vibrant and lively affair, even the sky was an kaleidoscope of colors with the animals who attended being just as colorful with bright fur to rainbowlic feathers. Timon and Pumbaa, as it was mentioned before, were among attendees; always up for a good time and this festival is no exception. The duo made jackasses about themselves amidst the attendees, letting go of that tension being pent up inside their bodies and simply being silly

If that's not enough, Simba and Nala arrived as well which was already in full swing. The king and queen decided to join in on the fun, with the former being dressed as an giraffe that had a long neck with spots all over his body, while the latter was dressed as a zebra; all black and white stripes over her body

Their presence surprised and delighted them as they cheered and clapped when they passed by, Simba and Nala laughed while waving back to the crowd. This was a playful moment that Zazu agreed that they should enjoy themselves in, they were best friends once, now they're married and rule the Pride Lands together

Furthermore, there's a upcoming contest where animals compete to be the biggest fool, too

Jeyluxhal ignored them as he stood in the shadows of the rafters above, wanting to be alone by himself without being brought out of his thoughts by the attendees who want to oust him as the party pooper. But when he saw Simba and Nala come through, he felt the inner bile of his stomach boil and churn. Jeyluxhal hadn't forgotten what he had promised to do, after he'd witnessed that cub scratch his adopted mother Shenzi, all to save his friend Nala, to whom he did not forget was put in danger by him. A noble, brave thing to protect his future queen, but he digresses; it was time to make this even. He started to climb down from the rafters of this structure that was built as the mute hyena dropped down onto a catwalk, still further above from ground level

Mwindaji the bat, who had been watching from his perch turned to face him upside down, as he asked him. "You see that asshole anywhere?" Referring to Baridi as Mwindaji had his right wing on top his shoulder blade as he leaned forward towards him from the side

Jeyluxhal shook his head and gave a expression of diagonally upward pointed inner brows, half narrowed eyes and a mouth whose black lips were spread but told a different story in fact. His answer was no, he couldn't see Baridi anywhere, that lion was here but he was most likely in a different place in this festival. When he lays eyes on the one who killed his mom, he will be glad to inflict all kinds of torture on him, but for now, he can only dream of him as his prisoner in a dungeon that silenced his screams. Mwindaji took off from his perch and flew down onto his shoulder, landing firmly with his right wing taking hold of Jeyluxhal's left ear

"Have some faith, brotha. Baridi may be out of sight for now, but he's not out of mind. He is here, I'm sure of it. You'll find him, and you will find your peace, you and your father will find some peace for good" Mwindaji stroked Jeyluxhal's dark red mane

The hyena nodded solemnly, Kuplinka and his other friends were the same, even if they had their opinions on the matter. Jeyluxhal was not in the mood to participate in this festival, his sullen behavior was justified in that he didn't like being around so many animals, especially if those animals are lions. And as he watched them celebrate, seeing Timon and Pumbaa dance in a stupid and goofy manner, without doing the god forsaken floss dance of course, we don't need any of that, he thought he should just let the others have fun

But then, he could see some of Baridi's pride indulging themselves, having once again snuck into the Pride Lands and enjoying what the festivities have to offer. Still no sign of the lion of the hour or the anti-hyena insurgents either, but Jeyluxhal knows they're hiding among their numbers. He guessed that he's too serious and too uptight to enjoy himself, but perhaps next year he could let loose, if there was going to be a next year that is because he didn't know it's outcome at first; but believe me, right now at this very moment, the outcome isn't something that Jeyluxhal would want to be thinking about. It is not pretty how it all comes to a horrific, a evil turn nobody could've expected to happen

Furthermore, many of these animals had not forgotten what Jeyluxhal had done on the night of the play. The one held by the Dragon Island Bushbucks, and the following morning that his old bully had died by his paws. But many of the animals did forget about what Hadithi said, in that he had no part in this play they put on. The eagle legitimately wanted to make a play that was based on the Lion Guard themselves, but Dhalimu hijacked that and turned into one that enraged and offended so many hyenas. Janja's Clan was offended, Jasiri's Clan was offended, Shenzi's Clan was offended, according to rumors that carried this far, his father was offended, and he was the worst one of them all. Who did what didn't matter, what's in the past is done, they don't get to hold another play anymore

Jeyluxhal closed his eyes, taking a deep breath without opening his mouth. He listened to the sound of laughter and music all around, feeling the warm sun on his tan fur, and for the moment, he was able to forget about this pain that crept up every now and then inside him, and focus on the present moment

"Stay strong, I believe in you. You're a strong and courageous hyena, you'll find Baridi, and you are going to rip his black heart out from his ass to show how cold it is to him right before he dies; then, you and your father can go back home. We're in this together, Jeyluxhal. I ain't gonna let you down, and I know you're not gonna let yourself down" Mwindaji nuzzled his snout against his cheek as Jeyluxhal returned the gesture

Alright, he felt it was time to go as Mwindaji soared overhead in front of him, while Jeyluxhal leapt off and slid down the vine that led him to a wooden tree post, landing on his paws as he held onto the vine. Hyenas like him were very good at climbing trees, often used as lookouts and places to escape from predators, but what is he saying? He's not really dangling from the bottom of the food chain, that was just some bullshit that Shenzi was going on about, it's not a real fact. That, and he got a firm grip on the tree branch he was holding onto as he hoisted himself up, walking along to the other tree branch on the other side from where he could see as he held onto the other vine

But it seemed this vine was not tightened and secured properly as it unraveled and caused Jeyluxhal to leap off and swing right into the middle of the circle, dropping off and sliding along the ground with one leg extended to the side and the other kept close to his body. He looked up to find his best friend Kuplinka, the jackal who acted as the Clopin of this event as everything became far more colorful than it was previously

Sliding across the ground on his knees in front of him as he took him by the arm and began to do a jig with him, one arm interlocked with the other as he faced the front and Kuplinka faced the back in a circle that went around two times before performing a spin that had him take an opportunity to escape. The banners behind Kuplinka unfolded, displaying the colors of all the pride in the Shangwe ya Wajinga festival

Leaping onto a pole as he spun around and dropped into a puddle that splashed as an monkey appeared with his hands raised into the air and a smile on his face, wearing quite the colorful costume, only to flip upside down and reveal it's true self as his costume with a painted face; a jester's cap, as well as a red nose with his actual hands being the feet that were used for the costume in general. Showing once again, the spirit of everything being topsy turvy was alive, even if this wasn't Paris where the Feast of Fools were held. The costume's colors were also inverted as well

The energetic jackal was relentless as he found out where Jeyluxhal was hiding and cut the strings to the balloons he hid himself behind, with the hyena rushing up onto a tent which had the front open it's window to reveal a puppet stage; Kuplinka showing up from below, continuing to spread the message while Jeyluxhal once again escaped his sight. Kuplinka is doing everything in his power to put him into the mood and the spirit of the festivities and make this the best day he's ever had

As Jeyluxhal went on his way, he passed by three wild dogs walking bipedally with ropes and collars to the jackals that were on all fours, walking in sync with them. The hyena passed by a crocodile with no front half, only back halves that were connected to each other and both for which had a tail at the end; to top it off, an egret had two signs pointing outwards as if to say: "Which one is the real front end?"

The animals who were participating to be the biggest fool were also wearing masks that were depicting different animals as well, ready to show off their silliness when the contest came; a whole bunch of them ranging from elephants complete with striped tusks, all kinds of zebras with tacky patterns, snakes with hoods that bore stars and stripes alike, what wasn't here to list? Jeyluxhal continued on his way as he headed into a tent on the other side and closed it, only for it to open back up as he found himself as part of a dancing showgirls line with, you guessed it, Kuplinka apart of it as well on the other end while he was in the middle

The showgirls line kept heading to the left side where they disappeared into a tent, the inner structure falling down as Jeyluxhal climbed out from underneath the mess, he then shook off the debris and dusted himself off. He wasn't out of the woods yet, he was then taken by who else? Kuplinka who had hooked him up by the collar and vaulted over ahead with a pole over to the other side, where Jeyluxhal was then taken up by giraffes on stilts who carried him by their mouths and swung him back and forth. Only letting go when he was thrown the highest into the air and backflipped directly into a trampoline cloth held by four elephants using their trunks

He was bounced from trampoline to the next and then the third which was where, after he's been thrown up one more time, he was caught by the monkeys who dropped him to the next one after making flip around multiple times, only then did he drop to the ground. If he were a cub or at least having fun, this would've been so, but he was just irritated and this all took a toll on him for the worst when he became lightheaded. He was haphazardly stumbling back

Crashing into the dressing tent as he vaulted overhead where he grabbed the curtains to stop his fall, but only managing to tear it off as he collapsed afterwards. This was also the tent that Hatima the wildcat was preparing for her next appearance outside, only getting caught off guard by a unknown intruder. "What the hell?" She could heard as she turned around to see the unknown intruder covered by the curtains

Hearing the sound of his grunting yelp of pain, this signified to her that he was a male and he was most likely hurt. She came to his aid. "Hey, hey hey hey, you alright?"

Jeyluxhal backed away on the ground from her, still covered in the curtains as she removed it from him. Learning that he was a hyena, and that he broke his fall by impacting his arm, which was right up against his back. This however had sent a cord of shocking strain to rush up right unto his shoulder and strike his brain with a whiplash of pain. His own eyesight flashed with varied rainbowlic colors that went from bright to dull

"Jesus, that can't feel like a sea of clouds" She noticed the strain on his arm and leaned down to him, while Jeyluxhal hid his face out of shame for his scarred visage

Hatima however wasn't repulsed by his haggard appearance, but she merely mistook his face for a mask given this was about making a fool out of one's self, the festival of stupidity even

"Ah, whatever, it'll fade. See? No harm done" Jeyluxhal nodded to her as she helped to lead him out of the tent she was in. "Getting caught up in the festivities unwillingly can be a real son of a bitch, can it?"

Once again, Jeyluxhal nodded, but how could he blame Kuplinka for trying to get him into the spirit of things?

"Let's hope you don't too caught up this time, and by the way..." Hatima led him out as the mute hyena shook himself off, stroking his arm and yawning before he turned around when the wildcat had one last thing to tell him. "That's a great mask, very expressive and you're a damn good actor too, really fit the character of a mute hyena"

Jeyluxhal couldn't help but giggle as Hatima also added. "You've put a lot a good work into those expressions, too. Extremely clear and to the point. It's a shame others can't tell what you're really saying, unlike me of course" She praised him before going back inside

The hyena was left with a good feeling from Hatima as he bid her a farewell after an accident like this, and went on his own. Although, he breathed out with disappointment that she was not aware that this was his real face, but nevertheless, he went on to enjoy the foolishness of everyone such as a rhino dressed as a lobster wheelburrowing a lion chef inside a cauldron of hot boiling water, other animals popping their balloon heads with needles and others that were dressed as the elderly, crooks and ugly women with Jeyluxhal walking through it all

Given that he was the only sane hyena here while everyone was acting stupid compared to him, his thoughts wandered to the times back in the Elephant Graveyard, a time when when he was young but the same age as he is now as time didn't effect him. Shenzi talked to him about how unsurprisingly cold and serious he was most of the time

---

(Flashback)

Shenzi used to say that Jeyluxhal didn't see the funny side of things enough, and on this day, she talked to him in a canyon in the Elephant Graveyard, which looked awfully like the exit of the Outlands volcano where Janja and his clan reside. In fact, it was based on the exterior of it where both Janja and Mzingo talked to each other in, this however had more bones and of course more elephant skulls, but none of the volcanic activity, it's just fermaholes and some titanic skeletons along with all the dead remains of other animals who came here to die. It is here that Shenzi walked to Jeyluxhal while he laid on his side, looking distinterested in about everything

"Come on, lighten up!" Shenzi came up to his face as she had a smile on her face. "You really missin' all the fun for someone your age"

Jeyluxhal flipped back up onto his stomach as he gave a expression that told her that he wasn't really in the mood, his eyes were cast downwards, his ear was flickering, and his tongue wasn't poking out through his usual facial expression that he was always known for. Shenzi, his adopted mother sat down next to him

"Jeyluxhal, you don't have to be so serious all the time, it's alright to have fun. Why can't you loosen up?"

For once, Jeyluxhal didn't know what to say, he guessed that he's always been naturally stoic and stone faced, pretending that he had no emotions. He supposed that it wasn't in him to be so relaxed and without worry. He's still hesitant to this day to join in on the fun of the others, he didn't always have to keep himself occupied with hunting for Shenzi, Banzai and Ed either

Then again, Jeyluxhal saw this as a way of coping. "You don't have to be the funny guy all the time either" Shenzi put a paw on his back and stroked him

The mute hyena knew this and responded with a nod, that's what everyone expects him to be like. A funny guy in the clan like everyone else, but then there were times when Shenzi made no comical moves like with when Danguro had threatened her a couple of times, that was a serious situation that left no room to be a jokester

Shenzi is right, he didn't need to see everything as a joke or be serious all the time. He stood up and put a paw on her back in return, stroking her as he looked her in the eyes and nodded; whatever he'll do, if it makes her happy, he'll do it for her. He didn't want to see his adoptive mother be disappointed by his refusal. She took his paw and brought him to a place where they could have some fun, hesitating but joining in with him being a stiff at first, but eventually letting himself go as he started to relax

It felt like he was playing with Najira again but he couldn't explain this feeling, not like he can now but at the time, he felt this feeling of nostalgia for an time he didn't remember, all those memories he kept repressed. They would play and laugh for hours, for the first time since... a time he couldn't remember, he felt happy

"Come on, Jeyluxhal. Don't be such a stick-in-the-mud!" Shenzi told him as she laughed

Jeyluxhal defended himself with his expression that told her that he wasn't being a one, but he was tackled to the ground by her, pinned and being tickled in his sweet spots that happen to make him groom himself in bliss and on instinct. This reaction made Shenzi laugh

"Admit it! You're having fun!" She laughed as she told him

Jeyluxhal couldn't deny it, he was having fun, she knew where his sweet spots were on his body and he groomed himself on instinct if they were being scratched. He was still grooming himself on instinct when Shenzi stopped and took awhile before he stopped, which only made her giggle. "You're so slow!"

