This is a bit of a sequel story to my other one "Change of Mind". Kiara is sad after her brother went away along with his guard and her two best friends on a journey out of the Pridelands, leaving her by herself. And after her parents forbade her from seeing Kovu ever again, she didn't think she ever feel anything but lonely ever again. But can a certain hyena help her feel not so lonesome?

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

Enjoy the story!

Not a day had come by when Kiara didn't think about her brother. A month had passed since him, his guard and her friends had gone off into the world on a journey to help others in need, leaving her all by herself in the Pridelands.

At first the grief was light, nothing but a dim ache in her heart. They say time heals all wounds. Well bah! Time only changed the ache from a din to a throbbing pain hurting every time her heart beat. Her loneliness only increased with every hour that they weren't around with her.

It didn't help either that her parents had restricted and forbidden her from meeting with Kovu, the Outsider cub she had met awhile back, ever again. Sure she had gone against orders and wandered into the Outlands, but she had hoped that maybe they would had overlooked the fact and instead be happy that she had found and made a new friend.

But no. "You can't turn your back on an Outsider," they had told her. She couldn't really understand it the first time she heard it, but now she thought she knew. Outsiders, even cubs her age, were not to be trusted.

As of now she was intensely lonely. She had been grounded for a few weeks for disobedience, but now she could roam again in the Pridelands, provided she would go on the marked path provided for her. Of course, being grounded had yet to change her mind.

Her father may have banned her from crossing the river heading to the Outlands, but who was to say she could go near the Outlands entrance on Flat Ridge Rock? Nothing lived there, no Outlanders, no hyenas, no jackals. Her father wouldn't know, no one would know. She had ditched her two babysitters, Timon and Pumbaa awhile back. They were so easy to dupe.

The rocky chasm surrounded by huge wall of granite extended for miles along the border of the Pridelands. Though there might be several ways to get into the canyon for land animals, there was only one way out. A smooth ridge of rock that one had to climb up precarious heights to reach and cross back into the savanna. She had no means to try to get in and out of the Outlands, but she did find that Flat Ridge Rock provided a nice, quiet place of solace where she contemplate matters she had thinking of all day.

Another added bonus of the place was that during the day, the sun's rays heated up the rocks, making them comfortably warm to sit or rest on. It was soothing, especially when she had to travel through cool shady areas to get to her sanctuary.

She leapt onto the warm stone as she came close, releasing a sigh as the heat instantly traveled up through her paws and up her legs. It felt wonderful. Her eyes fluttered as she could feel herself unwinding from her stress immediately. She smiled as she thought too herself how lucky she was to have this place all to herself, no one else knowing about this.

"Well, looks like my relaxing place has been taken before I could get here," came a voice that shattered Kiara out of her comfort and sent all of her hairs on end as she searched for the origin of the sound. Her ears flattened against her head and her tail pressed between her legs once she saw who the voice's owner was.

Navy blue eyes stared at her, set between light grey fur that was speckled with a few darker grey spots. A dark grey mane streaked with almost lavender grey streaks adorned her head. Each of her feet had black stocking reaching up to her knees. Two of her teeth stuck out from her upper lip as she smiled at her.

It was a hyena.

Her failed peace mission with the deceptive Janja and his pack had left her fearful and completely untrusting of his kind. Fear struck through her and raged like the floodwaters during the rainy season. Her muscles reacted before her mind did. In an instant, she had turned around and went into a full-out sprint away from the rock and the hyena.

A tree was thankfully close by. Without thinking much, her claws extended and she dug them into the tree's back before clawing herself up the side of the trunk. It wasn't too long when she had clambered up to a branch high above the ground and looked down at the hyena, now currently occupying her spot on the stone. Kiara glared at her angrily while the hyena just giggled.

"You know, you remind me a lot of when I first met Kion. Only except he was much less of a fraidy cat as you are," she explained, ending in signature hyena laughter. Kiara's eyes narrowed even more at the mention of her brother. She was just as brave, if not more than, him.

"Well if you don't go away now he and the rest of the Lion Guard will come in and force you to leave," she bluffed. Even though she knew it was a lie, knowing both were long gone, she hoped this hyena wouldn't know that. To her surprise, she shook her head and looked down towards her paws.

"Nice try, princess. I already know Kion left a while back. You know, he didn't even come to say goodbye. Guess that's common with you lions though, you try to move past all the pain and continue on," she said softly, but still loud enough so that Kiara could hear. Her claws lessened their grip on the branch she was on, but Janja's deception had still left her distrustful of any seemingly sad or pitiful expression or words hyenas might have.

