I.

"Mama!" He squealed as he watched the two primates being carted away. "Daddy!"

Ruendi screeched as cold, solid bars met his wiggling arms, trying to reach the lock that secured him in his cage. Other primates like him were hollering out as well, some tried to pick their locks and others were so frightened with rage that they looked to be going insane. A pair of dark figures passed over the monkey lion which caused him to back away into a barred corner, trembling in a small, orange-and-black ball as the two muttered amongst themselves, "Export," One of them said, "Africa. Before morning."

"Mama! Daddy!" Ruendi cried out as one of the figures picked his cage up and left.

"Make sure it gets to the preserve; don't want those biologists poking around looking for these Tamarins." The other figure said as it groped both of the grown up primate's cage handles and took off in the other direction. "Raiding's easy, traveling' is tricky."

"No," Ruendi said quietly. "No…" He looked over at his sister already loaded inside of a dark jeep. "Dakarai!" the primate peered over at his sister. She met his eyes sadly and curled up tightly. "Sister?" He would've said more, but he could only say names.

"Mama, Daddy," Ruendi said groggily and then, more loudly, "Mama! Daddy!"

He suddenly came awake, flying up from where he lay within a bushel of bushes.

"Simba?" He folded the large tropical leaves aside. "Where are you?"

Frightened, the monkey lion knuckled his way across the jungle floor in search of his friend. He peered around and behind plants, not use to being the one left on his own. It was he who could come and go on his own. Simba knew that. But then, where was he? Ruendi began to whimper softly, thinking that he had been abandoned when very suddenly a presence lingered over him. He gasped, circling around as Simba's broad grin peered down at him. Ruendi laughed and ran over to scale up to the lion's head.

"There you are!"

"What?" the lion laughed a little as he turned around. "Didn't think I left, did you?"

"Well," Ruendi grinned himself. "Not for forever."

"Ruendi," Simba said with seriousness this time. He stopped at a large rock and let his head tilt down to level the small primate onto the top of it. "I promised you that I was going to help you find your family, and the only way will be to leave this jungle."

"You," Ruendi started. "You mean forever?"

"We'll leave the back way," Simba nodded over shoulder, trying to get Ruendi to get excited, "Explore the grasslands and beyond that. Y'know, sort of like an adventure?"

"No." He said bluntly. "Simba, it's very far away. I just had a dream… and – and…"

Simba nodded encouragingly. "And, what can you remember?"

"Coldness," Ruendi answered, "And black everywhere."

"You still think your sister is out there somewhere?"

The monkey lion sniffed. "Maybe."

"Then let's try it out," Simba grinned wickedly, rushing off into the thickly tangled thicket. Even as Ruendi protested he still pushed forward. "We have everything set!"

"Set?"

"Let's see," Timon spoke, mostly to himself, as he took inventory, "A week's worth of bugs?" Simba, donning vine-strewn saddle bags, nodded and said a sure, 'Check!'

"A week's worth of water?"

The lion checked the side of his golden-brown fur bulging with leaf-leaking canteens.

"Check." He turned a little sheepish as the merekat poked the bulges with his stick.

"Right, and, uh, common sense?"

Simba opened his mouth and then closed it, he narrowed his eyes downwards.

"So says the guy who's not even writing anything down."

"It's just for show! At least I'm not actually doing something anti-Hakuna Matata."

"No, it's pro-Hakuna Matata." Simba argued calmingly. "Family values, remember?"

Timon noted the forcedness the lion was using and shrugged. "Just be careful, kid."

"I really wish ya didn't have to leave," Pumbaa snuffled as he approached them all.

"I really wish I didn't have ta too." Ruendi said sadly, moving down from Simba to give the warthog a quick embrace. "But maybe my family's out there somewhere."

"And the sooner we leave, the sooner we can see if your family's out there."

Ruendi looked up at Simba. "You really think they might be?"

"We'll never know until we try." The lion winked with a smile.

Excitedly, Ruendi scampered up his arm and came to rest on his mane.

"Bye guys," Simba looked at all of them, "Timon, Pumbaa, thank you all." He turned to the animals at the back, and saw that even Kurou had stopped by on top of a mossy tree branch above. He nodded at the black leopard who nodded back. "Let's go then."

Ruendi grasped the top strands of the lion's mane bangs and wrinkled his tan nose.

"Bye Timon, bye Pumbaa, bye taper lady, bye Kurou, bye…" He grinned at Simba.

"Ready?"

The monkey lion considered things a moment and then nodded. "Ready!"

With early morning beginning to summon in the eastern half of the sky, Simba took off from the jungle's tree lines with the animals calling and waving after them. They looked back at all of them, bidding them farewell as well. From there, the lion and – of course – the monkey lion smiled at each other and headed out into parts unknown.

To be continued…