Nah, Jeyluxhal wasn't slow, he was just toying with her. Jeyluxhal tackled her to the ground before the two started to tumble around, before long it was Shenzi who tackled him back to the ground where the two of them began to wrestle with each other playfully

Later that night, they were both laughing and sitting by a campfire. Both of them were laying on their backs with Jeyluxhal curling up into his side and moving from one side to the other, just more cat behavior of him

"I'm glad you were having fun, Jey" Shenzi turned to him on her right

Jeyluxhal on the otherhand was curling into himself as he moved to his right and lied on his side, responding with the twitch of his ear and the black nose on his snout that bounced a few times like he was sniffing something

"Anytime" The matriarch of the clan responded

And then, there was the time when the two of them were on a cliff's edge in the Pride Lands during Scar's reign, the two were alone with each other. What was even rarer was that Scar or Zira or the others weren't here to bother the two. It was just him and his adopted mother

Jeyluxhal had a distant expression looking out into the Pride Lands, his face was relaxed from giving that digusted look at Scar every chance he saw or laid one eye on him. He was wishing he could go back to the Elephant Graveyard, Shenzi had a paw around him

She turned to face him and told her adopted son. "I know, but outside the rare straggler here and there, there's not much to go around. And there's a chance either you might not come back at all, or I won't be here by the time you come back here with a whole lot of food with you"

Jeyluxhal exhaled through his snout, before he nodded a few seconds later. What she was telling him was it's too much of a risk to hunt beyond the borders of the Pride Lands, cause either this may be the last time she sees him or Scar finds out that Simba is alive and kills all three of them for lying. It terrified him in both aspects

The hyena turned to face her, with Shenzi moving his bangs aside to see his eyes, he wanted nothing to do with Scar's ambitions or his plans. He thought he would be raised back there, in the Elephant Graveyard, all his life and then be with her for the rest of his days

But he was grateful for the time she spent with him, as he stroked his paw on her back and licked her cheek as reassurance that he loved her, as a mother who took him from that day; forgetting his earlier childhood with his friends and the faces of his biological parents, cause that wasn't Jeyluxhal, that was Tajiuva and he's dead. He had died with Najira, and Jeyluxhal stood before her now

As the sun dipped below the horizon, he sat a little bit closer to Shenzi and watched it set in the distance. Jeyluxhal can't describe it even if he had a voice, he had a paw around her back, and he was watching the last vestiges of the afternoon terraform into the dark blue in the air. Casting long shadows across the ruined state of the Pride Lands, the drought that's caused by Mufasa to punish Scar so that he can be seen as the incompetent king who sought only that to satisfy his jealousy towards his brother, he really only wanted to be pampered as king. Really only understands that aspect of being king, Jeyluxhal understands that. His and Shenzi's fur, a spotted coat with one being smoke grey and with five bangs, the other being a tortilla tan but swathed in scars and bitemarks of a blood red, blended into the darkening landscape. Both of his eyes reflected the fiery hues of the sun, depths filled with that of uncertainty and longing for the home he previously resided with Shenzi's Clan. The Elephant Graveyard, frolicking the wastelands of the bones as a cub and feasting on whatever scraps found their way to here, an occasional straggler here and there of course, he would always take down the straggler and let out a whoop to announce to Shenzi, Banzai and Ed that they have a prize in their paws

Shenzi, knowing of her son's unease, nuzzled against him with her silent gesture conveying this message of affection. While Jeyluxhal's gesture of returning the favor conveyed one of unwavering loyalty. This vast exapnse stretching before them, the realm which still teemed with life and danger, was scarce but never dead all over, lively but not as much as it was back when Mufasa ruled. Venturing beyond the borders is perilous indeed, and Shenzi was right to tell him that it was a risk as neither face might return. But when a clan like them is facing the drawbacks like the lions, whose land belonged to them from the beginning to rule, and were on the brink of starvation, then neither of them being here or not returning from beyond the borders is less of a barrier for Jeyluxhal. She was ever the pragmatist, to reveal Simba alive by them as they were unable to pursue them any further beyond the thornbushes is a invitation to death, not just for Jeyluxhal but for her, for Banzai, for Ed and for her other hyenas in paws

His determination is remarkably unshakable. He was a son of Najira and a protecter of what remained of his old family to this one he learned to make with Shenzi's Clan. Even if he had repressed memories of his familiar life when he was once known as Tajiuva, Najira's courage was fueling his resolve, she was guiding him towards the future that lay ahead, however this future was uncertain to him. Hearts bleeding with trepidation and a trembling agitation, the fiery orb sank lower evermore, casting more long shadows dancing across the landscape, this adopted mother and adopted son bond between the two of them strengthened by this break of peace free of disturbances whether it be from Scar, Zira or the two sides that were led by their respective leaders

In the comfort of her warmth, the sun finally vanished beneath the horizon, and what it left behind was a trail of shimmering diamonds and a dark blue that became a endless sea, those stars that now overtook the place of the clouds were what remained as afternoon turns dark and falls to night. Casting the soft glow over these lands that were once green and yellow like the savannah that once bloomed in flora found in Africa was a moon, however far away it was and however faint the cold shivering orb in the inky darkness of the evening. There were not many fauna of the like that still remained, the chirping of crickets were inaudible as were the calls of distance animals that have moved on from the unsuitable conditions of the drought in the Pride Lands, not even a baboon that Jeyluxhal had always been aggressive towards broke the silence of the dried earth that was thirsty for the rain to come and replenish what's been lost. What makes a hyena like him caring for a matriarch of a clan, willing to defy the orders of Scar who was fully in control of the serengeti he intended to drive into the ground, but at the same time, not aid the lionesses in return for being as complicit in a crime he wanted no part of?

The answer was love, the answer was Upendi, but that didn't mean it is strictly romantic. This hyena, Jeyluxhal, was showing that he cared. Not just for his kinsmen in a clan he wasn't born in, for Banzai who give him these scars, for Ed who felt like his friend even if neither of them talked coherently in the case of Ed or rather at all in the case of Jeyluxhal, and for Shenzi who knew he already proven time and time again that he wanted her to know that he cared. This is devotion, this is respect, this is admiration. She gets what she deserves, and all three was earned by her through him. It was not based on the one factor that she took him in when he survived six days in the wildebeest gorge and was found by her on the seventh day, months before Scar set his plans into motion to lead Mufasa to his doom in the gorge and manipulate the king's son, Simba, into thinking he killed the king, his father, Mufasa

Jeyluxhal was every bit as right to take on the impression that Scar was a diva, his demeanor was deluded in self-denialism, under his own spell that he was logical as a ruler, unprepared to confess even to himself that his brother was better for his subjects or finding fault in what was acts of his own leadership. Jeyluxhal never took advantage of the free reign that Scar had let the hyenas have, neglectful of his own duties that resulted in a terrible famine. Reasoning with him was fruitless as he learned from watching them, his kinsmen and the lionesses who still mourned their previous king, attempt to do so. Their suggestions became his fuel to cast the blame onto them for the situation, appealing only to his own authority as a buffer against criticism. You know of his sensitivity when others compare him to his brother, his name was a irritating din on his ears as he saw it, no one should speak of that name in his presence

Punishing those who rejected him, none was more infamous than Nala's exile from Pride Rock as the madness of the king and the rejection of Sarabi led to Scar decreeing that the lionesses will eat after the hyenas, but that didn't stop Jeyluxhal from giving his kills to the lionesses as he still was and is currently keeping a permenent expression of disgust and of defiance towards the king. A expression that Zazu, in his ribcage prison, found unsettling as he never talked once. Many herds of prey were lucky to have escaped to escape Scar's rule, even though they shared regret that they were leaving the lionesses with nothing to eat yet had no qualms about starving his kind. His close development in a relationship with Zira had only blossomed as this extended to several other lionesses who believed in him. In the case of Nala, her exile came from rejecting his romantic advances, and his decree of banishment was announced to all the lionesses. Jeyluxhal's only response to Scar was to let out, what was probably the only expression he ever gave to him outside of the one he always kept, which is a expression that told him: "Fuck it, that's bullshit, bro"

Scar was not pleased, but that is a tale that's best saved for another time. Believe him, it was better off being told by Sarabi as it's a tense confrontation and the first time Scar saw him, but before he actually started to question him which was when he attacked Zira

And in the end, that love, that devotion and that care for Shenzi and by extension, her clan, is something Kukuza can never have from him. That foster mother, at this point was not even a hyena as Jeyluxhal would never consider her one of his own kind, was a sukubasi (succubus), a type of shetanija (demoness) who sought only to mate with his father even he himself, the hyena who looks back on this memory of him and Shenzi, said in his own facial expression, no means no. If she cannot take no for an answer, then what he did to her the last time he saw her, she gets what she fucking deserves

Yes, he channels his inner Arthur Fleck when he says that through his facial expression: That shetanija who calls herself Kukuza gets what she fucking deserves, and if he were to ever see her again, he wants her to burn in the palm of his paw so he wouldn't have be the same kin as her, the same species of hyena as her. But, in the end, she won't be coming back, and that's all fine to him because he was happier without her but miserable with her intruding in, what remains of it at least, his life

(Flashback Ends)

---

Jeyluxhal returned to the present of the Shenwe ya Wajinga, come out from his thoughts of a memory he cherished with Shenzi

But, it was thoughts like those that brought him down with old shame. Lamenting that he had attacked Scar, rightfully, in front of the lionesses after the king attacked him first. They made him look like he was the Starscream of the hyenas in Shenzi's Clan. Him, a Starscream, among hyenas. And he believed that he made himself look like he was one. When using the name of that Decepticon, it means that the lionesses thought he was power hungry and that he's been planning this chronic backstabbing for awhile, and he's trying to betray and overthrow an king by knocking him off his throne so he can take it, and establish himself as the ruler of the lush green and gold soiled Pride Lands

Jeyluxhal was not asserting that, if he could lead the lionesses of Pride Rock to a better life, he would do so better than a lion like Scar because this is the younger brother of Mufasa, the younger brother of the king who doesn't learn the regal responsibilities of what being king is. Jeyluxhal, no matter or not if he is a member of the hyena clan who helped orchestrate Scar's rising to the throne of Pride Rock that he did not earn through birthright, had no loyalty to the dark orange furred and black maned, green eyed lion nor does he have any emotional ties to a foreigner like him, as he considers since the political games of the Pride Lands were never his business to begin with. When it all comes boiling to the point, he is a hyena cub taken in by Shenzi, the matriarch of her clan, and raised by her as if he really were her son and of her own blood; and if that's not love, then Jeyluxhal putting her and the clan before himself just so he can give them food is him showing that he cares

The lionesses are no in position of power to be the judge of his actions, the jury of his trial he doesn't deserve the right to be placed on one for pettiness, and executioner of the sentences they all intended to impose on him and act accordingly on it as if it was the final word. That is what gaslighting is, and that is what Scar did to his nephew, Simba, who was a cub about eight years old as Jeyluxhal presumes he would be at that age as a lion. This has nothing to do with him being either a mute or a hyena, and nothing to do with the lionesses being lions or being able to speak unlike Jeyluxhal. He felt like he was being unfairly judged, because they found that not only was he present when Scar had thrown Mufasa off the cliff's edge into the sea of stampeding wildebeest below, but did nothing to interfere or intervene by protecting a king who was targeted for death since the beginning. Keeping in mind, the lionesses did not know at the time what really happened in the gorge, and no one knew that both Simba was alive or the fact that Scar was the one who really killed his own brother. Zazu was knocked out by Scar for a long time, and he felt like his death was on him. No one could've known what he's been doing on that fateful day

Jeyluxhal wished that he never left Shenzi's Clan, even though he tries his hardest to respect her wishes, and his own, for each other to go their separate ways; with her taking her clan to find better hunting grounds and him to kill this lion who had ruined his life by murdering his mother and setting him on a maddening path, the last kiss that she gave to him on that rainy night that turned to morning after the flames died on Pride Rock, felt like the last time that Jeyluxhal would see Shenzi again. Not helping him in this time of grievance was that Shenzi was the only mother, the only hyena unlike Kukuza, he considered to be a true substitute to his real mother, Najria, when she was violently ripped apart before his hidden eyes by Baridi

And the sole purpose of Kukuza for going too far by dressing as Najira to fill the hole left by his own bleeding heart when he witnessed the world of his former self, Tajiuva, die with her murder as fresh as the scent of copper ever smelled on bloodstains, was all for the want of a relationship with his father Tabari to not just have children with him, but to piss him off to no end to this angry, broken son of a murdered mom and a father who didn't want to lose him. Is that not the definition of madness?

That is how much he hates her. Jeyluxhal is willing to compare Kukuza to ImJayStation, who is just as evil as she is for the same reason: capitalizing on the deaths of celebrities such as Mac Miller, who died from an overdose, XXXTentacion, who was assassinated, both of them were rappers and that was awful enough already as it is. But none were more bloodboiling, none is more high stress rage inducing than the day that ImJayStation capitlized and exploited a well-loved man named Etika, who killed himself after his last video where he apologized for what he done to everyone. That was the only death that ImJayStation never apologized for doing a "Ouija board contacting at 3:00 AM" video on

It wasn't just ImJayStation who did this shit, N&A Productions called Etika at the same time as 3:00 AM is supposed to be the so-called "scariest hour at night" where all the horrors are at in this time of the morning. He claimed that if Etika's fans cared about him, they would've done a 3:00 AM video on Etika, and then N&A Productions made sure to throw in donation links, at the same time with both of them monetizing their videos to make so much more money off a beloved man like Desmond Daniel Amofa, the man behind Etika. You read correctly, if you do not make a video on him to cash on his death, N&A Productions cares more about Etika cause he cashed in on his death and you didn't. What he's doing is self victimizing because he didn't actually facetime him and he thinks he's fine, and blame shifting the fans for blindly raging at him for the fact that they didn't exploit his death. ImJayStation even kept changing the title of his video shaming his fans for not donating

Jesus christ, who says and does things like that?! Let's not forget that ImJayStation said that if people who give condolences to him and his families as well as mourn his loss, don't mean it unless they're donating to mental health or his family. And the second thing is that he said if they don't do what Etika did, they're not sad about him. This is what Kukuza is doing with his mother, Najira by dressing as her so she can act, look and behave the same way as her, she is wanting to take over her role as a mother to Jeyluxhal and husband to Tabari. She only wants to be with Tabari for the sole purpose of mating with him and having children, because she is a mother with no one of her own. No, that is unwarranted and atypical of a foster mother. It's sick fucks who use Najira's murder like her to their advantage that Jeyluxhal has no respect for and has no shame in both shaming, slamming or shunning them in front of their faces

Kukuza really is a sukubasi, a shetanija and if she were a male and in turn a foster father, what fucking difference would that make for him? She would still be a shetani and a male succubus called the mzukaaji (incubus) who only wants to be with his mother Najira, had Tabari been slain instead. Jeyluxhal would've called her a vulture along with ImJayStation, but even that is offensive to Mzingo and his parliament, because vultures actually help with something and both ImJayStation and Kukuza were only put on earth to be pieces of shit and no one appreciates them. Rightfully, if he might add, because they don't deserve to be given one ounce of appreciation

Jeyluxhal can't compare Kukuza to leeches either, because leeches can help with circulation in blood and Kukuza can only boil his blood pressure to the point of causing an aneurysm, 'til he breaks a blood vessel by making him mad. She will even make his hernia, if he ever gets one, worse by rupturing it with her nonstop attempts to bond with him when he had made it clear to her that Jeyluxhal doesn't want her to be his mother and that he will never love her like he did Najira, his biological mother

Coming out of those downer thoughts, gods be praised, he saw before him a blurred vision of what looked like Shenzi. His eyes were still foggy from the memory he focused on a little too much in his mind, he didn't properly take into account that it might be her however, and even so, he asked himself with his own facial expression. His eyebrows slanting down inwards, his lips sealed but raised alongside his mouth, his eyes narrowed to focus on the hyena that he is seeing in the distance, and ears pointing forward slightly. His expression read: "What is Shenzi doing here in the Pride Lands?" It has been a long time since he saw her again

No, he shouldn't approach her. It's too early to meet up with her again. Jeyluxhal shook his head, he turned away as he emerged from the depths of melancholic thoughts. The sun, as it cast the golden rays upon the Pride Lands, beckoned him to the vibrant stage where not only was there crowd there, but his friends from Kuplinka to Mwindaji and Zuberi to Fahari were captivating the audience with their melodies of famous tunes

Jeyluxhal's paws carried him forward, each step echoing the rhythm of the music filling the air, he figured his friends could use some help, the sound of a cymbal of a drumset lifting up briefly and hitting itself with the notes of a guitar being played. He climbed up and walked to the microphone, eyes falling upon the familiar figure yet again, a hyena whose silhouette is stirring a memory he cherished. Shenzi, standing amidst the crowd, captivating as the music being played as ever. Even his heart skipped a beat, confusion and curiosity still coursing in his veins, why was she here in the first place?

