Timon, Pumbaa, Zuri: :Are eating the banana cake and brownies from Mina and Sunrise.:
Kari: Wha--hey! I didn't officially give those to you!
Pumbaa: But Mina said she wanted us to have 'em.
Kari: Yeah, but she gave me the banana cake before she said I could give it to you if I didn't want it... and I want it.
Timon: :holds the plate of cake up to her, now half-eaten and with grubs all over the icing.: Do you still want it?
Kari: ... I'm suddenly ill. :Pushes the plate back to Timon.: At least tell me you didn't touch the milk from Mina and Sunrise or the ice cream from Neosun?
Zuri: Umm... :licks the milk mustache off her lips.:
Kari: I have a good mind to delete you, Zuri. :Makes a grab for the ice cream.: Ha!
Timon, Pumbaa, Zuri: :Pout, and then they struggle for the last glass of milk.:
Kari: Sigh... OK, now I think I'm ripping off Jedi's idea too much... within this chapter, a full song from my favorite Broadway musical Jekyll & Hyde! This song just... fit in this chapter. I'm sure you'll enjoy it.
Pumbaa: Look out!
Kari: :Gets the milk spilt on her, stares at the three.: Grr...
Timon: No use crying over spilt milk.
Kari: :sigh: While I'm thinking about it, I'd better say it: I don't own these guys... except for Zuri and her colony... and Pete.
Zuri: Let's just start this thing.
Kari, Timon, Pumbaa: Agreed. UPDATE: Removed lyrics.
Chapter 4:
Timon spent the day at Pride Rock, sleeping mostly. He hadn't slept since he left Pride Rock the day before, so of course he was tired. When he walked into the cave in Pride Rock, all he did was give greetings, a bit of small talk, and then he went into a corner to sleep and asked to be woken up after the sun set. The sun had set about 20 minutes ago, so Kiara padded over to Timon and lightly nudged him with her paw.
"Hey, Timon. Wake up," she whispered. Timon smacked his lips and stretched out with a yawn.
"What time is it?" Timon asked as he sat up and tiredly rubbed his eye.
"Night. You told us to wake you up after the sun set."
Timon stood and stretched, his back making a soft crick. "Thanks, kid. I'll be back later." He started to walk out.
"Timon, what's this all about?" Kiara asked as she sat down and watched him head for the exit.
"Nothing big... I'm just going to compare colony behaviors with this meerkat I met yesterday. She's really curious."
Kiara cocked a brow and grinned. "She?"
Timon turned and blushed slightly. "Hey, just because she's a girl doesn't mean anything."
"Be on your best behavior, Timon," Kiara giggled. Timon gave her a look and then he continued to walk out. He descended down Pride Rock and carefully looked around the area. Quiet. Clear. OK. Timon made a mad dash to the water hole, and he didn't stop until he was a few inches from falling back into the water. He leaned his weight back and exhaled, escaping a cold bath again. He glanced around.
"Zuri?" Silence. He walked to the other side of the water hole and over to the hole Zuri appeared in earlier. "Zuri?" He jumped over the hole and looked down it. "Huh... guess her family's still awake." His ears perked when he heard a voice singing a small distance from there. He decided to investigate. He pushed some blades of grass aside to see Zuri was walking on top of a log with her arms spread out to keep her balance. She had not noticed Timon yet. Sheslowly sang to herself as Timon walked up to the log and looked up at her. "Zuri!" Zuri gasped and looked down at Timon. "You're late! We were suppose to meet at the water hole, not a log!" Zuri let out a sigh of relief.
"I thought you were Papa. It's Timon, right?"
Timon climbed up on top of the log. "Yeah... and you are the same Zuri I met yesterday, right?"
Zuri resumed her balancing act. "Of course. Why do you ask?"
"Well, I thought you only sung happy carefree songs. That was kinda depressing."
"I sing carefree songs when I'm with the others, about the life I wanna have. I sing depressing songs when I'm by myself, about the life I actually have."
"I know how that goes."
"It's depressing. Arranged marriages, living in constant fear, can't really do what you want, no one listens to a word you say, threat of outsiders coming into the mob... you saw how Papa loves rogues."
"I'm not a rogue. How many times do I have to spell it out?" Timon watched her with a furrowed brow.
"He still thought you were. You know, threat of a younger meerkat trying to get into the colony, causing all sorts of trouble." Zuri dropped her arms to her side and stared out to the direction of her tunnels. "If a new member came into the mob, then at least it'd bring some new kind of excitement to my life."
"Someone like you doesn't have an exciting life?" Timon cocked a brow and grinned.
"Someone like me is just a face in the crowd, someone who doesn't count. I'm a nobody, Timon."
Timon cocked his head. "I think you're a pretty talented nobody, Zuri. I mean, you have a better singing voice than I do."
Zuri rolled her eyes as she turned around and started balancing back towards Timon. "How do you know that? You just met me."
Timon stepped to the side and ducked under her arms as she walked by him. "I've known you long enough to have seen you dance and heard you sing. What, do you have days when you only sing off-key or have two left feet?"
"Who doesn't?"
Timon folded his arms in front of his chest as he watched Zuri turn around and started to balance back towards him. "OK, then have you ever heard anyone call you a nobody?"
"Well... no." Zuri's shoulders sunk when she realized Timon had a point.
