Débil backed away as a gray hyena cub slowly stalked out from the den, its eyes locked firmly on its target. Débil slowly lifted his head, his eyes widening, staring frozen into its eyes. Two hyena cubs slowly came out visible to Débil. They were also cubs, still young cubs. They were alone with no one to protect them as it seemed. The gray hyena that looked aggressive had a dark gray pelt with reddish brown spots. The second had a dark brown pelt with orange coloured spots and the third had a light brown pelt with white creamed coloured spots. Débil looked over at the dark brown hyena who looked crazier than the others. The light brown hyena looked kind but very young. She barked, seeming only protective of the den and the two other hyenas.
"What are you doing trespassing on our property, you unusual looking lion cub?" asked the red spotted hyena.
"I'm sorry," Débil replied kindly, cowering with a
smile. "I didn't know you lived here. My mistake, I should be going." Débil got up about to leave when the red spotted hyena ran in front of Débil, blocking him.
"Oh..." the hyena chuckled. "I'm sorry, but I can't just let you go. I mean we haven't eaten for days that you can see. We'd love it if you could stay for dinner." He stalked around Débil, watching his every move.
"Possibly stay for dinner? We miss having visitors. Sadly they hadn't visited long enough for us to get to know them," giggled the orange spotted hyena.
"What do you want from me? I mean.... s-sure weakness would taste good, but I'm sure that toughness would taste way better than I do. And plus, killing me would only show that you're weak by attacking a worn out cub such as myself."
"Did you just call me weak?" The red spotted hyena paused and looked behind at the two hyenas.
"He's got a point, you know," the orange spotted hyena giggled, agreeing with the yellow fluff ball.
"Oh, shut up, you! This isn't your choice to make. Need to find something quick and easy. Prey these days find ways of making it more difficult for us. This little vermin here is gonna pay!" He faced back to Débil. "Do me a favour for me, would ya? Beg. It's more fun that way. Pray for your life and maybe something will happen." Débil's eyes widened, beginning to cowardly back away. He fell back leaning in front of a rock, closing his eyes tight before the hyena swiftly swung his paw at Débil causing him to fall on his side. The red spotted hyena then leaped on him, trying to bite his neck. Débil growled trying to fight back by swaying his arms and hitting and clawing the hyena in the face.
"Quit it!" The red spotted hyena barked as he pressed his paw on Débil's neck. "Stop struggling. Struggling doesn't help, doesn't matter, will only make it worse...for you." Cheka-Cheka and Heri watched as Wazimu cackled at Débil. Heri saw how Débil was quitting his life. He wasn't strong enough that she could see. She thought the yellow cub was just joking about being weak. She continued to watch anxiously as Débil continued to claw the air. She could sense he was struggling to breathe so she ran at Wazimu and tackled him, scraping his stomach with one of her claws.
"ENOUGH!" A loud roar echoed through their ears causing Wazimu to immediately back up, allowing Débil to scramble away from the three hyenas. He looked over to the right of him, noticing a gray and white cub inside the hyena den looking at him, his orangey yellow eyes visible from inside. Débil glared back at the cub, taking quick glances over at the red spotted hyena.
"Let me at him!" He tempted to run towards Débil again. The youngest hyena leaped on him and bit his tail, pulling him back. "If you don't let me kill him, we'll starve to death!" he yapped. She glared down at him.
"He could probably help us. We can team up with him, don't you see?" she muffled, "you can't kill someone unless they were planning to attack you," she'd let go of his tail and he faced her. "He can join us. Trust me. Just think, soon we'll never be hungry because we will have all the food in the whole savannah," she spoke excitedly.
"I said, that's enough. I honestly didn't think that I'd have to repeat myself, I shouldn't have too, should I?" the gray and white cub asked as he honourably walked out of the den. "How many times do I have to say it?" He faced the three hyenas. "We all live inside the savannah. Every animal is welcome, all will share it, even new visitors who never meant to disturb us or trespass onto our territory. They deserve to be greeted fairly." He spoke sternly to the hyenas as he greeted Débil. "Are you okay?" the cub asked in a whisper. Débil silently nodded in response making the gray cub smile.
"My name is Kębi."
"D-Débil."
"Pleasure to meet you, it really is," Kębi said excitedly with a smile. "It's been so long since I've seen or even met another lion. Welcome to our territory. You look like you might need a place to stay, at least until your leg is healed," he said glancing down, noticing the red bite marks on his leg. Débil smiled and nodded in agreement.