The question lingered in his mind, casting that shadow over his otherwise sullen mood that lacked the joy in a celebration of being a jackass of one's self. His friends knew what he was going for, and with warm smiles to enthusiastic nods, he cannot deny their infectious if not blood pumping energy. A symphony of sound was about to begin as the scene melted to that of a house and a flat with curtains, the only lightsource being two lamps which was dark, setting the mood for a duller and eerier scene, even his mood was dull and sad but happy and content in the memories that showed in this song that was about to be performed

---

(A/N: Lips of an Angel by Hinder from their Extreme Behavior album. This is a song that I had chosen for the longest while because I think this fits Jeyluxhal the most, he wants to forget about this love he had for his adoptive mother, but he's been moody and he feels like he hasn't shown her enough about how much he really cares. So this is what he is singing, in this imaginative landscape as Austin Wrinkler performs the vocals and remember that this doesn't happen in real life, therefore Jeyluxhal maintains his speech disorder that keeps him from saying anything. This is a dreamscape situation, nothing is revealed to the real world)

Jeyluxhal, dressed in a brown shirt with a black martial eagle bird extending it's wings across his chest and with the same hairstyle as the lead singer Austin Winkler, enters the scene with him sitting down alone in his chair. Taking up a phone as he began to sing, his voice being the same rasp and the same very nasal tonality, pushing towards his pharyngeal sound, it's a very powerful sound with the same heaviness in the real song. Being played in D Major, of course he would be singing soft first before getting bigger

(JEYLUXHAL)

Honey, why you callin' me so late?

It's kinda hard to talk right now

(((He pulls out a portrait of Shenzi from behind his stack of artwork he drew as continued singing this)))

Honey, why you cryin'? Is everything okay?

I gotta whisper 'cause I can't be too loud

(((His paw was on the glass of his portrait of his adopted mother, as if to lay one on her face, missing her)))

(JEYLUXHAL)

Oh, well, my girl's in the next room

Sometimes I wish she was you

I guess we never really moved on

Change of scenery as Jeyluxhal is now in the flat with his friends as Kuplinka is on the guitar, Mwindaji is on bass as well, Zuberi is the drummer of course, Fahari was listening in the background with Luthando and the other two were members of Shoka's bards which are the red fox, Mjanja, and the skunk, Kicheko

(JEYLUXHAL)

It's really good to hear your voice

Sayin' my name, it sounds so sweet

Comin' from the lips of an angel

Hearin' those words, it makes me weak

And I never wanna say goodbye

But girl, you make it hard to be faithful

With the lips of an angel

We return to the scene of Jeyluxhal at his desk, looking at his portrait a little more intently, a slight sad smile on his lips and upward titled narrowed eyes. He's thinking how he didn't expect to hear from her again as memories in sepia play out where he's happy and content, heading to a beach with her, Banzai and Ed, though the scene is focused on the two of them as the adoptive mother and adoptive son respectively

(JEYLUXHAL)

It's funny that you're callin' me tonight

And yes, I've dreamt of you too

Jeyluxhal tenses up with him leaning forward to the side with his elbow on his desk across his chest, he takes a uncertain and defensive stance, wondering about something

Does he know you're talkin' to me

Will it start a fight?

Jeyluxhal looks back and shakes his head as he sings this next part

No, I don't think she has a clue

Back at the flat, Jeyluxhal is at the microphone standing in front of it, using gestures with his arms, his paws and his fingers as he goes along. Flashing back to another memory of the two of them going down the stairs to the beach

(JEYLUXHAL)

Oh, well, my girl's in the next room

Sometimes I wish she was you

I guess we never really moved on

Zuberi rises up to the power of the beat and begins to start the chorus section again as Kuplinka, Mwindaji, Mjanja and Kicheko begin amping up

(JEYLUXHAL)

It's really good to hear your voice

Sayin' my name, it sounds so sweet

Comin' from the lips of an angel

Hearin' those words, it makes me weak

And I never wanna say goodbye

But girl, you make it hard to be faithful

With the lips of an angel

A guitar solo follows, being played by Kuplinka mostly but also by Mwindaji as the two were just as inseparable as he and Jeyluxhal were

(KUPLINKA & MWINDAJI)

(Guitar Solo)

We are shown more memories of Shenzi and Jeyluxhal at the beach and with Banzai and Ed, they are happy, they are content and the two of them are relaxed, at peace... and then, Jeyluxhal licks Shenzi's cheek as a sign of his affection for her

Jeyluxhal softens up at the chorus section once again as he thinks back to the memory of Shenzi running across the shores of the beach

(JEYLUXHAL)

It's really good to hear your voice

Sayin' my name, it sounds so sweet

Jeyluxhal then starts up again as do his friends as he goes back to his heavier rasp and very nasal tonality as heard from Austin Winkler

Comin' from the lips of an angel

Hearin' those words, it makes me weak

And I never wanna say goodbye

But girl, you make it hard to be faithful

With the lips of an angel

Kuplinka, Mwindaji are also joining in singing the chorus, at least this part, since it's a solo done by Jeyluxhal

(KUPLINKA & MWINDAJI)

Never wanna say goodbye

(JEYLUXHAL)

But girl, you make it hard to be faithful

With the lips of an angel

The song softens up once again as we reach the end and the last memory of Jeyluxhal and Shenzi is shown as he nuzzles her face with his snout, Jeyluxhal sings the outro here

(JEYLUXHAL)

Honey, why you callin' me so late?

The final notes of the guitar plays out as Jeyluxhal has his head lowered, paws holding the neck of the microphone and his arms drooping as if using it to support himself. His dark red mane and bangs in front of his face cover most of his eyes, his lips are unsealed and his fangs are bared. He breathes a inaudible breath out of the black nose of his snout. Reality begins to fade away and reveal the Pride Lands once more

---

Despite wanting to withhold his feelings in the wishes of Shenzi that he knew she was too old for him, despite wanting to respect her, their matriarch of a clan he was apart of and is glad to have been raised by no matter the devious regicidal plan of a lion like Scar, he could not do it. He could not push back his feelings for his adopted mother, he wished there was a way where he couldn't keep doing this to himself, but he cannot. When his gaze fell upon the hyena he saw in his hazy vision, a heavy weight fell on his chest and a cold sweat soaked him

The hyena he had just sang this to in front of her was, not Shenzi, but a face he hoped that he didn't have to see: It was Jasiri, and he just sang this not just in front of her, but in front of the Pridelanders who heard everything. Yes, he was a mute and he merely lipsynced while all his friends did the singing and thanks to Mwindaji, came up with a improvised voice on the spot to give the impression that Jeyluxhal was the one who was really singing. But what did this all mean when he had just revealed that he had a crush on Shenzi, the leader of the hyenas from Mufasa's reign? Jeyluxhal damned himself for not knowing that Jasiri would be here, damn his stupidity for not seeing clearly

In response to this act of stupidity, he yelled at the skies, it was a yell of realization and him damning himself for thinking that Shenzi returned to the Pride Lands. He made a fool out of himself in front of everyone

The Pridelanders, however, thought this was performed masterfully. Jeyluxhal heard it all, a thunderous cheer as this was a relatable song. Yearning for a past love interest, all the while having a current partner even when you feel like you were happier with your old flame was a all too familiar sight with the animals. You find comfort in the love one has and be reminded by the sweet words she spoke them, you don't want to break up with your new loved one, at the same time the temptation by the lips of a old flame makes it hard to be faithful. Jeyluxhal spoke the truth right there, the hyena was every bit as right as he was about wanting to be as faithful as you can be to your new partner, but at the same time have one more outgoing in a comfort of the old partner that was once loved. At the end, his final outro was less literal and more figurative, so late may not be referring to at night, but late in life, a element of sadness. It's not too late in life though, the most important thing is to not get caught up in it all, one of the Pridelanders experienced this same thing himself, he should've learned to worry only for himself, and to not get concerned about his old flame

Although Jeyluxhal had been praised at first, if one knows anything about what happened to Quasimodo at the Feast of Fools, then one knows that this will not end the way that Kuplinka, the proclaimed Clopin of the Shangwe ya Wajinga, would have wanted it to end. Not out with a boom, but with a humiliation of the horrifically scarred hyena in this notorious event which happened next

Baridi, having returned from his trip to the Watu campsite where he not only came back with blood on his paws; but got what he needed with the medication regarding breathing troubles as was seen in the ninth chapter, was sitting there in a roofed tent of his own as he sat down, as if he were a lion of the Pride Lands. And it was this "Pridelander" appearance that gave an advantage to him by being mistaken for a lion who was born of these lands by other animals. Only a select few know who he really is and know that he is supposed to be banished to the Outlands. Baridi stepped outside and sat down to watch the scene as he gestured to his pride to start this humiliation

"We can't let an associate of Tabari enjoy the moment without knowing they're making fun of him for his appearance, can we?" Baridi raised a brow with a smile on his lips, but returned to that scowl as he turned his head and ordered them into the crowd. He continued to tell them this as he watched. "What's a Shangwe ya Wajinge without a bit of laughter? And there isn't a kingdom without a court jester, is there?"

Some of Baridi's pride and some members of the shitty anti-hyena extremist assholes got as much rocks as they could in a pile, while Jeyluxhal was distracted with finally learning how to embrace the moment. Lifting his head high, and looking like he was feeling it for the first time and that everything was going to be okay

"Now, If I were Tabari, I'd come slithering in here like that adolescent was his kin made of his own flesh and blood. But I know the mutt - trust me, Najira wasn't whispering any sweet allurements in his ear while I was planning what was supposed to be a reign where he didn't have to . Not enough heat for another litter, and not enough time for a litter to brew in the shadows either. Especially not with the way things ended between us" Baridi focused solely on the hyena up on the stage, this associate of Tabari was going to be out of the Pride Lands for a little bit. He had to rile him up a bit, he wants to know his enemy

Baridi lowered his paw to give the signal as his pride and hyena hating extremists proceeded to throw a rock at Jeyluxhal, bypassing his fur and grazing against his skin, leaving a white trail across which would soon fade to a bright red color. The newly acquired graze stung like that of a blade slashing it's thin cutting edge lightly on him, Jeyluhxal clutched his wound, clasping a paw around his arm that burned with the after effects. The crowd stopped cheering, they are agasp at what had just happened. Who in the Pride Lands would be this displeased with such message of lost love?

Another one threw a stone at Jeyluxhal and struck him in the eye, with Jeyluxhal shielding him with his arm across his face. Soon, a third one came and more rocks were thrown to not just slash with their sharp edges but inflict stinging and burning discomfort on the hyena, yet he did not react vocally as much as they wanted to. When rocks failed, they turned to gourds, with the juices moistening and causing his dark red mane to splash like water, drooping down on his body, weighted down by the heaviness of the juices of the gourds from the royal mjuzi of the baobab tree. One of the hyena hating extremists who had a large rock managed to aim for Jeyluxhal's face, scratching the side of the hyena and causing a drop of blood to drip from it to the ground. A reddish mark soon faded in as did a cut of red, searing across and tilted up diagonally

Soon, there were more who threw gourds and rocks to harass him, as the animals who were praising Jeyluxhal at first were now turned against him. He only stood there, fur dusted with white stone chips, a tapestry of raw red scratches blooming across his pelt. The initial praise had been a fragile thing, easily shattered by Baridi's spiteful pebbles. Now, all whispers had become uglier, and sharper

"Lost love?!" They echoed, clawing at him with a extremist grabbing at his lower caribou skin kilt, tearing a piece of it off as one lion even clawed at his shin, leaving three marks of red as they bled. "You mean that cheesy Hallmark movie playing on repeat in your head? We don't do Disney monologues, we get straight to the point!" A barb of sarcasm mocked him

Another invested in crude humor. "Shenzi, really?! More like 'Shenanigans' am I right? You're chasing after a matriarch's tail while we're busy, you know, actually mating!" The animal had actually caused snorts of laughter to erupt

Jeyluxhal felt their gazes, and like his own kinsmen, they were stripping him bare down to the bone as the third of their insults targeted his scars. "You think your scars are tragic? No, we have real battle wounds, we earned them protecting our territory, not crying over what you call a lost playmate!". Not even his age was safe, each one of these insults were like an barbed arrow piercing his pride

He restrained himself from choking back the growl rising in his throat as they mimicked her, their voices mimicking Shenzi, dripping with venomous intent and full on mockery. No one, not even hyenas in her clan that she leads as the matriarch, no one talked to her that way. It was infuriating, it made him mad, but that's what they're trying to incite in him, isn't it? Get a reaction out of him like OnlyJayus, who doesn't know when to stop

"This 'tragic hyena' is as stale as the last year's termite mound. Spare us the crocodile tears, we have loyal mates, not a fleeting infatuation with a hyena bigger than your brain!" This is from a honey badger, but it doesn't look like he even knows what it means to be cheated on. Another came from a hippo that was making him turn red

"What the hell was that? Is that supposed to poetry? It sounds like you're choking a gazelle's bone, where's the fire, the passion?! All I hear is a whimpering pup begging for scraps of one bit of affection, that's what!" Laughter echoed across the savannah, a cruel symphony aimed to drown out Jeyluxhal, they weren't just mocking him, no they were spitting on the idea of a hyena capable of such depth

"We know your kind, don't make us sick about true love! You use love like a hyena uses a bone from a wildebeest: to gnaw and tear apart. Cry us a river, scarface, your scars are even uglier in the flesh. Maybe if you spent less time mooning, and more time hunting, you would not be this disheveled excuse of a hyena!"

"AhhhoooOOOHHH, and those scars! You think those are battle wounds? They're more like self-inflicted dramas from a wannabe edgelord! Hyenas mate for a season, not swoon over them like some lovesick fool!"

Jeyluxhal's ears twitched, his jaw clenching with each jab. Each word was a poisoned thorn, twisting his love for Shenzi into something grotesque, the white streaks across his proud tan and black spotted fur turned red and revealed they cut a little bit deeper than speculated as blood began to pour out. He's a walking canvas of mockery, his own pelt being a testament to the hate festered beneath the surface. No aspect of him was safe, he was an woman chasing fool, a poonhound bearing scars that spoke of self-inflicted misery, a edgelord who couldn't handle a little ribbing. His fur bristled underneath his bearskin shirt and caribou skin kilt that he wore on himself, his eyes burned embers. And then it happened

One lion went too far, eyes glazing in malice, it was Nuka, who had gone on his own accord in the Pride Lands. He came all this way, risking being caught by Simba or spotted by Zazu and in facing the penalty for trespassing in the Pride Lands where he could set no paw in, just so he can mimic Shenzi's playful swats, a guttural growl ripped from Jeyluxhal's throat. The hyena can see it in his eyes that maliciously glinted with glee, the scraggly lion was sauntering up to him, tail held high and head shaking in an exaggerated imitation of Shenzi's walk. He went as far as to purr, a ill borne insult of her deep rumble

Jeyluxhal saw red, blood red. This wasn't just mockery, this was an assault on his heart, on his adopted mother, the one who raised him after he ran away to the gorge and lived off on that which he had killed as a cub who had no mother anymore; and didn't know where his father was during that period. He has had enough of this insult to the surrogate who loved him with no conditions, Nuka truly ignited his fury, a lion who was skinny and sneering as he dared to drawl with a stupid voice

"Oh Jeyluuuuxhal" Nuka drawled, his voice dripping with mockery, and knowing his name as that as well, which was the first time that he learned something on his own for once. "Come play with your queen~"

This wasn't just about him anymore. This was about Shenzi, about the hyena matriarch who showed him kindness as someone who lost his mother to a lion, and he was watching a lion make a full mockery of her. No... NO!

