Holy muffins,

But even if that is a lot, this chapter still should have been done waaaaay sooner XP. But stuff both in real life and stuff going on with the chapter itself came up and it became late(I'll go into more detail at the end of the chapter so you can read up first).

Before I let you go, let me take a minuet to give a round of thanks to all those who posted a review!


Kion26: Aww, thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter, and I'm sorry for the long wait!

erica. phoenix16: And thank you for reading, hun X3 Sorry it took so long to post a new chapter!

I-Love-Trunks1: He'll have to be on his toes, poachers are not people to mess with or take lightly X(Thank you so very much for your review hun!

A. E. Foxx: Thank you so much, it's nice to be getting more and more chapters posted. And oh yeah, we are definitely gonna be getting some more action! And no worries, I appreciate your review and I'm so very happy that you're enjoying the story!

yeetyeah091: Well here it is! Finally, right? XD I hope you like the read!

MillieBelle: Sorry it took me so long to post XP hopefully it ends up being a good chapter for you! I bet Ryan wishes his mother would come to his rescue too!

bored411: Yaaas, the evil cliffhangers! Muwahaha! can't wait to see how things go. Oh I have such big plans for the coming chapters! I hope they meet your expectations…or that they're satisfactory at the very least.

gwencarson126: Oh yes, very well said, hun! XD XD XD

Jestalnaker94000: There shall be no spoilers! You'll have to find out for yourself X3 X3 X3 And thank you so very much, we're all still going strong! I hope you're safe and well too!

Steelcode: Sorry, my lips are sealed! Or…is it my fingers that are sealed, because typing? You know what, it don't matter, you'll have to find out for yourself! XD XD XD We're doing pretty good over here, places are slowly starting to open back up, so we're cautiously hopeful things will be back to normal soon! (And thank you so much for your suggestions, his favorite is the cold spoon XD) Take care of yourself!

Interstate2011: Thank you so much again for spotting all those mistakes for me, gosh, I really was losing it in that chapter XP. I use Microsoft documents to write, but I think I might have just moved it over to Fanfiction and did a very brief look-see before I posted. I'll try and make sure that they're not trying to tell me there's something wrong with a sentence or a word before I move it.

As for the boots, I meant to call them 'snakeskin'. I actually switched up the sentence a little bit because it just didn't sound right.

Thanks a bunch for your review hun! I hope you continue to enjoy the story!

Dave Bennett: Yep, that was very fast thinking on Ryan's part! Poor guy, I'm just putting him through so much XP And thank you hun, I hope you're staying safe during all this as well! Let's hope the outbreak is over and done with very soon!

Jason Chandler: Thank you sooooo so very much! And oh yeah, let's hope he manages to get out of this!


Thank you all again so much for your reviews, it makes me so happy the hear that you like the story!

Now I won't hold you here any longer, go and enjoy the new chapter! :D:D:D


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Chapter 17: Too Good to be True


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'Mommy, why are you always gone for so long?' five-year-old Ryan asked in the middle of the story book his mother was reading to him before bed. 'I miss you when you're away.'

Kathrynne stopped reading and looked down at her son, thinking for a moment before she put the book down on his nightstand and rubbed his shoulder comfortingly.

'Oh sweetie, I miss you too, with all my heart.' His mother told him. 'But mommy's work is very important, and I have to be there often because there are bad people out there who think it's okay to hurt wildlife; it's my job to stop them.'

'Don't you get scared?' Ryan asked.

'A little bit, it can be scary to tell someone to stop doing something that's wrong.' Kathrynne admitted truthfully. 'But what I do plays a part in protecting animals, and I have to be brave.'

'Daddy says you don't have to be gone so much. He says animals like Leo already know how take care of themselves.' Ryan told her, showing her his stuffed lion toy. 'That's why they live outside all by themselves.'

'Well…daddy is right about animals knowing how to survive without our help.' Kathrynne began carefully, her nose wrinkling in slight annoyance. 'But try to understand, that's not always the case when it involves people; even though they're usually okay on their own, they can't defend themselves against things like guns.'

'Guns?' He knew what those were, his grandfather had a small collection in a big case that was always locked, and he absolutely was never allowed to go near it whenever he went for a visit.

'The bad people have lots of them, and that makes them think that they don't have to follow rules or respect nature.' His mother explained. 'And if I allowed them to keep thinking that way, then I'm sure there'd come a day when there would be no more animals left on earth.'

Ryan looked torn upon hearing this, he wanted his mother to stay home more, but he didn't want any poor animals to get hurt…

'Honey, I work so much because I want these special creatures to thrive; so they can live with their own families happily and safely,' Kathrynne said gently. 'And so many children just like you have the chance to see how amazing they are.'

'So you save animals because of me?' Ryan asked

'Of course,' Kathrynne assured with a nod of her head. 'The world would be sad without them around, don't you think?'

Ryan nodded, thinking very hard about something before an idea suddenly came to him.

'Then I'll come help, I wanna save animals too!' Ryan stated loudly, standing up on his mattress and puffing his little chest out in determination. 'I promise I'll be brave, just like you!'

Kathryne just barely managed to hold in a giggle at how cute he looked. She knew he was being very serious, so she didn't want to make him mad at her by laughing.

'I have no doubts you would be brave, Ryan, you have the potential to really make a difference someday.' She told him. 'But not just yet.'

'Aww…' Ryan whined, deflating with disappointment. But Kathryne had him look back up at her, offering him a gentle smile.

'I'll tell you what, once you're all grown up and you still want to help, then I'll show you how to make it happen.' She promised, winking an eye at him and lightly tapping the tip of his nose.

