A/N: Whoa… it's been what? A few months, maybe? I am very sorry. The joys of a young man before college. Euurgh. Gives me the jibblies… whoo… there they go again.
Anyway! On with the story. I hope you find it both pleasantly humorous and positively heart breaking in the chapters to come. We all know a certain disaster has to happen sooner or later… and if anyone notices any continuity errors, do tell me so I can fix them.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Four days after the flooded tunnel incident…
Timon hadn't bothered to show his face for days after the last time he had been blamed for another disaster. A whole shift had to be reorganized, three workers had been down for a couple days from the walloping Timon had given them, and Gamba was out for blood ever since he had recovered from the crushing insult to his malehood. There had been consequently no reason for Timon to let anyone find him, much less talk to him. It wasn't as though anyone wanted to anyway, what with the excitement over the tournament going on the past week. It had been a convenient distraction after the embarrassment Timon yet again besmirched the colony with.
His mother was worried sick, he knew that much. For a couple of days she had been convinced he had run away. But every time she or one of his friends had tried to approach him once he was discovered in some remote part of the colony, he had dashed off once again to hide.
It was hard to want to go home again when one was convinced their home didn't want them anymore. Danso had gotten wind of the flooding incident after dealing with an accidental (but minor) cave-in, and hadn't been in the best of moods when Timon had finally gathered the courage to face his parents again.
Fortunately, he had controlled himself as best as he could when Meeca jumped into the fray, ordering them both outside for a nice 'father son' conversation before dinner.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Timon, come up here."
"But Dad…"
"Timon, I said come up here!"
"Feeling brave tonight?" mumbled Timon as he followed his father into the light of the setting sun.
"I heard that, kit. Tonight's no night to get smart, Timon; you're in enough trouble as it is."
Timon, despite being almost five months old, cringed heavily. He hadn't meant for Danso to hear that. Stepping up the pace, he jumped up behind his father, who spoke quickly and confidently, averting his anger with lecturing.
"Timon, I don't think there's ever been a day when I was more disappointed in you," he began, jumping onto a rock and taking up a sentry position. Timon flagged his arms helplessly.
"Dad… it's just a tunnel… it's no different than all those other times."
"You destroy more than that, Timon," said Danso, turning to look at his son sharply as he led him up the small hill on the colony's flank. "When you bring down a tunnel, you bring down our livelihood. Our hard work, our history, Timon! You bring down our chances of survival!"
Timon sighed. It was obvious his father wasn't quite as upset as he could have been, so he was feeling far more talkative than usual.
"Aww, Dad, I know these are important… but why do they have to be all we're proud of? Why not find something that'll let us do more than hide? Where's our… our strength Dad? We're small, but… so are snakes!"
"Snakes have poison fangs, Timon," replied Danso, raising an eyebrow. "The best we can come up with is a very odd chittering noise."
"I know that, Dad! But come on! Whoever decreed we can't be better than we are now? Why don't we ever stand up and fight? Where's our pride, where's our -"
Swish!
"Get down!"
Danso jumped at the slight rustle of grass, leaping on Timon and pushing them both to the ground below the grass line.
For several moments, all was quiet, and then a small rabbit hopped over the two, taking a moment to sniff innocuously about in front of the two meerkats before disappearing once again.
"-dignity," finished Timon flatly, speaking against the dirt his chin was mashed into by his father's grip. Danso sighed and pulled them both up, dusting himself off with all the self-confidence he could muster.
"Son… let me tell you something about dignity."
Pulling Timon back up to their perch, Danso rested one paw between Timon's shoulders and held the other out towards the vast savanna before them.
"Now… look, Timon."
"Dad, Max already said it wasn't my sight that was the problem-"
"Just humor me a minute, okay son? Just… look, Timon. At it all. Look out to the horizon… past the trees… over the grasslands… towards it all… everything the light touches…!"
And look Timon did. It was a beautiful sight to be sure. The light flowed over the horizon like a tide crashing into the shore… not that Timon would realize that, having never seen the ocean. The gold of the waning sun seemed to set the world aflame, but with a warm glow, nothing hostile. It was breathtaking, now that he was given time to really reflect on it. A smile began to creep onto the youngster's face. This view seemed to affirm his existence. Despite that, one question still lingered in his mind. What was over that horizon? It certainly looked brighter than here…
"Belongs to someone else."
Timon felt something come to a screeching halt in his head. The reality of his father's statement came crashing down, and his shoulders slumped, and his eyes became hooded. Danso, noting the sudden change of mood, patted his son sympathetically.
"Ahh, I'm sorry Timon, but… that's the way things are. It's what we were made to be."
