Vitani’s Guard

Patrols ended rather early for the past few days. No unrest, no having to fight anyone. It was pathetic. Suspicious, come to think of it.

Shabaha had a hunch that the silence would lead up to something, something that would erupt. She didn't understand why Vitani couldn't see it. In fact, she didn't understand why Vitani wouldn't regard her at all, lately.

Ever since patrols became vacant and slow, Vitani's been making use of her off-time by spending it with Tiifu. She even socialized with Sauti, the wild dog under her and Tiifu's temporary guardianship.

The lovey-dovey stuff and all the other changes to Vitani's personality made Shabaha sick. She made sure she finally let Vitani know that, one day.

The exchange of grievances exploded into a nasty fight. In speaking to Vitani's face over the constant distaste she'd held for a long time, Shabaha risked pushing her friendship with Vitani even further apart.

Shabaha didn't want to believe the irony. She didn't want to believe that she was being rude. Tiifu's corruption made Vitani think Shabaha was being rude. Tiifu made Vitani soft.

Though... she still felt bad. She didn't want to believe it, but it wasn't a lie.

Maybe she was needlessly sabotaging Vitani and Tiifu's relationship, like Vitani had told her.

Shabaha hated watching Vitani turn the other way, heading to the Ponya. It felt like Vitani would be turned away from her like that forever.

Maybe she deserved it...

As Shabaha's eyes filled with water, she felt a cackle erupt, she clamped her mouth shut with a paw before heading the other way.
____

Vitani spent her evening with Tiifu feeling listless and inattentive. She couldn't identify the feeling to either be disbelief with Shabaha, or regret for driving her away.

Tiifu picked up on this, aware of the disagreement between the pair of friends.

“Did you ever think that maybe Shabaha wishes you could treat her like you treat me? You treat me really different from the Guard.”

“They can handle the rough talk. We grew up that way.”

"But for how long?" Tiifu's voice grew firm, "Vitani, if the Guard doesn't have support, who knows if everyone will stay together."

"What is this, therapy?"

Vitani's ears swung back. Oof.

"Wow..." Tiifu sneered, utterly impressed.

“What I meant wa --"

Tiifu stepped closer, "You know, it's the constant jumping to conclusions that's really divided up your Guard. Now you're doing it to me. Is this what makes a fair leader?"

"How would you know what a --"

"First you make assumptions about Tazama, now Shabaha. You don't think maybe your Guard needs to be heard out, first?"

Vitani continued to sputter until it came to a halt. The only form of leadership she knew was 'swing first and ask questions later', to be unforgiving and presumptuous. She had lasting problems from that exact leadership from her mother.

Maybe with the next generation, things had to change... 
____

It was dawn, a while before patrol would start.

Vitani could hardly sleep. Awakening early, she spent her time formulizing how she would go about addressing her fight with Shabaha. She dreaded -- yet very much expected -- things to get physical. They were both scrappy by nature, and sparred often.

Blinded by deep thought, Vitani didn't notice another lioness standing her way. She bumped into her.

It was Shabaha, uncharacteristically awake just as early as Vitani. Normally, the Bravest would sleep in and have to be forcefully woken up every morning.

Looks like this would have to be handled now. No better time.

Vitani's eyes met with Shabaha's. They were quite red from restlessness, and... an emotion she never showed. Today was going to be shocking.

"Shabaha. I --"

Her eyes then made their way down Shabaha's body. She noticed new scratches along the Bravest's forelegs and head. The Fiercest closed her eyes briefly. She knew too well what happened.

Resisting the urge to find a reason to be mad at Shabaha, she instead paced herself. She had to start slow and gently, practicing the suggestion Tiifu had made.

"I just want to know, are you jealous of what Tiifu and I have?"

“No. No, I’m not jealous.” Shabaha sighed, “I was never jealous. I’m happy for you guys, actually. It’s just…”

Suddenly, Shabaha began to chuckle. Vitani was disturbed.

“Everyone's always changing in front of me!” she cackled, “Like? That's how I know they're gonna leave. Happens every time!“

The Bravest’s voice cracked from laughter to choking up as she realized the weight of what she said.

Vitani shook her head, incredulous.

“What do you mean everyone leaves -- W-Why are you laughing?”

Shabaha snickered, “‘Cause it’s not a big deal, okay? I’m fine!”

“You just drop some of the most off-putting stuff and you brush it off as a joke. I’m finally starting to get sick of it. You gotta take this ser --”

“WELL, MAYBE I DON’T WANT TO THINK ABOUT IT!”

Vitani was disturbed, to say the least. She had to wonder how many times Shabaha's characteristic laughter meant she was truly in turmoil. She had to attempt support if she wanted to resolve this.

