Roar of Manipulation: BONUS CHAPTER

Alright everyone, the bonus chapter is here and it came out quicker than I thought I'd be able to get it out. A heads up, I forgot to say and ask a couple things in the ending author's note of last chapter, so I'm going to do so in this chapter's ending author's note as well as give an small announcement, but for now, enjoy reading the chapter.

ONE MONTH EARLIER:

It was the middle of the night in the lands of the Tree of Life, sometime after midnight. Every animal was asleep, except for the nocturnal animals that lived here and of course the Night Pride, who protected them all. They were currently patrolling the lands like they did every night to keep an eye out for any animals that might seek to harm the animals of the tree or for ones arriving for sanctuary or healing. Well, three of them were. Their queen or pretty much, former queen, Rani was at the Lake of Reflection.

As suggested by her fellow Night Pride member and now Aunt Nirmala, she had been coming here often for nearly a year, a few months before her brother Baliyo left to visit the Pride Lands when it was nearing one year since Kion left after learning about her manipulation of him. As the name of the lake suggested, she was meant to come here to reflect on her actions about two years ago and to hopefully rebuild her relationship with her family, which had been strained ever since they found out she manipulated Kion into marrying her to get him to stay at the Tree of Life for his roar. Her family and tried to mend their relationship with Rani one-hundred-and-ten percent and despite not agreeing with what she did at all, they had forgiven her long ago since she was still their family and still loved her. Rani however didn't make it for them since she still to this day firmly believed that she had been trying to do what was best for the Tree of Life and its animals and snapped at her family even when they tried to remotely tell her otherwise. She at times told them that she was their queen and that it meant they should've supported her decisions, once reminding them of the story Kion had told them about that time Kiara was made temporary Queen of the Pride Lands and the advice Kion's grandfather had given to him, only to be pointed out that she was trying to twist the advice Mufasa's spirit had given Kion back then.

That in turn caused Rani to say that this was why she had kept the whole thing a secret and how stupid she had been to tell Baliyo and not making sure that Kion wasn't around to hear them talk about it and stormed off after, like she did most of the time. Giving a frustrated sigh after sitting and reflecting at the lake for over an hour, Rani got up and left her one of many unsuccessful sessions of reflection on a part of her past that didn't matter anymore. Kion had been gone from the Tree of Life for almost two years now and the roar with him and they were never coming back, so what was the point of reflecting on it now. Rani had better things to do, like protecting the animals of Tree of Life, weather she was loved by them or not. Rani didn't understand why they all hated her now, it didn't matter if what she did was wrong or not, she was still the same lioness who wanted nothing more than to protect them and that's what her whole point in getting Kion to stay had been for.

Like with her family, weather they agreed with her or not, she would have expected them to be a little bit grateful for being willing to do anything to protect them. After searching for a few minutes, Rani found her fellow Night Priders in one of the non-snowy forests of the lands of the Tree of Life, by a stream, catching fish. Rani gave another frustrated sigh, knowing they were going to nag her about her reflection session and if she finally realized what she did wrong. She knew they meant well, but it was annoying. She was never going to admit what she did was wrong anyway and Kion, Makini, and the others were never coming back, so why couldn't they and everybody else just let the past die and bury it, so they all could get on with their lives?

Rani jumped down from where she was, rustling some leaves as she did so. The Night Priders jumped in startlement and quickly turned to face whoever it was only to see it was just Rani.

"Oh Rani, it's just you." Surak sighed.

"Mmmhmm." Rani nodded.

"Uh, we got a few fish if you want any Rani." Baliyo offered, gesturing to a small pile of at least eight fish.

"Thanks." Rani said without any enthusiasm.

Rani walked over towards the pile of fish and grabbed one, moving to sit at the edge of the stream a few feet away from the other three lions. Seeing Rani distancing herself as much as possible from them, Baliyo, Surak, and Nirmala each gave each other a sad look. The four of them all use to be so close with each other, but that had changed ever since Kion left after Rani's secret was revealed and the three dearly missed those times. Nirmala dared herself to walk over to Rani, who had just bitten the head off of the fish. As she finished chewing and swallowed the fishes head, Rani felt Nirmala hovering over her.

