“I need a hug…” he mumbled.

Götterdämmerung

“... And again, I apologize you had to miss out on my little speech, and for that unfortunate incident involving Kiuma...”

“No problem sir! Just glad to be doing our duty,” the Graymane orated, inducing quite a few sighs with her fellow guardsmen who were getting pretty tired of her over-zealous behavior.

“Now now, there's no reason to start lying; you know that's just not true. Most of you'd rather be having the night off, getting some sleep,” Vincent yawned, “That is to say, I sure could use some sleep by now... isn't that right, comrade?”

“Spot on, sir!” one of the other, less responsible hyenas replied grinningly, greatly annoying the Graymane that was supposed to be commanding her. At least, Vincent considered, they had stopped posing annoying questions about what had happened to Kiuma, which allowed Vincent to stop the apologizing for what some had come to consider an excessive use of force against the hyena in question, and come to business.

“Hehe, right... but eh... I've got to be square with you guys, I didn't actually come her to apologize, or look at your exemplary work. I actually came to check on our captives here...”

“The one called Nala, to be more precise,” Tiko added from Vincent's shoulder, “She's the pride's queen. We heard she was one of the survivors...”

“And that pretentious poultry is...?” one of the more suspicious guards frowned.

“Ah yes, sorry, I should have introduced him. He's Tiko, my new Legal Advisor,” Vincent quickly replied, “You can speak to him as you would to me...”

“Right... What do you need the lioness for?”

“Not that it concerns you... but we considered she'd be the one in charge of the lionesses,” Tiko replied.

“Whatever... Alright lions, you heard the bird, which one of you is Nala?”

“Who's asking?” Kani growled defiantly.

“The hyena-in-chief,” Vincent replied laconic, stepping from behind the guards, into the lioness' sight.

“You!?” one of the larger lions suddenly exclaimed as if she had seen a ghost.

“Eh... yeah, me. Do I know you?”

“Don't you remember me? It's me, 'the Princes'...” the lioness replied, a bit disappointed.

“Sorry lady, you must be mistaking me for somebody else,” Vincent mumbled, feeling a bit awkward.

“So your not Mikhail the hyena?”

“Wait... you're saying you knew him? You knew my dad?” Vincent frowned.

“I used to know him, a long time ago... you look a lot like him.”

“Yeah, I know... hmmm... this is awkward... what did you say your name was again?”

“I am Nala,” the lioness replied as she lift up her head, obviously proud, “Queen of all Pridelands.”

“Well, maybe not all Pridelands,” a hyena noted ironically, inducing quite some laughs with his colleagues. For the sake of courtesy, however, Vincent chose to ignore that remark and not laugh along.

“Ah, so you are Queen Nala. Let me introduce myself: Vincent, hyena head of government. And he's Tiko...”

“I am honored to meet you, ma'am,” Tiko bowed.

“What, The Tiko? Zazu's nephew?” Nala asked in surprise.

“The same...”

“Well well... Zazu never told me of your new employer... but he did mention firm convictions weren't really your style...” Nala smiled.

“What can I say, hyenas need legal advice too...”

“Indeed we do. I am sorry to be so blunt, your majesty,” Vincent interrupted overly polite, “but I am quite tired and would like to get this over with; I can imagine we'll have more time to chat up tomorrow. And seeing as you apparently knew my father, we'll have a lot to talk about too... But first things first: I'm releasing one of you.”

“What?” almost all animals gathered in the cave shouted out as one.

“You heard me, I'm letting one of the lions go.”

“Eh... all right... might I ask why?” Nala inquired.

“Well, it's quite simple really: I want to send a massage to your King. The only way we'll get out of this mess without everyone ending up in that Royal Tomb of yours is if we negotiate, and I need someone to convey that message too him. As I sign of goodwill, I decided that one of your lionesses could carry out that task, granting her her freedom while she does.”

As a sign of goodwill, and because I'm not too happy to send one of my own clanmates to his or her death.

“I don't see what there is to negotiate... you killed our friends and family, you stole our land! Again!” Nala replied annoyed and combative.