"Then you're only putting yourself down, sister. You've been hanging around in crowds for too long." Timon stepped to the side to let her pass him. She stopped and looked at him, putting her paws on her hips.
"Did we come here to talk about my personal life? No, we came here to compare colonies."
"So we did."
"So, tell me about your colony, Great Timon." Zuri sat down and pulled Timon down with her.
"Funny you call me that... that's what my colony calls me."
"Really?" Zuri looked amused, not really believing him.
"I brought my family to a tropical oasis, a predator free environment. Waterfalls, vine swings, spas, bugs--" He stopped when Zuri held her paw up to him. She had an amused look on her face.
"Timon, no such place exists. I've only dreamt of places like that. That's what I sing every day to get the digging rhythm going. I guess the 60's were good for you, huh?"
Timon shook his head. "Anyway, before I found the oasis, I worked in the colony like any other meerkat, except I always broke the tunnels." He grimaced as Zuri fell onto her back laughing.
"I knew it, I just I knew it! You don't look like you'd be a successful digger with those scrawny arms!" Zuri laughed. Timon looked at his arms briefly, furrowing his brow.
"They're not that scrawny. Are you almost finished? I'd hate to have you miss something." Zuri let out a few more giggles as she sat up and nodded. "The only people who could stand being around me were my parents, but me and my dad always found something to argue about."
"I know what that's like," Zuri said as she rested her chin in her paw.
Timon looked at her a moment. "I'm sure Shomari means well. He doesn't want you to get into anything that could get you hurt. All fathers care for their kids."
"Yeah, sure..."
Timon shook his head and then looked up at the stars. "At least yours is still around physically. My father died saving me from a pack of hyenas."
Zuri cocked her head at him, a bit curious. "Really? Sorry to hear that. He sounds like that one meerkat, uh, what's his name...?"
Timon turned his eyes to her. "Fearless Buzz?"
Zuri smiled and snapped her fingers. "Yeah, that's it."
Timon nodded. "He was my father." Zuri arched a brow. "I mean it!"
"I don't know... you're telling me a lot of things that are too good to be true."
"Anyway, he told me to find a better life for my colony, so no one would have to go the way he did. And I did. We live in that oasis now and we're living the Hakuna Matata life."
"Altoona frittata?"
"It's 'Hakuna Matata.' It means 'no worries.'"
"Whatever you say... but I hope you realize I still don't believe you."
"Oh, yeah?" Timon stood and offered her his paw. "I'll take you there."
Zuri shook her head, making sure she heard that correctly. "W-What?"
"I'll take you to the oasis. It'll take all night to reach it if we go now..." Zuri stood on her own and walked away from him. She spread her arms out to balance out again.
"I can't go away... I don't want the colony to worry about me. I don't want to get in trouble. Papa gave me a stern talk about keeping away from you."
Timon spread his arms out and started to walk over to Zuri. "Come on, Zuri. What do you have here? A pushy father, a fiancé you don't even want, life in the Pit of Shame..."
Zuri turned around and found herself face-to-face with Timon. They both stopped. "A caring family." They stared at each other for a few moments. "I can't throw that away."
"A family who thinks you're a nobody?"
"They don't think--"
"But you do because you're staying here." Zuri bit her lower lip, and then she sighed. Timon grimaced, and then he turned away from her. "Well, I know you don't think it counts, but I think you're a pretty special nobody..." He gulped and softly blushed as he added, "And a pretty one, too." Zuri softly gasped and blushed, unsure of what to say. Timon cleared his throat and the blush dissolved away. "The offer's on the table. We've gotten off-topic again... so I guess I'll just be going." Timon slid down to the ground and started to walk away.
"...Timon?"
Timon stopped and looked up at her. "Yeah?"
"Do you mean that?"
"That I'm leaving? Yeah."
Zuri shook her head. "No, no, no. I mean what you said before you said you were going, before the 'we've gotten off-topic again.' Do you mean that?" Timon looked at up at her and nodded. "Really?"
Timon looked up at her for a few moments, and then he nodded, "Really, really."
Zuri made a few motions with her paws, but didn't speak for a few moments. Then she smiled. "Thanks. I never had someone like you say such things like that before and mean it. It's... refreshing."
Timon grinned. "No problem." He rubbed the back of his neck. "Mind if I stop by again?"
"If you want. Same place tomorrow morning?"
Timon smiled and nodded. "Deal."
"Do you need a place to stay? I could find a place in the tunnel, but you'd have to get up before dawn."
"No, thanks... I have a place to crash. Good night."
"Sleep tight."
"Dream of bed bugs tonight." Timon then turned and walked away. Zuri watched him for a few moments, until he was out of sight.
"Dream of bed bugs tonight... that's cute." She tilted her head to the side and grinned. "He's different... I like him." Zuri slid off her log and started walking in the direction Timon went. "I wonder why I feel Ishould believe him? I guessI feel there's something different about him." She sighed and held herself. "Something different about me..." Zuri walked over to the watering hole and sat at the edge, letting her feet dangle over the water. Timon hadn't left yet... he watched Zuri through the blades of grass, watching her kick her feet in the water.He blew her a kiss and then turned and walked back towards Pride Rock. Zuri looked at her rippling reflection and reclined back to look at the stars. She smiled softly to herself as she finally stood and walked back towards her tunnel.
To be continued...