"Yeah, Aunt Nirmala." Rani asked as she looked up.

Nirmala made herself smile before she asked her question, vainly hoping that it would make things go smoothly.

"So, Rani, how was your secession at the Lake of Reflection? Was it insightful, did it help?" Nirmala asked, hoping to hear Rani say yes.

Rani gave an angry heavy breath at having been asked that question and stood up.

"It was as uneventful and pointless as it's been since you first suggested it to me!" Rani yelled.

Nirmala cringed back a little as Rani yelled at her.

"You and everyone else want me to admit what I did was wrong, but I'm never going to." Rani stated.

"But Rani, what you did was wrong. You tricked Kion into thinking you loved him to the point where he left his family and homeland behind to marry you." Nirmala said.

"I was trying to get him to stay for his roar." Rani corrected.

"And that's the problem." Surak said, he and Baliyo now coming up. "You did it only for his roar."

"No! I was doing it for the Tree of Life and all the animals that live here. I was doing it to protect them and to protect us as well." Rani justified. "Do all of you remember when my and Baliyo's parents died?"

At the mention of that, the other members of the Night Pride hung their heads in sorrow, remembering that night. They let in the wrong group of animals, which ends with many innocent animals massacred, a scar on Rani's foreleg, and both her and Baliyo parents dead, and all when she was very, very young, too young to start helping patrol the lands.

"If we had the roar back then, then that night wouldn't have ended as tragically as it did." Rani argued.

"Rani, we don't deny that you had good intensions, but that doesn't excuse the fact that what you did was still wrong." Surak said.

"Well, grandma had also wanted the roar to return to the Tree of Life and wanted Kion to stay and I made her dying wish come true." Rani still continued to try and justify.

"Yes, she did want that, but only if Kion choose to stay." Baliyo said.

"Well, what if he was already highly thinking of staying? I just made the choice easier for him." Rani said.

"Rani…" Baliyo tried to say.

"I just don't get it. I've told everyone countless times why I did it and that it wasn't for selfish reasons. Yet instead of being at least a little bit grateful, everyone hates me now and despite that I'm still the same lioness who is willing to risk her life to protect theirs. What else does everyone want from me?" Rani ranted.

Rani angrily breathed deeply through her nose before letting it out slowly and calmly.

"Look, Kion, Makini, and the others are never coming back anyway. So, I don't see the point in lingering on what happened, what's done is done and can't be undone. So, let's just make things go back to the way they use to be and get on with or lives normally." Rani said.

"If you really want that Rani, then just admit that what you did was wrong. It'll make everything begin to feel better." Nirmala advised.

Upon hearing that, Rani groaned and put her face in her paw.

"Oh my god, what did I just say?" Rani asked, irritated.

"Rani." Surak began gently. "You should listen to Nirmala. You asked what else do others want from you and that's what they want. If you just admit what you did was wrong, it'll be the first step in rebuilding your relationship with the animals of the Tree of Life."

Rani just snorted.

"Why should I?" Rani asked. "I'm not their queen anymore anyways."

"Because Rani, maybe we can get them to forgive and trust you enough back to the point where you can become queen again one day." Baliyo said.

"Humpf. With how everyone hates me for what I did, even if they forgave me, why would they want me back as their queen?" Rani said. "Besides, every animal always did like you better."

Baliyo looked at Rani wide-eyed for a moment before cringing back slightly, hurt by the spitefulness in Rani's words. Surak and Nirmala were just as surprised to hear Rani say such a thing to Baliyo when she knew he already wasn't very fond of the fact that he had to take Rani's place since the animals of the Tree of Life basically did like him better than Rani.

"Rani, apologize to your brother right now!" Surak demanded his niece.

"No." Rani said stubbornly, refusing to swallow her pride.

"Why Rani, why are you doing this? You just said that you wanted things to go back to the way they use to be, but you refuse to take the first step to do so." Surak said.

"I do and if you want that to, then for the thousandth time, stop trying to make me admit that what I did was wrong." Rani said.

"We do want that Rani. We do want things to go back to the way they were before." Baliyo said, in tears at this point.

