"Oh my goodness. This... this is..." Dalia's voice trails off, trying to find words to describe the situation at hand.

"A mess," Imba finishes flatly. "A big, fat mess."

Kijana has been found. Apparently, the jackal pup had stormed into the Outlands after an explosive argument with her mother. Unbeknownst unto her, she had been stomping over a vast collection of underground aardvark tunnels, thinly covered by earth.

Now, this is where it gets complicated. Very complicated.

As she was walking across this very vulnerable area, a passerby croc from Kiburi's float noticed her and tried warning her. In the process, the already unstable ground could not support the combined weight of the crocodile and Kijana, and the ground gave way underneath them. The ground giving way underneath them sent the two spiraling into the connection of underground tunnels built by aardvarks. And they've been trapped in the tunnels for several hours now.

In fact, it was a pure stroke of luck that Imba even found them in the first place. She had been flying over the area when she heard a muffled cry for help. And when Imba went in for a closer look, she realized that they were stuck under the ground. Technically, there was one tunnel that led back to ground level, but it was too steep for them to climb. Imba tried diving into the tunnel herself to help them, but ended up overestimating the stability of the ground and, essentially, she caused a small cave-in.

The cave-in did no real damage to Kijana or the crocodile she was trapped with, but the rocks that had fallen in the cave-in did block their only way out.

After making sure they were okay, Imba decided not to attempt any more rescue missions and instead came to find Dalia and Reirei. The former is currently staring wide-eyed at the situation before her, and the latter is slowly going insane knowing that her daughter is in danger but out of reach.

"Momma's here, baby. I'm gonna get you out, I promise. I just needa..." Reirei trails off as she begins frantically digging at the border of rumble that separating her from her daughter. As she digs the ground starts trembling. Dalia's not sure of it at first, and she needs to press her ear flat against the ground to make sure that she's not imagining it.

"Oh no," Dalia whispers.

Imba's apparently come to the same realization, and her eyes suddenly go all wide. "She's going to cause another cave-in," hisses the eagle.

And as Dalia's jumping out to shove Reirei away before she can do more harm, the ground beneath them begins shaking mightly. Reirei seems startled and jerks out of the way, and Dalia suddenly hears the two trapped underground screaming their lungs out. Reirei begins sobbing at the sound and digging even more frantically, and Dalia has to physically restrain her so she doesn't make the matter worse.

"Stop it," hisses the lioness before shoving the jackal out of the way. "You're killing them!"

Reirei seems shocked into stillness, her mouth is frozen agape as she looks on helplessly at the tunnels collapsing. After a few moments, the screaming subsides into silence and the tunnels stop their never-ending collapse.

Dalia inches closer towards the sinkhole. "Kijana, can you hear my voice?"

A muffled cough sounds from under the earth. "Y-yeah. Just can't see you," replies the trapped pup.

"Obviously. We are trapped underground, after all," snaps another muffled voice from underground. The voice belongs to Tamka, the crocodile who had tried to warn her about the sinkhole and was subsequently trapped alongside Kijana.

"Are you hurt?" Reirei asks, knitting her brows together as she gets as close as she can to the sinkhole.

"No. We got hit by some falling debris, but we're fine. But another tunnel just collapsed."

Dalia feels her brows knitting together as she looks up at Imba. "Go scout around and find another entrance. We can't afford to have another tunnel collapse." The eagle nods a confirmation before taking flight. Once she's out of sight, she spins around to give a sharp look at the jackal behind her. "And you," she says, her tone harsh, "You need to calm down, Reirei. We'll figure out a way to get Kijana out, but you freaking out isn't going to help anyone."

"I get your point," Reirei says sharply, averting her dark eyes to the ground. Looking back on it, Dalia's sure that Reirei didn't mean for her reply to sound apathetic — but at this current time, it certainly sounds that way.

And the jackal's almost indifferent and nonchalant answer somehow fuels more fire under Dalia's belly. "No, I don't think you do," she snaps, "Tamka and Kijana could've gotten seriously hurt, you know that? You're just lucky that all your frantic digging didn't cause a fatal cave-in! Maybe you should sit this one out, and let me and Imba take care of it."

