#twiga

Days before this major Savannah Summit, Kiara, with the escort of Kovu and Vitani's Guard, meets with Jasiri, whom she'd become great friends with during Kion's absence. Jasiri, despite recently being on good terms with Simba and his family last time she'd met with them, was uncertain of how the rest of the Pridelanders would react. As usual, Kiara's supportive and optimistic words eventually managed to persuade Jasiri into attending, as she too strived to break barriers.

The Savannah Summit arrives, Kiara makes a major announcement, introducing the newcomer who makes her way down the entrance to Mizimu Grove. The animals are in shock, audibly gasping and jolting at the sight of the hyena, but they keep to themselves. They've seen her fight alongside Kion and his former Guard before, proving her alignment, yet they were still wary.

While the Pridelands' herds' post-traumatic stress from the invasion and ruthless overhunting from Shenzi's Clan during Scar's Reign is valid, their transgenerational trauma alongside the long-running banishment of Shenzi's Clan has led to ignorant stigmatisms surrounding hyenas as a species over the years. Kiara, having prepared her speech, has Jasiri's back by clarifying to everyone that not all hyenas follow the customs of the clan that had once taken over the Pridelands, and that Jasiri's Clan (which features members that descend from Shenzi's Clan), intend to learn and grow from their predecessors' mistakes.

Simba, who had been getting better at overcoming his paranoia brought on by his PTSD, is pleased with Kiara, telling her that this was the best time and place to introduce a genuine, trusting hyena leader like Jasiri to the Pridelanders to end a long, needless prejudice. Hyenas were to no longer be banished from the Pridelands, and to Kiara, Jasiri, and (even on behalf of) Kion's wishes, all living beings who respected the Circle of Life were welcome to the Pridelands.

(...this does make me wonder, though, does anyone think Nala would feel the same about Jasiri? While Nala's rational enough to know Jasiri's nothing like the members of Shenzi's Clan (and she knows Shenzi's Clan all too well, spent a majority of her life growing up with them), do you think the presence of any hyena might spark a deep-rooted, subconscious trauma in her? I can see her trying so hard to be openminded to Jasiri just as she was to Kovu, but these memories of Scar's hyena army won't stop bugging her. Perhaps she starts to understand the feelings Simba once went through.)

(Note: To clarify, including Jasiri in the Savannah Summit is not to make the Outlands a mere part the Pridelands, as that would lower Jasiri's status as prime minister and take away from her drive to restore the Outlands as a separate yet equally opportune, prosperous land. Because Jasiri's the leader of a whole land, like that of Sokwe of the Theluji Mountains or Dhahabu of the Backlands. Jasiri would moreso attend some kind of "super summit" in the future, where it's all kingdom leaders instead of herd leaders)