Giving her a smile, Ryan walked closer and wrapped his arms tightly around her neck which she gladly returned.

'Oh my baby, I love you.' She told him, tenderly running her fingers through his hair as the light, sweet smell of her floral perfume filled his nose. Ryan's smile grew bigger, feeling positively elated to hear her words and he tightened his hug. 'So very, very much.'

'I love you too, mommy.' Ryan said.



Ryan had forgotten about that night…it was one of the nicest memories he had of the little time he was able to spend with his mother at home. And when a groan escaped from his lips as his consciousness fought to climb through a haze, he wished that he would just fall back asleep to more happy dreams and away from the pounding headache he had.

But as he lay there, it was almost like he could still feel thin fingers running over his hair and he could also smell a faint hint of sweet, floral perfume in the air; but the more he came to, the he realized that he could still feel and smell them as well as hear a humming the tune of Frankie Vallie's 'Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You'. With every ounce of will power, he forced his eyes to open as he cracked open his eyes; the sun was directly above him, and while everything looked dark and blurry, he was still able to just barely make out a figure with a soft, feminine looking frame with shoulder length hair leaning over him.

"…Mom?" he asked, wondering if he was still dreaming as the humming stopped.

"I'm sorry, sugar." A strange voice apologized. "Your mother ain't here."

All weariness that Ryan was feeling was instantly chased away and his eyes snapped wide open until he saw that it really wasn't his mother, but a woman he had never seen before. And standing right behind her were three rough looking men.

The young man let out a strangled yell of surprise as he tried to stand and run away, but he ended up tripping over his own limbs and getting all tangled up in a blanket that had been placed over him.

"Whoa! Whoa, honey!" the woman cried, obviously startled at Ryans' reaction upon seeing her as she reached reach over and grab at his flailing arms as he tried to escape from his linen captor. "Now just hold your horses, you're safe, ain't nobody gonna hurt you."

Ryan calmed down, breathing in and out as he looked at her. She was tall and slender woman who may have been around his mother's age and rather pretty with her bright blue eyes and curly, dark brown hair that she wore in a low ponytail which rested over her left shoulder.

"Why don't we start with somethin' simple, nice and easy-like." the woman started when Ryan started breathing slower. "What's your name?"

He wanted to tell her, it was literally the easiest question to answer, but he found that he was unable to get any words out. It had been so long since he had even seen another person, much less spoken to one, that he didn't quite know what to do besides stare.

"My name's Matilda Warden." The woman said, breaking the rather awkward silence that fell between them. She had this strong southern drawl and her full red lips turned up in a friendly smile where he noticed a little beauty spot on her chin, which rested just under the left side of her face near the corner of her mouth. "But folks are welcome to call me Tilly."

The woman, Tilly, held out a hand to which Ryan only looked at, numbly noting to himself that she seemed to be more conscientious of taking care of her hands then his mother was, judging by her callous free palm and long, neatly manicured red nails.

After a moment, he looked back up at her and slowly took it in his own before giving it a shake.

"There we go, now ain't that nice?" Tilly said, that nice smile still set on her face. "Go on and tell Miss Tilly your name too, sugar."

"R-Ryan." He finally said, grimacing at how hoarse his voice both felt and sounded. "Ryan Morris."

"Alrighty, it's nice to meet you, darlin'." Tilly said before she noticed him eye the three men warily. "And don't be scared of them none, this here's, Bill, Roy and my brother Liam, they're part of my team and they helped carried you to our camp; do you remember what happened?"

Ryan looked down, trying his best to pulled his memory from the haze he still had in his head. Thankfully, it didn't take long for everything to come flooding back.

"Poachers!" he exclaimed loudly. "There's poachers here!"

"We know, that's why we're here." The dark-haired woman said. "We got tipped off that they had settled here and we've been lookin' for them. It's a good thing they got you with a dart and not anythin' worse."

Ryan finally took notice of their cloths after she said that, all three of them were dressed in khaki uniforms and cargo shorts, the same kind that his mother and her team always wore.

"You're lucky we arrived when we did, lord knows what they would've done to you." Tilly said. "Did you happen to see what they looked like? Did you catch any names?"

"No, no I didn't." Ryan said, starting to allow himself to relax a little more. "I passed out before I could see their faces, and they didn't speak. But one of them was wearing a pair of these ugly snakeskin boots, I can remember that."

Tilly sat back with a sigh and a look of disappointment on her face that made Ryan feel a little bad that he couldn't tell her anything very useful. But after a moment, she turned to one of her teammates.

"Bill, could you bring it over?" she asked.

Bill, a lanky looking man with brown eyes and blond hair sticking out from under a dusty baseball cap got up and headed over to one of the two jeeps that were parked across the way.

"They dropped this when they saw us comin'," Tilly explained as Bill pulled out something long, and kind of big, that was wrapped up in a cloth from the backseat and brought it back over. Once he had given it to her, she untied the string that held it together and presented him with a broken tusk that had lines of dirt packed in every little groove.

That had to be the tusk Ma Tembo lost in her fall.

"Do you at least know if they managed to kill an elephant?" Tilly asked him, looking at him rather intently.

Ryan paused for a moment as he looked down at the tusk, he already knew that Ma Temba was alive and well somewhere in the jungle with her herd, but he wasn't sure about how much he should say to her. Even though they saved him from the poachers, and he was grateful for that, he knew absolutely nothing about these guys.

Maybe he should avoid saying anything that could lead to more questions that would be very hard to answer.

"I don't know." The boy finally said. "I haven't seen a carcass or blood or anything. It was already empty when I got there."

