Chapter 4:
Pumbaa stood glowering as Timon tied two large broad leaves onto his ears with a small, thin piece of vine. "Why do I have to be Bintaka every time?" he asked as the meerkat walked onto his snout.
"Because Morake plays rough, Jina and Barika are female which rules them out, and Bango isn't nearly large enough to pass as a hyena. If we want accuracy you're about the best we can get," Timon said as he counted the candidates on his fingers. "When Bango's officially an adult, then we'll talk."
"And by that time people won't want to hear the story anymore," Pumbaa said with a slight whine.
Timon's brother-in-law Sudi approached the two of them with a large, black berry in his paws. "I can only hope." He tossed the berry up to Timon, who furrowed his brow as he caught it. "Well, I'm sorry, Timon, but I can only stand doing this re-enactment so many times. We've been doing it at least three times a month since Sly and Morake came to live with us."
"That's because the kids love the re-enactments, Sudi," Timon said as he tied the berry to the front of Pumbaa's snout. "And why not, I ask you? Because I consider the defeat of Bintaka as one of my greatest accomplishments. It should be remembered as well as when my father fought Mataka, and don't forget that I beat him, too."
Sudi sucked some air through his teeth before he responded. "I don't wanna sound mean, Timon, but--"
"If you don't wanna sound mean, then don't make a sound. I'm already in a semi-annoyed mood with finding another tunnel." Timon jumped off Pumbaa's snout and onto the ground. He walked over to a rock to sit down, reached over and grabbed a crudely made clay cast for his foot.
"I still can't believe we haven't figured out who's making them yet," Pumbaa said. "I mean, it's been going on for quite a few months, and you kinda hope you have some kind of clue by this time."
Sudi sat down in front of Timon and helped to shove his right foot into the clay cast. "Well, if you asked me--"
"Which we didn't--" Timon added as Sudi paused.
Sudi continued, "It's gotta be one of the pups in the colony, or one of the younger adults."
"Don't be ridiculous, Sudi," Timon grunted as the cast was shoved onto his foot. "The pups born in the oasis never showed any sign that they wanted to dig before. They quickly caught on to the Hakuna Matata lifestyle."
"You gotta admit, it would make sense, Timon," Pumbaa spoke up. "The pups aren't taught to dig tunnels, but then again they weren't taught to ignore years of meerkat instinct either." He arched a brow at Timon. "Especially when you don't tell your own pups about what life was like before the oasis."
Timon shrugged as he stood. "What's to tell? We dig, we hide, we stand guard, we run... that's all we ever did."
Sudi grinned slightly as he watched Timon walk over to a tree, where a strong stick was propped up. "You sure you're not just avoiding telling the pups about your 'tunnel klutz' days?" Timon cringed and growled as he looked over his shoulder at his brother-in-law. Sudi softened his tone slightly. "I know those were cruel days when no one but Panya would look your way with a smile, but they have a right to know what their father's life used to be like. You've never even taken your kids to see Buzz's grave, or take Shani beyond Pride Rock for that matter."
"You know it's dangerous out there... I'm just trying to keep her safe. We're at the bottom of the food chain out there, remember?" Timon picked the propped up stick and leaned against it like a cane. "Kito can go out there mostly because he's been out there before and he has supervision, normally found in Bango and Morake, and sometimes Pumbaa."
"And if Barika ever got over her fear of heights at Pride Rock you'd let her take Shani out?"
"She's never been out in the Pride Lands before," Pumbaa replied, shaking his head. "She'd get lost."
"And frankly, even though we used to live with those lions I don't trust leaving her alone with carnivores. The ones I do trust are normally busy with royal duties anyway. Now let's change the subject and get on with the show." He took a quick glance around the area and furrowed his brow. "All right, where's Mr. Duel Identities?"
"Up in the tree, waiting for the show to start," Sudi jerked his head towards a branch of a tree, where a meerkat could be seen lying on his back.
"I hope he doesn't lose focus again. That was embarrassing last time."
Sudi grinned as Timon walked past him with the stick. "Sly may be your brother, Timon, but he doesn't completely take after you." Timon snorted and continued to walk away. Sudi looked back at Pumbaa, who had returned to glowering. "You may as well get it over with, big guy."
Pumbaa nodded and sighed as he began to follow after Timon. "Someday I won't play the villain, right?"
Ten minutes later...
A group of meerkat pups sat up front, eagerly watching the crudely-made sticks shaped like meerkats and hyenas provided by Sudi, who was hiding behind a rock. Behind the pups were six adults, among them included Timon's mother Panya, his mate and Sudi's sister Zuri, and Sudi's own mate Penda. The pups gasped and then clapped as Timon rolled away from Pumbaa, who was acting as a hyena.
Timon spat, as if he had just bitten the warthog acting as a hyena in the leg. "You don't clean there, do you?" He began to stand, but then pretended he was in pain, lifting his right foot above the ground. His cast had shattered during the roll. "Ow, my toe...!"