Jeyluxhal lunged, his paws clamping around Nuka's collar, the lion's surprised yelp drowning out by the fury that roared in Jeyluxhal's ears. Even his growl was a primal roar, his teeth was threatening to clamp around the offender's neck, in anger, in determination to protect which he had, all he had left. His face was contortioned with rage and his expression spoke volumes of how much hate he felt to those who mock him: no one, not even these hyena hating asses, no one talks about her that way. His eyes burned with intensity, it met the offender's gaze as the message was held as clear as day: "No one. Mocks. Her!" Not in front of Jeyluxhal, not in front of Banzai, not in front of Ed, not in front of her clan, no one

Eyes that once batted at him were terrified, but Nuka's heart was still as selfish as ever, there was no way in hell that Nuka was going to change his ways. He's doing this for his mother, he is doing this for his mother's love, the one love that his mother Zira is giving only to Kovu and Vitani because the former is the "chosen one" to be Scar's heir and the latter is a mini-me. At least, that's what it looked like for now as there are some things that Vitani would never do, but as of now, that's what she was for this time being. Nuka yelped again and clawed at his face, gripping and scratching downward to make him bleed, but Jeyluxhal held on, his grip unwavering as this was the raw power of a hyena defending his clan and the pride he felt for it

To conclude this only warning that Jeyluxhal intended to give to Nuka, he clamped his jaws on his ear, and let out a silent snarl before he flung the lion aside. He stumbled back, with a whimpering in his throat, his mocking façade was shattered. But this would not be the end of Nuka's attempts to get the better of Jeyluxhal and prove that he deserves Zira's love, he will be back and so he ran off like a scaredy cat, not scared of Jeyluxhal, no he's scared of being caught by Zazu who will know that he's trespassing in the Pride Lands. Jeyluxhal panted, his chest was heaving, and his back was hunched, his eyes are blazing with a ferocity with scars inflicted being on half of a display for them to see. They were battles fought, hardships that were endured, this is a warrior's tapestry. Even though Nuka had ran away, incapable of the concept of owning up to responsibility, the message lingered in the air with a heavy and thick scent like spilled blood

These scars, Jeyluxhal snarled with hoarse growls and groans among the lows he produced as he communicated through his facial expressions, these scares are not from some edgelord act he put on. They were from protecting those he'd loved, those he fought out of rivalry, he will bleed for them again, not just for Shenzi but for Banzai his rival, for Ed his friend and his surrogate brother, for his father who is all that he has left, and for any heyna who takes this daring stance against this hate towards what he is. And Shenzi, to him, was the fiercest, the most loyal hyena he knew, and they had no right to speak her name; spitting with disrespect for her

But no, not even that could stop the next barrage of insults directed at him

Tabari, now a mountain of muscle and fury, waded into the fray as he shouted with authority in his voice. "Enough!" He roared, his voice cracked like thunder striking the earthly soil

"Enough WHAT?! Enough, what?! The fact that he isn't getting his afternoon snack, like a spoiled fatass?" They jeered back

"Threaten him all you like, that will not stop me from ordering you to back off before I take matters into my paws, and kill you all!" Hell has no fury than from a father scorned, Tabari's authorative tone was raised, he was starting to slip into an African accent

The jeering turned to scoffing as they would not back off or step down. "Oooohh, your snack got delayed then, huh? Did it, big man? Can't handle your spoiled cub not getting his fill? Hmm..?"

"You spoiled shit, that's what he is, a little shit that you spoiled rotten as his naturally rotten heart is. Like the drunkard of a father that you turned out to be!" Roaring laughter ensued as Tabari's eyes filled with the same red liquid that emitted red stripes of steam, just like his son

Baridi, in the meanwhile, shook his head at the fact that they're calling that traitor, Tabari, this early teenage hyena "his son". He exhaled through his snout

"Najira... having a cub? Now that's news to me. I thought she preferred her company a little... wilder. But who am I to judge? Maybe she developed a taste for the finer things in exile, but it's unlikely she would have a bun in her oven by the time I put her on a permanent vacation to good old Walt Disney World, forever. Mmm-hmphmmhmhmhmh" Now wouldn't that be something? To find out that Tabari sired a son behind his back, the very thought that made his blood boil and his eyes alit with a fire that burned with greater rage than Jeyluxhal's own. "Not enough time elapsed before she could harbor a pup in her belly, no... and that's a good thing, we don't any litter of spoiled shits, do we?"

Back with the vocal harassment and assault on both the father and son, whose relation to one and the other remained unknown to this day to Baridi, the jeering had become threats aimed at him and his father, their den and even threats to stab him

"Ahhh, yes, a fatass like his drunk bastard of a father, probably. He probably already whines for more" A snort from this extremist made Jeyluxhal ready to bolt if things get out of hand, Tabari's temper was a flare that was threatened to be pushed off the table and fall onto the waterfall of oil below

"You do not speak of Jeyluxhal, and you do not speak of my wife with that tone!" Tabari smacked one of the extremists with the back of his paw

The one who got smacked only smirked. "Just statin' the facts, old fart. He needs to learn his place, maybe then he won't be acting like he's so high, mighty and so fucking full of himself"

The next extremist circled Tabari. "Or we have a better idea... we show him who's in charge. Having 'daddy' come crawling for him, afraid of a little roughhousing. Imagine that" Sneering with a hiss. Tabari let out a lowly growl

"Do not mistake my caution for fear. Go away before I stain my paws with your-" The sneering extremist interrupted Tabari's warning

"Stain your paws? You wouldn't dare, he wouldn't even notice if we took his snack away. He doesn't need any more food, he's overweight, he ain't worthy of being called a CHONK. Yeah, a spoiled brat isn't he? I bet he throws a tantrum on your raw, furless, pink little squishy ass if you don't give him his milkbone every hour"

Tabari only clenched his claws, stepping closer and growled. "If you will not behave, begone. I will not take this disrespect towards him kindly, I have told you before. You do not speak my wife's name with that tone of disrespect, and you do not speak of him with it either"

"Respect... from us?! You're shitting me. No, that's it. You know what we're gonna do? We'll come over to your den and tear it down mud by mud, stick by stick, rock by rock!" The extremist threatened

The slapped extremist added on. "And then, we will mark YOUR territory as our own, maybe we should leave a little surprise for your prince. Let this be a reminder about who really owns the lands"

Jeyluxhal's eyes narrow, the fur on his back standing on end, dark red mullet falling down to the sides and spreading out. This wasn't just about mocking him with snacks anymore, they were threatening his home, his territory, and they were going to threaten his friends too if they got their way. Unfortunate that the extremist noticed this, leaning in with a smirk as he delved into a devious plot

"Or perhaps, you prefer a different surprise, eh? A warm motherly embrace, hmmm? We can be your new family. Who knows? Maybe we can even take the place of that 'mother' of his as well, wouldn't that be nice, mutt?" Jeyluxhal's ears pointed backwards, he doesn't need a new mother, they sound just like Kukuza right now

"And you, we should be your mate, since you're so desperate to stop being a widow to a mate who deserved to be murdered!" The slapped extremist targeted Tabari

And then, the extremist brought out a knife that glinted with light. "I have a perfect idea, how about we come over to your den and stab you?! We'll come right in and then... STAB STAB STAB STAB STAB!"

"Maybe that will end your whining altogether, seems like the easiest solution, doesn't it?" The slapped extremist harassing the father and son asked, with the other animals who were apart of this group agreeing

Jeyluxhal may not have a voice but he has claws and fangs, lunging at the extremist with the knife as a primal snarl escaped his throat. And then the third extremist leaned in, a voice of dripping but insincere sweetness. "Oh don't be a drama queen, big man. We all want to play with you. Show you how a real predator hunts. And we can be your new mothers. After all, Najira couldn't handle you, and Shenzi seems too busy these days, we're gonna give you all the love and attention that a spoiled cub like you deserve"

The extremist circling Tabari cackled. "Imagine that! The heir of the den in the Backlands, mated to a glorious outcast like me!"

The rage within Jeyluxhal only exploded with his eyes blazing in a increasingly orange color of temperament. Tabari reacted violently by lunging for the extremists as he shouted at the group harassing them, because this was supposed to be a celebration of fools, not a feast of humiliation. "Don't you dare touch him!"

Before Tabari could reach them, Jeyluxhal lunged forward with a guttural snarl that told the group that he had a mother, and it wasn't them. His ears flattened, his furious gaze flicking to one grinning extremist to the next, the growl building within his chest as they think they can anger him with empty threats of affection? Fuck off! He doesn't need these pretenders, he's got a mother who loves him. Jeyluxhal's anger crackled further, fueled by something hotter than their insults. It was fierce love that only Najira and Shenzi could have for their son, one of her true blood and one taken in by her. He wouldn't let any of them defile it. His vocals are raw as he hissed. He did have a mother, and she was nothing like this lot of sorry ass excuses. His vocalized threat, not one of speech, hung heavy as it was a promise etched in the flint of his gaze. The one who stepped forward, the one who held the glint of metal in his paw, the relic of the Watu who roamed the Pride Lands and other places elsewhere in Africa, put it up to his neck and made a slitting throat gesture in the hopes of silencing him

He didn't flinch, he faced blades before, he felt their sting but he wasn't going to back down. Not with this brightly burning fire in him that they ignited and would never go out. He dared them to try it, giving a low rumble, he dared them to see how long their "afternoon snack" is going to last. Crossing Jeyluxhal meant facing the storm in his eyes. But spoiled? He's not an fatass like these extremists or their drunkass friends. And these scars that stark against that of his own fur? They are not some edgy teenager's cry for attention, they were earned while they lounged about, spreading their venom. They were pathetic compared to the hell he had adapted to, and he was growing up, he's not even an fully grown adult. He may have a body of one, but he acts nowhere near one. The slap extremist, glinting in his eyes with something feral, lunged with the knife in paw, the blade reflecting a final violent chapter that's penned by hate

Sidestepping out of the way, Tabari intervened with his paw twisting the knife wielder's own wrist until it caused his wrist bone to crunch and snap under the pressure of this wall of teeth and muscle. The extremist yelped as he dropped the weapon, being sent sprawling away and flying back across the ground. This confrontation was fueled by a cocktail of fury and fear, swift as it was brutal. Jeyluxhal could only stand panting, matted with blood and sweat, he may be bloodied in scars but he was not broken. Not yet, not yet... this wasn't some cheesy theatric he put on, it was the raw courage daring to love, and to fight what mattered most to him. He stood amidst the tempest of hostility and even though the extremists beckoned, they hadn't forgotten why they were making fun of him in the first place. The initial praised morphing to a storm of stones, painting white streaks of fur across and his heartbeat pounding like frantic tribal barbed tattoos against his ribs. "Enjoying the royal treatment?"

Sneering faces continued, even after that ordeal as the scornful whispers never stopped. It's all slithering like snakes, the insults that escalated with each word being a poisoned dagger. Jeyluxhal once again was sent into a jolt of rage when one of them mimicked Shenzi, and he held him at the throat with his fangs. His expression was a mask of fury and it didn't need to be understood to know what he's saying: "Don't. You. DARE" He threw her aside, he could only look down on his paws

Jeyluxhal's blood was running cold. His past, his scars, all of it were weaponized, weapons that were wielded against him. He had a mother and they twisted the knife into a grotesque threat, he escaped the darkness of that burden in the gorge for six days as a pup when Najira was killed, but it seemed determined to claw it's way back in. His world was titled, his father, his mother, aimed to break him. All he felt was a primal surge, a desperate need to protect all of everything that he held dear to himself, something that had never been needed more than now when one of the animals pulled this on him. And it came from a baboon no less

"Your mother killed herself because she didn't want to be anywhere near you, and escape from being near your father!" The baboon screeched vilely with such menace in his insult, and there were a few chuckles that came through with his response

The yellow sclera in Jeyluxhal and Tabari's eyes were completely red and filled with that hot, blood red-like liquid that steamed with wavy stripes and burning gasses. No... NO... Najira did NOT kill herself because she didn't want to be anywhere near her son that she went to hell and back to give birth to, or her mate who had been with her through the entire labor. The entirety of her pregnancy, the entirety of her illness that came, the entirety of whatever she craved the most. No, it's because BARIDI had been led by the ICE PIGEON who acted as a informant, the ICE PIGEON who betrayed Tabari and Najira's location to that very lion who wanted him DEAD. And because of that, the two of them could never have the promised life that they fought so hard to the bone for. And no, the ice pigeon was never the real enemy, Baridi had always been the true enemy behind so much pain he caused. And the fact that these are grown animals telling him that Najira killed herself because she wanted to escape from Tabari, her mate, and even her own son, Jeyluxhal, only shows how much they actually gave a fuck

If you had ever heard a hyena let out a roar in response to this damning insult by a baboon, then it may not be the first time you hear a hyena roar in the depths of such anger, despair, hostility, pain and the mourning that never comes. It would be soon after this point where the rest of the hyena hating insurgents revealed themselves, as did Baridi's Pride of lions; those who followed the command of Baridi and those who had been with him on that night he murdered the one thing he loved, the one thing who was concerned for him to the very end. This was truly harrowing. Jeyluxhal's roar was echoing through the air like the primal scream of a soul being pushed to the limit, his mouth foaming to the sight of the insidious Baridi who orchestrated this, a sense of a trap sprung, of vulnerable prey surrounded with predators all around. This tension was going to kill them all if this spilled out onto innocent blood, who wanted nothing to do with this cacophany of evil

In his roar, the hyena hating insurgents threw tightly wounded vines formed into nooses and lassos to restrain him around the neck that choked him. Another round threw them onto the hyena's wrists that slammed him down onto the spinning table, that had been set up just for him alone. The strength of these vines were tightened when they pulled back to keep him on the table, to stop him from getting up on his hind paws bipedally even. His back arched up so much that he began to tear his bearskin upperbody tunic, a ripping sound was heard and that back of his was beginning to peak through, his spinal cord hunching up was splitting the sides away like a fissure in the canyon. And then as he got up onto his knees, he ripped the entire back side of his bearskin upperbody tunic, flying and flapping down to the sides with his own chest exposed, his own underbelly shown. Now, his own scars were fully on display, and his facial expression was nothing but a feral rage, a scream being shouted as he yanked the vines held by his attackers forward to throw them off. In his mouth, even walls of saliva oozed into thickening and thinning support pillars that upheld the upper jaw from the lower side

More of the hyena hating insurgents began to throw more vines onto him to stop the hyena from retaliating. Hatima, the jaguar who had come out of her tent removed her crown, and witnessed this gruesome sight that was displayed before her. This hyena, she had come to the realization earlier in the song that was performed and danced for was not a mask but his real face. It wasn't just Jeyluxhal who was being tortured by the crowd, Tabari was getting slammed, showing that although he's a threatening papa wolf to others who dared attack what remained of his family, he was no more vulnerable than Jeyluxhal was when matters concerning Najira blew up in flames. He was no more vulnerable to the animals in the form of gorillas and leopards, just for him, as age doesn't slow him down; but neither do threats like these animals: dominant silverback gorillas, and young, swift, agile leopards with claws as sharp as the straight razors of victorian age barbers like Benjamin Barker, otherwise known as Sweeney Todd, the demon barber from fleet street