"Yes. I do, if you don't mind, of course."
"Make yourself at home," Kębi smiled lightly nudging Débil's shoulder with his arm. Débil's eyes widened that someone would be this nice to him. No one was ever this nice before. He never really felt this comfortable and protected with anyone before. Well, except for Keya.
"I apologize for Wazimu. It was wrong of him to attack you. He only attacks when he meets for the first time. I'll make sure he doesn't touch you again. Cheka-cheka, the dark brown hyena there, she can sometimes act a bit crazy and get overly excited which causes her to pounce on animals so if she ever jumps on you, know she doesn't mean any harm. Heri, the light brown hyena is the youngest of the two. She's very kind and wouldn't dare hurt you. I more prefer her than Wazimu," he chuckled.
"Thank you." Débil bumped, rubbing his head against Kębi's side and purred causing Kębi's eyes to widen, the three hyenas noticing. Kębi smiled as well, rubbing his head back on Débil. Both Wazimu and Cheka-Cheka slowly looked at each other with confusion while Heri's eyes were full of happiness and love. She smiled at Débil and Kębi and joined in with the cuddling.
"Well...I'm outta here," Wazimu said to no one in particular as he leaped and slept on a special rock of Kębi's beside the den, not caring if Kębi saw him, he knew that he'd get kicked off it anyway. Cheka-Cheka only watched, scratching her head, too confused to understand what was happening. Kębi opened his eyes, noticing Wazimu but shrugged it off as he wanted to keep his attention on Débil, sensing the yellow cub was counting on him. The gray cub took a step back.
"Wazimu and I were planning to go out hunting. Anything you would like...Grea?" Kębi winked.
"... Grea?" Débil tilted his head and looked straight ahead past Kębi at the clear dead area of dirt with only bits of dead trees sticking out of the ground, looking more like the place where he used to live except there were no caves, only holes. Probably with other families of hyenas crammed all together in one tight place, with how it looked to Débil anyway. Kębi nodded.
"Oh yes, of course. Grea is a better name. I understand the translation. You're definitely not what you were named. I mean, being out here all alone where animals could easily attack you? That's what I call tough." Débil smiled and blushed, looking away a bit embarrassed glancing over at Wazimu. He hadn't found himself at all that strong and brave. He had a feeling Kębi saw what he was unable to do when Wazimu attacked him. Kębi, noticing the glance leaned in close to Débil.
"For the first time meeting Wazimu, he did the exact same thing to me. I wasn't that strong either to be honest, since I'm just a cub. But over time I was able to do things on my own like hunting and defending myself. I bet you'll get the hang of it."
"I hope so too. I guess we are a bit quite alike." Débil looked down.
"Indeed." Kębi replied with a nod.
"Well... I guess...may I try what you're having? I understand if you don't-"
"Of course, whatever you want. I'll get it for you," Kębi exclaimed, "with only a mouse it won't fill you up as much. We'll be back soon." The gray cub began walking towards Wazimu before pausing and turning back. "Remember, stay with Heri. I should warn you though, for your safety I don't want you visiting the other hyenas. They can be very grisly and dangerous since they haven't met you before. And don't worry, they're as lazy as a dead branch while not bothered."
"I understand," Débil nodded. Kębi nodded in return and faced Wazimu.
"You ready, Madness?" He spoke with a fake smile, gritting his teeth to Wazimu not wanting to yell at him like he usually did when Wazimu did things to purposely annoy him. He didn't want Débil to think badly of him. He was the leader of the hyenas after all which sounded like he would be greedy and savage but was the exact opposite with what Débil could see so to Wazimu it seemed a bit fun to mess with him, also because they had a visitor staying with them.
"Ready as ever!" Wazimu got up and leaped off the rock before giving Kębi a look. Kębi looked at him unaffected which made Wazimu growl over at Débil. Kębi glanced over at Débil, giving him a friendly look before running off with Wazimu. Débil blushed again and glanced over at Heri. She looked back and motioned him to come see her. He hurried over to Heri, trusting what Kębi had told him, also because Heri looked and seemed so kind hearted even though she was a hyena.
"Hi!" She friendly greeted, "sorry about the teaming up thing. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings in any way. I didn't mean it like that," she whined, clawing the ground.
"It's fine," he murmured, shrugging.
"My name is Heri. It's nice to meet a new lion in our pack. I overheard your conversation with Kębi. Do you mind if we call you Grea? I find it really suits you in a way." She smiled causing Débil to smile a little back.
