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Janja had not had a good day.
At first it was just the usual bad day routine: get new plan from Scar, get tails kicked by the Lion Guard, deal with Scar’s anger, exit stage left.
Unfortunately, Scar’s patience was very much running thin these days, and Janja had found himself on the receiving end of one of Scar’s lectures more than a couple times now. Today was one of those days.
After he was finally allowed to leave, he’d decided to patrol his territory and check for food or intruders. At least he’d accomplish something useful that way.
So he’d brushed past his clanmates, ignored Cheezi and Chungu’s questions, barked out his intentions and an order to wait for him in the volcano, and left.
He was out near the border by now. His sore muscles ached in protest as he walked around, but it was nothing he wasn’t used to.
Janja allowed himself a sigh. His clan and him wouldn’t have to still be out here in the Outlands if he could just do better, be better. Scar had made that clear quite a few times, and he was right.
He shook his head to disrupt his train of thought.
Focus, Janja reminded himself before he could get lost in unimportant thoughts of longing. He kept walking along, sniffing crevices in the rocks and keeping watch for trespassers.
As he approached the border between his and Jasiri’s territory, his ears twitched as he suddenly heard quiet pawsteps around the corner, and as stealthily as he could, he got ready to pounce out and chase whoever now had the misfortune of ending up as dinner tonight.
It’s probably on Jasiri’s side, but I’ll just nab it real quick and be back over on my side quick as a rockslide. My clan needs this more than hers. She probably has all the food she needs from the Pridelands anyway, since she’s friends with Kion.
Janja ignored the jolt of resentment that rushed through him at this thought.
Bunching his muscles, he jumped out with a laugh, only to skid to a halt as he registered that the animal he’d heard and was now looking at was the last animal in the Outlands he wanted to run into. Especially right now.
It was Jasiri herself. She was crouched in a defensive posture, ears flattened, clearly ready to fight.
A rush of different feelings decided to make themselves known to Janja right that very moment, but the clearest thing he felt was just torn.
Scar had made it crystal clear that if any member of the Army saw Jasiri or a member of her clan, they were to get rid of them. And Janja knew full well he was already on the flimsiest of bridges. He needed to attack. He needed to prove that he was loyal. He needed to prove that he wasn’t useless.
But. . . she’d saved him. He should be dead right now, and the reason he wasn’t was standing right in front of him.
He took a step back.
Jasiri stood up, aggressive posturing gone.
“Go,” Janja growled, flattening his ears. “Get lost. Before I make you.”
Jasiri stared at him, and he struggled a little not to let the aggressive facade slip. His stupid memories were assaulting his mind, playing scenes from their last encounter completely against his will, but it would take more than that to make him turn traitor.
Jasiri finally spoke. “You’ll make me ‘get lost’ huh? You’d have to beat me first, you know,” she said with an amused grin.
“I could do it!” Janja protested, feeling his face heat up. “I’m just. . . not in the mood for fighting right now. I gotta save my strength for the important targets.”
“Why don’t we just talk then?” Jasiri suggested.
Janja startled. That was not at all what he was expecting. But hey, at this point it was a rarity that anything went the way he thought it would.
He should probably make some excuse about being too busy or something and get out of there. There was no way he could be seen talking with the enemy.
But. . . if the skinks were around, he was already dead anyway. Scar wasn’t going to be happy in the slightest that he had backed off from a fight with Jasiri. It. . . probably wouldn’t hurt to chat. He could at least try and get some useful intel.
And the more time he spent out here, the longer it would be until he had to be back in the volcano and face Scar again.
“. . . Fine,” Janja eventually responded, having made up his mind. “But this don’t mean anything.”
He ignored her (admittedly cute) skeptical expression.
“Right. So, how are you doing?”
Why do you want to know? Janja thought to himself. He definitely was going to have to be careful not to give away anything that could be used against the Army. She was clearly fishing for information just like he was.
“As good as it gets, livin' here. After all, I’m following Scar. He knows what he’s doing, and he’ll lead us to victory soon.”
For some reason, Jasiri seemed surprised by his answer. Then her expression shifted.
“You really believe in Scar huh?”
I would have had a harder time rejecting your offer if I didn’t Janja was tempted to blurt out, but instead he responded with “Of course I do. He’s actually tryin’ to help us.”
And that’s why he’s the only lion worth a smidgen of any real hyena’s time.
Jasiri’s expression shifted again, this time to something Janja really didn’t like.
“What’s with the concerned look?!” Janja snapped. “It’s true!”
“No it’s not!” Jasiri objected, “Trust me, he doesn’t care one bit! Not about you, and certainly not about the well-being of hyenas as a whole.”
Janja felt hot anger rush through him at Jasiri’s words. Trust her?! What did she know?! She wasn’t the one actually interacting with him! She wasn’t the one who helped bring him back! She wasn’t the one failing him at every turn!!
She didn’t know a thing!
“How would you know?! You pal around with the same lion cub who’s keepin’ us hungry in the Outlands! He helps you because you actually buy their “Circle of Life” nonsense, but the rest of us?! They couldn’t care less! None of them could care less! Scar is the only one who has even tried to help us out!”
“I know he betrayed the last hyenas to work with him!” Jasiri argued back.
“He promised them exactly what I assume he’s promised you: infinite food, and a better home, but it was a lie! Kion is willing to learn and change, and has actively gone out of his way to help me more than once, but Scar isn’t like that! He just wants pawns, animals he can use and throw away once he’s achieved what he wants!”
Janja growled angrily, but Jasiri pressed on.
“Mark my words Janja, stay with him and you’ll get hurt. He doesn’t care one single bit about us hyenas.”
“You’re lying!”
She has to be. She just has to be! I would know about it if it were true!
Jasiri’s eyes softened.
“I’m not. I’m sorry.”
A beat of silence stretched between them. Eventually Janja angrily turned his back on the other hyena.
He wanted to bite her. He wanted to beg her to tell him this was her idea of a joke. He wanted a million different things, all conflicting with each other and swirling around inside his chest.
“Go away,” he growled softly instead.
He wasn’t sure at first if Jasiri had actually heard him, since he couldn’t see her now, but after a moment she responded.
“I meant every word of what I said before Janja. You don’t have to be on his side.”
Shut up!! I’m not turning traitor!!
“Just go!! I should’ve been fightin’ you anyway, not having a friendly chat about double crossing the others! Leave!!”
Janja hated the part of him that felt bad for this. He hated the small part of him that was protesting right now, the part of him that wanted to spend more time with her.
But more than that, he hated the part of him that wanted to believe her.
“Have it your way,” Jasiri sighed.
Janja heard her pawsteps start to recede. She started humming a familiar tune, which Janja’s unhelpful and traitorous brain automatically completed with the words.
Sisi ni sawa means we’re the same. . .
No. It wasn’t true. He wasn’t anything like Jasiri. And he certainly wasn’t anything like Kion.
Looking back towards the smoking volcano, Janja internally sighed. It wasn’t true. It couldn’t be.
Right?