Jeyluxhal's roar tore through even the earth itself, a primal sound that wans't just a roar but a howl, a wail, a guttural eruption of every emotion he'd been holding back since this moment where he stepped foot into this den of vipers. In that roar, echoes the pahntom touch of the fur that belonged to Najira, the ghost of her scent, the memory of a love he could never grasp until it was snatched from her. It tasted of ash and despair, a childhood stolen by a lion who is a selfish man, and a future poisoned only with the focus on killing that lion and every bastard on his payroll. The Shangwe ya Wajinga, once a cacophony of drunken revelry, was no longer one of debauchery where one can let loose and be free of the seriousness, to be stupid, and to be fools. The smug grin of the baboon had contorted into the grimace with the weight of a hyena's fur settling upon him, the one they deemed without a voice, did find his voice. This is a primal language that transcended words above all

The snapping of the vines from the tearing of his restraints, the animal skin clothes ripping off like molted skin, the full exposure of his scars; he was like a whirlwind of teeth and of claws, a storm of retribution that had been unleashed. Retribution for this insolence that is no longer tolerated, but was never tolerated from the beginning. Those that laughed rather scrambled for purchase, the once jovial celebration became a battleground, there were no comical moves being made, the air is thick with the scent of fear and fur, the taste of blood was metallic on the tongue. This wasn't the Shangwe ya Wajinga that Hatima knew, this was a dance of the predator and the prey with no clear victor, a public humiliation for the predator who was being treated as prey. Tabari was a cornered beast, the onslaught of younger faster foes proved little to slow him down as he fought with the ferocity of a cornered lioness, to protect his son with every breath that he gave to him

Lines blurred, leopards moved with the grace of shadows, their claws left crimson streaks on the flesh. Gorillas wielding brutal strength with brutal efficiency, their fists slammed Tabari to the dirt and slugged Jeyluxhal across the face, who had been restrained with more vines and was in a struggle to escape from being forced onto his knees. The air buzzed with the squelch of teeth meeting bone, the guttural growls and snarls of hyenas, the anguished yelps from all those of the wounded. He didn't just fight for himself, he fought his for his mother's memory, his father's dignity and against those who saw him as just another slobbering mangy poacher, a testament of defiance and to the enduring spirit that even the cruelest lie can't extinguish. This was a serious lapse in judgement to make fun of Najira's murder, a desperate howl from those who had been pushed to the edge. In the heart lied the hyena, Jeyluxhal, who roared for his past, his present, his future. Every hyena that had ever lived like this, every creature who been made to feel like a fool, roaring until his voice was hoarse, until his body ached and until the air vibrated with those defiant echoes. In that roar of the earth perhaps, there was a flicker of hope. A hope that even in the darkest of the endless nights, even amidst the cacophony of this hate, the voice of those tortured, ungodly souls could rise above all of this irritating din of mockery. A hope that the fools, the ostracized, could one day find rhythm in the chaos, their strength in the face of adversity

The air cracks with tension that could only be born from the primal of insults, but here in that moment, Jeyluxhal's roar hung heavy in the air to the endurance of a voice that been raised; a scream from the soul. The baboon's words, ever laced with venom, ripped open a wound that never healed, a wound festering with the unspoken grief of a stolen childhood of the past he couldn't have back. Erupting from his throat, it's not the guttural laugh of a hyena, nor that of a menacing growl of a predator, it's a torrent of pain, a torrent of rage, and the mourning of a voice that was never there. Having echoed across the savannah, it was a stark counterpoint to the cacophony of the Shangwe ya Wajinga. This is the high stress rage inducing masochism orchestrated by the paws of Baridi, the lion who watched only in silence, he felt nothing, he took in nothing. But he did have something: entertainment for him to enjoy for the moment

As if summoned by his total anguish, the motley crew that were united under Baridi for their loathing of the spotted hyenas, baboons whose faces twisted with glee could only cackle for that agony that Jeyluxhal had shown. The leopards had their eyes gleam with a hunger seen only on predators like them as they stalked closer to watch the scene, and gorillas with their massive chests pounding to thump the palms of their hands against their chests, a drumbeat of aggression. But it wasn't just a summon, it was a beacon, call to arms from the tall grasses. Baridi's Pride, the lions whose eyes blazed with fury and refused to bow to Mufasa, defying him and his father Ahadi before him, took part in this skirmish that Jeyluxhal found himself under. Even as his father, Tabari, was being thrown down against the dirt, his spirit refused to yield, he fought with the desperation of a father who wanted nothing but to protect his cub

The war raged within the son of Tabari as well, too. His instincts screamed for vengeance, his love for his father was urging for restraint. His muscles were bunching, his claws dug into his own body, the expression in his eyes were flickering between rage and fear that he would be seen as the one in the wrong for acting like this. The rest of his facial expressions were, but of internal monologues, fragmented and raw, his grief, his fury, his desperate hope became the bristling of his fur like a thousand needles that erupted from his spine. Every muscle in his body coiled and strained like a painful cramp, each were a deadly viper straining against it's invisible cage. His throat convulsed, yearning to be broken free. Every fiber of his being screamed for vengeance, for the hyena ripped from his life, the father battered before him. Claws twitched, yearning to tear into the sneering face of the lion that ripped her from his life, to rend flesh for the insult made by the baboon that was carved into his soul. He wanted to rip, to tear, and to rend these vile animals limb from limb. For every hateful laugh, every jeering comment is but a fresh branding on his soul. His murdered mother he loved, Najira, reduced to a punchline in their filthy mouths filled with so much shit that it was beyond any hope of cleaning and had to be thrown away. His own father that he watching, Tabari, was becoming a battered husk under the onslaught of those rallied by Baridi

He wanted to let Africa bleed for his pain. He could imagine his own teeth sinking directly in Baridi's throat, he could feel the pulsating blood beneath his fangs being pumped into a black and cold heart that he would rip out himself so Baridi can see it for once before he dies out of shock. He could envision himself ripping a swathe through these hyena hating insurgents that were left only as screams and carrion in his wake. But then, there was a quieter voice, one of which pleaded with him, she was whimpering, she was a memory of warmth against his fur; a lullaby humming in the dead of the night. Najira, her appearance as he remembered it from his repressed memories he had hoped would stay so he could be spared anymore of this, and live with Shenzi's Clan in the Elephant Graveyard, was flickering with concern. She tremored with fear for the son who never spoke, he can hear her now, addressing him by a name that he hoped would stay dead with her. "Utamuwe (sweetness), Tajiuva, be strong, not for them, but for you"

Another voice was no less insistent, whispering in his mind. His father, Tabari was rough but laced with love. "Don't let them win, be the hyena that you were meant to be, what we had hoped you would be"

Najira's eyes, shimmering with unshed tears. "Don't become the monster they paint you as"

He tasted blood, caught between the beast and the son, the rage and the love, the urge to kill and the desperate need to protect what he cared for. Bloody furrows created from his clawed marks in the earth while wrestling with the storm within. He tasted the blood, metallic, thick, on his tongue. It was not his own, it was Tabari's. His protector, his rock, was not invincible, a god was not invincible, even. No one was. The vines biting into Jeyluxhal's skin, drawing lines of crimson across his fur, straining against them, muscles that branched, fangs that bared, he is a monster on the verge of being unleashed. How could he let his father die? Tabari's gaze met his, it's a silent plea to not let them win, a flicker of pain yes, but not for his own sake, it was for his son's. And that beast within roared again, but of a difference frequency. Anguish, despair, a battle cry against the darkness threatening to consume his heart. He's a hyena but he was Najira's son, Tabari's pup. He won't let hate win, he won't let himself become a threat, a monster, that they expected because they were the ones who created it. Herculean efforts, channeling the storm within, into a primal scream tore through him to shake the ground, this was a lament of the mother he'd lost, the father he was going to lose, the peace he feels that he might never find. It's a cry of defiance against the fate they tried to force onto him. He is not their monster, he would survive, not for them, but for himself

Tabari on the otherhand was the lone oak in the hurricane of hatred. His body was bound but he soared like a dust devil, spitting fire and lashing fury into the eyes of his tormentors

"You want a monster?!" He rasped, voice thick with blood and grit. "Look into the mirror, you bastards! You're the ones who skulk in the shadows, whispering lies and poisoning hearts you jackasses. We hyenas, we roar out our own truth, even when it chokes us!"

Baridi leaned back in the shade, as he muttered to himself. "And what truth is that? You are training a mongrel without words, a walking carrion fit only for the vultures to feast on?" He seemed to give off a guttural laugh, laced with venom, which ripped from his throat. This is a rhetorical question as Tabari was out of hearing range for him to hear

Tabari's eyes, clouded in pain as they may be, held unwavering glint. "Jeyluxhal may not speak your tongue, but he speaks the language of what loyalty is, of what love is, a language you never understood. That roar, that raw scream echoing through the air. That's the grief of a son for his mother, a mother that you took from him a long time ago, the rage of a cub for his clan. It's the sound of a hyena who will never bow to your filth"

His voice had become a ragged anthem as he continued

"You can break all two hundred and six of our bones, you can mark our den with your stench of piss. But you cannot break us, the savannah whispers our name with respect. It trembles at our laughter, it runs from our fury. You, with all of your whispers and lies, are just fleas on our backs, soon to be crushed underpaw" His defiance knew no bounds, it was a wildfire which is spreading from his eyes, igniting the embers of doubt in those who heard him and rallying in the blood of the innocent. Tabari knew this flame can't be extinguished, it burned brightest in the dark, it's roar that echoes long after these whispers of hate fade into dust. He's going to nurture it with every ragged breath and every defiant word

His guttural snarl ripped through his own throat, it is a counterpoint to the earth shaking roar of his sown. Being held down, yes, he was against a pride of lions and troop of gorillas, yet he was as untamed as the savannah during a thunderhead and a stallion of the cimarron. Even with his face, now weathered with the wounds inflicted onto him, was bristling with standing against every insult spat by Baridi, every blow landed by a silverback, they were only fueling that fire in his eyes. He will not give them the satisfaction of letting them see him cower, his own voice is thick with blood and fury

"You think you've broken us like a bronco?" He rasped with the saliva thick in his mouth and dripping to the earthy soil underneath, his temper only treated properly with the right strikes of the steel hammer on an anvil. "You think you can get rid of our kind? Foolishness, Baridi... foolishness!" He spat a glob of blood towards Baridi's paws, the lion watching it fly across the distance and landing at his hind paws as he sat back on a chair

"You took my mate, you murdered my Najira in cold blood! You think I'm afraid of your claws? I'd tear your throat out with my bare fangs, if these vines weren't your puppets!" His words is laced with grief and rage, it resonated with Jeyluxhal as he didn't truly know the full extent of his father's grief and his absolute hatred for Baridi

But Tabari wasn't done, he turned his faze to Jeyluxhal as his eyes blazed with a silent message. "Don't let this lion, raised by a loving mother who cared for him, win by getting his way. Remember who you are, remember your mother, remember why he had done this and remember why he is the monster and you are the man" His voice dropped to guttural growl meant only for Jeyluxhal's ears, as his son listened to him. "Show them what happens when you corner a hyena, show them why they fear our claws, why they tremble at our laughter, show them you are my son, you are Najira's son, and you have been orphaned for the last time. You will not have it, you won't let your own father die in your name"

Tabari felt he might not survive this, he felt Jeyluxhal might not either, but defiance in that moment was his only shield, his only weapon. He would the snarling hyena they feared, the warrior they hated, until his last breath. As Tabari snapped the vines of his restraints and he yanked those who threw more onto him to restrain the fatherly hyena, he slammed a couple of their heads against a rock, a sickening thud that echoed through the clearing. A challenge it is, a dare

"Come on then, cowards!" Tabari bellowed. "Finish what you started, show me what hyena blood tastes like! Show me what MY BLOOD TASTES LIKE!" His words hung heavily in the air, stark contrasts to the whimpers and moans of the other animals. Tabari, the hyena who had lost his one true love, and he who loved his son more than his own life, refused to let a son of his become the monster they created for their amusement. This is why you never target a man like him out of pettiness, out of selfishness, or even the most damning of reasons that was Baridi's main reason. And that reason was, just for the hell of it

Jeyluxhal, watching his father, felt more sparks ignite within him. It's not just rage anymore, it is resistance. This was a burning ember of the inner spirit refusing to be extinguished. The vice that clamped around Tabari's jaw, his own vision swimming in a kaleidoscope borne from pain and fury, it was a smoldering ember in the face of a howling gale. He won't give them all the satisfaction of seeing him break, not for his son, whimpering and straining against bonds like a trapped cub. Not for Baridi, the orchestrator of this cruel tableau, his eyes gleamed in a predatory pleasure. He locked eyes with Baridi from across the stage to the shaded tent that he was sitting in

"You think you've won, Baridi?" His rasp bearing shards of resistance. "You think you broke me when you sent out that ice pigeon to betray our location to you, as a way to keep me from saving that which I had loved? You haven't even the scratched the surface!" A roar of laughter erupted around him, but Baridi wouldn't flinch. He met each cackle with a glare that curdles the breast milk of their mothers. They could take his body to cut open, they could break his bones by bending them

But his son, his Jeyluxhal, was his and no amount of hyena hating baboons or power hungry lions would ever lay their paw on that bond. His son's roar was raw, a hyena's lament, a son's cry for his mother, a refusal that he won't be silenced. In that moment, he knew they didn't break him. They didn't break any of them. He let out a chuckle, a dry rasp that echoed in the clearing

"You haven't seen anything yet, all of you" His voice was a broken whisper, but his eyes had blazed with fire. "This is just the beginning. You can keep your territory, your dominance, your sense of justice. I and Jeyluxhal, we will survive. We will rebuild our home, we will tend to our wounds, and we will face the sunrise, the very same one that peaks between those of great and glorious Giza!" Indeed they would face the sunrise, battered but broken, they are hyenas, they are family, and they won't be extinguished

And despite the pain, he freed himself partially, momentarily distracting the attackers to create a window for Jeyluxhal. He's going to turn the tables on them. Hatima had seen it all, and in her paw was a rock that she threw at one of them, a distraction that helped Jeyluxhal. In the midst of the chaos, some of the younger animals who had been terrified remembered hearing about the hyena who refused to speak, the one who mourned his mother and carried the weight of hatred in his eyes. He was like a hyena pup who stumbled into their den, being offered shelter, scrap of meat, a gentle touch, and that Hatima had been there when he was young. Locking eyes onto the one who now realized his face wasn't a mask, it was like he had first given her during the dance performed by her, a look of shared longing for connection to her. He may not have been the boy that she danced with, but this intertwined destiny could not be helped in any other way other than by being supported. If Rafiki were here, he would agree that the two were meant to be brought forward as love is a force that, if one knew why Jeyluxhal showed how much he cared for Shenzi, was as powerful at motivating a man to act this way

The brutality of the attackers turned the whimpers to choked yelps, emboldened by Baridi's presence as a leopard whose claws were already slick with crimson raked them down across Jeyluxhal's back, leaving a furrow oozing like a sun baked river. The gorilla, thick granite for a pair of hands, slamming Tabari's head against the rock to make a thud echo through this land. Baridi continued to watch as the mastermind behind this orchestrated cruelty, watching with a uncaring glare, the scent of fear hanging heavily in the air from the animals who didn't want any of this. This wasn't about eliminating the hyenas, it was about keeping them in line, and it was about punishing Tabari, to twist that howl into a whimper of submission. That roar of Jeyluxhal, raw and primal, was a caged roar to say, fury held at bay by the vines biting into his flesh. He isn't going to let this associate of Tabari break free, he doesn't get off that easy, he wants the Pridelanders to know this public display of dominance, a final crushing blow so as to show them how far he will go to punish this traitor

