A Hyena's Tale

A Hyena's Tale Ch. 13

Janja rubbed his stomach as he laid on his back. The Waterbuck he and his clan had for dinner was the best meal they had in such a long time. He made sure to thank his Leopard hosts for their hospitality. He watched as the Leopard Queen, Katali walked into her den with all six of her cubs. It puzzled Janja how a Leopard could love a Hyena the way she did. He watched as the other Hyenas around him began to head to their respective territories to get some rest. He spotted Tombie being carried by two of his Striped Hyenas to a small den.

Janja approached him and his clan-mates. "Hey, Tombie."

"Oh, hey, Janja." Tombie smiled and waved at him. "Have a good meal?"

"Yeah. I haven't had a Dinner that fresh for a few months." Janja felt so good to have fresh meat instead of rotten Carrion for a change. "How's your leg?"

Tombie's injured leg was covered in some dry mud that covered his whole leg. "Well, I've got no reason to complain. These Leopards sure know how to help heal a broken leg."

Janja felt very reassured as he gave him a piece of Waterbuck. "Here ya go."

Tombie looked down at the meat with widened eyes. "Wait- you saved me some Waterbuck? No, no, you should have it, Janja. You need your strength."

"Nah, I had plenty tonight." Janja pushed the meat closer to him. "Besides, I don't have a broken leg."

Tombie did not have any words to argue. Over the week he had found him again, he never did lose an argument with Janja. He had always been the slower witted of the two. The two of them seemed to be opposites when in reality, they were the same as Lions and Hyenas were. All Tombie could do was smile and say a very sincere "Thank you" Before eating the small helping of Waterbuck his brother had gotten him.

"Say, did you hear what I heard earlier?' Janja asked him.

"Depends." Tombie had waited to finish the food that was in his mouth before speaking. Tombie had a few things he needed to teach Janja, and one of them was table manners. "I hear a lot of things now and then. Are you talking about those Brown Hyenas Makucha brought to the Backlands? I met them. Their Leader, Rookus, she's an old friend of mine. She's the one who taught me all those jokes."

"No kiddin'?" Janja tilted his head. "Man, you sure made a lotta friends out here, Tombie."

"Well, you did too, Janja."

Janja blinked several times before raising his eyebrow. "Huh, what're you talkin' about? Most of the animals I met wanna either kill me or take my Territory."

"I mean your clan." Tombie pointed out. "Why do you think you did not rip them to pieces every time they annoyed you? Why do you think that after every time they messed up, you kept them around? Well, it may be just a theory, Janja, but from my perspective, I think you consider them a family more than a clan."

This was something Janja had not thought about. Why DID he keep those fur-brains around? All they ever did for him was to mess up all his plans and complain that they were hungry. If he was slow-witted, these Hyenas were worse. Cheezi and Chungu were the ones he used the most. Was there a reason for this? Maybe. Did he think of them all as a family? Possibly. But, they weren't even related. So how could they be family? It was then Janja had a theory of his own. Maybe, just maybe, the family wasn't just being related. Maybe Family was about how he felt about Tombie as a while. What was it Jasiri said?

Sisi Ni Sawa.

"W-well..." Ever since he had found his brother again, Janja had been feeling things. New things. Things he hadn't felt in years. And never once in his years on his own did he say that another animal was right about him. "I guess you're right." He stood up and turned to go to his clan's new territory. "Good night, Tombie." As he walked off, he stopped in his tracks, as he had something else to say.