Timon got one last good look at the brilliant panorama, and did a quick about face, spreading his arms as he launched into his long awaited monologue, figuring the mood was about right for it. It was something he had wanted for quite a while. He had rehearsed these lines to himself day after day! Surely his father would be able to understand him now that he was old enough to relate his ideas. Today was going to be different… it always felt that way when he looked out to the sun and had his hope restored.
"But that's just what I'm sayin', Pop! Who says we're built to be brunch? Who says we're just a bunch of morsels on legs? I sure don't! And we shouldn't either! I'm telling you, Dad, we can do it! What's stopping us? We've even done it before already! All we need to do is stand up for ourselves! We need to stand up for each other! What about that time you told me the colony managed to fight off a whole pair of adders that were trying to use our tunnels as a nesting area? What about the time that Ma told me about when Max chased off a monitor just by smacking it on the nose? And what about Fearless Buzz? Why do we still sing songs about how brave he was? Isn't it about time we showed everyone else out there that it's not how big your teeth is, it's the size of the heart?"
Danso finally snapped himself out of the daze he had been in when Timon displayed his uncharacteristic eloquence, and wagged his paws in the air, cutting his son short.
"Now Timon… Timon! You have to understand a few things! We can't all be heroes, Timon! Those adders got chased off because they weren't hunting us. Max's monitor was hardly your size. And Timon…"
He knelt down and put his paws on his son's shoulders, trying to be as tender as possible.
"Fearless Buzz is dead. And I don't want to see you kill yourself chasing after something that's just going to turn around and bite you later… literally! Buzz got himself killed because he went outside the boundaries. Out of the tunnels that keep us safe, Timon! That keeps you safe! We're proud of these tunnels, because it's who we are. It's ours, and nobody else's! That's not something to be ashamed of! We dig those tunnels and it's an accomplishment, not a burden! Son… we dig those tunnels because we love you."
"You just dig those tunnels because you're afraid of everything!" said Timon before he could stop himself.
There was a long moment of silence as father and son stared at each other, Timon regretful, and Danso thoughtful. They looked away from each other, bitterness in their eyes.
Suddenly, Meeca popped out of a nearby tunnel, holding several squirming insects on a large leaf.
"Dinner time! The boys in the scouting department managed to rustle up a huge batch of termite larvae! I knew you two would be hungry after talking."
Danso sighed and turned away, arms akimbo.
"Termites again!" he snapped.
"It's good for the upper body strength," replied Meeca calmly. "You'll need it for your upcoming match with Mosi. It is tomorrow, you know…"
"Holy smokes, you're right!" said Danso, smacking a paw to his forehead and dodging past his mate. "I gotta get back inside…"
"Oh, courage deserting you already?" answered Meeca pointedly, nodding back to Timon, who was looking rather lost and desolate at the moment, his eyes wide and shoulders slumped. The sight would have broken anyone else's heart, but not Danso's. Not after what had just transpired. He looked back, about to say something, but then his eyes narrowed again.
"Max has some last minute techniques to show me," he said. "And there are tunnels to attend to."
He walked away.
"Was I adopted?" asked Timon, plopping down onto the rock and rolling his eyes. Meeca sighed and clambered up next to him, deftly keeping the leaf tray from tipping too far in any direction. She grabbed his cheek and tugged at it playfully.
"Oh, Timon… you two are like night and day!" She shook her head mournfully. "I remember the days when you and your father were so much closer… funny to think that was only a few months ago."
"I just don't see why nobody understands what I have to say…" Timon said desperately, spreading his arms.
"Honey…" Ma began lightly, "your ideas, well… they're just a little odd to people. It's hard for them to change something they've lived in for so long."
"Even if it kills them?"
"Especially if it kills them," answered Meeca with a wry smile.
"OW!"
They turned to see Danso hopping about on one foot several feet away, holding his foot paw and cursing under his breath. He appeared to have stubbed his toe on a rock.
"Didn't I tell you!" he shouted at his family. "It's a jungle out here!"
"See what I mean?" continued Meeca. She wrapped her arms around her son, who had a thoughtful look on his face.
"But don't worry, sweety… everyone has a place somewhere. Things'll get better. You'll see. I know that no matter what choices you make, and no matter what ideas you have, you'll always make us proud… because we love you far too much to ever be ashamed of you."
"Even Dad?" asked Timon quietly, leaning up against the reassuring safety and warmth of his mother.
"Even Dad." Meeca gave him an extra squeeze, and then dropped back down towards the colony.
"I better go make sure Danso doesn't overdo it with Max… he's bound to be uptight about his match tomorrow."
"D'ya think Dad'll win?" Timon asked. Meeca turned back to him with a calm, benevolent smile.
"Timon… he's Dad."
Timon blinked, then turned away with a smile.
"Oh, yeah…" Meeca continued moving off. Her voice floated back up to him from the tunnels.
"Don't stay up too late now!"