The eyes that burned with a hatred threatening to consume Jeyluxhal, as he watched Tabari be reduced to this bloodstained mess, Baridi saw the flicker of defiance in him as he spat a glob of blood against his attacker. A guttural growl from him, a fear forgotten in protecting the mentor, he believed as there was no possibility of Jeyluxhal being Tabari's son one bit, he saw the spirit as it was broken but not extinguished. He was going to show them what a cornered hyena looked like, the fangs, the claws, the fire that burned brighter in the face of darkness, they would learn to fear it. Baridi watched Jeyluxhal's muscles strain against his vine restraints, watched him feel the world shrink to the circle of Tabari's muffled screams, the glint of claws about to rake across their own bodies. Like a cat to the mouse, they were already drawing a line of crimson across their cheeks, their sides and their underbellies. It's perfect, just perfect. One of the leopards sank his teeth into Tabari's shoulder, the jeering laughter of the crowd swallowing that roar as Baridi heard a rib crack beneath a gorilla's fist when Tabari dodged so the leopard would get hit instead, but the pain of the uppercut was a white hot spear running down through his blood vessels. There was blood in the Shangwe ya Wajinga, a grotesque mockery of the vibrant colors. Jeyluxhal was tasting bile and despair, they wanted a monster they feared and he saw that flicker of doubt in the young gorilla's eyes as it was the tiniest of racks in the façade of hatred, this whisper of empathy fighting it's way through

The vines bit deeper, the blood seeping through on the edges of the tightening restraints had only strengthened this act of increasing the cruelty inflicted onto Jeyluxhal, because he sang a song about lost and secret love as that still shined through the animals participating in this humiliation of Jeyluxhal; and it was still mostly focused on Jeyluxhal in the end. This would not last forever for as though Baridi wanted to wait a moment as a lesson first needed to be taught, Hatima had other plans

Not taking a part in this public humiliation of a hyena who didn't speak and who was riddled in scars as well as whose father was being attacked as well, the jaguar slowly climbed on up to the steps of the stage that had become a ruin thanks to the hyena hating insurgents. This hyena, the one bearing the scarred visage and even more scars than before, had never been more ashamed in hiding his appearance than he was now, his back exposed and bearskin of a upper tunic ripped apart on the sides. The stains of the gourds, the grazings of the rocks that were thrown, all of it still remained. Jeyluxhal saw only her paws and her white underbelly as she approached him, still restrained and this time deadly quiet in front of her presence. The jaguar stopped before him, sitting down beside the hyena whose sides and back twitched at even the slightest touch she tried to make. He'd been assaulted enough

She wasted no time in ripping into the crowd. "Well, well, look at the hyena-hating animals having a grand ol' time tormenting someone who can't even fight back. How terribly Circle-of-Life-y of you. Fucking dickheads..."

When Hatima tried again, Jeyluxhal flinched away from Hatima's touch. "I'm not going to hurt you..." Her tone was gentle, and her voice was soft, it was enough to make him lift his head up a little bit, his snout exhaling short hoarse breaths as he breathed

The air around crackled with tension, thick as the savannah mud drying under the unforgiving sun. As the jaguar surveyed the scene, her eyes mirrored the storm that brewed within, and a playful goth facade that she usually had on her was replaced with the fierce protectiveness of a mother cheetah that shielded her cubs. And before her, Jeyluxhal, the hyena marred in that day's graffiti of gourd juices, angry scratches of thrown rocks, he was an living tapestry of such humiliation undeserving of him, a canvas painted by hyena hating animals. Her paws silent in her approach on the stage, every flinch of Jeyluxhal's body, was a shard of ice cold stabbing a different part of her heart. When she reached for him, she ignored the hisses and growls for that of the haters as her gazed were fixed solely on the one she had come to defend

Gently, she groomed away the dried blood marring his face, a silent apology for the events of the day that took place, a balm against the wounds inflicted by claws and ignorance, a fest of fools ruined by these animals who protested against the message that Jasiri showed to Kion

"This wasn't the plan" Hatima told Jeyluxhal, her voice was low and dangerous to the crowd but reassuring and apologetic to him. "This wasn't supposed to happen"

Jeyluxhal only responded with a groaning low, a bellow audible only to her ears, he didn't give a facial expression to her while he was at it. "Hrnnnmmm..."

Looking at his father, Hatima followed his gaze and cleaned the wounds of Tabari as well, as she told him. "I heard what you said... I know he's your son. But, that's something that..." As she gazed upon Baridi, her tone took a venomous turn. "That lion doesn't need to know"

Baridi stood up, this lesson had not been learned because of her interference. "You, jaguar, step aside. This affair doesn't concern you" He ordered

Hatima's eyes flashed like shards of obsidian. "Doesn't concern me?" The jaguar spat as her barbed tongue dripped with sarcasm. "They were not bothering anyone. You targeted this hyena in the middle of your bigoted thundercloud"

A ripple of unease ran through the crowd, though Hatima was respected, her temper was unpredictable like a dust devil of the desert. Today, it wasn't just fury that fueled her, it's compassion as sharp as her claws and fierce as her love for those deemed as outsiders, but not to the "Outsiders" of the Outlands. The pride of lionesses led by Zira. No, it was those who're unfairly targeted as the victim of a cruel prank that stopped being a prank when someone had been wounded

"You are under no jurisdiction to interfere. Leave them" Baridi demanded, extending his claws and taking them to his throat, a warning gesture that is not so kind to her

He was right, Hatima had no reason to interfere, but she chose to do so by her own stance. As the hyena hating insurgents that held Jeyluxhal in their various grasp only tightened the vine restraints to their tightest, and Hatima complied due to Baridi's demand being a threat that is directed towards her; the jaguar defies him as well. Not only did she headbutt one extremist, but she clawed another one's eye and ripped the strongest vine restraining Jeyluxhal, which allowed the mute hyena to snap them all with his last ounce of strength. A orchestral sound of cracking THWIPS from the vines that broke away as Jeyluxhal stood up on his hind paws, in that instance he was free, but he was weakened as he collapsed back onto his front paws; it's hell standing upright. His bearskin tunic slipping off his shoulders, he was heaving

Baridi's eyes glowed in the shade of the tent he was under and with a single claw out, he had pointed to her. "I warned you to step aside, jaguar..."

Hatima further challenged this lion's authority with a snarl. "And who are you to tell me what to do, kitty-cat? I'm not taking orders someone who enjoys public lynchings"

"Do not pursue this any further-" Baridi didn't get to finish his ultimatum as Hatima shielded herself with her wit

"Oh, spare me the dramatics. You're jealous because hyenas can actually laugh at themselves, and you can't take one joke directed towards you at all"

In her fury with a flick of her tail, she turned against the crowd that were complicit and eager to let this public humiliation commence, ready to play out in front of their eyes like a theater. She hopes they're happy, because they ruined the Shangwe ya Wajinga, this will be a stain on the pages of the history of Africa forever. A burden that they had caused

"You're all so eager to punish one species for the sole reason of what a lion had done to his brother a long time ago, where he met his end in the gorge, eager to punish the sins of the father. But where's your courage to face your own?" Hatima demanded

"This is justice, this is what he deserves. He gets what he fucking deserves!" A extremist zebra threw a gourd that Hatima had caught with her mouth, throwing it off without a care

"This is revenge dressed up in righteousness. You think he wanted any part in attempting to break the Circle? Take one look at him and then tell me that he did" Hatima lowered herself, appearing as though she was ready to lunge at them

"Yes" A okapi snorted through it's snout. "It's because of his kind that, at the height of Scar's power, helped him to not just kill Mufasa but to lead us all to ruin by overhunting the lands, turning it into a dry, dead and drought ridden wasteland, a famine that made us all starve in hunger. Some of us didn't leave in the hopes that everything would get better, and look at it now, look at the lands before us"

Hatima slammed her paw on the ground as it made the crowd flinch, before she started to approach the okapi, she wasn't going to the brown and white striped animal get away with that snort; the jaguar's gaze was fixed with a ice cold intensity

"You think that he did? Then take a look at him!" She threw her arm to Jeyluxhal. "Skin and bones, on the verge of barely holding on after you allowed them to attack him. You think a hyena like that woud choose to starve the lionesses and his own kind?" Her words sharpened as she nudged the hyena closer to her side, offering him protection, glaring at the crowd as her tail twitched with a fury that was being unsupervised. "One look... one look" She repeats with her voice dripping with sarcasm. "That is all it takes to see your double standards. This hyena, bleeding and bruised, is your enemy? Not the lion, not Scar himself, who reveled in his power while the land starved? Not the hyenas who blindly followed a tyrant until Scar tried to shift the blame onto them to save his own ass from a rageful Simba? You call this justice? You call this the Circle of Life?"

Tabari rose up from the ground and flipped his attacker overhead, as it was said before, age didn't slow him down one bit. He stood tall, his voice was firm and as threatening as his voice actor, Ron Perlman, allowed him to show as he began to debunk their pettiness in reasoning, how they loved to bitch and moan. "This hyena, this adolescent who had not fully become an teenager yet, was caught in the tide of a storm he didn't create. He found family with Shenzi, a family he had no choice than to choose when his own was destroyed by a lion, a selfish lion who killed his mother just for the hell of it, and to punish his own father for something he did not do. He returned when he could, seeking his place, not your judgment. You talk of destiny and balance, but your hearts are tipped on the scales by prejudice, you banish those who do not fit your mold while the real imbalance festers in yourselves. And he had to leave when our king came back on that night on Pride Rock, where you celebrated his return when the time was right to come back"

Not once did Tabari refer to Jeyluxhal by calling him "his son", Baridi was still watching and he wanted him to stay out of the light of the truth, and so he called Jeyluxhal by name

The hyena hating extremist insurgents shot back with a rebuttal: "Your kind's destiny is banishment from the Pride Lands! You are a stain on the Circle, you are the imbalance that needs to be purged"

Their next rebuttal showed that they were the blind ones, as they clinged to the distortion of the truth

"Shenzi and her clan of mangy, slobbering, stupid poachers chose their path, their allegiance. They chose to be hyenas, and that's their fate, which means, that is also YOUR PATH, YOUR ALLEGIANCE, YOUR CHOICE TO BE HYENAS AND YOUR FATE!"

Tabari laughed drly, humorlessly. "We carve our own destiny, and you don't have to be a hyena to choose your path, allegiance or your fate. You can't dictate what we choose to be, and you can't cage us in the Outlands. But neither do we give a damn about the Circle of Life either. That is something YOU can choose to follow, we couldn't give a damn about what is your culture, because that is exactly what it is: a ideology that neither me or Jeyluxhal has to follow, by choice, because the choice is always ours as it is yours"

Tabari's authority in his voice cannot be denied, and Hatima backed that up when Baridi shouted at the former

"Enough of this!" Baridi shot at the hyena

"You want justice? Then look in the mirror, you'll find the real fools staring back!" Hatima shot back, Jeyluxhal and Tabari, as hyenas, earned their place in the Backlands and in the Pride Lands where they are free to roam and still hunt as they never take more than their share, not the persecution of the anti-hyena insurgents who dictate and try to show Simba and Nala the law that those two lions created in the first place. She then helped Jeyluxhal back up onto his paws

"Be sure of this, jaguar: you will face retribution for this act of treason" Baridi warned her, and ain't that ironic? Baridi himself, talking about retribution, the same thing that Jeyluxhal sought only for his mother. Even the hyena himself blistered internally when he heard that word be spoken by the same lion who murdered Najira. If he had a voice, he would throw a rebuttal of his own

"Why can't you understand? His kind helped Scar, the tyrant, destroy the Pride Lands because of his overhunting and forcing the lionesses to do the same, his kind allowed Scar to neglect his regal duties and lead us to famine and drought where we went!" A voice snarled. "If you will not heed our wisdom, then heed our warning to leave or die!"

Hatima scoffed at the voice, humorless as she echoed across the savannah. "And you judge a son by his father's shadow in return? Pathetic! It seems we crowned the wrong fool, the one who deserves the throne of the festival. These feather-brained ostriches really don't know it, do they?" She asked Tabari

Tabari stepped forward. "You're right, we did crown the wrong fool, and as far as your wisdom goes, all of you are no Mufasa!" His voice rumbled, it had silenced the dissenters in with his presence but sent them in a state of shock, how hurtful he had badly insulted them. "Jeyluxhal has stayed clear of Scar's legacy, he is a shadow himself, ostracized by you for the markings he never chose, he is not the enemy. He had nothing to do with his tyranny!"

"He had everything to do with his tyranny!" A baboon screamed back, the same baboon who made the insult that Najira killed herself so she wouldn't have to be near her mate Tabari, or her son Jeyluxhal

Hatima unsheathed her claws as did Tabari. "You are welcome to try and prove that" Tabari's voice was low, a challenge to them, a threat to Baridi who was inciting their hatred of hyenas to the fullest. "And I am correcting the error about who the real fool is, this hyena that you've tortured and humiliated, or the one who he himself was banished by Mufasa back then; as it has been told by Tabari, the historian, and the royal mjuzi, Rafiki!" Hatima's tone was vicious as Tabari's was

Baridi, on the otherhand, had his paw raised and by clenching with his claws unsheathed, he threw his paw forward with three fingers pointing towards Tabari and Hatima. The order was given, the hyena hating insurgents passed through the crowd threateningly, menacingly, she will not be dealt with a gentle paw. In the meantime, Baridi backed off into the shadows, into the tent. The last thing he watched was Hatima surveying her surroundings

"Thirteen of you and only one of me and Tabari" She feigned fear and sorrow. "What's a poor woman, a humiliated son and a father who is doing his duty to his son to do?" Hatima slipped a handkerchief made from the ruined caribou skin kilt worn by Jeyluxhal, given willingly by the hyena, to soothe her sorrows

She stifled her sobs and blew into it, before flames suddenly spouted from the front of the handkerchief that set a few of them on fire while she suddenly went up into flames followed by a blinding flashbang, and when it had faded and vision was coming back into view; nothing remained of Hatima. The hyena hating insurgents looked around, at least those who were all dry and standing as those who burst into flame collapsed, succumbing to their burns

When one of the hyena hating insurgents spotted Hatima, she was with Fahari, pretending to be statues of a fountain, though not exactly generating water for the fountain itself. Fahari in that instance, seeing them approach, swiftly dodged their claw swipes and slid under stomps of their hooves in order to dig her own claws into their bellies and run them down until she'd reached their back, their rear ends where she slid her legs in a sweeping motion to floor the hooved animals and then leap onto their backs. She dug her claws into their necks and began to ride them like horses. For Hatima, she took a leap and let Zuberi carry her away while the animals chasing them fell flat on their asses and the crocodile smacked them away with his tail

The next three animals that drew out their claws like a baboon, honey badger and leopard rushed forward towards Hatima and Zuberi were intercepted by Jeyluxhal who slid down a chain, swinging from one end and over the top to the other end as he let go and kicked all three of them down, landing on his paws, kneeling while Zuberi lunged at the leopard and honey badger. Throwing them off towards the crowd as Hatima leapt off and began to run

She demonstrated her agility with sharp turns that caused some of them to slide into the crowd, and her ferocity when she leapt onto one with her claws peeling on their skin and kicking them with the springy muscles in her legs. She even caught onto one zebra's eyelid, and swung herself around causing great pain to the animal as the zebra halted to a dead stop to throw her off; where even as she went flying, Mwindaji came swooping in with his leather wings and provided a forward assist with a swing of his talons that allowed him to perch from a branch upside down. Stopping the pursuing animals in their tracks was a tall giraffe using a pair of stilts for both of his legs as it took a swung and gave them a kick to their balls

Zuberi even lifted up a ramp that made her leap off the runway at the end with his strength, while lowering it down to stop the other pursing animals run into a tent that tore it down. It was then that Fahari came running in, still riding the zebra as Hatima lured it to another one of the giraffes who lowered it's neck. Mwindaji came swooping in once again, and it is also here that a snake of all animals came to provide leverage like a spring that Hatima used to her advantage. Springing her up into the air as he slithered away out of sight, where Mwindaji took her by her paws and swung her forward on the other side through greater effort, while the genet Fahari came leaping off to the side and the zebra running into the giraffe. This was a hard on collision that came to a grinding halt and a fall that hurt their backs

This was quite the amusement for the crowd in the Pride Lands, they loved it, but they ain't going to love what Tabari will do to them as he hadn't forgotten their complicity in this. The next round hooved hyena hating insurgents came charging, but hadn't expected the likes of Luthando leaping onto the middle one's back and taking a venomous bite that paralyzed the first one, before he leapt onto the left one. "It's motherfuckas like you that just make my dick itch, cause you're my sweet bitch!"