"But we can't stop trying to help you realize that what you did was wrong." Nirmala added in.

"Why?" Rani asked, baring her teeth in anger at this point.

"Because, despite what you say, we can tell you don't actually not regret what you did. We can see it in your eyes whenever we talk about it." Nirmala said.

"Well, you're wrong, because I don't regret what I did and you should stop thinking otherwise." Rani said.

"Rani, we just try to make you see and understand that for yourself because it's not healthy for you." Nirmala said.

"And because we care about you Rani." Surak said.

"Oh really, just because you care about me? What about because you love me or did my 'wrong actions' make you all love me less?" Rani asked.

"Are you kidding? Of course, it didn't!" Surak yelled, surprised his niece would say such a thing. "Despite what you did, you're still our family Rani and we love you as such and nothing in the world can ever change that."

Rani opened her mouth to say something, but Baliyo spoke up before she could

"Rani, just please stop this." Baliyo begged, unable to take any more of this argument.

Rani however didn't stop and decided to put her paw down on this whole thing once and for all.

"You know what, if somehow the great spirits gave me a second chance at my choice to manipulate Kion for his roar, I would do it all over again, only this time I'd make sure not to screw it up by telling Baliyo and when Kion was around." Rani stated.

Surak growled, hearing his niece say that. Without even realizing what he was doing, he raised his paw and slapped Rani across the face, sending her screaming to the ground. Baliyo and Nirmala gasped at seeing this and so did Surak himself when he realized it. Rani rubbed the sore spot of her face where her uncle had slapped her while staring angrily up at him and the others.

"Rani, I…" Surak began to apologize but Rani sharply stood up and angrily stared at him and the others.

"Save it!" Rani snapped as she did so.

Rani than turned and quickly ran off somewhere, leaving her pride and family there, feeling guilty and worried for her. None of them could get it, what happened to that sweet and determined lioness they knew all their lives who had now become manipulative, self-righteous, and cold. Surak tried to go after his niece, but Nirmala and Baliyo held him back.

"Just give her some time to calm down." Nirmala gently suggested.

"Yeah, it's probably what's best." Baliyo supported.

Surak nodded in agreement; it was just like his mother told him when she died, he did need to help Rani when she needed it, but to also let her find her own way and this was one of those times right now. He or none of the others could go after her right now to try and tell her calm down and come back to peacefully talk with each other, she had to do that on her own and maybe what just happened would turn out to be some blessing in disguise. The three Night Pride members all took a moment to embrace each other, hoping tonight brought no more troubles and heart ache.

As Rani ran away from her family, she couldn't believe what had just happened. Her uncle had just slapped her, something that he or none of her other family members had never done. Rani knew that he didn't mean to and that he felt bad for it. She also knew that it was more her fault for saying those hurtful things that got him angry to that point and that she should go back and apologize to them, but she was to angry and stubborn to do so. So, Rani just continued to run, hoping that her family wasn't following her, because she wanted to be alone right now.

Rani eventually came into one of the lands of the Tree of Life's snowy forests. Rani didn't notice a tree root, partially hidden by the thick snow and tripped over it. Rani spat out some snow that had gotten into her mouth and stood up to shake off the rest of the snow that had stuck to her fur as she fell. She growled in annoyance and continued on, eventually coming to the pass the led into these lands. She decided to walk through the pass, passing by Ullu, who was perched on a tree.

When asked where she was going, Rani told Ullu that she was going on a walk and wanted to be alone. Rani continued on until she came to a frozen lake, the lake that Kion and his friends and tried to cross and nearly fell into when they first came to these lands. Rani angrily scrapped her claws on the lake's icy surface, thinking about Kion and stroked the scars he had given when he struck out at her with his claws. In a way, Rani partially blamed Kion for the way things were now. Just, why did he have to hide and listen in on her and Baliyo's conversation, why did he have to fall into her trap of manipulating him into marrying her and just be happy with staying to defend the tree just as a normal lion, or why did he have to go public with the whole thing.