“Look, miss, I understand you must feel a bit bitter over all what has happened, but it's not like you've always treated us with a velvet glove either, all right?” Vincent sighed, quickly letting go of his politeness in the face of a lack of cooperation, “Now, you can either face facts and let me send someone to negotiate so we can try and get out of this mess with minimal brutality, or you can just sit here with your stiff upper lip 'till your mate comes over to 'liberate' you and we are forced to butcher the whole lot of you.”

Nala didn't seem impressed, nor did her fellow lionesses. Tiko quickly noticed they'd rather stay proud and stubborn than to face facts and go for a more pragmatic approach. Unless...

“Your highness, I know this must all feel rather insulting, humiliating even; if I had been in your stead, I wouldn't be anxious to make dealings either. But there are still a whole lot of cubs up there, in the main den, maybe it'd be best if you focused on their best interests...” the green hornbill silently suggested. Nala seemed rather insulted at that remark (which sounded more like a threat), and Kani could be heard muttering all sorts of profanities in the background. But even though Nala was appalled by Tiko's suggestion, she feared he was right nonetheless; she had no choice but to agree with Vincents proposal, for the cubs’ sake.

“All right, you win... I have no choice... you want me to head over to Simba and break the news to him?” Nala whispered eventually, and it was pretty obvious she didn't feel all to well in having to do so.

“You? Spirits, no! My goodwill only goes so far, you know...” Vincent grinned,  “Besides, you look too mangled, I need someone in good shape. Just pick one of your lionesses to do the job in your stead. And do make sure you make the right pick; sending back a warmonger won't get you anywhere, save in the Royal Tomb.”

Well, that ruled out Kani, Nala argued as she felt very annoyed at the arrogant tone Vincent was taking. But there was one lioness who fitted the profile almost perfectly: Anana. She was pretty much the antithesis of a warmonger. Besides, getting her away from here would be for her own good: if she stayed to endure Kani's insults a while longer, she'd probably break down completely (if such hadn't already been the case).

“All right, release Anana, she's nice enough...” Nala suggested. Kani suddenly broke out in laughter.

“What, you can't be serious? You're letting her, of all lionesses, the traitor, go?” she chuckled cynically.

“You've got a problem with that, Kani?”

“Hey, the quicker I'm rid of her, the better! I'm just afraid that if she meets Simba, she won't exactly be talking for all of us... only for the ones of us that tend to befriend scruffy scavengers. But I can imagine you won't mind that, now will you, my dearest queen?” Kani sneered, reffing to Nala just having admitted she knew Vincent's father. Nala, however, chose to ignore Kani from here on, turning back to Vincent.

“She's the young lioness in the corner of the cave, over there...”

“Ah... I take it your friend over there doesn't like her, is that why she's been put apart?” Vincent asked as he looked at the lioness in the corner of the cave.

“Pretty much. Will you release her now?”

“Sure. What did you say her name was, Anana? Right, Anana, I'm letting you go free, are you okay with that?”

Anana just nodded, although she didn't seem at all convinced: she was still upset because of her argument with the rest of her pride (mostly Kani). Vincent didn't seem too enthusiast about her reaction, but as he was tired and thus decided to hasten things up a bit.

“All right, works fine for me. Shatani, bring that lioness back there with us!”

Immediately, Shatani and a handful of her Graymanes appeared in the cave to escort Vincent and Anana out. Whilst Anana was lead out, Kani managed to insult her one last time as her way of saying goodbye. Meanwhile, Vincent nodded one last time at Nala.

“Right. Thanks for your cooperation, highness. I'll get back to you for more talking as soon as my duties permit it. Goodnight.”

“Your highness,” Tiko also saluted just before leaving. Nala limited her response to a brief nod, still surprised to see Zazu's nephew here, especially around his new 'friends'.
The group escorting Anana quickly hurried out of the cave, down to the plaza and finally onto the open Pridelands. Standing just outside of Priderock, Vincent ordered his company to halt and turned to Anana. Seeing her sit in the dry grasses, he couldn't help but notice she looked a bit like Vitani; she had the same outlandish characteristics of a darker fur and a way sleeker built than the rather bulky