"I see," The woman stated, again with a disappointed expression on her face upon the lack of knowledge she was given as she wrapped the tusk back up and handed it over to Bill. "Well, let's hope that the poor thing was able to get out without injury."

"Yeah, yeah, that's all fine and dandy." The one who looked like he lived in a gym, Liam, suddenly said in a gruff and impatient tone. "Would ya mind tellin' me what some kid's doin' all the way out here?"

Ryan looked at him with a guarded gaze, he had the same blue eyes as Tilly, but his dark brown hair was styled in a crew cut and he looked like he lived in a gym. And while Tilly came off as warm and nice, he seemed to be the polar opposite as he wore this hardened and mistrustful expression.

"Please excuse my brothers rudeness, our poor mama never was able to teach him any manners." Tilly said, shooting Liam a dirty look before she returned her attention to Ryan. "But I am rather curious to know why a youngin' like you is all by his lonesome. You sound American, have you come to Africa on some school trip?"

"No, I actually live here with my mom." Ryan told her.

"Really." Tilly stated in surprise. "All the way out here?"

"Well, not here, we have a camper that we live in, but that's somewhere else." He said awkwardly, noticing the look of confusion on her face. "I'm sorry, I know it's hard to believe, but I don't actually know where it is; a while ago, there was an...accident and I ended up stranded by myself."

He looked down at the ground with a sad look, thinking about his dream as it reminded him how much his missed home.

"I haven't been able to find my way back since." He confessed.

"There was that big fire goin' on several miles back." Roy, a pretty husky guy wearing a cowboy hat over his bald head said. "Must've been how they got separated."

Ryan knew he was talking about that fire he started to save Kiara from Zira. That wasn't the accident he was talking about, but he decided to keep that to himself as a fire is much more believable than a ghost lion kidnapping him from home in order to protect his still living family members.

"Oh, you poor thing," Tilly began, moving closer to sit next to Ryan as she put a comforting arm around him. "You mother must be worried sick about you!"

The young man stayed silent as he let her hug him. He wondered how long had it been since he was last held by another person…it must have been a while because he didn't remember how nice it felt.

"We'd love to help you find your way back, but it looks like it'll be dark before we even make it to the nearest village," Tilly said, looking out to the horizon where the sun was already getting low. "So I'll tell you what, you'll stay with us for the night."

After that, it was like someone hit a pause button on the camp as Bill and Liam looked down at Tilly in surprise. Roy probably would have been doing the same thing, but he was too busy choking on a drink of water he had taken before.

"Stay with you?" Ryan repeated, looking just as surprised as they were. He couldn't stay, Nala must have told Simba and the pride what happened at the poachers' trap by now, he had to get back to them so they wouldn't worry any longer than they probably were.

The trouble was finding a good excuse to refuse their help…

"Tilly…" Liam started, a hint of warning in his voice, but he was ignored.

"We won't take 'no' for an answer!" Tilly said firmly. "I can't in good conscience have you wandering around by yourself when I know you're out here on your own when we have plenty of food and fresh water here, and we have a little area down the way so you can shower; I can also set you up in one of our tents to sleep in tonight, too."

Ryan blinked, all thoughts of coming up with a reason to convince them to let him be on his way coming to a sudden halt as he stared at her.

"Did you say…shower?" he asked.

That earned a laugh from Tilly, Bill and Roy. Even Liam cracked a smirk at the hopeful tone the young man held in his voice as they got to their feet and set to work, and Tilly was an excellent hostess all by herself.

She first led him to the designated shower area and left him alone to use it with soap, actual soap. Once he was done and all cleaned up, with the exception of his cloths, he was feeling like a brand-new person as Tilly showed him around their campsite; It was pretty big, with a pair of those big safari tents that almost seemed like portable mini-houses.

And they had this steel tri-pod grill sitting over a big fire they had going and bright colored camping chairs set all around it along a few coolers that were filled with an abundance of junk food that he almost cried with joy upon seeing. Chips, burgers and hotdogs, soft drinks, items for sandwiches and, amazingly, graham crackers, marshmallows and Hershey chocolate bars.

If he didn't know that they were here searching for poachers, he would feel like he was on some epic camping trip.

One weird thing that did notice though was that they had one of those huge portable warehouses that set up away from their camp. It was hidden behind some clusters of trees, and he actually would have missed it if he didn't happen to see Liam walking away from it.

When he asked Tilly about it, she explained that was where they kept tools, gasoline and assorted inventory out of the elements and where they parked their jeeps during the night, so he just left it at that. He had more important things to focus on like stuffing his face with something other than dried jerky or fruit.

"Whew, I had no idea how much I missed S'mores!" Ryan said as he followed Tilly to the tents, feeling better than he had in a very long time thanks to a full stomach. "But I probably ate more then that I should have…"

"No worries, sugar, it'll do you good to fatten up some." Tilly said, giving Ryan's hair a friendly rustle. "You're too skinny, folks'll end up thinkin' you're a scarecrow when they soon as look at you."

Ryan smiled at her statement as he patted his hair back down in its place. He had always been a little on the thin side for his whole life, but he noticed that he definitely became a little leaner during his stay with Simba and the pride; And he was pretty proud to say that even his muscles looked a bit more defined too.

"Are you sure I can stay here, though?" Ryan asked, hesitating a bit. "I'm sure you like your privacy."

"It's only for one night." Tilly assured as she stopped before the door to her tent. "The boys can get mighty rowdy, and I'm sure you don't fancy the smell of sweaty socks."

Ryan let out a soft laugh as she disappeared inside, no, sweaty smells really weren't all that nice.

"You know, I really appreciate all your help, Tilly." the young man told her with sincerity.