Couldn't he have just come up to her alone and tell her he found her out and they make up a lie for the public to say Kion had just fallen out of love with her, realizing their relationship was just a stupid teenage crush and that he was homesick. She doubted Kion would go along with that since he was too much of a goody two shoes to do something like that. Even if Kion would have gone along with it, Rani still doubted that anyone would have fully believed it, but at least that way things wouldn't be as bad as they were now. Why did she even tell Baliyo about this to begin with, it was their conversation and Baliyo sticking his nose into something that wasn't any of his business that started this anyway. Besides, Baliyo was just as much of a goody two shoes as Kion, maybe even more so to the point of where he might have one day cracked under the pressure of having to keep Rani's secret and just blurted it out to Kion without even thinking.

So many what ifs ran through Rani's mind of what she could have done better or what others could have done and what strings she could have pulled to make things not go as bad as they did. Rani angrily growled as all those thoughts ran through her mind. She turned her head up to the heavens and roared, causing flocks of birds to scatter and snow to fall from the lower branches of some trees. She continued to roar out until her throat was sore, breathing heavily when she stopped. She rubbed her throat, needing to get a drink to help sooth it.

She looked back towards the pass, thinking of going back towards the stream, but she didn't want Ullu to ask if she was okay and why she roared or to face her family right now. She looked at the frozen lake in front of her, thinking that maybe the extra cold water would help her throat better. She pounded down on it with both her front paws, eventually breaking the ice. She than bent down to drink from it, the cold water feeling like icy teeth biting at the inside of her throat, she pulled away for a moment before bending back down and continuing to drink, getting use to the cold since it was helping her sore throat. When she was finished, she pulled her head away from the water, but as she did, she gasped and jumped back with a small scream at what she saw as she did.

On the other side of the lake, opposite of her, there was sitting a lone grey furred hyena, who was starring directly at her. Rani stared back at the hyena in startlement for a few moments before regaining her composure.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" Rani demanded.

The hyena stayed silent for a few seconds before standing and beginning to slowly walk around the lake towards her.

"Hay, I asked who you are and what you're doing here?" Rani demanded again.

The hyena still remained silent as it continued to walk over to her. As the hyena got closer, Rani noticed more things about its appearance that she hadn't at first. The hyena's body was covered in scars, slash and bite scars on its neck, rump, shoulders, chest, sides, it had a notch in one ear while the other looked like some of it had been ripped off, and what appeared to be a burn mark on one of its legs. The hyena's most distinguishing feature was four slash marks over its left eye like hers, only the hyena's scars caused that eye to go blind, unlike hers. Rani usually tried not to discriminate animals, especially predators because they had scars, Kion's case having been one of her few hiccups in that, but this hyena gave her an uneasy feeling, especially from the way it was grinning at her.

Rani pushed back her unease and continued to look stern and intimidating to the hyena.

"I'll ask you one more time, who are you and why have you come here?" Rani demanded.

The hyena still continued to stay silent and this caused Rani to unsheathe her claws. She was about to pounce at the hyena until he finally spoke.

"Well, hello little miss Queen Rani. Long time, no see." the hyena greeted.

Rani looked at the hyena strangely when he said her name. She had never met this hyena before, so how did he know her.

"Do I know you?" Rani asked.

"Not formally, but you have met me before." the hyena said.

"What's your name?" Rani asked, uncertain if she should attack this hyena or not.

"Janja." the hyena simply replied.

"Janja?" Rani exclaimed.

Rani was shocked to see the hyena that had come along with that other hyena, Jasiri, to warn Kion about Zira attacking the Pride Lands. Rani hadn't recognized him with all his scars, the blind eye, and the little patch of fur that had grown on his chin, all of which made him look like a completely different hyena. She stared at the scars over his body, wondering what had happened to him. When Baliyo had come back from his first visit to the Pride Lands, he had told them of what happened there since Kion went back. Apparently, Kion had gotten into a relationship with Jasiri at some point for some odd reason and Janja didn't like it which eventually led to a fight between him and Kion.

She had been told that Kion scarred Janja over the eye, causing him to go blind and had badly broken his left back leg, which explained Janja's eye and the limp we walked with, but what about the other scars. Even if what happened with her and whatever else might of happened after had possibly changed Kion as a person, she still doubted he'd go any further than what she knew he already did.

