Chapter 35:
The next few hours were spent trekking across the Pride Lands and retellings of conversations past. Timon was lying on his back with his paws behind his head, leaning against the back of Jina's neck. Sly was sitting in front of him.
"... Uh-huh. So we're going to a place with a rock and tree near some old meerkat tunnels where you think you were in a dream?" Timon asked Sly with one eye open.
"Well, Jina's going to take us to a place similar to it. I was a pup in that dream, so I wasn't very aware of everything there. I don't know, it just seemed like the thing to do. I wasn't getting any answers where I was," Sly replied.
"Yeah, he just kept asking more questions," Jina spoke up. "Like Zuri's comments about his eyes."
"What about his eyes?" Timon opened his other eye to look at Sly's. "They're green. So what?"
"Exactly. She said I had my mother's eyes, but her eyes were brown. I just don't understand what she meant by it."
"Well, sorry, Sly, but it's not like I knew your mother, so I have no idea what Zuri meant. So don't ask me about it."
Sly bowed his head slightly and grimaced. "I know, but..." He raised his eyes up at Timon. "She knows something that I don't, and somehow I felt like you'd understand. You are her mate after all."
Timon furrowed his brow. "Didn't stop you from lip wrestling with her, did it?"
Jina rolled her eyes and mumbled, "Oh, boy, there he goes again..."
"I'm sorry, all right?! How many time do I have to apologize already?!" Sly growled. "Look, if I let you hit me, would you stop?"
Timon put a paw to his chin, letting out a short, "Hmm." He rubbed his paw and shook his head, "I think that's enough apologizing. And violence never really solved anything."
"Really," Sly arched an eyebrow.
Yeah, I'll just wait until you least suspect it, then wham-o! Timon thought with a grin. "Yeah, Zuri wants us to get along, right? It'd be easier if I wasn't fussing over a broken hand."
"Gee, you're so thoughtful," Sly said dryly.
"Yeah, I know," Timon said with a grin.
Sly rolled his eyes slightly and craned his neck to speak to Jina. "Is he like this to everyone new he meets or am I just lucky?"
"I think you're just lucky," Jina replied as she glanced back at him. As she turned back to see where she was going she stopped. "Here we are."
Timon climbed on top of Jina's head to see. "What do you mean here we are?" He growled when Sly pushed his head down to see. Sly tilted his head to the side slightly, and then jumped off Jina's head and began to walk around, surveying the area. Timon brushed his messed up hair back normally and then he took a look at where they were... and paused.
"Sorry, Timon, I guess I should've mentioned where we were going," Jina whispered to Timon when he realized they arrived at his colony's old tunnel system.
Timon furrowed his brow again and leaned forward to look at Jina. "Yeah, especially when our guest was raised to hate my colony. He doesn't know about the links I have to Fearless Buzz," he whispered back.
Jina jerked her head forward, forcing the meerkat off. "He doesn't know this was your family's tunnels, so Hakuna Matata. And this was the only place I could think of that had the rock and tree like Sly described."
"That's what worries me," Timon said as he dusted himself off.
Sly kept glancing around the area, looking at the landmarks carefully. He noticed the rock next to the small tree and gasped softly. "That's the same rock and tree."
Timon and Jina turned to look at him, and Timon approached him. "Are you sure?" he asked.
"I'm positive."
"Yeah, only mooks are positive," Timon said as he folded his arms in front of his chest.
Sly grinned and arched a brow, "Are you sure about that?"
"I'm positive." He realized he said that and smacked himself in the forehead. "D'oh!" Jina stayed where she was, snickering.
Sly chuckled, and then turned his attention back to the tree and rock. "But seriously, Timon. That's the same rock and tree. I'm sure of it." He walked towards it.
Timon shook his head as he followed him. "Are you sure you're not just delusional from the lack of sleep?" He stepped in front of Sly to keep him from going around the side of the rock. "And it was just a dream, after all."
"Dreams can be forgotten memories trying to resurface. I couldn't have just dreamt this place up."
"Well, there are numerous possibilities, and dreams can play tricks on a guy's mind to make you think differently about reality."
