Hey, didn't take me as long this time, eh? Heh heh... OK, read on.

Chapter 8:

The sun had finally begun to rise over the desert. Hours seemed like days to the two young travelers who walked the desert all night. Kito, who was walking alongside Bango, dropped from exhaustion and panted.

"Bango?"

Bango sat down next to his cousin and panted. "Yes, Kito?"

"You can bury me right here."

"I don't think I could. My hooves are tired from walking all night..." He yawned and lay down. "And I'm dead tired, too."

Kito exhaled deeply. "Come on, we gotta keep going. We gotta find Uncle Titus."

"It's not worth it. Let's go home and try to think up an excuse to where we went this morning."

Kito forced himself up and dusted the sand from the front of his fur. "We've come this far... we're that much closer to Rafiki's tree. We can't give up yet."

"But I'm tired, Kito. I don't wanna walk anymore," Bango said, closing his eyes.

Kito crawled over on his knees and pulled Bango's eyelids open, looking at him straight in the eye. "Well, I haven't exactly had my caffeine for the day either, but the sun's rising and soon the buzzards will be circling. And as fun as Bowling for Buzzards is, our dads tell us not to play without them." He released the eyelids, which snapped back into place. "Besides, if we give up now, fortune won't be fortunate to us."

Bango rubbed his eyes and mumbled with a sarcastic air, "Oh, yeah... fortune favors the brave. The saying's a day old now, so now it's an old saying."

Kito climbed on top of Bango's head and pulled on his ears. "That's right! Now, let's find a safe spot to crash to catch up on our sleep."

"Haven't you been paying attention to me or yourself? We both said we couldn't go another step further," Bango said, glancing up at the pup.

Kito slid down the side of Bango's snout and slumped against him. "Yeah, you're right. I guess we can rest for a few minutes."

"Yay." Bango laid his head down again and instantly started snoring.

Kito folded his arms in front of his chest and continued to lean against Bango, closing his own eyes with a yawn. It was just before he fell asleep when he started to smell something. He smiled and opened his eyes. "Hey, something smells good."

"What are you having?" Bango mumbled with his eyes closed.

Kito sniffed the air a bit. "I'm not sure, but it smells familiar."

Bango lifted his head up and sniffed. "Sure does. It smells like... like..."

"Like..." Kito took a few more sniffs, and then he noticed the sun had begun to heat the sand, and the sand around them was getting hotter. "Hmm. Y'know, I just realized something."

"What's that?" Bango asked, looking at his cousin.

"I think we're the ones who smell good. I think the hot sand is baking us," Kito pointed at the steam rising from around his feet.

Bango looked, and noticed steam was beginning to rise from around himself. "Hmm. Yes, I do believe you're right."

They glanced at each other dryly for a moment, and then screamed as the searing hot pain kicked in. They both jumped to their feet, yelping from the hot sand under their feet and started running blindly forward. They finally reached the end of the desert and jumped into a nearby water hole.

They resurfaced and sighed happily as they cooled off. "Now I know why Mom says we're not suppose to use the oven," Kito said as he walked to the bank. He shook the water out of his fur. He noticed his hair was a mess of spikes, so he licked a paw and smoothed it forward into its normal mess.

"Yeah. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to stay in the desert to rest," Bango said, shaking the water out of his fur, most of it splashing back onto Kito.

Kito growled softly and shook the water out of his fur. "No, it wasn't. I think we're in the outskirts of the Pride Lands. Which way do you wanna go?"

"What do you mean? Don't you know where Rafiki's tree is?" Bango asked, pressing his snout against Kito's nose.

Kito smiled nervously, "In all honesty? No."

Bango furrowed his brow and snorted hot air onto Kito's fur. "You mean to tell me we have no idea where Rafiki's tree is, meaning we have to ask strangers and-or search every stinkin' tree until we find him?!"

Kito gulped, "In so many words? Yes."

"Kito, we'll be spending more time looking for Rafiki than we will for Uncle Titus!"

"It'll be good exercise. What are you complaining about?"

"We're half a day's travel from home, our parents don't know where we are, and we're looking for someone we've never-ever met in our entire lives all because of an idea you got while on a sugar rush!"

Kito fell onto his back as Bango continued to press his snout against the pup. "Are you finished?"

"And we spent all of last night tracking through a desert that nearly fried us when the sun finally came up!" Bango panted and then sat down, seeming to have calmed down.

Kito sat up and narrowed his eyes slightly. "Feel better, big guy?"

"Lots, actually. Thanks." Bango stood and started to walk back towards the desert.

Kito jumped to his feet and grabbed the warthog's tail, pulling back, letting his feet drag as Bango continued to walk. "Hey-hey-hey, where are you going? That way leads right back to the oasis!"

"Exactly. That's the one place I don't need directions for."

Kito clenched his teeth as he continued to try pulling the warthog back. "Bango, what about finding Uncle Titus?"

"We didn't have a chance finding him in the first place, Kito. I'm going home and trying to avoid a larger grounding by being gone half a day instead of a week."

"But--" He gulped when Bango lifted his tail up high, lifting the pup with it. With a flick of the tail Kito lost his grip and was sent flying with a scream. He landed back into the watering hole. He resurfaced, coughing. He growled, "Who said he acts just like his father?" He yelled after Bango, "Uncle Pumbaa wouldn't leave my dad alone for his own selfish reasons like you're doing right now!"

"Guilt trips won't work this time!" Bango called over his shoulder. He stopped, blinking, when Kito suddenly appeared in front of him on his knees and his paws clasped together, begging.

"Please, Bango! I don't want to be left out here all alone! I don't wanna turn around and give up without looking a little! If we give up now, Dad and Grandma will stay mopey and continue not speaking to each other! All I'm asking is one day--just one day--and if we don't find Rafiki we'll go home!"

"Do you promise?" Bango asked with an arched brow.

"I promise, I promise, I pro-o-o-omise!!" Kito jumped to his feet, suddenly changing his attitude and added, "And besides, you and I haven't slept all night... do you really wanna try sleeping out in the desert and get our butts baked again?"

Bango thought for a moment, recalling what that was like, and gulped. "Not really." He furrowed his brow and turned back to Kito. "All right... one and a half days, and if we can't find Rafiki, we're going straight back to the oasis."

"One and a half?" Kito blinked.

"We'll spend the half sleeping."

"Deal!" Kito offered a balled up paw, to which Bango slapped, and Kito returned the favor with the balled up paw. "Now come on! Let's find some place to sleep."

Kito turned around and started to march back towards the Pride Lands. Bango shook his head and sighed, "I was so close to getting out of trouble..." He sped to a trot to catch up to Kito.

To be continued...