"You knew my brother?" she asked quietly. She might not trust this one, but she might as well get a good conversation with maybe some information while she was here. The hyena nodded.

"Yeah," she giggled then at something, "I remember when I first met. He had gotten stuck in the Outlands, right in the middle of my territory. Tried heading towards Flat Ridge Rock to head out. Wasn't too clever though. I told him he was going the wrong way multiple times, yet he kept ignoring me until he had finally fallen into a patch of prickly thorns, until he bothered to actually listen to me and allow me to get him out of there." Another series of giggles. Kiara's claws grew more loose in the bark as she listened to her brother's foolishness from another eyewitness account.

"And then what happened?" she asked as her front forelegs draped over more comfortably on the branch. The hyena giggled and nodded her head towards the rock she was on.

"Come over here and I'll tell you the rest," she said. Kiara's ears flattened more and her grip tightened as well.

"Well why can't you come over here and tell me while I'm up here," she asked. The hyena shook her head.

"Don't you know anything, princess. Hyenas, such as myself, are exiled from the Pridelands. And while we might not enjoy that rule, at least I respect it and know better not to cross over my territory into yours," she replied.

Kiara twisted her head in confusion at her. True the rule keeping the hyenas away from the Pridelands was well known, but she had never before heard from a hyena that they knew and respected the law. With all the hyenas she had seen or known, they always were breaking the law and coming in to hunt and/or cause chaos somewhere in the Pridelands. But this hyena didn't.

While her mind raced to process the facts, her muscles reacted on their own and before she even realized it she was back on the ground. Her eyes quickly flashed towards her paws firmly planted on the soil before turning back to the hyena. A smile was on her face and she took out one of her paws and lightly tapped part of the rock next to her and nodded her head over to it.

Slowly, Kiara took a step towards it. She felt her chest swell up a bit with air and her expression grew proud so that she appeared brave before the hyena. It took just a few more paces until she had come back to the edge of the stone. She turned her head back up the hyena, still sporting the kind smile. To a bit of Kiara's sudden surprise, she saw her move over a foot to the side edge of the rock and tap the place beside her again.

It was now or never. Kiara's front legs pressed down on the flat stone and pulled herself up onto it. She noted that the hyena's eyes never wavered as they intently watched as she moved over to the spot next her. Once there, Kiara seated herself down and stared at her.

"So... can you continue the story of my brother's moronic moments when I wasn't there?" she asked playfully. This drew another couple of chuckles from the hyena and she nodded eagerly.

"And that's how I met your brother Kion and we became friends." Jasiri finished. In the middle of the story, both had properly introduced to each other and exchanged names. Kiara had gone from sitting to laying down along with Jasiri as she finished telling the story. Kiara had giggled along with her at several moments of her brother goofing up.

"That's awesome. By the way, how many bites did it take to get all the thorns away from my brother?" Kiara asked. Jasiri had taken delight in Kiara's humor and had laughed so much it was beginning to hurt her chest.

"Oh, more than I could count. Definitely more than the hairs in his mane though," she joked. Both females roared and barked with laughter at the expense of Kion's previous humiliation.

"Man, I wonder what my brother would think of us if he had seen and heard us right about now" Kiara said as she brushed a tear away from her eyes. Jasiri rolled over as she chuckled.

"His cheeks would probably be more colorful than his mane." she replied. Their laugh fest was interrupted though when both perked up to the sound of roaring in the distance. Simba's call to Kiara to come home. Suddenly both realized how late in the afternoon it was. The sun was already beginning to descent down in the sky and the blue was being replaced with warm hues that would turn fiery bold as the sun setted more.

"Hey I gotta go now. Thanks for the story Jasiri. See ya," Kiara said as she got onto her feet and started heading off to home. Before she hopped off the rock, Jasiri called out to her.

"Wait!" Kiara's head twisted over her shoulder to look at her. "Same time tomorrow, maybe?"

Her lips twisted up into a grin. "Definitely," she replied before darting off into the grass. Jasiri reciprocated the expression before jumping down from her perch and headed back into the Outlands, eager to get back and rest up before spending the day tomorrow with her new friend.

Hope you enjoyed this. I was thinking if Kion and his guard, plus Tiifu and Zuri, did leave the Pridelands and left Kiara alone, at least there might be someone left to befriend her. Meh, I was feeling really sentimental today, thought I just do something sweet.

Anyways, thanks for reading. Please leave a review, I appreciate the feedback and I'll see you guys next time. Sincerely, v.t.7