Timon perched himself on a rock near the water's edge and began rubbing his stiff foot. He must have twisted it when he had fallen off of Pumbaa's snout—correction, when he was knocked off of Pumbaa's snout.

The doleful meerkat took a large sigh and leaned back, sprawling himself across the rock lazily. He stared up at the sky miserably, reflecting on the day's events and wondering when it had gone so horribly wrong.

He was watching the white puffy clouds drift by when he saw two ears poke into his line of vision. Dropping his gaze, his heart sank when he saw that it was Nuni looking back at him. He quickly sat up, glaring at her.

"Are you alright?" she had the gull to ask.

"Yeah. Hakuna Ma-freaking-tata," Timon sighed.

The right side of her mouth quirked and she sat down next to him. "Well, it must have been really hard for you."

Timon grunted and slid off his perch, forgetting about his sore foot and tumbling to his hands and knees. Looking up at Nuni, he feared that she had seen it, but if she had, she didn't let on.

"I just wanted to see how you were holding up," she added.

"Oh yeah?" Timon inquired dryly, getting up and brushing dirt out of his fur. "Well, thanks for the concern, but I'm just peachy."

"Are you?"

"What do you care?" Timon snarled, jerking his nose in her direction. "You come along and set our hakuna matata on fire, and now you're rubbing my nose in it with your 'are you alright?' Give me a break."

"You really can't be happy for your friend, can you?"

Timon opened his mouth to snap back at her, but faltered. Turning his head away, he stared sadly at the ground. "I... I just..."

"It'll be okay, Timon," Nuni replied, sounding sincere. "I'll take care of Pumbaa, I promise."

Timon looked up at her, trying to read her. His face dropped, realizing he must have been wrong about her the whole time. Maybe the life of no responsibility should finally come to an end. If Pumbaa had found happiness with her, then so be it. Timon wouldn't stand in the way of that.

Not trusting his voice, Timon numbly nodded his head. She gave him a small smile, before she turned and walked away. Timon watched her go and then sighed heavily, wishing he could have given his friend a more proper goodbye.

"Maybe I should," Timon whispered to himself.

He took a step forward and howled in pain, realizing walking was going to be too painful. Dropping to all fours, Timon began to limp towards the jungle, but something stopped him. Out of the bushes peered the eyes of a leopard and Timon gasped in surprise.

"Uh... Bazil?" Timon asked nervously.

The big cat stepped forward, slowly advancing toward him with an unreadable expression. "Nuni said that you were leaving."

"She did?" Timon asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"Where are you going?"

"I was just going to say goodbye to Pumbaa."

Bazil smirked a little and lowered his chin to the ground, looking directly at the small meerkat. "I'm not an expert in the area, but I think it would be wise not to talk to him right now."

"I'll decide that on my own," Timon declared, trying to talk passed him, but was shoved backward by Bazil's nose. "Hey! Watch it!"

"You're done talking," Bazil growled menacingly.

Timon's eyes slowly grew wide, taking a small step backward in fear. "W- what do you mean?"

"I mean... I can't allow you to return back to that jungle."

Timon continued to back up as Bazil advanced on him, matching his step carefully. Tripping on his bad foot, Timon landed with a thump onto his rear and scooted back until his back hit the rock. "I don't understand..."

"Oh, sure you do," Bazil grinned. "If you go into that jungle, you won't be coming out."

Timon furrowed his brow, his mouth dropping open when the realization hit him. "I was right," he whispered. "I was right about you two..."

"Oh? You think so?"

"What is it that you want?"

"When you got a home like this," the cat revealed, gesturing toward the lush and tropical surroundings. "You make a lot of people jealous."

"You want..."

"We want your hakuna matata."

Timon shook his head desperately, scooting sideways across the rock to try and get away. "No, you can't have it."

The leopard growled and slammed his foot down, blocking the meerkat's only escape route. "Oh, I don't think you fully understand, my little man. Once you're out of the way, Pumbaa will be easy to get rid of. Then your little hakuna matata will be all ours."

Timon gave the large paw beside him a quick, hopeless look, before he turned smoldering eyes onto him. "A cat like you doesn't strike me as a sharing type—especially with a warthog."

Bazil grinned all of his sharp teeth. "Well, that's a problem I will be working out later, now won't it?"

Timon swallowed, shaking his head at the predator hovering above him. "You won't get away with this."

Bazil dipped his head and laughed. "Oh really? And what are you going to do about it?"

Reaching down, Timon scooped a handful of dirt and flung it in the leopard's direction. Bazil growled, rearing back and rubbing frantically at his eyes, giving Timon the chance to get away. But his escape wasn't quick, for his lame leg slowed him down.

He was limping through the jungle, dodging and jumps fallen trees. When he could longer hear the sounds of his assailant, he ducked behind a tree and tried to quiet his haggard breathing.

He was darting his eyes around madly, trying to figure out a way to warn Pumbaa, when he heard a twig snap to his right. Jerking his head in the direction, his breath caught when he spotted Bazil slowly walking through the jungle. He was going in the opposite direction and Timon felt the relief that he hadn't been spotted wash through him. He leaned his head back against the tree for a moment, closing his eyes to rest.

He decided a few minutes was all he had time for and opened his eyes again, finding Bazil staring straight at him.

"Hello," the cat grinned.

Timon gasped and fell back against the tree. Without thinking, Timon turned and darted off, experiencing a close-call with the snap of Bazil's jaws.

Timon gritted his teeth as he ran, trying to push the pain of his foot to the back of his mind. He finally broke free of the thick underbelly of the jungle and gasped in surprise to find a very large drop off in his path. Trying to skid to a stop, Timon twisted and fell to the ground, clawing at the rocks as he continued to slide toward the edge. He finally managed to get a good hold, but by the way the stones were shifting, he knew it wouldn't last long before he was to fall to a very painful death.

"Well, well..." Bazil said, slowly coming up to the edge of the cliff and putting his two paws on the rocks. "Look what we have here."

Timon looked up at him, his face twisted in fear.

"Looks like my job just got easier," the cat grinned.