She instantly knows that the words that had slipped past her mouth were wrong and insensitive, but her realization came too late. Apologies are already forming in her mouth when she hears Reirei snarl at her. Dalia looks up to see the jackal's face contorted with agitation and anger.

Reirei's eyes are sharp with vexation. "When you lose a kid, then you can come and lecture me about not freaking out."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like—"

"You know, Janja was right," Reirei interjects bitterly.

"What're you talking about?"

"The day you joined this Army, Janja pulled me aside and told me that no good ever comes out of something when there's a lion involved. I didn't know what he meant at the time, but now I've got a pretty good idea."

Dalia's eyes narrowed to the point where they're nothing more than green-gray slits, "And what's that supposed to mean?"

The jackal huffs. "You guys think you're inherently better, wiser than any of the rest of us. I would've figured that at least you would be different, but no!" she snaps, drawing out the 'o.' "You-you're just like the rest of them! So oblivious to everything and you act like you know everything." She took a step closer, her eyes gleaming with an almost frightening amount of malice. "Listen up, Newbie, because I'm only gonna say this once.

"My kids are the most important things to me, so don't you dare tell me to sit this one out if the well-being of my daughter's on the line!" Reirei continues, "My kids are the whole reason I joined Scar's Army — the whole reason my family and I turned to thievery — in the first place. I was sick and tired of waiting around for the Great King of the Pridelands to provide us assistance in the territory dispute among the clans."

The lioness knitted her brows together, "What 'territory dispute'?"

"You really are oblivious," Reirei mutters before sighing, "Let me break this down for 'ya. There's limited space in the Outlands, and because our kind isn't allowed in the Pridelands ever since King Ahadi closed the borders, there have been territorial disputes between the different jackal clans for as long as I can remember. We tried so many times to get Mufasa, and even the king before Mufasa, to redact the rule and open back up the borders, but both of them refused.

"We jackals were refused help, and life became increasingly difficult for jackals like me," Reirei proceeds, "There's a reason me and my family turned to thievery — there wasn't another option! There's only one creature around who's capable of taking care of me and my children, and that creature's me." She narrows her eyes fiercely. "And I don't give two mouse-tails if I hafta step on someone else's toes to provide the best life for my kids. I never want them to have to go through what I went through as a pup. I never want them to go to sleep hungry or go days without water. And I refuse to let that be my children's story as well. I refuse to be weak."

"So why do you still do it?"

The jackal glares daggers at her. "Excuse me?"

"I mean, why do you continue to live like thugs? Even here, in Scar's Army," Dalia says, meeting the jackal's fierce gaze, "Don't think I haven't noticed your pups stealing more than their share of food. Or how your husband takes pleasure in regularly annoying and disgruntling Mzingo. You don't have to steal and step on anyone else's toes to get by anymore, yet you still do. Why?"

Reirei stares at her long and hard for a good moment before sighing a shaky exhale. "It's the only thing I know will get us by. It's hard to change when it's the only thing you know."

The jackal's eyes travel sadly to the cave-in sight. They were a good distance away, so Dalia doubts that Kijana and Tamka could've heard the heated conversation, but the lioness feels uncomfortable nevertheless. With another very shaky sigh, Reirei turns sharply on her heel and begins walking away.

"Where are you going?"

"I just need a minute," she replies tiredly.

...

"It's been an hour. "Where is Imba?" Reirei asks tersely.

The jackal matriarch returned from her 'minute' after about ten minutes. Dalia doesn't know where Reirei went, but she does know that her eyes had been red-rimmed when she returned. After her quick break, Reirei spent the remaining time staying close to the caved-in ground and assuring her daughter to stay calm and that everything would be okay. Imba, however, has shown face since she left to go look for more entrances, and her absence is starting to make everyone nervous.

Dalia shakes her head, pursing her lips together tightly. "She'll be here soon, I'm sure."

And, indeed (as if on cue), the eagle silhouette becomes visible against the searing afternoon sun. She flies closer towards them, her blue eyes narrowed in concern. She swoops down to perch on a rock that jutted out from the ground, her talons gleaming with the sunlight bouncing off them. Light glinting off pure black. Imba unfurled her wings, stretching them out for a moment before reporting her findings.