"Shoot, I ain't doin' nothin' any other decent person would do." The woman said, waving it off. "But, if you truly want to thank me, I won't say no to a big cup of coffee; and I'd love to meet your mom once you find her."

"My mom." Ryan began, looking down to his feet as his smile slowly faded away. "yeah, I bet you'd like her."

"What's wrong, honey?" Tilly asked with worry as she noticed his somber demeaner.

"The last time I saw her, we had a fight." Ryan admitted, feeling his stomach grow heavy with regret. "I pretty much told her that she cared more about her job then she cared about me...why couldn't I just suck it up and say 'I love you' before she left?"

He felt a gentle pat on his cheek and he looked up to see Tilly with a comforting smile on her face.

"You'll just need to apologize the second you see her; though, I'm sure she'd be happier to have you back alive and well rather than be stuck on some silly fight she had with her teenage son." She told him, which managed to make Ryan give a small smile as he nodded his head in agreement. "Now come along, let's get you set up."

She then pulled open the door of the tent and walked inside, and following after her, Ryan took in the sight of this tent that looked more like a spacious studio apartment. At the center, there was a small coffee table that had a couple of fold-up chairs set behind it. And at the back corner of the tent, she had a cot set up that had an actual mattress on it and an insect net hanging above it like a canopy.

Straight across to the right of it was a tall dresser that sat next to a vanity table that was covered in hair ties, a brush and many, well-used cosmetics supplies.

"I hope you don't mind usin' the spare cot." Tilly said as she pushed aside the folding privacy screen that was set up near her bed to reveal a large, portable tin closet. "I'd take it myself, but I need a softer mattress for my back and I really don't want bugs flyin' in on me."

"That's no problem." Ryan said as she opened the doors, walking over and taking the folded cot from her as she pulled it out. "A cot is a major upgrade from the ground."

Tilly let out a short chuckle and turned back to grab some of the extra sheets and a pillow from the top shelf; Ryan waited for her patiently, but he blinked when he suddenly noticed something at the bottom of the closet. He looked down to take a better look, and almost immediately, his eyes widened and his mouth dropped in shock.

Because sitting right there, in plain view, was pair of snakeskin boots…

The young man stood there dumbstruck, absolutely sure that his heart was about to give out from how fast it was beating when he saw those boots, the very same ones he saw standing in front of him seconds before he passed out. He watched her back as she seemed to take notice of them before she quietly nudged the boots off to the side with her foot until they were a little more out of sight.

When she started to turn around, he moved his body off to the side and made it look like he had been looking for a spot to set up the cot.

"Here you go." Came her cheery voice, and he turned back around to face her as soon as he heard her close the doors of the closet. "This ought to make things a little extra comfortable."

Ryan said nothing as he stood there staring at her, trying to hide how angry and scared he felt as he took in the friendly smile on that pretty face. Was that really all just a big charade she conjured up to keep him from finding out the truth? If so, then who was this woman really?

His mind was racing, was she really the poacher he saw? Was she also the one who tried to shoot Nala? What was she and those three guys really planning to do with him tomorrow?

"You alright, darlin'?" Tilly asked, breaking him from his thoughts with a jolt. "You look like you've just seen the devil himself."

"…More like herself." He whispered under his breath, avoiding her eyes as reached forward and took the sheets and pillow from her.

"What was that?" The woman asked as she hadn't been able to hear him.

"Sorry, I-I'm alright. I think I'm just really tired." Ryan said, forcing a small smile on his face. "It's been a long day, so I...I should probably set this up and turn in early."

"Say no more, I understand completely." Tilly said, patting his back before she turned and walked out. "Rest easy, and If you need anythin', just give us a holler."

"Yeah right," Ryan said in a low voice. "I'll rest when I'm far away from here!"



Later That Evening…



It had to be the most grueling wait Ryan had ever gone through laying still on that cot. Listening to every little sound that was made outside the tent, the snapping of twigs, the random busts of laughter he heard from the three men over some random funny thing was said between them.

Eventually, the noises outside began to die down until all he could hear was the crackle of the fire. They must have been turning in for the night.

He tensed when he heard someone enter the tent, knowing that it was Tilly from the lighter footsteps and her voice humming the tune to 'Can't Take My Eyes Off of You.' before she let out a tired sigh. At one point, he realized she was no longer moving around, and he had to fight his instinct to turn around and see what she was up to.

But it was nerve wracking to just sit there, trying to keep absolutely still and pretend to be sleeping when a poacher who was capable who knows what. He tried to calm down, but it was hard when he could hear his own heart pounding in his ears and his brow become damp with sweat.

Just what was she doing?

At the sound of a bed rustling, Ryan slowly let out a breath he didn't even realize he had been holding in. He waited for several more minuets until he felt comfortable enough to move, and ignoring the stiffness in his joints after hours of laying in one spot, he glanced over to Tilly's bed.

He could make out her figure under the bug net, laying on her side with her back to him. And when he saw the steady rise and fall of her shoulder, he figured she was asleep and it was safe enough from him to make his move.

He slowly slipped off his cot and tiptoed across the floor, taking extra care to make as little noise as possible. And when he made it to the door, he peeked out and looked around the camp. It had to be very late as was pretty dark, but the campfire made plenty of light for him, and thankfully, the coast was clear.

But when Ryan crept out of the tent and was about run off into the jungle, he stopped when he saw that their vehicles were still sitting out in the open. Didn't Tilly say that they parked them in that huge warehouse the had just down the way?

He glanced over at the area where the portable building stood, thinking to himself. If they weren't keeping their vehicle or gas inside, then what else could they be using it for?