Luthando bit down again and then leapt again to bring his paralyzing venom bite onto the right one's neck, swinging with the trajectory around as he landed with one bone crunching stomp that stopped the animal dead in his tracks as he also leapt off and slid to the sides. He was not a witness in Jeyluxhal's humiliation, he may be mad, but he's no perpetrator, always running from what's real. In fact, he's been feeling quite moody today. Looking impatient for his next target to, as he puts it into his words: "get these god damn monkeys off her ass". And yes, he uses the n-word as well but so does Zuberi and that makes sense, Luthando chose his life like a gangsta and is a berserker, and Zuberi is a black muscle who ain't afraid to use that strength to his advantage

"I'll stop your heart pumpin' like reeboks when I clog your arteries and wet your crotches!" Luthando ain't playing around, a monitor lizard like him lunged again at more of the attacking animals, performing tail smacks and paralyzing bites, as well as ripping off their wieners with blood spurting as he spat them out. He went as far as to throw a leopard to Zuberi, who then caught it and spun around to send him slamming into a tree

The chase that was going on was a typhoon, leading them on through disappearing in the tall grasses and reappearing on the rocky ledges to taunt them with her laughter, and all through that chase, they stumbled and fall, their hatred blinding them to the cunning of a jaguar. They weren't going to leave in defeat, not yet

Kuplinka was no witness either, the jackal dropped a long pole from above that the other two hooved animals chasing Hatima caught, as she slid underneath them to avoid being caught by the clothesline. Instead, she watched the hooved animals clothesline themselves as the pole struck their necks hard when they smacked into Mwindaji, swooping down to slam it with his talons and for a bat like him that size, he was remarkably strong with the momentum and the force he applied. It flipped them onto their backs and casued a great concussion, Kuplinka in the meantime swung from the vine and caught Hatima to bring her up onto the top of a solid tent, Fahari presented a curtain for her to vanish under and when it came down in a tornado of green, the jaguar was missing and nowhere to be found

The rest of the hyena hating extremists had been driven out by Jeyluxhal's friends with Luthando shouting after them. "Yeah, keep running, fucking piece of wildebeest shit, nigga!" He swiped at the air with his claw, his berserker tendencies still fuming and fading away slowly

The once vibrant tapestry of the skies moments earlier were fading into a scene of despair, it was finished. The Shangwe ya Wajinga had become a disaster, a catastrophe unexpected that was ruined by selfish animals who hated hyenas, seeing them as useless being not meant for the Circle of Life. The canvas of apricot and rose bled to a midnight blue, the rain washed that last remnant of the festival of foolishness, the celebration of making jackasses of one's self. The savannah around laid under a shroud of pewter grey, the once lush tapestry of emerald and ochre green was downhearted. Weeping from the heavens were the silver tears, fat and heavy to have silently accuse the Pride Lands, drumming a mournful tattoo on the earth, each beating echoed the shame that gnawed at those who had been complicit in this evil

The air hung thick and stagnant with despair, a stifling blanket woven from the threads of a broken spirit and a lament of innocence that was lost. Even in the distance, Pride Rock lied a monument to cruelty, the summit had clouds curling around it with the rain streaked stone; joyful revelers are huddled shadows. The stupidness and the joyous festivities weighed by the rain, the colorful paintjobs washed from the stripes of the zebras, the hats worn falling to the ground under the heaviness of the rainwater accumulated under such decree. There was no playfulness, only listless twitching of tails. The gazelles shifted nervously, once graceful of leaps reduced to distant shuffles, mighty elephants seemed to shrink under the weight of the damage they had done. They sung praises moments ago, voices echoing in the now silent savannah, now those same voices had choked with bitter aftertaste of misplaced amusement

Their cheers morphed into a chorus of condemnation with a chilling ease, and only then did it take a public outing that shamed them as the ones in the wrong to realize that they were only the architects to the ruin that no one had foreseen. A cruel mirror, the Shangwe ya Wajinga, is to reflect their folly. They ripped the vibrant tapestries of the Pride Lands, the celebration of foolishness, away from the ones who wanted to join their fun. A canvas in shades of blue, as well as the heaviness of the consequences that followed. Gone are the splashes of color, the dust kicked up in the frenzy, mingling with the ground that turned into the muddied mess of a heart churning with bile. They have only themselves to blame, tails tucked between legs as well as downcast eyes that followed the hyena hating extremists, what remained of them at least to be exact. Still, the rain fell, not like the cleansing hopeful kind, but the weary ones of which mirrored the hearts of those who took part in this ground zero of vileness

The mopani trees looked washed out, the great baobab trees weren't even as great as they looked. The vibrant lilac drooped and the leaves hung limp like defeated flags. The posts in the lookouts of the cheeky meerkats that were usually abandoned were filled, but they had burrowed themselves deep to hide from the things they've seen. And they have seen some shit. The sun was blocked out, the sting of their claws were felt, the weight of their teeth, the vile things spoken by the tongue were spat out. In that clarity, the truth was revealed to them through this series of events that led up to this disaster. They had seen the fear in the eyes of the hyenas, the terror found in the gazelles that were chased by them in a playful frenzy. This game, this fun they had were nothing but to draw out their true colors disguised to be that of amusement

Jeyluxhal, having never actually left the stage at all, was approached by his father, Tabari. His father had turned to him, to face him as the hyena tried to cover himself with his bearskin of a upperbody tunic, torn apart in his struggle to escape this harassment earlier. His voice was just as heavy as it had been when he last spoke to those hyena hating extremists

"It's time for you to go" Tabari spoke to his son with a tone of unfinished business he had, his glare towards the Pridelanders who were shaking and trembling at him and his son is chilling to the bone. All two hundred and six of them in each one. "There's no reason for you to stay here anymore"

Jeyluxhal's final facial expression to his father was just as heavy on the heart as the sight of him being tortured for amusement by those hyena haters. His brow was furrowed, his eyes were half closed, his lips were sealed, the rain turning his fur into a mop, his dark red mane dulling out into a near black color. The translation was even worse: "He got away..."

"I know..." That was all Tabari said in response from his the translation of his son's expression with his own being of disgust, and lingering anger to the animals who took no stance to stand for him. He would rather die tomorrow than live on another century without seeing his son in this vulnerable position

Tabari was far from being over. Jeyluxhal dropped off the stage, hitting the ground on all four paws as he carried himself up and walked through the open space made in front of him, with the animals standing at the side. Even their comments were mixed: "My god"/"What in the hell?"/"Don't move"/"Keep away from me", not that Jeyluxhal was listening to actually hear any of them. He was haphazard in his steps, he was weak, he was badly injured, his scars are still red and bleeding down his fur, the caribou skin kilt slipped down, completely showing the full extend of his scars from the times he fought with his rival, Banzai, in Shenzi's Clan. He only covered his face to stop them from looking at him, he did not want to be seen in this vulnerable state, he didn't want them to look at his body

A couple of times he collapsed, if not to vomit up red bile from his stomach, and more than once did he slip with the scraping of his paws. He finally vanished from their sight when they couldn't see anymore of him, he merely hid behind a tree and threw off his bearskin upper tunic to the side, hanging on a branch as it landed, dripping wet under the rain. While, in the end, the hyena who never spoke a word went away, out of the eyes of the Pridelanders, out of the eyes of his concerned friends who watched him run off. Before the scene is shattered by the sound of Tabari with his back turned, he crunched the bones of his paws, and when he turned to face them

Good lord, Tabari's remnants of his fury were terrifying. He is not bullshitting around with the Pridelanders about respecting his kind's presence here, when hyenas like him did no wrong. Tabari wasn't alone, Jeyluxhal's friends were on his side, but angriest had never been more fully shown on someone than Tabari. Just a growl from him shook their blood vessels, and it even caused a few dissenters to reveal themselves

"Why are you getting upset over this? They're right you know" A rhino snorted. "He was still complicit in Scar's rise to the throne" The amount of acting like twisting the situation into: no, Jeyluxhal was the in the wrong, was absolutely infuriating

"He was a pup!" Tabari slugged him, the years of watching his son in some fear and in many times in pain when he watched the hyena raised under Shenzi's Clan face off in front of his rival Banzai, the most aggressive hyena of the trio that made up him, her and Ed. Now, this rhino wanted to bitch about his son deserving this, because he didn't do anything while he was making it clear he didn't want anything to do with Scar's reign? Fuck you. "He followed his family! Just like any of you would. But he never forgot his true home, he never lost that compassion for my mate, my wife that you allowed them to use as a insult!"

Tabari would then challenge the logic brought on by another dissenter, a ostrich who didn't get why it was such a big problem. "You heard him, your kind's destiny is banishment" That ended up with Tabari violently tearing the ostrich's feathers out, leading it to cry out before it scrambled to it's talons and run to hide behind a hippo

"If our kind's destiny is to be exiled, then where were YOU when Scar was king? Hiding in your burrows, while hyenas like Shenzi risked her life to stay alive for this long in a famine caused by YOUR neglectful king?!" Tabari raised his voice when he emphasized them

"It's justice" Another baboon crossed her arms

"No, it's bullying someone who can't defend themselves. You are so full of shit!" Kuplinka called out, the jackal's ears folding down at the top

Zuberi was the next as he bared his teeth and hissed. "You banish those deemed different, and yet, you're willing to welcome a lion, Scar, who banished his own nephew to a throne he's earned only because he killed his brother. Is that what you call bravery?" His eyes were narrowed

"Looks like we found everybody's fool" Mwindaji took the rain like a champion and spat in between his fangs with his tongue slithering out, the tip flicking like a snake's own forked tongue. "And they're nothing like the Evanescence song of the same name..." His expression was no better than Zuberi's, though his tone took a mocking disappointment as it seems that they failed that contest for the celebration of fools

"No Mwindaji" Tabari tightened the grip of his paws with a slow cracking sound that filled the air as his black paws turned to white, straining with red and blue veins underneath. "No... you have every right to be disappointment"

"What business is it of yours to-" The last dissenter couldn't finish as Zuberi came forward and overstretched the elephant's trunk, causing a strain of shock and disolocation as Tabari shouted at the elephant who tried to argue with him

"It's that business of mine!" Tabari raised his voice and let the other Pridelanders cower in a shivering coldness that overtook them

"We deserve death..." The elephant with a broken trunk whimpered

"No!" Zuberi shouted at him and lowered his voice. "You don't get off the hook that easy. In a different scenario where it was anything but a hyena, you would've used that trunk to intervene, and now when a hyena needed help, you foolishly chose to stand aside for that lion to allow it to happen. So no, you don't get off easy by wishing for death to come, because I ain't about to pull you into a death roll to rip those ears off and let you bleed out" His tone bellowed with disgust, and this amount of selfishness at wanting to kill himself instead of own up to complicity meant Zuberi had the power to deny that request; and god dammit, he did just that

From this point onward, the Pridelanders couldn't shake the words of Tabari's hisses and so much pain he had been inflicted with in this disaster of a celebration. They clung to them like burrs, they prickled their conscience with each passing zebra, each untouched carcass. What's once a familiar scent of lions feasting would be carrying a bitter tang of the damage they all brought on themselves for joining in on the humiliation of a hyena. No, more than that, he wasn't really a hyena as to say, was he? If it had been a lion cub, they felt like they would do the same thing. It made no difference

They've held onto this fear of hyenas since Scar's reign, more importantly what they were often seen as even before Scar took to the throne on Pride Rock. They wanted to learn, they wanted to hear out their side of the story, the hyenas who aren't greedy like Janja's Clan. Or if that's even fair since they're naturally aggressive hyenas themselves. Since they were just lectured on the hyenas having the role of getting rid of the corpses left behind by others, the reason that they aren't suffering from a plague at the moment, a pestilence that isn't killing them. That is why carnivores are here, that is why scavengers are here, they keep the plagues dead and keep them from ever spreading

---

When the news arrived back at the Lair of the Lion Guard, Kion thought about Jasiri when he first met her, when she told him

He was nestled within the sheltering embrace of the lair, the echoes of his father's roar, that of Simba, still reverberated in his chest but not as much as Tabari's roar as the confrontation on the Shangwe ya Wajinga had been a whirlwind of fur and fury. It's aftermath held weight to something far more profound. A seed of doubt was sown in the hearts of the animals, that tiny crack in the damn of their self-assured righteousness. The first encounter between him and Jasiri was still fresh"

"We're the clean-up crew" She told him as her voice is laced with a wry humor masking truth that was deeper than the skin underneath the fur. "Picking up after all the sloppy eaters" At the time, he was blinded by his pride-centric worldview, only seeing the bad side of them in the Pride Lands who often sought to break the Circle of Life. They weren't just scavengers or predators as Scar or anyone else before painted them, they were vital to the balance, they're making sure the plagues won't spread. They're making sure the herbivores do not overrun all of the carnivores in the Pride Lands, to leave the scraps uneaten and attract the diseases that will kill everyone slowly but surely, the herbivores who were often larger predators

And now, Tabari's roar echoed that same sentiment, albeit with a lion's growl rather than a hyena's chuckle. He forced them to confront the uncomfortable truth - that they saw them, the animals themselves, as heroes, they were also leaving the hyenas to clean up the bloody messes left behind by their battles, their hunts, their reasoning for being connected to what they followed. The weight of the realization was heavy as the setting sun. This wasn't about blind acceptance, not yet, it was about a willingness to listen, to acknowledge this shared burden, to recognize that the Circle of Life is not a lion-centric tapestry, it's a grand interwoven web where every creature played their part. Rafiki seemed to be the only one who understood in the midst of ignorance

Then, there were Jasiri's words that they were more similar than he thought. "Sisi ni sawa", her usual catchphrase, he saw the shared scars of Scar's reign and what it meant being the pawns of his twisted game. It wasn't surrendering, it's a bridge being built, each one were trembling planks, wouldn't be easy. There's going to be resistance, anger, violence, but he heard of Tabari's defiance, the embers which still remain and Jasiri's unwavering belief they were the same and he agreed with her on that, to dare to hope. The roar of Tabari's challenge as though it's born of anger, it's a catalyst for change. Hyenas weren't just the shadows lurking in the undergrowth of graveyards where elephants go to die or in the Outlands, they lived, they breathed, they had stories to tell and their own burdens to bear, but above all, they had a place in the intricate dance of the Circle of Life. Kion could imagine seeing the unease that rippled through furtive glances to the hyenas who watched from the fringes, the borders into the Pride Lands, their own fear laced with newfound defiance. The ostrich that's stripped of it's feathers huddling with the rhino, the baboon's gaze flickering between the shame and the curiosity

