name’s Vitani.”

“Nice meeting ya, Vitani. I’m Vincent.”

“Talking ‘bout awkward…”

“What, my name?”

“No… though it does sound unusual… It’s just awkward we’re having this chat. Being eternal enemies and all. For one, aren’t we supposed to hate each other?”

“What makes you think I don’t?”

“Huh? Us talking, maybe!”

“Well, let me put it this way: Vincent might like Vitani, but that doesn’t stop the hyena Vincent from hating the lion Vitani. Liking you as a person doesn’t mean I can’t hate you for what you are: a lion.”

“That’s comforting…” Vitani frowned,  “Still, I don’t hate you for what you are, I mean, I hadn’t even seen a hyena in my life before we stumbled upon you guys.”

“And that’s where we differ, I’m afraid. I’ve seen lions one too many times, and I’ve seen what they do, what they do to us.”

Suddenly, Vincent paused.

“And here’s where our ways part,” he said, pointing at a small river at the end of the gorge: the border, “I appreciated your company, as a person. But now, I must ask you and your cronies to bugger off, and, if you favor your lives, never set foot in our realms again.”

“I’m more of a “bye-bye”-person myself…” Vitani replied.

Vincent grinned, and again it made him look mean at best.

“Because her way of saying things is a bit too… graphic to my tastes. For one, she was just about to describe how they had to drag their wounded friend out here, only to have to drag her away again so she wouldn’t upset the pride, screams of pain included…”

Vitani stared at Kovu for a while.

“What? But… that’s awful!” she finally exclaimed, shocked.

“Bah, you’re just not getting the full picture here. Besides, it’s not like I’m leaving her to die: her friend is with her, and with nyi came straight to me before even letting her party near the rest of the pride. And as she told that her story of hers, she also noted some of her companions had admitted to have displayed… disturbing behavior while she tried to chase down the hyena that got away.”

“Huh?”

“You know how I said Enyi could get a bit graphic at times? Well, one of her companions had described to her, down to the nasty details, how they… torture, yep, that’s the word I was looking for, tortured the hyena they had gotten alive, and Enyi passed on that disturbing report to me. Trust me; you wouldn’t want to hear any of it. “To make her pay for their wounded friend”, the offenders had explained. But Enyi got the impression they had actually enjoyed what they had done, and were proud of it as well. You can say a lot about Enyi, but at least she isn’t very tolerant of cruelty (probably because she considers it a as just another distorted display of emotions). Anyhow, needless to say such crude behavior is unsuitable of any lion, which I thoroughly and brutally explained to the offenders, and the only way I would let ‘em off without some persuasive punishment would be if they kept their mouths shut, now and forever.”

“No wonder we’re always gnawing at one another,” Vitani sighed in disgust, “If idiots like them keeping pulling hideous stunts like that, we’ll still be fighting one another when hell freezes over… But where do I enter the picture?”

“Quite simple really: I’m confident everyone had already guessed hyenas were entering our lands from time to time, even without any of us openly admitting it. However, up until today, thanks to their apparently newly developed knack for secrecy, we never sighted one ever since I took charge around here, or at least no-one bothered to report it. But I figured it was becoming obvious they were crossing the border on a regular basis, so I concluded it might not be a bad idea to… well, broker some kind of deal with ‘em, agree on some guidelines, to avoid situations like we had tonight, things like that could escalate. But since we never actually got to see one of those sneaky bastards, and because the subject is rather touchy, I figured it not to be that imminent…”

“You damn right it’s touchy,” Vitani interrupted him, “Simba‘ll probably eat you alive if he finds out you, of all lions, are doing dealings with hyenas. Should bring back a nice pile of nasty memories.”

“Well, yeah, if you want to put it that way…” Kovu grumbled, faintly annoyed, “Anyhow, I think it ought to be better if from now on, I gave those negotiations a somehow what higher priority… If Simba finds out hyenas are trespassing on our land, he’d probably be a bit grumpy, but if he were to run into one, he’d be furious.”

“And you want to make sure an agreement is reached before Simba visits us, right? I don’t know… If he came here and encountered a hyena, he’d probably scold you and beat the hyena to a pulp. But if he found out you’re doing deals with the hyenas, you’ll be the one getting the beating.”