He stood there for a few moments feeling conflicted. He knew that the best option for him right now was to run away while everyone was asleep…but he just couldn't shake the feeling that he needed to investigate and find out exactly what he was dealing with here.

After he finally made up his mind, he started his way towards the warehouse.

It was a little difficult to watch where he was going as he kept tripping over roots, and nearly got a heart attack every time he broke a stick after stepping on it. But thankfully, he didn't have too far to go when he finally made it the portable building.

Stopping at the door, he looked around to make sure no one was watching before he quietly slipped inside. And in the dim light that was provided by some lantern as they hung along the ceiling, his eyes grew wide as everywhere he looked he could see crates and tons of animal cages.

He hesitantly walked further in, taking note of everything he could.

Along with many sizes of cages, he spotted an abundance of cage traps, toothless leg traps that ranged in sizes from small to large, snares, several hanks of rope and while most of the crates were labeled as 'provisions', there were many others that were labeled 'ammunition'; And the answer to what those ammunitions were for came in the form of a large stand that was completely filled with an assortment of guns.

Feeling like he had seen enough, Ryan quickly backed away from the gunrack with the intent to get out of there as quickly as possible; Only to stop when out of nowhere, he got a whiff of an awful smell that made him gag. After burying his nose in the sleeve of his hoodie, he looked around to see if he could track down the source until something hanging in a dark area made caught his eye.

He squinted, trying to will his sight to adjust as slowly stepping towards it as he tried to figure out what it was; The closer her got, the more he realized that they looked a lot like...furs.

Ryan gave a horrified gasp, backing away so fast that he roughly collided into something metal with a painfully loud 'clang!' and cried out when an even louder snarl made him jump away before he spun around to see that he had accidently bumped into a cage which contained a very angry female king cheetah. She growled warningly, her beautiful, bold spotted coat standing on end as she stared at him with her jade green eyes for a few seconds, then she turned away and slowly laid herself down without another sound; he didn't even have the chance to think about giving her an apology for scaring her when he suddenly heard something else.

"That one looks different from the others…" a little voice whispered.

"So what? Don't look at him at all!" another young sounding voice scolded. "Uncle's always telling us man is evil, remember? Every one of them!"

Ryan looked around for the source of the voices, wondering if he might have just been hearing things until he spotted a smaller cage that was sitting on top of a crate a few feet away from him. And as he walked over to it, he saw that there were a pair of canine pups sitting inside of it.

"Is he gonna hurt us?" The male pup with honey brown eyes asked in a trembling voice as he huddled close to his golden eyed sister.

"Of course not, I wouldn't hurt anybody." Ryan assured in a gentle voice and he knelt down before them as they looked at each other in surprise.

"You can hear us?" the boy pup asked.

"Yeah, I can hear you. Don't ask me how though, because that's kind of a long story." Ryan said with a friendly smile. "Who are you guys? Can you tell me your names?"

They didn't answer his question at first as they weren't sure if they could trust him, but they soon decided to give him a chance and relaxed a little.

"I'm Akachi." The little girl pup said, trying to act a little braver for her sibling. "This is my brother Akuchi."

"Those are great names, mine's Ryan." The young man told them earnestly. "Are you two doing alright? How long have you been here?"

"We don't know." They answered together, which got them a confused expression from Ryan. How could they not know?

"A while back, we weren't feeling very good, our mother and our pack were always away trying to find extra food for us." Akuchi explained, looking down at his paws as he tried his best to recall what he could. "I think we were moving around a lot, but we were always tired and sleeping, so we don't remember much."

"We don't know when we got here, we just woke up and the scary ones were there…" Akachi said, her little muzzle wrinkling in distaste. "They're not very nice, but they've been feeding us and we're feeling much better, now."

Ryan nodded as he tried the door of the cage, but it had a pad lock on it.

"Who are you parents?" Ryan asked as he looked around for a key or something that he could use to get it open, but unfortunately, there was nothing he could use. "They must be looking for you, maybe I can find them tell them where you are."

"We lost our father a long time ago, so it's just our mother; she's called Imani." Akachi told him.

"But our uncle takes care of us, too, he's also a leader of our pack." Akuchi added, a small smile appearing on his face upon mentioning him. "His name's Buziba."

Ryan froze, thinking, hoping that he might have misheard heard the name.

But when he squinted his eyes and took a closer look at them, he could make out their marbled markings that were starting to appear on their legs. They were still very young, so most of the pattern in their fur hadn't come in yet and he didn't notice those that they had in the dim light.

So these were the sick pups Buziba mentioned before.

"Do you know uncle?" Akachi asked, tilting her head at Ryans' expression.

"We're…somewhat acquainted." The young man muttered.

"Is he coming for us?" Akuchi asked in a hopeful voice. "We miss our mother."

Ryan didn't know what to say, the last time he ever had a run in with their pack, Gamba and Zuberi said that Buziba was missing…but they must have been stolen by these poachers some time before he disappeared.

"I'm sure he's out there somewhere, wondering where you are and looking for you." Ryan finally told them, not wanting to worry them.

"Are you looking for someone, too?" Akuchi asked him. "Is it the pretty lioness?"

"Pretty lioness?" Ryan repeated, wondering what he was talking about.

"The three big ones brought a lioness outside when she was sleeping, I think they were talking about you, too." Akachi said, looking over at another exit on the other side of the tent. "They brought you here together, so that means you're friends, right?"

Ryan went silent as he thought back, the only lioness he had been with before getting shot with a dart was Nala. He was sure that she had managed to get away, but if they were telling the truth about seeing a lioness…

"Guys, I gotta go find her." Ryan stated, quickly standing to his feet. "I'll be back soon, and we're getting out of here!"

