Chapter 36:
Jina had just taken Timon and Sly towards the former home of the Fearless Buzz colony. Not everyone knew that at the time. As much as she hated and feared going to the lions' den by herself, Zuri was determined to find Timon and set things straight. She could smell his scent carrying off of the stones of Pride Rock as she climbed to the top. She was sure he was here. She made it to the top and stared at the opening of the cave where many lions laid to sleep.
Zuri gulped, "I'm still not used to these guys. I just hope you're in there, Timon." She only walked a few steps before something jumped from above and landed in front of her. Startled, she let out a scream and fell onto her backside. She looked up to the figure, blinked, and then furrowed her brow.
Zazu stood in front of her with his wings on his hips. "Oh, it's you. Do you realize what time it is, meerkat?" he asked with a stifled yawn.
"Really. I guess you're not one of those early birds then," Zuri said as she stood and dusted herself off.
"Indeed not. What business do you have here that couldn't wait until morning?"
"Is Timon here?"
Zazu snorted in a snobbish manner. "Timon? Why would he have a reason to be here at this time of night?"
"That's really none of your business, Mister Banana-Beak," Zuri snorted back. "Just tell me where he is."
"You missed him," a voice said. Zuri and Zazu turned to see Simba walking out of the cave and over to them. "He left not too long ago."
Zazu turned away from Zuri and bowed to Simba. "Sire, what are you doing up?"
"I haven't been to sleep since I found Timon sleeping under my arm," Simba replied. "Now my mind's too full to sleep." He looked down at Zuri with a grin. "And then I heard that familiar scream."
Zuri gulped at the size of Simba, and then shook her head to clear it. "Sorry, Simba. Zazu surprised me. So Timon was here. Where did he go?"
"Back to the Outlands, I assumed. He told me about you and this Sly friend of yours," Simba nodded his head towards the Outlands.
Zuri winced slightly. "What did you two talk about?"
"Well..."
A few minutes later...
"I see," Zuri said as she folded her arms in front of her chest. "He doesn't understand why I wanted to stay there. Though he is a little slow on some matters, I was hoping he would figure it out himself. I wish I had told him before he took off like that..."
"Told him what?" Zazu spoke up.
Zuri shot Zazu a look. "None of your business, Zazu. Besides, you don't even like Timon."
"What were you going to tell him, Zuri?" Simba spoke up.
Zuri looked up at Simba, and then lowered her eyes. "Well, I was going to tell him something, but decided that's not really my place." She shook her head. "I'm sorry, Simba, but I'm gonna go find him before he takes off somewhere again." She bowed to him, as she normally did, and then took off down the steps of Pride Rock. Simba shook his head and turned back into the cave to try getting back to sleep. Zazu took wing to his nest.
Zuri crossed the log back over to the Outlands and began to walk back towards the cave the Outlands' meerkats used until she stopped herself. "Wait a minute... I don't even know what I'm gonna tell him!" she yelled to herself as she pulled on her ears. She released them and walked over to a nearby termite mound, sitting at the base.
I want to tell him about Sly, but that's not something his mate should be telling him. Especially now that we actually found him, and the fact that his mother knows...
Three days ago...
Zuri was walking through the oasis on her way towards her parents' nest. "That Timon... 'I was talking about a male whom I never really knew.' 'Actions speak louder than words.' I could just smack him for his lack of knowing what a girl wants!" She was a little red in the face as she grew nearer to her parents' nest, until she heard her father's voice nearby. She couldn't make out the words yet, but she decided to walk in that direction.
She slowed down when she realized Shomari was talking to her mother-in-law. "... So you don't know what happened to him?" he asked Ma.
Zuri hid behind a tree, not wanting to break up the conversation. Dang it, Papa's occupied. I was hoping to let some steam off by talking to him. Guess I'll try Mom then. She began to walk away.
"No one knows what happened to Titus," Ma said.
Zuri stopped, turned, and walked back to behind the tree to listen in. Timon's brother? Wonder why Papa would be interested in knowing about him?
