I don't own any of the animals, apart from Colin
"So," Alex asked, when he and Vitani had finished breakfast, "you coming to see the lemurs?"
"Not today," Vitani replied, "I'm not fond of the sound or the crowds."
"Well, you know, you could try ignoring it," Alex replied.
"True," Vitani said, "but still, no."
"Not even for a little bit," Alex asked.
"Look," Vitani said, irritatedly, "how many times do I have to say 'no' before you get it?"
"Okay, no," Alex said, slightly nervously, "maybe somewhere else then?"
"Maybe," Vitani replied, "and now, if you'll excuse me." She left without looking back, and headed into the jungle.
Alex stared contemplatively after Vitani for a moment, then shrugged, and made his way towards the lemur's clearing.
"Hey Alex," Marty said, when he arrived.
"Hey Marty," Alex replied.
There was a moments expectant silence, then Marty asked, "so where's Vitani."
"Oh, she's not in the mood for being social," Alex replied, "probably didn't help that I tried to push her into it as well."
"Ah," Marty said.
"Yeah," Alex replied.
"Well, she's just going to have to learn to deal with it," Gloria replied.
There was a few more moments silence, then Melman said, "she seemed, a lot, calmer this morning than she had before." A glare from Gloria caused him to add, "at least, so I thought."
"Yep, same here," Marty said, "calmer and happier."
"Yeah," Alex said, "I helped her sort a few things out last night."
Marty raised an eyebrow at Alex for a moment, then said, "see buddy, I told ya, things'd begin to work out eventually."
"Uh-huh," Alex said, then, eager for a moment to free himself totally from Vitani's presence, asked, "so what's happening round here?"
Vitani pushed her way angrily through yet another thicket. She knew she had no real call to be angry, but if there was one thing that annoyed her more than anything else, it was manipulation, and especially if she were the target.
It wasn't all that either, because memories of last night had left her with a renew longing for the Pridelands, and since she not the faintest idea where she was, it was making her depressed, which was stirring her anger further.
Anger didn't last though, and as Vitani finally began to calm down, she realised she hadn't really been keeping track of where she was going, and the jungle seemed to closed up behind her, covering her trail.
Still, even if being lost was downheartening in a way, Vitani found it somewhat uplifting as well, since now she at least had something to do. Turning back to vaguely the way she had come, she set off.
After some time, Vitani was sure she should have come to the beach, and wondered if she'd been going in the wrong direction. Still, she thought, if she kept going in a straight line, she was bound to come out 'somewhere', so she kept going.
Some time later, Vitani was still lost, and more annoyed. Sighing angrily, she asked, "ah, where the hell am I?"
"Got lost did you," Asked a voice behind Vitani, and the lioness whirled to see the speaker, who turned out to none other than Colin.
"What the heck are you doing here," Vitani asked.
"I could ask the same of you," Colin replied, "in fact, I did ask the same of you."
"How far am I from the beach," Vitani asked, ignoring Colin's question.
"Not far," Colin replied, "why, did you get lost or something?"
There was a few moments pause, then Vitani replied, "unfortunately."
"Well you ought to be more careful," Colin said, beginning to smile, "a girl like you can get into a lot of trouble in a place like this."
"Hey, I'm no girl," Vitani replied tartly, "and if get into trouble, just precisely how much help can you be?"
"Well I may not be much of a fighter," Colin replied honestly, "but you seem a little bit stuck right now, so maybe you should answer that one."
Vitani glared at Colin for a few moments, but he returned it, so she finally sighed and said, "okay, you win, which way to the beach?"
Follow me," Colin said, and headed off. After they'd been travelling for a while, he asked, "so what's biting ya?"
"What, d'you mean," Vitani asked, slightly more sharply than she'd intended.
"Well, let's just say, you don't exactly seem ecstatic at the moment," Colin replied, "fight with your boyfriend was it?"
"He isn't my boyfriend," Vitani replied coldly, "he's just a male who happens to slightly helpful on occasion."
"Whatever," Colin said, shrugging, "so what'd he do?"
"He tried to get me to go back to the lemurs," Vitani replied, "three times, he just doesn't know when to give up."
"Well, they're not that bad you know," Colin said, "I mean they're friendly and carefree and that."
"Yeah, I know," Vitani replied, "and they're also noisy and excitable, which is not something I really like."
"Each to their own I suppose," Colin said, "seems an awfully little thing to get angry about though."
"Well, you may have noticed that I'm not logical all the time," Vitani said, "I tend to get angry easily."
"So you're not angry you got lost then," Colin asked.
"I was, annoyed at it," Vitani replied, "it hadn't got quite as far as anger when you turned up."
"Good," Colin said, "'cause you must have had a pretty bitter life if you're going to get angry at that."
"You have no right to say about my life," Vitani replied brusquely.
"No," Colin asked, "well, keep that attitude up and you're not going to have very many friends left."
"I'll manage," Vitani replied, "believe me, I'll manage."
"Really," Colin asked, "then I guess you don't need me around now then, do you," and with that, he raced off into the jungle.
"Wha, hey," Vitani called, and tried to follow Colin, but had lost sight of him in moments. Oh, good going, she berated herself, what the hell'd you go and say that for? She cursed silently for a few more moments, then finally called, "okay, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have snapped like that, but right now, I'm feeling a bit annoyed, and more than a bit homesick."
Vitani wasn't sure what she was expecting, so, when a weight dropped onto her back then disappeared again, she spun to find Colin smiling up at her. "See," he said, "that wasn't so hard was it?"
"Don't you ever do that again," Vitani growled.
"Now now," Colin said, "you need me to show you the way out, remember."
"Oh, I remember alright," Vitani replied, "but afterwards..."
"But afterwards, nothing," Colin replied, remember, you still owe me for getting you to Grand Central Station."
"I saved your life before that though, remember," Vitani, replied, but in a more reasonable tone.
"Ah, details details," Colin said, but he was glad that Vitani at least appeared to have her emotions more under control.
"Yep, details," Vitani said, "now are we going to the beach, or are we going to stand around talking?"
"Let's go," Colin said.