Maalum

Chapter 5 - Love Is Pain

This chapter happens during the third season of The Lion Guard, two or three days after the battle against Scar.

Will Kijana win Maalum's love?

You can read the NSFW version of this chapter in my accounts on SoFurry (Maalum), Furaffinity (Maalum) and Inkbunny (lionkinguard).

For two weeks, Maalum trains with Reirei and the other jackals. Now they train only for pleasure, once they have finished their tricky plans. At the same time, Maalum also has fun with his brothers, especially with Kijana, Dogo and Tagi, a jackal from a neighboring pack that usually visits Reirei's pack.

Dogo wants to reward Maalum for the way he has treated him in the past and now he plays a lot with him and talks to him. Maalum and Dogo are now good friends.

Tagi isn't very fond of living with the other jackals in his pack. He says that Reirei's pack is much more fun. Many times, Tagi tries to approach Kijana, bragging and showing how strong he is, in an attempt to make her fall in love with him. Tagi has a crush on her.

Kijana tries to get closer to Maalum, trying to show him how she feels about him. During training, she likes to jump on him, almost kissing him. Maalum shows no reaction. When they play, she takes the opportunity to spend more time with him and even gets to lean against him in some games. But Maalum remains unresponsive.

Then, one night, Kijana decides talking to him to tell him how she feels. She walks towards him, sitting next to him on a high rock. Maalum realizes that she's there, but he says nothing. Both stand still for a while, just watching the blue sky, full of bright stars.

"Maalum?!" Kijana decides to speak.

"Yes?!"

"Have you ever fallen in love?"

"What?!" Maalum is amazed at her question.

"Did you... ever fall in love with someone?!"

"Well..." Maalum begins to think about the time he spent with Vitani and her family. Maalum really loved her. It was practically love at first sight. When Vitani said she loved him too, he was overjoyed. However, his happiness was short-lived, as Zira appeared and kicked him out of her pride. After that day, Maalum sometimes thought about returning, but if he did that, Zira would kill him without thinking twice. Besides, he was well received back by the jackals. So Maalum decided to forget about Zira's pride and focus on being happy with the jackals.

"So...?!" Kijana insists.

"I... I fell in love once, but... It didn't work." He responds sadly.

"W-What happened?!" Kijana asks, thinking he's talking about her and when he left.

"Her mom threw me out and... I'll never be able to see her again." Maalum sheds some tears.

"Oh." Kijana realizes that he's talking about another girl. "Well... Don't worry, Maalum. I'm sure you will find another girl who will make you happy." She leans against him, smiling.

Maalum smiles and also leans against her. "Thank you, Kijana. You're a good friend." Kijana has always been on his side and he has always enjoyed her company.

Two more weeks follow. Tagi continues trying to win over Kijana, who continues trying to win over Maalum, despite getting along very well with Tagi. Kijana and Maalum are getting closer and closer. After that night, Maalum and Kijana met several times for private conversations, sharing opinions and feelings. Maalum hardly ever thinks about Vitani anymore, starting to feel for Kijana something as or stronger than what he felt for the lioness.