Shomari put a paw to his chin. "You said he was three weeks old when he disappeared, right?" Ma nodded. "And a Martial eagle swooped down over you before you realized Titus was gone?" Again, Ma nodded. Shomari put a twig in his mouth and began to chew on the end. "Three weeks after the battle. That might explain some things..."
Zuri blinked, wondering what he meant.
"I beg your pardon?" Ma raised an eyebrow.
"You remember hearing about Sly, don't you?"
Ma put a finger to her chin. "Sly... Sly... oh, he was Zuri's old boyfriend, wasn't he? I've been wanting to hear more about him since the warthog piglets were born, but I never thought it appropriate to ask Zuri just out of the blue."
"Waiting for the topic to come up, eh?" Shomari grinned slightly. He sat up a bit more. "I've been wondering it for some time, but since you told me about this other son of yours and how he disappeared I'm beginning to suspect it's true."
"Suspecting what's true?"
"Let me put it to you this way: even if Timon didn't marry Zuri..." He looked at her straight in the eye. "If I hadn't banished Sly and allowed him to marry Zuri, we would still be in-laws."
Zuri put a paw over her mouth to suppress her gasp. What?
"What?" Ma leaned forward to Shomari. "What are you saying?"
"Panya... Titus is alive, or at least he was a few years ago."
"What?"
"But he goes by Sly now."
Zuri kept her paw over her mouth, shocked. Sly... is Titus? Sly's a son of Fearless Buzz? How?!
"How can that be? Why didn't you ever tell me?!" Ma asked as she stood.
"I'm sorry, but I wasn't 100 percent positive. What you've told me were the missing pieces of the puzzle." Shomari took the twig out of his mouth and twirled it between his fingers for a few moments. "You see, after the battle between our colonies, several of our females were a week or two due to deliver their pups. We needed to find a place to start our new tunnels, since we failed to take over yours. So several members--including one or two expecting females--spanned out across the area to find suitable digging grounds. If they found good territories they would come back to our meeting area and take us there."
"You ordered expecting females to look for territories?" Ma asked with a furrowed brow.
"I allowed them. They were stubborn and wanted to be of some use before they gave birth. The ones that went were some of the older and stronger females, and they knew how to take care of themselves. Besides, I was so angry at the time I didn't care who went."
"We can be stubborn," Ma grinned slightly.
"Anyway, most of the members that left had come back. Those who didn't return we expected were eaten or something terrible like that." He put the twig back into his mouth and continued to chew. "No sense going to find them. One male named Sengbe stayed behind, insisting that he wouldn't leave until his expecting mate would return. He was shown the way to the new tunnel grounds, and then he returned to the meeting spot, to wait."
"How long did he stay there, or did he ever come back?"
"A month or two, when his mate finally arrived at the meeting grounds. She had her pups, and that's why she didn't return right away. She couldn't carry four pups all by herself, so she waited until they could walk."
"That makes sense, but what does that have to do with Sly?"
"I'm getting to that. They arrived at our new tunnels and began to live life normally again. Time marched on and I began to feel uneasy around the pup they named Sylvester, or Sly as the rest of us called him. There was something familiar about him, and something unnatural. His brothers and sisters had gray and brown eyes like their parents..." Shomari raised his eyes up to look into Ma's. "And he had green. His father Sengbe assumed it was a mutation of some sort, because his grandparents didn't have green eyes."
"Really."
"Yes. Soon before I banished him I realized why I felt a sort of hatred towards him. He looked like Buzz. I wasn't sure why he looked like him at the time, but I didn't care either. As soon as he gave me a good excuse--which was to prove he was worthy enough to marry Zuri and failed--I banished him."
"But he was Sengbe's son, wasn't he? He wasn't Titus."
"Let me finish. Sengbe hated me enough that I killed his brother in order to be allowed into that colony and taking over as leader instead of him, but I guess banishing his last living son was the straw that broke the camel's back. He wasn't strong enough to try to challenge me, so he left the colony to find Sly and make sure he didn't die the same way his siblings in the last litter died." Shomari exhaled through his nose. "His mate begged him not to go, but he left anyway. She soon began to get sick, dying of a broken heart. She asked for me at her deathbed."