But in the end, did this all matter? There's going to be those who ignore this sentiment, and let's not forget the one thing: living in harmony has never been the Pride Lands' greatest of attributes. It's common knowledge, really

---

In the present, when the chaos died down, a lone buffalo was walking in the rain still when it lifted it's head up and revealed Hatima the jaguar herself. She saw the flicker of doubt in the eyes of those animals who had faced judgement and punishment by Tabari, the waver of the conviction in others. This was a battle that couldn't be won alone but she ignited that spark. With a flick of her tail and a final, meaningful glance with her down reared folded ears to the hyena who had left the scene, she discarded her disguise and declared with her voice which carried the weight of lioness' roar and the firm tone of a much calmer wave in the ocean. "I'm leaving, but I won't forget this. And neither should you"

She stalked away, her black form disappearing into the tall grasses. But behind her, there it's begun as the whispers started with seeds of doubt being planted by a perky goth, wild as the wilderness but with a jaguar's heart, began to sprout. And in that, Hatima knew victory wasn't about staying, it was about planting the right seeds. Every snarl made was a terrifying war cry, every growl was a primal call to action echoing across the savanna, and every roar is a defiant premonition against the injustice that she witnessed on this day. The rain, which had stopped moments ago began to fall again, washing away the condensed mist that was created. A new spirit bloomed in place

At Rafiki's tree within the home of the shaman of the Pride Lands and royal mjuzi, the Robert Guillaume voiced mandrill parted the leaves with his bakora staff as he granted Hatima entry within. The jaguar sits down as she asks Rafiki:

"How could those Pridelanders agree with those jackasses? Like he deserves all the scorn just for being apart of one hyena's clan" Hatima expressed her frustration

"Ah, Hatima, anger can be a blinding cloak, it clouds the judgement and twists the perception of many minds. You, like many others, acted rashly, though justifiably. You've created quite a earthquake at the Shangwe ya Wajinga, it would be unwise to arouse Baridi's chokehold grip on the two hyenas any further to rally for retribution for the two of them" Rafiki closed the entry into his baobab tree

"Rashly? You saw what that lion did out there, inciting the crowd to torture that hyena. That wasn't supposed to happen, that wasn't apart of the celebration, it was supposed to release that pent up rage, not unleash it! I was defending him, he was innocent, even when he was apart of her clan during the start of Scar's reign" Hatima got defensive

The jaguar walked off and faced the front of a large tree branch, huffing through her nose

"What do the Pridelanders have against people who are different from them?" Hatima asked, still frustrated. It's a good question, however often ignored, to ask as Rafiki would say. What the royal mjuzi had to say on the otherhand had this to reveal

"Innocence is a fragile mirror, easily shattered by the shearing winds of prejudice. I too have been blinded by rage, once, in my younger days. Neither of us can right all the wrongs alone by ourselves. You may have been justified in rallying for his retribution, but there was a time he lashed out a lion, a king, no less" Rafiki told her

"Him... he attacked the king" The jaguar turned her head away, this was a surprising thing, but with a temper like what he shown, she shouldn't be. "And what did the do to earn a beating he deserves?" Hatima became curious, her snark showing through

"The lionesses, those who had come to see Scar as the true king rather than Simba, they saw only a hyena biding his time to usurp the throne for his kind. They couldn't see the truth, the loyalty he held for his matriarch, Shenzi. They could not see how he had fallen into a devised, manipulative trap set up by Zira, allowing her to be attacked so Jeyluxhal could be beaten, to bleed, to be shamed, all to scapegoat her actions; she was the one who provoked him first, it was a unending rainfall of racial slurs towards him and pushing the buttons that shouldn't be pushed by anyone other than himself. He didn't want to look Shenzi or his family in the face either"

Hatima didn't have anything to say, the amount of gaslighting that Zira had done without ever lifting a paw was infuriating, and the fact that Scar had also allowed himself to be attacked as well only to beat Jeyluxhal's ass at the end to prove he was stronger; even if he didn't have the strength of his brother Mufasa

"Yes, there is much that remains unseen, Jeyluxhal is not alone in his suffering. Many were judged by the sins of their kind, their families, their past lives. It is a burden as heavy and as unfair as their accusations" Rafiki shook his head sadly

"You tell me how that's fair for them. They're hyenas, yes, but that doesn't mean they aren't apart of the Circle of Life. Those grass grazers would be starving if it weren't for them, they deserve respect, not this... stigma, like a movie nobody wanted, like Frozen for example!" Unfair of them indeed, Hatima was right about in every aspect with what she said

"It is a poison that festers this hatred is, tainting all it touches" Rafiki mused

"Agreeing with those vicious creatures like he was never the one who did nothing wrong in the end, and he was still a pup at the time under Scar's rule. But blaming him for his reign, as if he had a choice in the matter, none of the hyenas had a choice in the matter either if they knew that Scar wasn't going to give them as much food as they wanted" Hatima fumed as she turned around

"A tangled web, his reign was and trust, like a vine, grows overtime, but a single storm can uproot it in one updraft. They saw shadow where there were only lessons, just as they see shadows in him" Rafiki opened his eyes and came out of his thoughts. "And what are they so quick to judge, to hate you'll ask. Fear, Hatima, fear of the unknown, the different. Scar used that fear, twisted it with his jaws like a hyena twists the skin off the wildebeest. He made the lionesses, following under Zira's poison, see him as monsters, not as part of the Circle"

"We are both predators who play our part, and that makes it alright to do what? Not judge me for doing what's expected of me by them" Hatima remarked with hostility still present

Rafiki nodded slowly. "And judging a predator by their father's sins is like judging a bee by the sting of another. Every creature as their story to tell, their path in the Circle, but it is not a nescessity to follow it primarily. It is an ideaology as Tabari says"

"No one out there is going to help" Hatima puffed steam out her snout

"Sometimes the answer lies, not in the present, but in the past" Rafiki smiled enigmatically. "Perhaps there is someone in here who can. Seek wisdom from those who talked the savannah before us, the great kings who understood the balance. They may offer a perspective unseen, they may offer guidance, perhaps they can shed light on this darkness"

"The Great Kings? I'm not..." Hatima trailed off

"Understanding is rarely easy, Hatima. But it's always worth taking. Even the smallest paw can leave the biggest mark. Now go and let the voices of the past guide you" Rafiki pulled back to reveal a grove from within his tree

Hatima took a deep breath as she thanked Rafiki. "If you think it helps, I won't forget your words" Her green eyes, filled with newfound determination, entered the grove presented to her as she bid her farewell to the royal mjuzi

The haunting melody fills the air as her thoughts were echoed by it as were her questions, for how could something so simple, this ideology that Rafiki had called it, be so easily twisted like a knife? How could predators, creatures meant to coexist with their prey, be treated with disdain

And then it hits her. They hate them, not because of Jeyluxhal's actions, it's because of Tabari's sins. Not because they're hyenas, but because they are the same breed as Tabari himself

Hatima isn't religious by any means, but she understands the weight of legacy. It's like a heavy cloak, one that can suffocate even the most innocent of souls. The melody that played finally became clearer to hear for the audience to listen to, performed by Kuplinka no less, he couldn't be seen, but he could be heard

---

(A/N: If Everyone Cared by Nickelback from Fight All the Right Reasons album. That's right motherfucker, I've got a double feature for you today in this chapter. So let's get it on with, you won't see any actions this time, but that will change if I decide to update this to be better)

[Verse 1]

(KUPLINKA):

From underneath the trees

We watch the sky

Confusing stars for satellites

I never dreamed that you'd be mine

But here we are, we're here tonight

(((The sunlight filters through cracks in the baobab's ancient bark, illuminating the vibrant vines draping across the cavern's walls. The mossy floors cushion each step, as they lead deeper into the heart of the revered shaman's dwelling)))

[Pre-Chorus]

(KUPLINKA)

Singing, Amen, I

I'm alive (MWINDAJI: I'm alive)

Singing Amen, I

I am alive

(((Exotic herbs and colorful potions rest in the earthenware containers, their potent aromas mingled with the earthy scent of the baobab's interior. Intricate symbols etched into the stone walls shimmer faintly with an otherworldly glow, hinting at the ancient magic that permeated this space)))

[Chorus]

(KUPLINKA):

If everyone cared and nobody cried

If everyone loved and nobody lied

If everyone shared and swallowed their pride

Then we'd see the day, when nobody died

(((There was a crystal clear spring that bubbled serenely in the center of the cavern, the surface reflected the dappled sunlight filtering through the baobab's canopy. With the gentle sound of trickling water mingling with the chirping of unseen birds, creating this calming melody of which washed over the senses)))

[Post-Chorus]

(KUPLINKA & MWINDAJI):

And I'm singing

Amen, I, Amen, I

I am alive

Amen, I, Amen, I, Amen, I

I am alive

(((This was no ordinary cavern, it was a sanctuary woven with magic and the ancient wisdom of generations past)))

[Verse 2]

(KUPLINKA & MWINDAJI)

And in the air, the fireflies

Our only light in paradise

We'll show the world they were wrong

And teach them all to sing along

(((And here, within the baobab tree's embrace, the spirits whispered secrets on the wind which carried them, and the future dances in the shadows of this tree)))

[Pre-Chorus]

(KUPLINKA)

Singing Amen, I

I'm alive (MWINDAJI: I'm alive)

Singing Amen, I

I am alive

[Chorus]

(KUPLINKA & MWINDAJI):

If everyone cared and nobody cried

If everyone loved and nobody lied

If everyone shared and swallowed their pride

Then we'd see the day when nobody died

If everyone cared and nobody cried

If everyone loved and nobody lied

If everyone shared and swallowed their pride

Then we'd see the day when nobody died

When nobody died

(((Should one enter this sacred space, one might be fortunate enough to witness the enigmatic mandrill himself tending to his mystical garden, his laughter echoing through the cavern just like the chirping of birds)))

[Bridge]

(KUPLINKA & MWINDAJI):

And as we lie beneath the stars

We realize how small we are

If they could love like you and me

Imagine what the world could be

[Chorus]

(KUPLINKA & MWINDAJI):

If everyone cared and nobody cried

If everyone loved and nobody lied

If everyone shared and swallowed their pride

Then we'd see the day when nobody died

If everyone cared and nobody cried

If everyone loved and nobody lied

If everyone shared and swallowed their pride

Then we'd see the day when nobody died

(((The air hums with unseen energy, urging exploration and inviting one to delve deeper into the wonders of the baobab's heart)))

[Outro]

(KUPLINKA & MWINDAJI):

We'd see the day, we'd see the day

When nobody died

We'd see the day, we'd see the day

When nobody died

We'd see the day when nobody died (KUPLINKA: Died)

---

The melody had ended as Hatima came up to the top of a smaller baobab tree inside, where a voice cut through her thoughts, emerging from the tall grass of the inner savannah and where the voice had come to meet with her

"Hatima" When the jaguar turned around, there was Tabari who approached her. "There was another reason, a reason why hyenas like us shouldn't be here, why we're forbidden to set a paw in the Pride Lands". Even his eyes were filled with a despair of knowing the truth, he did not want have to explain this reason, he thought everyone knew the truth

"It's something serious, isn't it?" Hatima didn't like the tone he spoke with

"Yes, there's something you need to know, why hyenas like us aren't meant to stay. It's not about Scar or hatred. It's about the balance. The Pride Lands... they can't support too many apex predators like us. There's too many lions, too many leopards, too many cheetahs... it puts a strain on the prey beyond their limits. There's just too many of them like us, and the prey wouldn't survive. Jeyluxhal and I, we know this. Our intelligence, it compares towards the gorillas of the jungle, we understand this delicacy. We're not like the hyenas banished to the Outlands. We understand why this had to be done, my father, Abhjitkuveer knew this" Tabari's eyes were narrowed, his head tilted lowly and his voice was even lower as he sat down next to her

Hatima could only stare at him with her mind reeling. It wasn't just the hatred or the fear of the unknown, it was the fear of a predator they didn't understand

"My son, he's stronger than this, he'll find his way. But our paths must diverge, this is the Circle after all" Tabari shook his head. "He'll be alright"

He placed a gentle paw on her shoulder as his gaze softened

"We'll find him, we'll face the storm..."

Hatima continued for him. "And we'll show them the truth. I understand. And I have my own message for them. The Circle of Life was never about blind adherence to tradition, it's about having the courage to rewrite the rules when they're broken. Remember that, before you all drown in your own self-righteousness, even if someone us don't have any need to follow it"

Tabari nods, he could see the newfound resolve burning in her eyes. And somewhere out in Africa, Jeyluxhal awaits, uncertain of this battle being waged for his future, for his place and for his retribution to not only himself but for the blood on the paws of a lion who ruined him

Hatima's final words echoed in both of their ears, as the jaguar can only think about what the poor boy was doing now

The weight of this journey is on the viewers' shoulders now, it will be lifted and unburdened

---

There are several sins of my own that I admit to so as to end this feature length chapter I have presented to you:

Jeyluxhal's friends (Kuplinka, Mwindaji, Zuberi, Fahari, Luthando) don't get as much focus as our main character does because there just isn't room in the chapters for them to be fleshed out like our hyena

In particular, you saw how I portrayed Kuplinka and his other friends in the "Innocence Lost" segment of Chapter 10: Jeyluxhal Tales but that's about it, like does it still apply to them years later?

I guess the other thing to mention is that there are a lot of female villains, but I am not a misogynist. I'm just not good at writing female protagonists that are not sexualized, they are not social justice warrior fuckers, they aren't karma houdinis and they are not feminazis either who think they don't need men at all and think they're oppressed by them, hoping to seek freedom from this menace they claim us as

Most of my fanfics have male protagonists, so I thought of having this idea. Every now and then, I thought Hatima should get one of her own chapters to show off how badass she is, but at the same time show how vulnerable she is like Ripley from The Alien Trilogy because even she is not invincible

I don't often post chapters now that I have a job at Fleet Farm where I work four hour shifts with direct deposit that I switched over to since signing checks is a tedious process

But I want you to know that this story doesn't exist in a vaccum, and I'm not an automated writer who can press a button and Pinocchio (1940) happens when I do so

I have questions to ask from you after spending so much time reading this story out of the many that are always written about Simba and his adventures along with other characters:

Do you have any thoughts so far?

Was there anything I didn't so good on?

Did you enjoy at least a few chapters so far?

Am I not putting enough focus on Jeyluxhal's friends? Because I gave them focus in the first segment of the tenth chapter that I'm sure you've read

What are your overall thoughts in the end?

PM me if you have any ideas because I would like to hear about it

Before I end this chapter, I do have some facts about hyenas to share as well:

Hyenas have a blood sharing ritual where both of them lick each other's wounds, helping to clean them to prevent infection

They're very good at mimicking the calls of other animals like lions and birds, this helps to confuse their prey and steal food from other predators. Because why not? Lions steal from the hyenas more than they do from them

Hyenas are very resistant to rabies and other diseases, thanks to their very strong immune system

It should also be noted they're very good at thermoregulation and can maintain a constant body temperature even in extreme temperatures, helping to survive in a wide variety of habitats

Hyenas in general are very good at swimming, they can even cross rivers and lakes to help them expand territory and find new food sources

Being curious animals, they'll often investigate new objects or sounds, helping them to learn about their environment and find new food sources for them

With all that said, I hope you are ready to tune in for more of what's to come, because the fate of Jeyluxhal will be shown in the next chapter