"What has happened to you?" Rani asked.

"Oh, what, these scars?" Janja asked. "Well, you see, these ones over my eye are from K…"

"I know about the one over your eye and even you're limp. Baliyo went to the Pride Lands months ago to apparently apologize for what I did to him and when he came back, he told us about the fight you and Kion got in. I'm talking about those other scars." Rani said.

Janja looked partially surprised for a moment at hearing the Baliyo had went to the Pride Lands sometime after he left, but instantly forgot about it as he began to tell Rani about his other scars.

"Well you see, a lot of things happened to me after the Pride Lands. I had a lot of trouble finding food due to my bad leg. About two months out, my leg was starting to get better, but still not fully healed. I made the stupid decision to try and steal a kill from a black leopard. He slashed me across the chest and I fell down a cliff, further injuring my leg." Janja explained.

"Well, I guess that's what you get for picking a fight, especially one over food when you're not fully healed or just instead choosing to find your own food." Rani criticized.

Janja growled at Rani for a moment before continuing.

"You've heard of the creature known as humans, right?" Janja asked.

"Yeah, pure evil, soulless creatures. They're the reason why half of the animals have come here for sanctuary, to not be hunted for sport and be ski… and be skinned by them." Rani said uneasily.

"Yeah, well a month and a half after that, I snuck into one of their little communities to try and steal some of the animals they keep as slaves there. I got caught due to my bad leg and got beaten for days and even got by leg burned with some kind of long, thin, shiny rock that they put in fire until it glowed." Janja explained.

"Really, how did you get out?" Rani asked, wondering how an animal could be lucky enough to escape human capture.

"One of their children took pity on me and fed me for a few days. I decided to play the defenseless, helpless little animal for it till it let me out. The last mistake it ever made, if you know what I mean." Janja said with a telling grin towards the end. "As for all these other scars… well, let's just say on my travels I met a group of animals that don't play nice."

Rani became suspicious once Janja said that and looked around.

"Are you alone?" Rani asked.

"Yes, I came here alone." Janja answered.

Rani didn't really believe Janja's word of being alone. She decided to continue questioning him, hoping he'd accidently let something slip that she could use against him.

"And why have you come here Janja? Baliyo also told us of the offer Kion made to you before the fight, about bringing you to live here. I may not be queen anymore, but I can still choose whether you can stay at the Tree of Life or not." Rani said.

"Wait, you're not the queen of this place no more?" Janja questioned.

"Yes, everyone hates and doesn't trust me to the point where my uncle had to step up and take charges as the oldest living relative of my grandmother and Baliyo is to take my place. Like I said however, I still have the power to allow you to stay or not and if that's what you came here for, because you changed your mind and want to try and start over you've wasted your time, because for an animal like you, there's no place for you at the Tree of Life." Rani said.

"Well, don't you worry your pretty little face about that Rani, that's not even what I came here." Janja said.

"Then, what did you come here for?" Rani asked suspiciously.

"I just wanted to come and say hello to my old friend, Rani." Janja said, opening up a foreleg like he was waiting for Rani to come in for a hug.

Rani stared at Janja with scowl on her face.

"You and I aren't friends, hyena." Rani rudely stated.

"Wow, calm you claws there, queenie, there's no need to bring species into this. We can still be nice here." Janja said.

Rani gave a heavy breath and rolled her eyes. Kion had told her all about the times when he and his guard faced Janja and how he could come across more as cockily annoying than dangerous and now she knew why.

"Really, you came here just to say hi?" Rani questioned.

Janja took a moment to lightly laugh before becoming fully serious.

"No." Janja said, a look of anger coming on his face. "I came here to tell and show you everything that has happened to me before and after I left the Pride Lands and to tell you that I blame you for what has happened to me."

"What? You think what happened to you is my fault!" Rani exclaimed.

"Yeah, I do." Janja said.

Rani growled as she turned and began walking away from Janja.

"I don't have to and won't listen to this; I just had a big fight with my family and I don't need someone like you making my night worse." Rani said.

"Really, a fight with your family? What happened?" Janja asked, following.

Rani turned her head back and glared at Janja.