"Why don't you want to think about it?" the leader inquired, "You can tell me, now. You don't have to be afraid to let anyone know. We don't have room for dishonesty in the Guard's friendship. It'll break us apart if we keep lying to each other."

Shabaha sighed in agitation, "I just... didn't wanna bring anyone down or make 'em feel bad for me. I just... push it to the back of my brain whenever it comes back up."

"What are you pushing back? If I know the Bravest lion in the pride, I know she'd want to conquer the most frightening challenges, like she always has."

Shabaha sighed in deep thought. She couldn't keep building this big lie anymore. The mask had to come off. For bravery.

"Okay... The reason I've been such a jerk about you and Tiifu is, that... I'm scared you'll leave me. We've been best friends for years, I don't want you to change forever and forget me. I've always been afraid of everybody leaving me. I never wanted anyone to know I was afraid, though, or else I'd be rejected. Been this way my whole life..."

...

In the dry, barren hills far from the Outlands lived a lioness and her cub.

This lioness was rather unusual, for she spent most of her life alone. She was ousted by family and by other prides for her selfishness and mental instability. Not truly caring about her life, she'd gotten into lot of trouble that had gotten her to where she was, such as antagonistic behavior, promiscuity, and abuse of intoxicating substances.

One day, she ended up bearing a cub. She gave it a chance to change her life. She gave it milk, she kept it close by, and she groomed it time to time, yet she still found herself unstable as she pushed her child away at times, and even yelled at her to 'be quiet'. Her child didn't realize this was abnormal, as the lioness was the only other creature in her life, beside a few dangerous critters the cub would pick from the ground.

Speaking of danger, the cub always found herself in a predicament without her mother noticing. Her mother would be turned away or absent, preoccupied with herself either way. It's this normalization of danger and not having anyone to stop her, save her, and tell her 'no', that led the cub to grow up to be who she was now.

The lioness, while distant and spacey most of the time, eventually grew ever agitated and annoyed with this cub. The runt would talk her head off and try to climb on her, and no matter what stunt she pulled, she turned out fine.

The little roach just wouldn't die...

...

"Then, one dry, hot day in the badlands, I earned my name..."

...

The lioness basked under the scorching sun. She didn't have a plan. Was she to find shelter? Water? Die? Who cared? She didn't care.

"Hey, Mom! I held another scorpion yesterday! It only stung me a little bit, though. Oh! Also --"

Like she has done many times, the older lioness abruptly got up before the cub could climb atop of her and play.

The young cub, thinking her mother to be playing, continued to follow her.

"Hey, Mom! Guess what I did today, though! I picked the legs off of another spider. Different one from last time, it was kinda --"

The cub felt herself being shoved back by her mother's hind foot.

She looked up. The older lioness seemed to be staring off elsewhere.

Maybe Mom was looking which way to go...

The cub continued to blabber on. In a desperate attempt to escape the noise and attention, the lioness trekked through the calm, algae-filled river. The cub was still beside her, but at least the water was cool and refreshing.

A pair of membranes blinked away at the bright green algae, revealing a disturbed pair of eyes belonging to a Western crocodile. A low growl became a bellow as the beast emerged from the river.

"You looking for some trouble, ladies?" he said, "You'd better have a good reason to wake us from our slumber!"

The two lionesses frantically clambered out of the river and onto a nearby rock. The mother lioness knew that awakened crocodiles meant no more sleep, and only food to get through the dry season.

The lioness looked down at the cub. She grinned big.

This was the happiest Mom looked, the cub thought. She must've found the way out!

Suddenly, the cub was lifted by her ankle, dangling over the river full of chomping teeth.

For once, the cub felt genuinely terrified.

...

"My mom called me this word meaning 'target'. Because, before I knew it, I became one for the crocs..."

...

As the newly-named Shabaha slipped through the jaws of the hungry float, she lost sight of her mother in the middle of the calamity.

The cub eventually escaped, just pulling herself unto dry land. Her fur was stained green as she was completely soaked. Shaken.

Realizing she'd escaped, though, pride filled Shabaha as she called to her mother to report she faced a new challenge.

However, as she looked around, her mother was nowhere to be found. Her smile fell.

Pretty soon, her heart pounded out of her chest as panic set in.

Hours passed as she continued to search the area for her mother. Waves of patience and panic filled her throughout that time.

She let it sink in: Mom was gone, and she wasn't coming back.

The cub suddenly began to sob sharply as she grabbed her head. She doubled over into a meltdown from an influx of emotions she couldn't identify, pounding and scratching at her head. She loudly bawled into the air and the sky, all alone.

She couldn't understand why she was angry with herself, but it felt like her fault.

She shouldn't have been scared of the crocodiles. Her cowardice is why Mom was gone.

Shabaha never frowned again. From this day, forward, she was all smiles, no matter what drove her mad.