"Really." Sly kept trying to step to the side of Timon and Timon would always side step with him. Sly began to get annoyed and grasped onto Timon's shoulder with a growl. "Excuse me, but is there something you don't want me to find, Timon?"
Timon went to answer, but paused when he noticed the look in Sly's eyes. He then found he couldn't answer. Sly grunted and pushed Timon to the side and walked around to the side of the rock. He saw a meerkat-sized rock resting beside the larger rock. He looked at the side of the larger rock and softly gasped. The rock had carved pictures on it; pictures that reminded him of a song. He brushed some dirt from the rock to see the picture of a strong looking meerkat better.
"Sly?" Jina said, padding up to the meerkat.
Sly didn't respond right away. He just looked across the pictures, trying to believe what he saw. "Timon, is this...?"
Timon walked around and knelt down to the smaller rock, putting a paw on it. "Fearless Buzz's grave. Yeah, it is." He lowered his eyes slightly. "Sorry, I know how much you were raised to hate him, so I didn't want you to disrespect him or anything."
Sly wasn't paying attention to what Timon said after he confirmed whose grave it was. He had other questions on his mind. "I don't get it. Why would I remember this place? I was born after the battle between the two colonies and I remember all the places we dug our tunnels. Our colony never lived here before... right?"
"Sheesh, Sly, you came here to get answers, not to ask more questions," Timon said.
Sly shook his head. "Maybe they were just dreams. But they seemed like they actually happened."
"I've had dreams like that before. The other night I--" Timon stopped, and rubbed his chin, thinking. "You said you were a pup in that dream, right?"
"Yeah, so?"
Nah, there's no way... but what if it is? "Sly, I want you to tell me about that dream," Timon said as he stood to face him. "I want to know what it was about."
Sly blinked. "Why the sudden--?"
"Just tell me!"
Jina watched the two of them, a bit concerned. She spoke up, "Go ahead, Sly. I don't mind hearing it again."
Sly exhaled, "All right. I remember coming out of the tunnel and my eyes adjusting to the light. Must've been the first time I went up to the surface. I'm barely a month old. I'm set down to the ground and I'm tackled by a second pup about the same age." Sly looked over towards nearby tall grass. "We tumble over that way into a pile of leaves. The next thing I know I'm flying, probably being carried by some bird." He paused when he noticed Timon's surprised expression. "What?"
"It can't be a coincidence..." Timon said to himself. He spoke to Sly, "I don't know what to think, but... I had a dream just like that, too, except I didn't go flying."
"You're joking," Sly said with a straight face.
"Nah, he laughs at his own jokes, and it's rare when we laugh at them," Jina said.
"Jina, don't spoil the mood."
"Sorry."
"The dream was at this place, too," Timon continued.
Sly took a few steps away from Timon. "Quit messing with my head, Timon. I'm not in the mood to be messed with."
"I'm not messing with your head! We had the same dream, but with different endings! You got picked up by a bird; I got carried off by my parents looking for my--" Timon stopped himself, a bit shocked.
"Timon?" Jina tilted her head.
"Maybe those really weren't dreams. Maybe they actually happened," Timon managed to say.
"What? What are you saying?" Sly asked in a desperate tone. He watched as Timon was about to speak, but Sly covered his own ears. "No, I don't want to hear. I don't want to know the answers." He glanced at the grave and quickly turned away from it. "I don't want to know the answers!"
"But Sly--"
"Just stay away from me!" With that Sly took off running faster than either Timon or Jina could react.
Timon reached a paw out to him. "Sly!"
"Sly, wait!" Jina was about to run after him, but Timon stepped in front of her. "What's the matter?"
"He needs some time alone, Jina. I don't think he really understands everything," Timon said as he shook his head.
"I know I don't understand everything."
Timon looked off in the direction Sly ran off in. He couldn't see him anymore. "I don't either... but I'm beginning to. I think I understand why Zuri made us stay in the Outlands."
"You do?" Jina tilted her head to the side. "Why?"
Timon kept staring in the same direction as he said, "If what I'm thinking is right, then... Zuri's right... he does have Ma's eyes."
To be continued...