"You will?" they asked together, their little tails starting to wag at the thought of being free.

"It's a promise!" Ryan assured before as he rushed down to the back of the warehouse.

He was hoping, praying that it wasn't Nala the pups had seen, he was so sure that he saw her run off into the safety of the jungle before he blacked out. But as he burst outside, there, laying on the ground with shackles around her front paws and a chain and collar at her neck was the queen of the Pridelands herself.

"Nala!" He exclaimed, trying to keep the volume down before he ran over to her.

Upon hearing his voice, Nala's eyes snapped open, and she lifted her head to look at him. Once it seemed to register that it was her young friend coming towards her, she pushed herself up to a sitting position, which, Ryan noticed that it appeared to be a little difficult for her to do that simple action.

"Ryan," the lioness began, relief showing through the exhaustion he could clearly see on her face. "Thank goodness you're alright!"

"I thought you ran away, what are you doing here?!" Ryan demanded, looking her over for any injuries.

"When I saw that you weren't behind me, I turned back," The cream furred lioness explained as Ryan thankfully saw no wounds and began examining the chain collar around her neck. "You were surrounded and I tried to scare them off, but I felt these terrible stings on my neck and shoulder."

Ryan gave a sympathetic wince as he knew that she had gotten shot with darts too.

"In my surprise, they threw something they called a 'net' on me and…I think I fell asleep." Nala continued. "The next thing I know, I woke up in this place and I had these things on me."

She moved her left paw up as far as the shackles would allow, making the chain that held them together clank as she showed him.

"You were shot by dart guns, they force whatever they hit to fall asleep," Ryan informed her. "My mother and her team sometimes use them so they can check an animals health while they're out of it."

"They were checking my health?" Nala asked.

"No, these guys are poachers!" Ryan said a firmer tone than he meant to. "They're bad people that hunt animals either to sell them off somewhere or-"

The young man immediately cut his sentence short, he didn't want to say any more and tried to drop it as he stooped down and inspected the cuffs that were on her legs. But Nala wasn't having it as her ears laid back a bit and she stared at him with a concerned look.

"Or what?" she questioned. "Tell me."

"Or…they do the things Zazu told you about." The boy finally said.

If Nalas fur could have changed color, Ryan was sure she would have become a few shades paler upon hearing that.

"It's no good." Ryan said in frustration as he sat back up from the cuffs. "These need a key to get off."

He refused to leave this place without her, but as he was trying come up with a plan, Nala let out terrified gasp.

"Behind you!" she cried just as a muscled arm curled around his neck and a strong hand grabbed his left wrist before it was roughly twisted it behind his back.

Nala let out an intimidating roar, but it did very little to scare off the attacker as they dragged a struggling Ryan out of her reach and kicked up a cloud of dust in the skuffle.

"Hold on to 'im!" a voice hooted before he suddenly saw Bill and Roy come in out of nowhere. "Hoo-boy, He's a wild one!"

Ryan kicked and thrashed, trying with all his might to get away, but it was just no use and he reluctantly gave up the fight. Even if her could get himself free, Bill or Roy would have no trouble catching him again, and he already knew that he wasn't strong enough to take them on all at once.

When things finally stilled, the sound of soft humming of that Frankie Valli song suddenly rang through the air as it came from the darkness within the warehouse.

"Oh dear, I was so hopin' you wouldn't be tempted to snoop around, sugar." came Tilly's voice as she slowly emerged into sight. "That's a very naughty boy."

Gone was that khaki uniform she was wearing only a short while ago, and instead, she was dressed up in in a black tank and navy-blue jeans with a brown, short style jacket. She was also wearing a dark, straw cowgirl hat, black leather gloves on her hands, a some kind of beaded necklace that had two animal fangs hanging right in the middle and those snakeskin boots to finish her look.

Dressed up like this, she certainly looked like a poacher now.

"He's seen the cargo, sis." The person that had Ryan in a choke hold said, it was Liam. "I told you lettin' him stay here was a bad idea!"

"Now just what am I to do with you?" Tilly tsked, letting her brothers last statement just roll off her back. "We would have been happy to just drop you off at the nearest village in the mornin', but since you've gone'n stumbled on our little collection here, well...now we gotta make a change in plans."

"You better let me go if you know what's good for you! My mom makes a living out of putting poachers in jail and she's out there looking for me right now!" that was a lie, he had no idea if she was looking for him or believed him to be dead. But Tilly didn't know that, so he hoped that it might scare her into letting him go. "Sooner or later, she'll find this place!"

"Is that a fact?" Tilly asked, looking him up and down as if she were trying to find something she missed before realization suddenly lit up over her face. "Wait, now I know who you are, 'Morris'...you're Kathrynnes' boy, aint'cha?"

At that, Ryan's brave façade faltered. She knew his mother?

"Yeah, me and Miss. Katie have had more than a few run-ins with each other." Tilly said. "Showin' up where she's not wanted, demanding to know what our intentions are, accusing me and my boys of the most terrible things she when don't even got a lick of proof; your mama's incredibly rude, I'm afraid to say."

"Oh right, because it's rude to accuse people of poaching when it's obviously true!" Ryan spat.

"Took me a little spell, I forgot that she was married at one point; but nowadays she's back to being Kathrynne Evans, right?" Tilly asked, giving him a fake expression of sympathy. "So sorry to hear about the split, sugar, I'm sure it wasn't any fault of yours."

Ryan felt his blood boil at her sarcastic jab but decided to just keep his mouth shut so as not to give her the satisfaction that it struck a nerve as he gave her a withering glare.