"Stop following me and it's none of your concern hyena." Rani said.

As Janja looked at Rani's face, he saw that the right side of her face was slightly puffed up and Janja instantly knew what happened.

"You were hit, weren't you?" Janja asked.

Rani's eyes widened for a moment at Janja's conclusion.

"Yeah, my uncle did it. It's the first time any of my family has ever hit me, but why am I telling you this; like I said, my family's business is none of your concern." Rani reaffirmed.

"Well Rani, sorry about your family issues, but that's not gonna stop me from saying what I came here to say." Janja said. "What you did to Kion, manipulating him into loving and marrying you, only for him to find out you never actually gave a warthog's arse about him, it caused many things to happen after he left. He blamed everything that happened to him, even the things you did on me, which caused him and me to get in a fight, one where he throwed the first punch by the way."

"I know all about that. Like I told you, when Baliyo came back from his first visit to the Pride Lands, he told us EVERYTHING from what Kion and Jasiri told him, from you're and Kion's fight in the cave to his and Jasiri's marriage and the birth of Kiara and Kovu's cubs along with Bunga, Binga, Fuli, and Azaad's." Rani said.

"Oh, okay. Then, I guess you understand when I say everything that has happened within the past nearly two years, everything that has happened to me, everything I lost, me losing Jasiri, who should have been MY mate is YOU'RE FAULT!" Janja said.

Rani growled as she turned her head away from Janja again.

"Oh yeah! Well, at least what I did, I did for something bigger than myself. I did what I did to not just protect my family so another one of them wouldn't die, I did it to protect all the animals of the Tree of Life who come here for healing or protection from humans or other animals like YOU!" Rani said. "Speaking of you, what has everything you've ever done been for? NOTHING! You've always thought that everything was yours to extort. Everything you've done has always been for selfish reasons. Blaming everything on my actions is no excuse for YOUR actions, which YOU choose to do. Kion was broken for a long time after he discovered that I manipulated him, yet when he finds happiness and love again, you try to destroy that, because it happened to be with a girl you already liked. I can understand being upset and angry about that, but instead of doing what you did, you should have just let everything go and felt happy for them despite your anger towards Kion and disappointment of not getting Jasiri as your mate! Someone like you just has no regrets for their actions."

Rani's body trembled with anger as she said that. Janja growled with anger at the sheer hypocrisy of her words.

"Oh, you're one to talk. At least I don't try to hide who I truly am or my intentions and feelings. You antagonize me on having no regrets? Now, I don't think that seems fair when you have no regrets yourself for what you did to Kion." Janja said.

Sick of Janja's continuation of putting her down, Rani turned fully back around to face Janja and much to his genuine surprise, he saw tears in Rani's eyes.

"I DO HAVE REGRETS!" Rani shouted at the top of her lungs.

Janja stared at Rani in silence for a few moments before scoffing.

"Yeah, about lying to your family. I remember you saying so that day." Janja reminded.

Rani just shook her head and got in Janja's face, continuing to cry.

"No, not just that. I don't regret manipulating Kion to get him to stay at the Tree of Life for his roar, but I regret what it did to him, how hurt he was because of it. I thought after he left, I would feel the loss of nothing except for the roar. I thought I would get over it and be able to go back to the way things use to be and be the queen the animals of this land needs. I… I miss him so much and want him back, but it's impossible, even if he wasn't with Jasiri." Rani ranted through her tears.

Janja just continued to stare on in genuine shock. Rani had actually eventually realized she was wrong, if only enough to have some regret for hurting Kion instead of just lying to her own family and didn't know what she truly had until it was gone. Janja rightfully suspected for a moment that Rani was trying to manipulate him to get some sympathy that she didn't deserve, but she wasn't. Janja could see so in her angry, yet sorrowful eyes. Still crying, Rani took a step back and turned her gaze downwards and shut her eyes.

"I'm not a strong queen." Rani lamented. "I'm not."

Rani lifted one foreleg and pressed her face into it as she continued to cry. Janja for a moment lifted a paw and reached out towards Rani, but stopped himself from doing so.

