Janja took a deep breath. He had called for only his closest to meet him at the training spot. He knew they were on the way and it was only a matter of time. He and Nakala had talked and the lion convinced him that they should be the ones he breaks the news to first. They had known him the longest and would be by his side no matter what.
"You called?" Amana asked with Cheezi and Chungu arriving alongside her.
"Uh, yeah. I'm just gonna say it right here and now," Janja said, taking another deep breath. "Alright the thing is... Nakala and I are together!" Janja barked out. He looked to the party of hyenas in front of him who looked back at him. No one said anything for a solid two seconds until Amana broke the silence with a sudden burst of laughter.
"I knew there was something going on between you two!" Amana grinned as Cheezi and Chungu looked to her in confusion.
"Whatever you say," Janja rolled his eyes but smiled at his good friend.
"I think it's pretty cool," Chungu piped up. "I like Janja and I like Nakala, too. So I'm gonna like the two of them together." Cheezi said nothing about it, just listening to Amana and Chungu go on about it.
"Great, so now that I told you; you won't have to wonder about me and Nakala spending so much time together from now on," Janja explained.
"Janja, is this whole thing supposed to be a secret?" Chungu asked.
"Well, it's not exactly a secret but it's not like everyone else knows either," Janja answered.
"Uh, Janja? Can I ask a question?" Cheezi asked in a small voice.
"Uh, sure," the lead hyena affirmed.
"If you two are together now does that mean you're gonna get a den together?" Cheezi asked.
That was something Janja never even asked himself. Should he join Nakala in his den?
"I don't know. I'll have to talk to Nakala about it," Janja thought aloud.
"So is Nakala gonna eat me if I keep making fun of you?" Amana asked.
"I have no idea," Janja shrugged.
"You know when you think about it: Nakala used to be our enemy and now he's our best friend and Janja's mate now," Chungu beamed.
"That was all in the past," Janja sighed. "Alright that's enough. You guys can go now." Doing as they were told, Cheezi and Chungu walked off to continue their daily rounds. But Amana stayed behind and grinned at Janja.
"I gotta give it to you, Janja. You sure chose a good one, never thought I'd see the day. Falling for a lion prince no less," Amana nudged him gently.
"Not like it matters. I like him just the way he is. Prince or not," Janja defended.
"Awww," Amana coo'd, purposely trying to be as irritating as possible.
"Will you get out of here?!" Janja barked at the taunting elite. She giggled and pranced off, feeling very satisfied with herself.
Janja sighed, feeling some kind of weight lifted off his shoulders. He bounded off to go find Nakala. Already having an idea of where the lion might be he made his way to the training grounds. The closer he got to the training grounds to more clearly he heard the strained grunts and growls of the lion. Standing at the edge of the grounds, he saw Nakala actually pushing rocks against his shoulder across the clearing.
"What the heck are you doing?" Janja called out to the lion. Once Nakala heard the voice of the hyena he lost focus and slipped. Janja ran up to the lion and helped him up.
"You alright?" Janja asked with clear concern in his voice.
"Yeah, I'm good. Sorry, but I gotta get even stronger if I wanna beat the Lion Guard and my regular regimes aren't gonna cut it," Nakala explained.
"I wanna beat the Guard just as much as you do, but I don't want you hurting yourself to beat them," Janja shook his head.
"Hey, I'm the one who's supposed to worry about you," Nakala chuckled.
"Well you're not gonna do anything if you crush your bones trying to push rocks around," Janja reprehended.
"Alright I get your point," Nakala shook his head. "I think I'm done here anyway. Gonna head back with me?"
"Ready when you are," Janja nodded and side by side they returned to the caves.
The couple was having a conversation about what kind of meat was better: tough or fatty? Janja argued that fatty meat was better, being more prominent and leading to better growth. Nakala argued for tough meat simply on the grounds that it tasted better to him. When they reached the main cavern many of the hyenas were carrying on as usual until Nakala and Janja actually stepped in. All eyes quickly turned on them and just as quickly the other hyenas began to whisper among themselves.
"What the heck was that?" Nakala asked as he and Janja continued on, noticing the hyenas around them giving them quick looks or even just staring at them.
"Ohmygosh!" a female hyena zipped up to the hyena and lion. "Congratulations!"
"Huh?" Nakala asked. Before he could figure out what was going on more hyenas joined and before he or Janja knew it there was mass all speaking at once surrounding them and making escape virtually impossible. Nakala did the only thing he could think of roaring as loud and as threatening as he could, silencing all around him in an instant.
"Now, anyone wanna tell me what is going on?" Nakala snarled loud enough for the entire crowd to hear. As soon as he finished the hyena Chuchi stepped forward.
"Hey, you two. I tried to warn you guys, but these guys got here before I could," Chuchi explained. "Everything got out of paw once the word of you guys got out".
"How did all of you even find out about this?" Nakala angrily looked the crowd over.
Chuchi inhaled sharply, not wanting to throw his friend under the rolling boulder. But he certainly wasn't going to take the blame for this. "Well, that's um...." his words were even harder to get out with an angry lion staring him down. But he managed to get a thought through his head and made it known.
"Enzi! It was Enzi!" Chuchi blurted, pointing to the trembling hyena hiding amongst the others. He was quickly singled out and put in the forefront. The guilty hyena was trembling and sweating bullets.
"Everyone except Enzi go about your normal business!" Janja ordered the crowd that dispersed on command. Nakala shooed off the last few onlookers and focused back on Enzi.
"W-what are you gonna do to me?" Enzi whimpered.
"First you're gonna tell us how you found out," Nakala demanded.
"Okay, the truth is I listened in on the two of you's conversation. I told just a couple of the guys and next thing I knew everyone else knew!" Enzi explained.
"I don't suppose you thought that was in any way, shape or form wrong to do?" Nakala said with a forced smile akin to a predator face to face with its prey.
"I was just...um that's to say...." Enzi fumbled over his words, desperately trying to find an excuse.
"Until I can think of a real punishment. You're on bone collection for the entire week!" Janja commanded. The trembling hyena did not argue, simply nodding.
"Y-yes sirs!" Enzi said before rushing off to each den to collect any discarded bones they may have.
Janja cursed to himself, knowing that this was only the beginning of it all. He had only just begun his relationship and now the entirety of the clan knew about it.
"Hey, what happened here?" Cheezi and Chungu asked, bounding to their friends.
"What happened was my day was going great until I came in here. First I have my secret spilled by Enzi, and now the entire clan knows about us. I'm not exactly a happy lion right now!" Nakala snarled, prompting Cheezi and Chungu to take a fearful step back. Janja placed a paw on the lion's shoulder.
Nakala took a deep breath. And took a moment to calm down. He was scaring way too many hyenas for his own liking. He didn't like to do that as he saw the hyenas as his friends and family.
"Hey, Chungu! Where'd you go?" Amana called, bounding in as well.
"Over here!" Chungu responded.
"Well, it sounds like I missed a lot. Care to fill me in?" Amana asked, tilting her head.
Janja filled her in on what happened, while Nakala tried his best not to get upset about it all over again.
"Hmm, got it. Be right back." Amana said before taking off. They all knew she was going to have a talk with Enzi, but they were not going to stop her either.