"What did she say?"
"She said, 'I don't want to carry this secret to the grave, so I have to tell you something. Sylvester is not our real son.'
I said, 'What?'
'When I was missing, when I had my last pups, I was in a hole under a tree, and I heard a crying sound. I went to see and there was a pup outside, about the same age as my own pups. I snatched him before the Martial eagle in the tree could pick him up. I guessed the eagle had snatched him and dropped him when he landed in the tree. I didn't hear anyone calling for him or anything, so I assumed he was alone. I decided to keep him and raise him as my own.'
I said, 'And Sengbe didn't mind?'
'He would never approve of raising someone else's pup, from someone else's colony. You know how much he hates you. He would rather kill the pup. I couldn't let that happen to such a innocent creature.'
'So you're saying he doesn't even know.'
'No. He thinks Sylvester is his real son.'"
Ma sat back down, shocked and put a paw over her heart. Tears began to well up in her eyes. "So you're saying...?"
Shomari nodded. "When she said that... when she said Sly was not their real son... I began to suspect that it was true: they had raised their worst enemy's son." Shomari looked at her again. "When I first saw Timon, at first I suspected he was Sly, until I got a good look at him. He also looked like Fearless Buzz."
Ma put a paw to her mouth. "Titus. So he was alive... Pete was right." She wiped her eyes and began to stand. "I have to tell Timon."
Shomari put a paw on her shoulder and pushed her back down. "Panya, I think it's been enough of a shock already. Maybe you should wait until he comes to you, so you'll know he's ready to talk." He exhaled, "Besides, you know he gets moody when he hears about Zuri's old boyfriend. Why add to it now?"
"Shomari..." She exhaled and nodded. "I guess you're right. I'll wait until he's cooled off a bit."
"He can't stay mad at you, you know that. You'll be combing his hair back the way you want it by morning. Come on, let's get you a drink and a bite." He helped her up and walked away.
Zuri was still standing there, listening. She had a paw to her mouth and tears streaming down her cheeks. It can't be true... Sly is... Sly is... She let out a whimper before she ran away from the area. She blindly ran forward until she bumped into someone, and fell onto her backside.
"Whoa!" Jina was sitting down and eating a piece of fruit when she felt someone bump into her. She stood and turned to see Zuri. "Oh, Zuri. I thought I was bitten or something." She blinked when she saw her friend's face and sat down in front of her. "Zuri...?"
Zuri didn't say anything. She just clung to Jina and continued to cry. Jina blinked once, and then put a hoof on Zuri's back, trying to comfort her. Zuri looked up at the warthog. "Jina..."
Jina smiled. "It's OK, Zuri. You don't have to tell me anything. Just let it all out." Zuri lowered her head down again and rested it against Jina's stomach, continuing to cry. Jina rubbed her back gently. "Let it all out."
Present...
Zuri continued to sit where she was, thinking. Jina... you don't even know, do you? And I tell you everything. But it makes sense now. I know why Timon and Sly are so similar. She exhaled and stood, dusting herself off. She then began to walk towards the cave again.
After about twenty steps she froze in fear. A tall figure was standing before her with its front legs high in the air, posed to strike. She covered her head and waited for her last breath... until she realized nothing was happening. She uncovered her head and stared at the figure, a bit curious as to why it wasn't moving. She carefully walked towards it until she was close enough to touch it. She poked it once. It didn't flinch. She poked it harder... and her finger broke its skin.
"What the--?" She took a piece of the broken skin and examined it. "Clay?" She climbed up the figure and examined it a bit more. The clouds rolling by finally uncovered the moon, which gave Zuri more light. She climbed to the top of the figure and noticed its front legs were actually made of clay. She punched through the clay and discovered they were held in place by sticks. The head of the creature was hollowed clay and had a nozzle attached to it to blow into. She looked down at the body of the creature. "It's just a dressed-up termite mound," she said to herself as she slid down to the bottom. She examined the inside of the mound and pulled out a snail shell that was filled with water. She blew over the top of it, which made a low bellowing note. "This is..."
To be continued...