"I, umm… I don't regret what I did either, trying to get Jasiri as my mate, but despite that, there are some things I do regret. I know even after all the bad things I did back then, Jasiri still saw me as her friend and wanted me to stop before I did anything that would get be banished or killed, but I didn't and I know by doing so, I hurt her more than I've ever hurt anyone and I regret that. I miss those days of peace I had with the Pride Lands, never having to worry about going a day or two or more without any food and not having to sneak around without being seen to try and get it or worry about being roared away, being able to have just plain old fashioned fun, and having Jasiri as a friend to do that all with along with the other friends I had back then, old clan and new. I want all that back, but I know it's impossible and I'll never have a life like that again and that my life will always be a struggle like it always has been." Janja said. "The outcomes of our actions might have been drastically different, you still have something and I have nothing, but still, I'm just like you now Rani. Sisi ni Sawa, we're the same."

Hearing this, Rani took her foreleg away from her face and looked at Janja. A small smile appeared on Rani's face, something she hadn't done ever since Kion left the Tree of Life after finding out she manipulated him for the roar.

"Maybe there is a place for you here at the Tree of Life, Janja." Rani said.

Janja friendlily smiled back at Rani.

"Maybe there is." Janja agreed.

A few moments of silence passed between the two animals. Rani was about to say something before Janja's jaws suddenly, without warning shot forward and clamped around Rani's throat. It was then that Rani realized what this was. Janja hadn't come to say 'hi' or just to insult her and say everything that happened to him was her fault, he had come to kill her. Everything Janja had just said was a lie to get her to trust him so he could get close to her and he had succeeded.

Rani desperately tried to shout out for help as she beat her paws against Janja's chest, shoulders, and face, hoping someone would hear her, but before she could Janja sank his teeth deeper into Rani's neck before he jerked his head back, ripping out Rani's throat, causing her shouts to come out as inaudible gurgles. As Rani gave gurgled gasps, she began to fall onto her side, but Janja caught her in his paws. Janja quickly swallowed the bite he had taken out of Rani's neck before glaring down at her.

"But the problem is, I don't want a place here… because I've already got one in Hatari's clan." Janja revealed.

Rani stared up at Janja wide eyed as he said that. He wasn't alone like he said after all. He was with another clan of hyenas and they were probably going to attack the Tree of Life and its animals. Rani gave gurgled growls as she tried to reach up towards Janja to attack with her claws and teeth, but her strength was hastily leaving her body, leaving her too weak to do anything but fall to the ground as she felt her life slipping away from her as Janja eased her to the ground as he looked down at her with an evil, victorious smile.

"Shhh, shhh, shhh, shhh, shhh, shhh." Janja eerily shushed Rani. "Shhh and just go to sleep. Shhh."

In response to Janja shushing her off, Rani could feel her eyes grow heavy. Rani tried to keep her eyes open, knowing that if she fell asleep she'd never wake up, but it was a losing battle and Janja smiled even wider at seeing the life in Rani's eyes slowly fading away.

"Just let go. That's it… just… let… go." Janja encouraged as Rani's struggles became weaker and weaker.

Just before it all ended, a single tear ran from Rani's scarred eye down her face. Seeing this, Janja leaned down and gently licked the tear away from Rani's face and going back to smiling down at her. Unable to keep them open any longer, Rani finally closed her eyes, Janja's evil smiling face being the last thing she ever saw. Janja reached up his paw, gently caressing Rani's cheek before he placed his jaws back around Rani's neck and snogged where he had torn her throat out, French kissing it before leaping onto his paws and twirled as he laughed.

"HAHAHAHAHA! And a succubus in a life tree!" Janja laughed in a singsong voice with blood over his mouth before going back to laughing at Rani's corpse.

When he got over his laughing fit, Janja spat in Rani's motionless face.

"That's what you get for your part in ruining my life." Janja said angrily. "Now, I just need to pay a visit to the other major player, who ruined my life."

Janja than turned and began to walk away from Rani's body while casually whistling. Janja felt so giddy that he actually started doing a victory dance walk, occasionally laughing as he made his way back to who he was going to meet up with. After a few minutes, he finally arrived, where a large female hyena was waiting for him.

"Took you long enough." Hatari said.

Janja licked the blood off his lips.