"Well would ya look'it that? He looks just like her when she's all mad!" Bill suddenly said with a laugh as he walked squished Ryans cheeks in a rough grip and tried to show the others. "Same pretty little eyes with the same color'n everythin'."

"Wow, gross." Ryan jerking his face away. "Could you maybe not be such a creep about my mom?"

"Well this is all well and good, but I've been meaning to ask about our pretty new guest now that we're all together," Tilly stated, nodding to Nala who was only able to watch everything silently as she was still chained down. "What's the update?"

"Still hasn't ate none'." Liam told her. "Think she might be diseased."

"Aw, you really think so?" Tilly said, looking back to Nala with disappointment.

"Yeah, watch this…" Bill started, walking over to a red cooler they had set up near the warehouse before pulled open the lid and pulling out this big hunk of some kind meat before he came back and tossed it over to Nala which made her snarled at him without even looking at it.

"Hours of that without takin' so much as a sniff no matter how fresh," he said. "She must be sick if she won't even eat."

"We ain't never seen lions 'round these parts before." Roy added, nodding his head in agreement. "She might've picked up somethin'."

"I see...well, there ain't much sense in wasting food on her if she can't even eat it. Probably shouldn't keep her around in case she contaminates our haul, neither." Tilly mused, thinking long and hard about something.

She just stood there thinking for a moment, then she finally let out a sigh before turning and disappearing inside the warehouse. She was in there for a short with Ryan and the three men waiting in silence before she returned...holding two big shells and a double barrel .22 shot gun in her hands.

"It's a cryin' shame, but she'll make a mighty fine trophy at least." She stated. "Boys, if you'd be so kind?"

Bill and Roy began to move, standing at either side of Nala and cautiously closing the distance so she wouldn't be able move from where she was sitting.

"No!" Ryan shouted. "You can't do this!"

Nala was wiping her head back and forth between the two men, snarling, baring her fangs and spitting out multiple sets of short, loud roars to warn them to keep their distance. But they only laughed and hooted as they kept her boxed in.

Their taunts obviously made her angry as her black claws were extended as far as they would go. But while she would swipe the air and pound the ground heavily with her paws as much as her cuffs would allow, Ryan was dumbfounded to see that she wasn't even trying to attack them.

The shackles may hinder her reach, but she still had enough range to still be able claw them, and she could also use her teeth. She must have seen that they were close enough for her to do some damage, but she just sat there, her stomach settled on the ground between her hind feet and she always had at least one of her front legs planted firmly in front of it...almost as if she were driven by the need to protect rather than to attack.

His eyes widened when he finally realized what was going on with her and he looked over to Tilly as she began to load her gun.

"Don't! Don't shoot her!" the young man cried, trying to get his arms free. But Liam held fast and forced him down on his knees. "She's not sick!"

But the woman ignored him, humming that little diddy he was beginning to hate to herself until she finished loading up the bullets and cocked the gun. The loud sound making Ryan go cold as he watched her level the weapon with Nalas' head, which made the lioness freeze in place as she was confused and unable to fully understand what was happening while she stared down the black barrel with wide eyes.

Nala had never seen a gun before and she had no idea what it would do; but with Ryan acting the way that he was, she knew that it was something to be afraid of.

"She's not sick!" Ryan repeated in desperation, but to his horror, her finger began to squeeze the trigger. "She's pregnant!"

BANG!

Ryan felt his heart stop at that deafening sound, listening to the echo of it bouncing off the trees until it eventually faded away…she shot her...Nala was dead!

He was numb, he couldn't breathe, and he found that he wasn't able look up from the ground as tears pooled in his eyes and fell over his face in streams. He just couldn't bring himself to raise his head as see a friend dead from such a cruel fate…

"Ryan?"

The young man gasped as his head shot up and he met with the beautiful teal eyes of Nala, who was still alive without a single mark on her.

In that moment, Ryan was actually thankful for Liams' grip on his arms as he felt he could have fallen over in a faint at the wave of relief that washed over him. But happy as he was to see that she was okay, he stared at her in confusion silently asking her what happened before she turned her head up to gaze up at the tree behind her where he saw a big, jagged hole that went deep within its bark.

"What was that you said?" Tilly asked, making him look over at her to see that she was staring at him with such an intensity that it took Ryan aback. Gone was that teasing air she always carried and in its place was a seriousness that make those crystal blue eyes look as cold and cruel as she was on the inside.

"I'd much appreciate if you'd repeat yourself, because I'd hate to have wasted a bullet." She told him, silently urging him not to test her patience.

"She…she's not sick." Ryan said, fighting to keep his voice from stammering. "She's just expecting another cub."

"Now why do I find that hard to believe?" Tilly began, tilting her head the way a mother would in order to show her child that she wasn't buying the little fib she had been told. "I feel as though you'd say anythin' to save that pretty hide of hers."

"Look at her!" Ryan ordered in a raised voice, grimacing as Liam suddenly gave him a rough shake to make him mind his tone. "Look at how she's protecting her stomach! She could have bitten your goons into mincemeat as close as they are, yet she's not doing a thing because she's protecting her baby!"

"Then why won't she eat?" Tilly demanded. "If she's pregnant, wouldn't that make her feel the need to eat more?"

"She's scared and stressed out!" Ryan snapped. "Would you feel up to eating if you were drugged up and chained to a tree?!"

"Hmm, I suppose that's fair…" The woman relented, looking Nala over once before she met Ryan's eyes again. "Alrighty, then why don't you prove it?"

Ryan stared at her in confusion, how the heck did she expect him to prove that a lion was pregnant?

"Make her eat." Tilly explained, nodding to Bill who immediately reached down and picked up the meat Nala had ignored. "If she eats, then I'll be satisfied."