"Good news or bad news first?" she asks, cocking a brow.

"Bad," Dalia answers quickly.

"I found a tunnel opening, but I'm not sure if it'll lead to Kijana and Tamka," Imba says, "It's narrow and very short. It'll probably fit you, Dalia but I don't think it'll fit Reirei. And even if this new tunnel does lead to Kijana and Tamka, I'm also nervous about Tamka fitting under it. I'm sure he's short enough, but I think he's a little too wide to fit through. Kijana shouldn't be a problem."

"And what's the good news?" Reirei questions.

Imba grins awkwardly. "Uh, I found a tunnel?" she says, though it sounds more like a question. After seeing the unimpressed look Reirei's giving her, Imba quickly backpedals. "Here, let me take you to it."

Reirei and Dalia exchanged glances before deciding to follow the eagle, speeding their pace up to a swift run to keep up with the feathered companion. After what felt like forever of running on hot, sun-baked earth with the burning sun beating down on them, they finally arrived. Dalia skids to a stop, Reirei close behind her, as Imba swoops down and starts tapping the ground with her claws.

"Why'd we stop?" Reirei practically growls, sweating glistening above her brow.

"We've arrived," replies Imba.

Upon closer inspection, Dalia notices that the portion of sun-baked earth that Imba is tapping is actually a small divot in the ground. The lioness approaches it, and after pawing at it a little, some dirt begins crumbling and a very small, cramped tunnel makes its appearance. Dalia stares down the tunnel, and quickly understands the reason for Imba's earlier concern.

Reirei definitely couldn't fit, and while the tunnel is wider than it is tall, Dalia is suddenly very worried that even if this tunnel leads to Kijana and Tamka, Tamka wouldn't be able to fit.

"So what's the plan, Dal?" Imba asks quietly after a few moments of silence.

Dalia makes a 'tsking' noise, thrashing her tail in slight agitation. It's hard to think straight with the sun beating down on literally everything. The ground between her paws feels like hot coals, and when she caught sight of it a few minutes ago, her paw pads were bright red with agitation. Her whiskers twitch as a slick bead of sweat rolls down her cheek and slips between the wiry hair.

As another bead of sweat makes its journey to the parched ground beneath them, Dalia feels her heart drop to her stomach in dread.

"I got good news and bad news," says Dalia.

At the lioness' tone, Reirei knits her brows together in worry. "Why? What happened?"

Dalia grimaces before Reirei even finished her question. "The ground... it's too thin to protect them from the sun. If anything, it probably makes it even hotter. So if my guess is right, then that means that whatever heat we're feeling now—"

"Is amplified for Kijana and Tamka," Imba finishes, apparently catching on to what Dalia's trying to get at. Imba looks up at the sun steadily rising overhead. "So if we don't get to them soon, dehydration isn't what's going to kill them. Heatstroke is."

Reirei let out a whimper at the realization. "So are you telling me that we have, what—" she looks up at the sun, "—a few hours at best to save my daughter?" Neither Dalia nor Imba answer, which is an answer in and of itself.

"Well, what's the good news?" Imba asks urgently, "You said you had good news and bad news."

At this, the lioness gives a small, determined grin. "I think I've got a plan."


A/N: Sorry for the wait. It's been a ridiculously crazy past few weeks and my hands have been pretty much completely tied. Either way, I hope that you enjoyed this chapter. So basically, with the whole "tunnel heat" thing — think of it as what happens when you leave a kid in the car in the middle of the summer. It gets insanely hot inside the car. Same deal with the closed-off tunnels (as there's hardly any air getting in and out). I also hoped you enjoyed the backstory I gave Reirei. I always felt that the show, despite being otherwise captivating, really did a poor job of developing its villains. I get it — it's a kid's show, but that's hardly an excuse to slap together flat characters and make them the "main" villains of the story.

As always, any criticism/feedback/suggestions/questions are always happily welcomed. Also, feel free to shoot me a PM with any questions or suggestions.

~Maddie