"I took the time to have some fun first, so can you blame me?" Janja cockily shrugged.

Hatari grinned as she thought of what happened, wishing she hadn't had to stay back to not risk getting Janja caught, so that she could have witnessed the whole thing.

"I'll tell you about it later, but let's just go get the rest of the clan now. I've got a few other friends in the Pride Lands that I also want to say hi to, their kids as well, especially another certain lion." Janja said.

Hatari nodded and the two hyenas set off to gather up the rest of the clan. After a minute of walking, Janja and Hatari suddenly heard a scream far off behind them. As Janja heard that, a small smirk tugged at the side of his muzzle.

"We'd better hurry up and get going Hatari. From the sound of it, we haven't got a minute to lose." Janja suggested.

The two quickly hurried up to make it to the cave where the clan was waiting for them. Hatari and Janja quickly gathered them all up and they immediately set out for their next destination, the Pride Lands.

"Pride Lands, get ready, because here comes the new and improved Janja. I just had the first taste of my revenge and I'm ready for more." Janja said to himself as he smiled evilly with murderous intent.

And that finally ends this story, it appears Rani realized what she did was wrong, if only a little bit since we last saw her and before she could possibly realize it further, Janja comes and gets part of his revenge and he and Hatari and her clan are off towards the Pride Lands where the events of the previous four chapters take place. I told you all that I vaguely mentioned what happens in the bonus chapter before and that was in the first part of the four part epilogue, "Brothers in the Outlands" with the line "After quickly paying an old acquaintance a visit, they came here (The Pride Lands) to take care of the Scarred Hyena's (Janja) unfinished business." and Baliyo the chapter before even expressed his worry of Janja blaming Rani for everything that happened and coming to the Tree of Life to do something bad to her. I've had this scene in my head since the beginning of this story.

Well, that's it for this story and quite possibly this LK/LG fanfic universe. I have ideas for what happens after this stories events, but I don't really have any intention of writing them, except for possibly one, but hay if everyone wants, I'm willing to do something similar to what I did with my Scarred Pride's Timeline Guide chapter. If people want it, I'll write down a list of what happens after this stories events, giving quick descriptions of what happens and upload it as a separate chapter.

Now, concerning last chapter: You all know about what I did in chapter 14, where I have Madoa swear something in Swahili towards Janja and that I also did that last chapter when Hatari called Jasiri a "lion ploughing Kahaba." I'm sure you all probably have a good idea of what Hatari said, but since the word she used compared to what Madoa said in chapter 14 isn't that bad, I'll confirm it for those who are curious. When Hatari called Jasiri a "Kahaba" Hatari called Jasiri a whore in Swahili.

The second thing is a question I forgot to ask; Do you think I balanced seriousness and humor in this story well to not make it totally depressing and what scene in this story did you think was the funniest? (NOT COUNTING THIS CHAPTER IF SOMETHING IN THIS ONE IS FUNNY TO YOU FOR SOME REASON)

Alright, this story is finally done for everyone and thank you all so much for reading. I first started writing either sometime during the ending of last year of the beginning of this year, I don't really remember when and had put a lot of heart and soul into this story, probably more so than any of my other stories that I've written and I'm glad you enjoyed it. Kinda sorry to end it with such a dark chapter, but on the bright side, I'm going to start writing a one-shot fanfic I've planned on writing for a long time called "Hyenas of the Outlands." It's connected to my Scarred Pride fanfic universe and it takes place during the Lion of the Outlands Lion Guard episode where we see how Zira stole Jasiri's clan's watering hole and Kion and his guard meeting Jasiri and Madoa's parents after they get it back and there's a really funny scene between Tunu and Kion in it. I figured it's something my readers might want to remedy after going so dark at the ending here, I've got no plans to release a long, big chaptered story for a while, it's a quick write and read, and like I've said, it's an idea I've had for a while, so why not do it. So, all of you keep your eyes out for that sometime soon.

That's the end for now ladies and gentlemen, once again, thank you for reading, please answer that question, good day/night, whenever you can, please read and review my other stories and keep your eye out for new ones to do the same to, continue to stay healthy out there, and God bless.