"And if she still doesn't want to?" Ryan asked.

Tilly didn't answer him, but that cold expression on her face along with her cocking her gun once more spoke in volumes as he held back a shiver. He didn't want to listen to her, but he just didn't have any other choice with Nala's life on the line.

After Liam released his arms, Ryan took the meat away from Bill and walked over to Nala before he knelt to her level. She only looked at him, fright still evident on her face as he ran a head comfortingly along her neck and shoulder.

"Nala, you need to eat this." He said, whispering so the poachers wouldn't hear. "They'll kill you if you don't!"

"Ryan, I can't, how can I think of eating like this?" Nala demanded.

"What's the hold up, Ryan?" Tilly asked in a rather snide tone that made the boy shot her a dirty look.

"Please Nala, if not for yourself or for me, then for your little one." Ryan begged, holding the meat up to her. "Just try."

Nala gave a heavy sigh, but thankfully, she no longer tried to argue as she laid herself down and took the meat from Ryan's hand. And only when she started to eat did a cheery smile find its way back on Tilly's face as she lowered her gun.

"Well, ain't this our lucky day, boys?" She asked happily. "First, we catch a rare, beauty of a king cheetah that's expecting her own little bundle, and now we got us a lioness added to the pot; I'd say all these months of hiding out here are finally starting to pay off."

She suddenly snapped her fingers and Ryan winced as Liam once again grabbed hold of his arms in a vice-like grip before he was forced up on his feet.

"Liam, would you be a dear and get our guest settled down in his new sleeping arrangements? And get a new cage set up once you're finished." Tilly said. "We want mama to be nice and comfortable when it's time for baby to arrive."

"Wait, we're gonna stay longer?" Liam asked, he didn't sound very keen on that idea. "Who knows how far along she is, it'd be smarter to sell off what we got and then come back."

"And that, dear brother of mine, is the reason why daddy always said I had more brains between the two of us." The young woman said with a shake of her head. "If you keep thinking with that 'bird in the hand' nonsense, we wouldn't get nowhere fast; you know how much a zoo will pay for these big kitties alone? Well, we can rake in that much more and thensome with cubs."

"And what if they end up having more than one?" She asked, taking a stepping closer as her unblinking eyes stared up into his without fear. Almost like she was daring him to challenge her decision again. "I, for one, wouldn't want to get cheated out of an extra few thousand…would you?"

Ryan felt Liam tense as he fell silent and he looked back and forth between the two, holding his breath as he wondered if they were gonna argue. But after a moment, the man just gave a loud sigh, and he didn't say anything more against it.

"I'm glad we're on the same page." Tilly sniffed, backing up a little before turning to Bill and Roy. "First thing in the mornin', head back to the pitfall and find out which way she came from; he said that she's expectin' another cub, so ya'll need to see if there's any more little darlin's we can collect or if there are any other expecting lionesses so we can set our traps accordingly."

"And it wouldn't hurt to find out if the daddy's handsome enough to get put up a wall, either." She added, the sing-song tone of her voice mismatching her cruel words.

Bill and Roy both nodded in understanding as they turned to walk into the storage tent to go prepare and Liam began marching Ryan to follow them.

Ryan's head felt like it was swimming, he didn't want Nala out of his sight, and he was kicking himself for saying too much about her in his fear. What if they actually did find the pride and took Kiara? What if Simba or the any of the lionesses tried to attack them and they ended up getting hurt?

Or worse, what if they didn't see these guys as a threat after spending all this time with a human who was kind?

"They won't be so easy to catch!" Ryan yelled back at her, though he said it mostly for himself. "You're all gonna regret this!"

"Oh, we'll see about that, sugar." Tilly said, her rose red lips turning up into a wicked smile before Ryan was dragged back inside and out of sight. She then turned back Nala with an expression of greed that somewhat marred her pretty face. "We'll see about that..."



Alrighty, now that we're at the end of the chapter, I just want to say sorry again for taking so long to post this(I say that a lot, don't I? ^^;) Well, in real life, it's pretty much the same old thing. Baby and chores(more so especially since we were doing spring cleaning)takes up most of my time so I got very little opportunity to sit down and get a meaningful amount typed up.

So, adding home life together with the fact that this over 9000 word chapter had to be re-written more than once….oooh that made for a "fun" time.

The first change is that Nala is now pregnant…I know what some of you might be thinking, but I had to do it. I just couldn't pass up the opportunity. Kion still won't be making an appearance in the story, but at least it will be known that he'll eventually come to be.

This was one of the biggest reasons it took so long for me to get this chapter. I knew I wanted her to be captured as well to give Ryan some sort of dilemma, but what I had written before just wasn't feeling right to me(and yes, the idea of her being pregnant was mostly influenced by me being a mom ^^;). I also felt that if Nala was expecting, it would better protect her from the danger she's in as Ryan was sorely outnumbered, out gunned and wouldn't be able to help her on his own. But he has to be extra careful now, just because they won't hurt his friend anymore doesn't mean he'll get the same curtesy.

Another major change that put posting the story on hold was Tilly. In the original version, I had written her as a man I called Briggs. But the more I looked at it, I felt that since Ryan had been thinking about his mother, I thought having a female figure in place of Briggs would be the better way to go. Even if he was suspicious that they just happened to arrive and scared poachers off, he would be distracted by the fact that Tilly appeared to be this nice lady who was going out of her way to take care of him and give off this motherly feel he had been missing.

It was a pain to go back and add a feminine touch to all those interactions with her, but all in all, I think I did an okay job with her. I hope you like her as the villain of the story.

Thank you sooooo so very much for sticking with me guys, let me know of any mistakes you happen to see!