“The old man, beating me up? Not likely!” Kovu grinned, “But you are right about me preferring him not hearing about those planned negotiations. That’s why I’m sending you to the hyenas as my personal emissary.”

“What?” Vitani gasped.

“Well, it’s obvious I need someone I can trust, sis. And someone who can keep things under wraps, if necessary. Besides, from what I recall, last time we met some hyenas, you and them got along fine…”

“You mean you’re sending me into enemy territory, alone, after we iced two of their clan mates? You think I’m stupid?”

“No, I think you’re a loyal and trustworthy sister who I would trust with my life. And I also think you’re bored to death and in need of some suspense, before you were to vegetate” Kovu suggested.

“You got me there…” Vitani admitted. She was actually starting to like the idea. It had been an awful long time since she had done something exiting… and the thought of going against the will of ‘her’ king brought back some of her good old rebellious spirit.

“Right then,” she finally agreed, “Where do I go, what do I tell ‘em and when do I leave?”

Subtle diplomacy

“Hey? Anyone in here? Yow Seko, you in here?”

Seko leapt up, startled, panicking. Darkness all around him. For a second, he feared he was out on the plains again, but the damp darkness of the cave around him brought him back to his senses. He was still in his cave. It must have been hours by now since he sought refuge here, angry, scared, and dead tired. But he hadn’t slept, not even for one second. He’d been living it over and over again, hours on end. The hunt, the encounter, the fight, the chase and the seemingly endless struggle, after which death must’ve felt as a release.

“Hey Seko? Come on, spineless bastard, I know you’re in here. The boss needs a word with you.”

With all the strength he could muster, Seko got up and dragged himself to the entrance of the cave. Once he reached the exit, he had to avert his eyes because of what seemed like blinding sunlight. That, and Banzaï’s hideously scarred face. Once his eyes had adjusted to the light however, he noticed the sun was already setting. Dusk would kick in soon. Banzaï looked at Seko with disgust as he appeared.

“Jeez, you look like you been eaten alive by a lion and puked out again… Then again, it was pretty close now wasn’t it?”

Seko suddenly felt a new burst of energy, anger. How dared he ridicule that what had happened earlier? Weren’t even the dead spared from being the tools of Banzaï’s ever ongoing effort to humiliate Seko?

“At least I’ll get over it in a day or to. You’re stuck with that ugly face of yours for the rest of your days,” he gnawed at Banzaï.

Banzaï sighed in nonchalance and turned around. Seko presumed he had to follow him to wherever it was they were going. But as every hyena they passed turned around to stare at him, he realized his older clan mate might have had a point: apart from his usual spot ensemble, he still had splats of dried blood all over his fur, not to mention the terrible state of his otherwise quite fashionable manes. Then again, it made him blend in nicely with his surroundings: the wastelands weren’t exactly eyecandy to start with, and late Shenzi’s husband (by now as dead as she was) hadn’t really picked the least of all evils as founding site for the new capital den. “Least we not dilute our anger nor forget the pain,” was how the old man had put it. Damn psycho, Seko couldn’t help but think as he watched the grim rocks they called home.

After a minutes walk, they reached a clearing in the scarce vegetation surrounding the desolate den. Two hyenas had been waiting for them, locked in a tense silence. They looked a lot like one another, both dark off fur, with thick manes and large, fuzzy ears. The taller female however, had longer manes and a face both sly and suspicious, looking more like her mother. Her notorious (not to mention rare) gray eyes followed Seko in a worried and compassionate stare as he approached her.

“Right, ‘ere he is. I guess you want me to bugger off now,” Banzaï grumbled as he presented Seko.

“No please, stay ‘round,” the darker male quickly said before Banzaï got the chance to leave, “I’m sure we’ll need your experience on this one.”

“Besides, we wouldn’t want to keep a good friend like you in the dark. If anyone got the right to know what’s going on, it’s you,” the female added.

“Thanks Vinnie, Shenya. What’s all this fuss about anyway? And what’s up with him?” Banzaï asked, pointing at Seko.

“Sis, you wanna tell ‘em? Or wait, maybe best we leave that to the person