"His cast broke! He won't be able to run away without going 'ow'!" one of the pups whispered to the others as Timon and Pumbaa continued.
"Mr. Pumbaa's gonna eat Uncle Timon!" another whispered.
"I'll bet he tastes like chicken," another said curiously.
"Shh. Watch the show," Penda whispered as she leaned forward, putting a paw on the pup's head. She leaned back and chuckled, as did Zuri. "So cute."
"... I can only hurt you while you're still alive!" Pumbaa made a lunge at Timon... and then paused when he was mere inches away. Timon had his eyes shut tightly, but he soon reopened them. Pumbaa waited a moment before he cleared his throat and said louder, "I said, 'I can only hurt you while you're still alive!'" Again, nothing. He sat down and tapped his front hoof as Timon folded his arms in front of his chest, also tapping his foot.
"Is that suppose to happen?" a pup asked at normal speaking level.
"Oy, not again," Panya said, rubbing her forehead.
Timon glanced up at the tree they were standing directly under, where a meerkat was seen lying on a branch. He was lying on his back and looking up at the sky, seemingly lost in thought. Timon furrowed his brow and called up to him, "Hey, Sly, I'm getting eaten here!" No response. Timon tapped his foot more, faster this time than previously. "... He says I taste like chicken!" Again, no response.
A pup giggled, "I was right."
Timon sighed and put his paws into a "time out" position. "Intermission!" Sudi came out of his hiding spot and sat down on a rock. Pumbaa sat down as Timon stomped over to the stick he picked up earlier, and then stomped back to the tree with it. He knocked on the trunk of the tree with the stick and called up, "He says he wants dessert! That means you, Titus Sylvester!"
That did it. This time there was a reaction. "Guhh, both names!" The meerkat cringed and sat up, glaring down at Timon. "How many times have I told you--!" he growled, and then blinked when he noticed the audience. "... Whoops." He nervously chuckled. "I missed my cue, didn't I?"
"Maybe a little bit..." And then Timon shouted, "Like me being chewed up and swallowed!"
Panya looked up at Sly and then down at Timon, and then cleared her throat as she stood. "Looks like the show's postponed for now, so why don't you kids go play?"
"Awww..." the pups pouted as they stood and were ushered away by the other adults. Zuri, Panya, and Penda stayed behind. Sly dropped down from the vine that was tied to his ankles, untying it when he reached the ground. Timon helped him to keep his balance as he untied himself.
"So much for today's accurate history lesson," Sudi said as tossed his stick puppets aside.
Pumbaa shook his head hard to get the leaves off his ears and then rubbed his snout to get the berry off. "I thought we were doing a re-enactment?"
"That depends on who you ask, Pumbaa," Sly said as he dusted himself off. "Personally I thought it was just a show for the kids who got bored of the story being told regularly, and wanted to see adults act like idiots for the sake of entertainment."
"I prefer to call it a low-budget stage show," Timon said as he folded his arms across his chest. "It'd be better, but we've got sentries on the look-out for whoever's making these tunnels. And those sentries have sentries... and those sentries who have sentries have sentries."
Zuri stepped up to Timon and leaned against him. "Yeah, I heard about Uncle Max. He must've become some kind of tunnel magnet." She let out a few giggles.
Timon gave his mate an irritated look. "You're thinking about my 'tunnel klutz' days, aren't you? You always get some kind of kick out of 'em." Zuri let out a few more giggles as she stood on her own.
Penda chuckled. "I'm sorry to say, Timon, but those are amusing stories," she spoke up. "At least they're amusing now because we live in a society without regular tunnel digging... current mystery diggers excluded."
"It was anything but amusing, Penda, even before Buzz died," Panya said as she stepped up next to Timon. She licked a paw, pulled him down to her level, and combed his hair, to which Timon glowered slightly. "Timon never did well in the digging crew at any age. He was never seriously injured by anyone… although he almost was once or twice."
Timon pulled away from his mother, looking a bit desperate. "Ma, please. I don't need to be reminded of Kano…" His combed down hair poofed up, and then he fixed it to its normal mess. "Too late, I just thought of him."
"Who's Kano?" Pumbaa asked.
"A strong meerkat with a very short fuse and not above striking down pups if they anger him," Panya said, looking like she was slowly growing angry from the memory.
"But there's no Kano in the colony… did he get eaten before you came to the oasis?" Zuri asked.
"Not exactly."
"Did we miss the show?" The group suddenly became silent as Barika approached the group. Shani was perched on top of the warthog's head. Barika stopped near them and sighed. "I knew we were gonna miss it."
"We missed it because we got sidetracked by those beetles," Shani said, resting her chin in her paw.
"But they were huge and so tempting..."
"You're telling me?" Shani dusted herself off and coughed once. "I was the one to dive in under that tree after them. Too bad they were kinda bitter."
