So, this story is a reply to a review I got recently. This story does not mean I am taking requests at the moment, but the person did give an interesting topic to write about, but first off an explanation. When I write about love, romantically or platonically, I also aim for straight pairings and I avoid crack ships, such as... oh, say Zazu X Nala.

Secondly, I noticed I've done fics for many of the Lion Guard's antagonists such as the jackals, vultures and Makuu, but I've been lacking in the area where it showcases the main villains, Janja and his clan. And, while the review did as if I could do a pairing that is something I have no intention of doing in any way romantically, I have no qualms focusing this on Janja's thoughts and emotions towards those in his clan, platonically at most.

I own nothing. The Lion Guard and all its content belong to Disney. I don't own the cover image either.

Enjoy the story!

If Janja had the power to change a moment in his past right this moment, he would had made it so that his clan had moved to the Elephant Graveyard when they had been driven out by the lions on the Pridelands. True the place where the elephants came when they felt their time had come did not come without its dangers, such as boiling geysers and suffocating methane vents, but it would have been preferable compared to the active, lava-flowing volcano and the complete lack of food. At least the rotting carcasses would had been more welcome then starvation.

As he walked to inspect his mangy pack, all asleep at this time of night, his claws clicked lightly against the stony ground. As a picked-clean bone came by his paws, he knocked it away, sending the glossy white skeleton pece flying over to the side where it landed with a loud clang. Beside him also, he saw several of his hyenas, including his two most loyal ones, whimper and squirm in their sleep.

Janja sighed with mild irritation at the sight of them, drooling in their no doubt, meat-filled dream sleep. Food, food and more food. That is all his clan ever cared about. It wasn't that he didn't care for food on the least bit, especially since he and his clan were starving out here, but it was not just a physical hunger that drove him.

A hunger for revenge kept his find sharp and his senses cleared, even as he felt sharp pricks in his stomach. His ancestors, the clan he and his pack of eight had started from had once been official denizens of the Pridelands, even before the time they were banished to the outer reaches of the Pridelands and long before Scar ever came to power. He had many times heard from the elders in his pack as a pup during Scar's reign that before the scarred lion or even his older brother and father and grandfather and so on came to power that the hyenas had once lived prosperously in the lush savanna with all the juicy herbivores to select from. They lived happily, until one day changed all that that would shatter their lives forever and determine the fate of their descendants forever.

The first lions came into the Pridelands, lead by the first king. According to how he had heard the tale, a sudden and unexpected famine had struck the year the lions settled in. Without the water, the plants died, which meant less food for the grazers and plant-eaters, which meant less of them and that meant less prey for the predators. Tensions arose and the competition for hunting prey had become so strong during the drought that it had finally come to a boiling point.

The details of the entire thing were unclear to him, but what he did know is that the first king exiled the hyena clan to the Prideland's borders, even allowing the other creatures that inhabited to chase them out.

Another bone came before his leg and he swatted it away, this time out of irritation. Because of those stinkin' lions, his ancestors leaving all the way down to them had to suffer. Not only was their barely any food available here, but the climate outside the savanna was harsh. The caves and barren landscape provided hardly any shelter from the burning heat of day to the icy chill of night. No rivers flowed directly through, so dehydration was also a major problem.

A snarl ripped out through his throat as his thoughts came back to the lions. As of recently a new Lion Guard had assembled. It had not been since Scar had been alive that a new Lion Guard had been initiated, but considering how the last one turned out with Scar's treason and betrayals, to them, the guard, his brother and the entire pride, he had already knew that this was not going to be good.

"And what is a Lion Guard anyways," he thought to himself as he went over to a ledge where he could look over his clan all together. "Nothing more than a glorified group of animals gathered to 'defend the Pridelands" and 'protect the Circle of Life and all its creatures'. Pah!"

Guess that meant the hyenas were a part of the Circle of Life. Guess it meant that because that since even though they were the scavengers but were exiled from the Pridelands, they didn't fall under the Lion Guard's protection. Guess because they were unfairly banished all those years ago, the Lion Guard could help everyone else make their lives better while his clan lived in the poorest, most unhealthy and unhygienic conditions.

"Bunch of hypocrites," he odiously said to himself as he came down onto his stomach and laid down. The Lion Guard chased them away first chance they got. And for what? Because they just tried to sneak in and hunt something so they wouldn't go another day hungry? So what if they sent a few animals in a panicked frenzy because they were there? Big whoop.

It was rather funny actually. They count on the lions to guard, protect and rule over them, yet those lions could still eat them. Yet the animals didn't fear them. Truly unfair. Hyenas were smaller and less mysterious then those lions, yet they still caused more massive hysteria when they approached then when the much bigger, stealthy lions showed up to hunt them.

"The Circle of Life must hate us hyenas. Otherwise, we wouldn't be living like this."