"I don't mind."
"Great, Grea it is," Heri smiled.

Later on, Débil went over to lay down in the den. He crouched down through the hole, as unusual at it was for him, he knew he'd have to get used to it instead of living in a cave which he was used to since caves were huge and wide with lots of space. He laid there in front of the den watching the shadows from the birds who flew over each of the dens. He closed his eyes as the air turned cool and reached him from inside. Somehow a memory got to his head about his father and the cubs that used to pick on him. He could only hear their voices, sounding as though they were echoing in his ears causing tears to form in his eyes.

'Débil! You need to be taught to stand up for yourself! HEY, Débil! If that's even your name, what are you doing here? You look like you're from the Pride Lands! You don't belong with us! How did you even get here? What kind of name is "Débil" anyway? Why did your parents name you that? We are much stronger and smarter than them, but you're not. You're just a weakling. Remember what your name means? You'll always be called what you are. I don't believe that you're my son. Even if you were, you'll never be my son to me. You're just an outcast, a worthless, ungrateful rat!' He sniffled and lifted his head, looking around the den, glad that he was still in the hyena den. He sat up, his ears tilted back as he sobbed. The pain was too much, and it kept coming back. It always followed him, it never left him alone ever since he lived with Kiburi. He looked around and noticed Kębi laying next to him with his paws crossed.
"You alright, Grea?" Kębi asked, concernedly showing a small comforting smile.
"Yeah. I'm fine," he sniffled.
"Alrighty. I'm sorry if I bothered you, just wanted to check on you. I wanted to see if maybe you wanted something to eat. It might make you feel better, might even get your mind off of what's bothering you." Débil rose his head up at Kębi then looked over at Wazimu, Cheka-Cheka, and Heri; they were waiting for him while sitting around a circle.
"Oh, yes." Débil shook his head. "Of course, I haven't eaten in a few days either." Débil did as he was told and got up walking towards the three canines while his beloved feline followed behind. Débil's eyes glittered in delight as he saw legs and meat from antelopes, wildebeest, birds, fish and more in the middle of the circle. Once Débil sat down to eat, three of the hyenas immediately dug in, ripping meat from the bones of animals. They mostly fought for their food and began attacking each other which they always did, Kębi explained to him just that. It was normal for them to do that, and he was used to it too. The hyenas stole some of Débil's legs from an antelope.
"Don't worry about it," Kębi huffed and gave Débil his and they both shared it while the hyenas wildly fought over theirs. After dinner Débil was in the middle the three hyenas, once they were settled down of course. They were all huddled up together in the den, the only thing heard from inside were Débil's purrs. He had finally found a place where he belonged, he knew.
"Hey, Grea."
"Hm?" Débil opened his eyes and looked over to see Kębi peeking his head in from outside.
"I wanna show you something. Come on." Débil got up and followed after pushing one of the sleeping hyenas off of him. Kębi was seen sitting down far from the hyena dens, staring up at all the bright twinkling stars. Débil walked over and sat beside him and gazed up.
"You know... if you squint real hard, you could see the kings," Kębi said as he squinted his eyes.
"Really?" Débil looked at him.
"Mhm," Kębi faced him and nodded, plopping down on his back. "You just have to believe in them. That's all it takes. Once, I thought I saw a constellation of one of the kings looking down on us from way up there. It was amazing, I had so many questions but I didn't know if I was able to talk to them. They probably wouldn't answer anyways since...well.... we're not from the Pride Lands."
"Oh." Débil looked down and frowned, also plopping down on his back beside Kębi.
"Well...what I usually did was talk to them about my day and how I felt each day, hoping that someday I'd become just like them one day." Kębi smiled looking over at Débil and lightly licked his cheek where he had the four scratches. Débil flinched, his eyes quickly looking at him showing fear. His cheek also stung a bit from what happened that day. Kębi looked straight into Débil's orangey brown eyes, a bit dazed and concerned about that frightened expression he gave him.
"You're all right." Kębi leaned his head against Débil's and closed his eyes, acting as if he wasn't affected by how Débil looked at him, not deciding to bring it up. Débil purred, calming down while being comforted by Kębi as he gazed up again at the stars.
"Thank you," he whispered to the kings as he began to doze. Kębi said nothing, smiling happily as he heard Débil say those words. He got up and dragged him to the den, later falling asleep as well while he watched over him.

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