"Eh, you didn't miss the show... it's just kinda postponed for a while," Sly spoke up. He then cleared his throat and began to walk away. "I'm gonna go clear my head for a while, and then I'll come back and won't miss my cue."
"Good luck with that," Timon called after his brother.
"Guess that gives us a little more time. We'd better go check on the pups," Penda said as she tugged on Sudi's paws, pulling him away from the group.
Panya noticed the group had begun to shrink, and decided to continue it. She took Zuri by the wrist and began to lead her away. "I'll tell you about him without Timon with us." Zuri nodded and walked away with her. Timon grimaced as he watched them go.
Shani blinked at the departing meerkats, and then tilted her head to the side, sensing some uneasiness from Timon. She slid of Barika's side and approached him. "Is something wrong, Dad? I've got these vibes..."
Timon cleared his throat and put on a smile when his daughter stopped in front of him. "Of course not! Your Uncle Sly just messed up his part in the re-enactment, and earlier your Uncle Max found another tunnel. I'm just a little annoyed."
Shani nervously smiled as Timon wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Another one, huh?" Barika, who had walked over next to her father Pumbaa, looked worriedly at Shani. She wished she would be honest with her parents. Shani, meanwhile, wanted some answers to her questions without her being suspected as the mystery digger. "Say, why are you against tunnels anyway?" She tried to look annoyed. "No one's ever told me the reason. I mean, it's just a bunch of holes in the ground."
Timon blinked, somewhat surprised at her question. He didn't want to tell her about his old life before the oasis. "Well... uh... I'm against tunnels because... well, lemme put it to you this way: tunnels are like potholes."
"Potholes?" Shani asked with a wrinkled brow and nose.
"Potholes?" both Pumbaa and Barika asked each other.
"Yes, potholes. They're a hazard risk. Not healthy. Take what's been happening to Uncle Max lately, for example. He's walking along, thinking about sticking his nose into somebody else's business, steps onto a bed of sticks and leaves that's covering a hole, and then wham! He drops four feet into the earth. He hasn't gotten seriously hurt yet, but he won't always be lucky. At least if someone keeps trying to cover up their little fox hole."
"A fox has been digging the holes?" Shani asked, looking confused. "... Wait, a second. What's a fox?"
Timon waved his paw. "Never mind. The point is, tunnels are ugly, stir up a lot of dirt, are hard to get rid of and fixed to grow grass again, and are dangerous. The wrong move or start digging too close to the surface can be dangerous. Soon as we find out who's been digging we'll set them straight." Shani winced softly, trying to think about what he would have in mind.
She wanted to get as many answers as she could without being considered weird for asking. She said with a half-amused chuckle, "Why would someone want to dig anyway?"
Her father merely shrugged. "Ya got me, kid. Aside from going after some bugs I never liked dig--" Timon gulped when he realized he said too much. Shani gasped and ducked out from under his arm. Barika swallowed as she watched. Pumbaa's face winced at Timon's slip.
"What? Dad, you... you used to dig?" Shani was hurt, but tried not to look it. Instead she tried to look confused. The expression she let her father see was a mixture of both.
Pumbaa arched a brow at Timon, as if telling him to tell her the truth about meerkats. The meerkat noticed, and sighed. "Not just me, Shani... your mother, grandmothers and grandfathers, your aunts and uncles... the whole colony used to dig tunnels." Shani let out a few confused breathes of air, trying to understand. Timon clasped a paw onto her shoulder. "Look, a long time ago before Uncle Simba became king all we ever did was dig tunnels to hide and hide to dig. It was a shameful existence. It's the same for every meerkat colony outside of the oasis. But since we came here we never had a need for digging or hiding."
"I... see..." Shani meant it more than she let on. "We used to dig, but now we don't because we don't have to hide. Our colony's no longer shameful."
"That's right," Timon smiled and released her shoulder. "Makes me glad we live in the oasis, where it's safe. Now I think I'll finish that nap that Uncle Max so rudely interrupted earlier." Timon scurried onto Pumbaa's back. "We'll see you later, girls. Let's go, Pumbaa." Pumbaa nodded, gave Barika a light nudge before he walked away, leaving Shani and Barika alone.
Barika waited until they were out of sight before she padded over to Shani and lowered her face to her level. "Can you believe it? You're not doing weird stuff!" she said cheerfully.
Shani watched after the direction Timon and Pumbaa left. "Yes, I am. Meerkats don't do that 'weird stuff' anymore, but I am doing that 'weird stuff.' Why would he never tell us about it?" She looked hurt. "Here I've always felt out of place because of those urges, and... and it's hereditary? We used to dig?"
"Then maybe Kito has those same urges! You wouldn't be so alone."
Shani's eyebrows jumped. "... I guess it wouldn't hurt to ask." She scurried on top of Barika's back, who began to walk away from the area in search of Kito. "I just hope he doesn't put two and two together..."
To be continued...