His eyes drifted over the edge, examining the asleep hyenas below him, snoring and drooling peacefully. Eight hyenas total made of the clan, excluding him of course. The lion pride had more members then that and they ate way more then his clan did. Still, out of all the creatures, his was chosen, all those years ago, to be the one cast out. Why not the leopards, the cheetahs, the crocodiles? No the 'slobbery, mangy, stupid, spotted poachers' were selected to suffer. Suffering that lasted generations to come.

His drive for power was merely a service, to him, to the rest of his clan, and to the hundreds upon hundreds of hyenas that had suffered over all this time. He recalled when the current king had returned, banishing his pack once more. Though most hyenas had scattered or been destroyed by the fire that had raged the night he returned, he, and a group he had now, had been separated and selected by Shenzi, the previous matriarch, to avenge the hyena's glory and to bring back what they had lost. He had vowed to the matriarch that he would bring their kind justice before he had never seen her again.

So, was his methods to regain glory so far unsuccessful? Yes. Were they violent and savage? Yes, to show the world what they were dealing with. Were their actions justified?

He believed so.

He took another fleeting glance around their 'home'. Steam misted up from the crack, indicating the volcanic activity beneath them that might one day threaten their entire existence. Bones littered the ground, providing no nourishment whatsoever, much less an actual meal. Outside, a river of molten rock flowed instead of cool, life-giving water. A barren landscape outside lay. Grey, flat plains allowed burning or freezing winds to blow savagely depending on the time of day.

Just on the other side of the canyon lay an entirely different story. Rolling hills, plant life and the mountains in the way distance regulates the temperature and winds there. Several rivers entered there, even providing several watering holes where aquatic life could exist. Healthy, lush foliage of all shapes, colors and sizes grew everywhere they could take root and stretch up towards the sun, giving delicious, tender greens to the grazers and browsers, feeding them which in turn fed the flesh-eaters. The ecosystem that made of the Circle of Life there was a healthy one.

It wasn't that he didn't know what role hyenas played in it. Scavengers ate the dead meat and cleaned it up so that it wouldn't rot, spoil and become a breeding spot for diseases. But even so, it wasn't that hyenas could be limited to just the remainders of other predator's meals. They did enjoy the taste of a fresh kill, but it was not often that they could get such an opportunity that was in their favor.

A growl came from below him, followed by a whimper as a hyena quietly starved. His pack, his last chance. He had gained his role as leader by promising them a chance to have a better, more prosperous life in the Pridelands where each day for them wouldn't be a struggle.

What did he have to gain? Righteous vengeance on their oppressors.

What did he have to lose? In all truths, nothing really. His pack might overthrow him as leader, but no matter how you looked at it none of the hyenas were really qualified for the job. Without a change soon, they would all fade away, no one else knowing or even thinking that they might be in need at all.

More whimpering cane from below him, coming this time from his two, most loyal supporter. Chungu and Cheezi. The two in thee clan that he ever trusted to tell them his plans directly. All the others just followed without any real knowledge of what they were doing. He had his reasons for doing this. If he told all the hyenas what his plans were, it would give him the reputation that he cared for them, when what he really wanted was to keep them oblivious to the fact that his supporters was just his pawns in his game of deception.

So why did those two have his favoritism above the rest? Well, for one he grew up with them in the Pridelands, then named the Shadowlands during Scar's tyrannical reign. He had been taught directly under the leadership of matriarch Shenzi, they had been mentored by her two close companions, Banzai and Ed, so the two had frequently met with him. And beside the fact that their intelligence bar was, mm, to say one horn less of a water buffalo skeleton, it was the fact, though he would rather die then admit it, that he was close to the two.

They were his first two friends, though if anyone said it today he would had promptly bitten their muzzle off. The two were stupid and naive and slow to process information, but he knew it made him feel superior to them and all the other hyenas. A superior mind lead to a superior leader. The two had known that and were among the first of his loyal followers when he had been bestowed leadership by his mentor. In a way, if he had to choose anyone else to usurp the throne of power with glorious vengeance, he would look no further to appoint the two right by his sides, though granted perhaps a little behind his sides.

It was nearing witching hour and the moon had disappeared behind some clouds, making the only light in the Outlands the glowing magma flowing just outside the cave and the steaming cracks inside the cave. His eyelids felt like they had lead weights trying to pull them down. All his packmates were accounted for, nothing else seemed to be happening anywhere else, so it was about time he was due for some sleep.

As the night darkened into an unseeable pitch black, Janja slipped his paw under his head and laid down to rest. Afterall, a dedicated and determined leader needed his rest as well.

So... not so much direct emotion, but still I do think that Cheezi and Chungu have the most favor of any hyena under Janja's rule. I do think the three could have been directly tutored under the original three hyenas in the Lion King, considering there is a handful of similarities. It was nice to write directly about hyenas again, the last time was probably in my longest Lion King story ever, "A Change in Fate".

Anyways, thanks for checking out my story, I hope yoy enjoyed reading it. Please leave a review with some feedback in the comments below and feel free to check out some of my other stories. Sincerely, v.t.7