I don't own any of the characters apart from Amili (Swahili for 'guide'), Najiri (Swahili for 'emigrate') and Amara (Swahili for 'help').


"How much further is it anyway," Gloria asked, "this place is baking me raw."

Najiri sighed, and replied, "not very far now." He was growing tired of her seemingly near-constant complaining, but then reminded himself that she wasn't being difficult, she was in fact remarkably resilient, but the journey they had made in the past moon was probably further than most hippos moved on land in a year, even two, and she'd sometimes spend days at a time out of water which must not have been a pleasant experience.

Not that Gloria was the only one suffering from the journey, for all his enthusiasm to begin with, Marty was also struggling, though for a totally different reason, he was feeling vulnerable. This also wasn't particularly unusual, he was the smallest of the group bar Alex, and had been the subject of the hunt of one predator or another several times, once a leopard had dropped onto his back, and another time he'd been chased for some distance by a pack of hunting dogs, only managing to escape that pursuit by running them up against a party of hyenas, and had returned to the group so shaken that they hadn't been able to make any progress at all the next day.

Now Marty's nerves were on edge again, and he looked around nervously, expecting the worst. After a few moments, he though he saw a shape, and backed away from it, blundering into Alex. "Hey, watch it Marty," the lion said, "what're you on about now?"

"I'm sure I saw a hyena up there," indicating a ledge. The terrain wasn't helping his fears either, the cliffs and bluffs restricted his vision, and every uneven shadow seemed to hide a danger.

Alex looked up where Marty was indicating, but didn't see anything, "ah, calm down Marty, you're seeing things."

"I'm not," Marty retorted, "I'm sure I saw..."

"There's nothing there," Alex said waving a paw at the definitely empty ledge, "you're jumping at shadows buddy."

"Easy enough for you to say," Marty muttered, glancing back up at the ledge.

"Indeed," Najiri said, "well whether or not Marty saw a hyena, we would do well to be on our guard." He didn't say anything more, but felt slightly glad that the zebra had purported to have seen a hyena, because he was beginning to think that he'd been the only one seeing indications of the scruffy carnivores.

Not long later, and to the gratification of both Najiri and Gloria, the group emerged at the river, though it wasn't a spot they would be able to cross, not with the six-foot bank on their side and the twelve-foot one on the other. "Where are we going to cross," Melman asked, "because there is no way, hey, I just saw a crocodile."

"Well crossing here is obviously going to be counter-productive," Najiri said, looking either way up the river to try and remember where the banks were more reasonable, "but don't worry about the crocodiles, there are ways to deal with them."

"So which way," Marty asked, a touch anxious at having hyenas one side and crocodiles the other.

"I believe it was this way," Najiri said, taking the lead, "I'm not certain of course, but if I do turn out to be wrong we can always go the other way anyway."


"Well it's less of a drop," Alex said, looking down at the river, "but there's still crocodiles in it, like that one there."

"Indeed there are," Najiri said, "but as I said, there are ways to deal with them, Amili?"

"Coming father," Amili said, following Najiri, who was watching the crocodile carefully. When they were both on the bank, he nodded at her and on cue she began to splash her hoof in the water. It took a few moments for the crocodile to react, but then it came gliding over, and in a moment, charged.

Things didn't go to plan for the crocodile however, as Amili dodged, barely, and Najiri kicked out at the reptile, striking it on the shoulder, hard. The crocodile hissed in pain, and twisted, trying to get away, but was slow enough for the giraffe to catch it a second blow near the base of the tail as it retreated. As soon as it was in deeper water the crocodile took off downstream, not stopping for some distance. Successful, the older male giraffe turned to the others, and said, "it should be safe now."


"Sire, sire, urgent news," Amara said, landing beside Kovu, he knew he wasn't supposed to be here how, certainly not during mealtimes, but he considered the news urgent enough to be worth it.

"What is it Amara," Kovu asked, turning away from his meat.

"Sire, I wish to report an odd incursion out on the border," Amara said, "a hippo, a zebra, a lion and three giraffes have just crossed into the Pridelands and appear to be heading this way."

"That's odd," Kovu said, then looked up at Simba, "any advice?"

Simba nodded, and asked, "how long will it take them to get here Amara?"

"At their current pace," Amara replied, "well some time, maybe mid afternoon."

Kovu thought for a few moments, then said, "continue gathering the afternoon report, but report back immediately if they change course or speed, understood?"

"Completely sire," Amara said, "sorry to have bothered you, but..."

"No, you were right to do it," Kovu said, "but go on, get out there again." Amara bowed a moment then flew off.

Silent witness to the event, Nala considered her options, then, with a touch of rebellion, slipped away from the group, making sure no-one was following her, and headed for the gorge. She'd probably get into trouble for this she knew, but the punishment wouldn't be much, and she was quite ready to take it.


Vitani was relaxing in the shade of the rocks picking over the last remains of the young gazelle when she heard paw steps approaching, and a moment later, a voice, "Vitani."

"Nala," Vitani said, turning, "what's up?"

"There's been an incursion into the Pridelands," Nala replied, smiling faintly, "a hippo, a zebra, a lion, and three giraffes."

"Three," Vitani asked, confused.

"That's what Amara reported," Nala replied, "sounds like they picked up a couple of friends."

"Yeah," Vitani said, then looked at Nala, "you realise you're going to get in trouble for doing this, right?"

"Uh-huh," Nala said with a half smile, "but exactly how much trouble can I actually get in?"

"A point," Vitani said, then grinned, "thanks for telling me."

"Any time," Nala replied.