Laughter erupted from the cub as she rocked herself out of much-deprived comfort. A laugh that would get her into much trouble in the inhospitable Outlands over the years.

...

More uncontrollable, maddened cackling in present day ensued, until it slowed to sobs.

"I spent a day -- maybe two, just wandering alone through the badlands, hoping maybe, just maybe my mom could just pop out from out of nowhere, changing her mind." Shabaha sniffed, "But, then Kasi and Imara and Tazama found me, one day, all off to find a prosperous land they were all planning to seek refuge in because their homes were in ruins."

"...and you all came to the Outlands." Vitani finished, remembering the day she met her future Lion Guard.

"Yeah, we were off on our projectory to the Pridelands, heh. Then your mom told us the Pridelands were a no-go till your bro would take over."

Vitani gave a short, courteous smile that soon fell. Zira's big, convoluted lie was a lot to think about, she deliberately pushed it aside to let Shabaha finish.

"But, yeah... your mom saw so much in me. An instant replacement for that empty part of me my mom left. Your mom became a role model for me as soon as she let us in and gave us a place in the pride..."

...

The group of preteens who would eventually become known today as Vitani's Lion Guard introduced themselves as soon as Zira cared to know what their names were. She was pleased to have such young, teachable recruits.

After assigning roles to the others, a certain plucky young lioness was next.

"And what's your name?" the striped lioness inquired, staring the cub down.

"Sh-Shabaha!" the cub awkwardly, yet enthusiastically beamed.

Zira suddenly grinned, "Let's challenge the meaning of that name, shall we?"

Over the years, Shabaha would be employed in tasks no other animal in the Outlands could face. She was the one they called when it came to relentlessly chasing down even the most difficult of targets, aiming accurately for the killing blow.

She was the bravest animal in the Outlands, and the one of the most feared because of it.

...

Shabaha's face fell from pride to sorrow.

"But, then, Zira didn't last long either, and when that happened, everything changed again. Everyone's relationships changed, we were meeting so many new animals, a bunch of Outsiders left to find themselves after that unification ceremony, and... I almost left too."

"I remember that."

"Yup. I almost never became your Bravest. Though... I'm not sure if you still do have one. Not now, now that I told you all of this."

"Shabaha," Vitani's voice became firm, "there's nothing braver than facing something you've been pushing away your whole life. I've never been more certain of choosing you as my Bravest until just now."

"You... You don't think it takes away from -- Like, it doesn't change anything about me?"

"Being honest with yourself is an improvement, if anything." Vitani smiled warmly, "I think we both learned that, actually."

"Feels good, and scary, I think. It was a good thing to do, but I'm still afraid it'll change how everyone treats me."

"It might." Vitani confirmed bluntly, "But, we're all changing. For the better, actually."

Shabaha noticed this, too. Not only could she see changes within herself by reliving the very days that made her who she was, but she saw Vitani change, too. It wasn't easy, but she could see it was better to grow than to keep rehashing the past.

Tiifu ended up being right, in a way. Vitani did need to spread this attitude to her Guard.
____

Later that evening, Vitani decided to borrow the pride's time for an important announcement:

"...We are no longer under my mother's leadership. Things will be different from me. Changes being that I will listen to your needs, instead of pushing you harder. I love my mother dearly, but keeping everyone together is what matters. It's been a goal from the very establishment of our Lion Guard that I wanted to make things better with the Pridelanders, I want us to grow from our mother's departure from the Circle of Life."

The Guard smiled, especially Imara, Kasi, and Tazama, who had always felt Zira's old ways were wrong. They were proud to see Vitani grow.

"My leadership before made for a dysfunctional environment between my Guard, and I wrecked our reputation with the herds. I will practice patience for the needs of others," Vitani glanced towards Shabaha, "and the option to be discreet in consideration of other animals' privacy. I want the Guard to follow my example under my leadership, and grow from the past."

Shabaha didn't show it much, but she felt warm and fuzzy inside. She never knew how nice it felt to be heard and respected until now.

Meanwhile, Simba and Kovu smiled at Vitani's promise to grow better than the generation before, having taken the philosophy to heart long ago.

"I'm just really making sure you can trust us." Vitani's voice shook, truly anxious.

"We do, honey." Nala confirmed, "You've been working really hard."

"As we've told you before, you're not alone in your mistakes." Simba added, "When I became king, I had trouble with the herds' trust, myself."

Vitani smiled shyly, relieved the older adults weren't displeased with her, as she normally expected.

The lions ended the announcement with a supportive, rallying roar.

Vitani's decree could not come at a more dire time. The current Lion Guard needed compassion now more than ever to prove to the herds that they were not what Ngurumo twisted them to be.

There was no longer a need to fight fire with fire -- at least... not too much fire, knowing Vitani's unique powers.