Scarfing down fruits isn't very filling for Simba or Nala but it's better compare to the plants scarfing them down.

Chapter 2: Plant Panic

"I'll certainly give you this one, son," Mufasa proudly proclaimed to Simba as they laid beneath the starry sky. "The way you put yourself before Nala was quite noble." The Pride Land's prince couldn't help but blush at such a recollection. "Well, yeah, you know," he struggled to spit out at first. "Friends don't leave friends all high and dry with hyenas closing in." His majesty couldn't help chuckling warmly at his boy's terribly unsubtle infatuation, remembering his youth. "Yes 'just friends' you say."

Simba rolled his eyes over his father's obnoxious teasing. "Great, as if Zazu wasn't bad enough about it," he griped, rolling himself away from his father to hide all the red on his face. "I just saw how scared she was and did what you would've done, you know?" Despite his annoyance, the lion cub couldn't help but recall the image of Nala's terrified expression and the strong passion it'd drawn out of him, his frustrations simmering down. "I mean, I like her but I dunno if I actually 'like her' like her."

Mufasa compassionately snickered with a warm smile, endeared by Simba's all too familiar predicament. "I can assure you that I speak from experience, son," he claimed, his childhood memories with Sarabi returning to his mind. "Girls never fail to fall for young males who stand up for them despite the odds." His majesty looked on at his son's back turned towards him with empathy and recounted his own talk with his own father years back. "It's a clear sign of how much she means to you..."

"I guess," Simba managed to shrug, trying to sound casual enough. He was too embarrassed to reply but knew that his father was right on the money as usual. All the same, he couldn't help but think back to how he stood before Nala to protect her only for the hyenas to laugh him off like he was some kind of joke. Heck, the prince couldn't fully blame them with his pathetic excuse for a roar that gave away his feelings of fear in the moment. He did love Nala but wanted to prove it properly.

Somehow.

"Now that I'm not starving to near death," Nala remarked, snapping Simba out of his memories, "this whole Jungle place isn't too bad at all." The prince could see that the formerly famished feline had perked up after filling up on a few fruits and had that wide-eyed look on her face he always loved. "If we had to get stranded, at least it was someplace exotic as my folks would've put it." It helped alleviate his guilt over what she had to endure out in the unforgiving dessert.

Simba could also agree with Nala on their current location being fairly fascinating now that they had time to take it all in. The air was humid but not oppressively so with the heat largely filtered by the foliage overhead thanks to the trees. It helped that the sun was setting for the evening, creating an orange hue across the sky that gave the cubs a warm and fuzzy feeling they had needed. He smiled while inhaling fresh air to really put his mind more at ease. That is, right until...

"BRAAAAAPPPTTT!"

Both Simba and Nala's eyes shot open together in surprise at the noise. However, it was his highness that was quick to take a whiff with his sharp nose and let out a grossed out groan. "A heads up would've been nice, you know," he indignantly declared, shooting a dirty look at a blushing Nala. "Well, gee," his BFF shot back with an offended look herself, "it's almost like stuffing our guts with fruit was a bad idea." She let off another blast of bad gas on purpose just to spite him.

"A better idea that starving," Simba retorted with a groan, trying not to let the flatulence get to him to little avail. "I would've sprung for a mole or two but lugging girls across a wasteland does a number on you." He drew up in front of Nala to avoid her expression of indignation while he felt gurgling in his bowels. "Excuse me?" she proclaimed with a highly raised eyebrow. "Oh, you so did not just call me fat-" Simba cut her off as he got his butt in her face and let one rip.

"BRAAAAAAAAAAPPPPTTTTT!"

Nala stopped in her track when the noxious fumes invaded her nostrils and forced her to cover her nose with both her paws, groaning in disgust. "I'd say that makes us even," Simba snarked with a snicker. The lioness cub waved the woefully waft away as she looked up to see her best friend actually laughing. Much as she did not appreciate the stink bomb, the foul-smelling feline could not help but feel happy that the former prince was happy himself in spite of everything.

"Actually, this does," Nala declared as she turned herself around to display her own glutes. However, an awfully audible gurgle was emitted from her bowels as she felt something less gassy began to build up in her bottom. "Uh, scratch that," she groaned with a strained expression, feeling the need to really unload. "I know fruits just go on through you but..." The lioness cub groaned as the pressure got worse while Simba gulped, knowing a bad number two from experience.

"There should be some bushes past these trees," Simba suggested, sympathetic to Nala's plight. "I'll wait here while you, well, do your business." He felt a strong secondhand embarrassment even as she scampered on past. "Take my word for it," the lioness cub warned urgently, "cover your nose tightly for this one." His highness looked on as she rushed past the trees ahead and into the bushes out of sight. Once it got all noisy again, he made sure to do as advised.

Despite the crude circumstances, Simba couldn't help but let his smile return in feeling a type of relief that he had urgently needed for sometime. Nala had always being a spunky tomboy who'd never fail to volley back her own snark or even flatulence as if she was really his twin brother. Their little stink-off made him feel like nothing had changed at all. Of course, behind that attitude was a girly girl who he'd protect in a heartbeat. One he had dragged down with him...

Guilt returned to Simba as he remembered why she was here in the first place and how starvation nearly did her in because of him. He invited her to Scar's surprise and nearly let her die in the stampede just like... him, gulping at the thought. If not the Wildebeests, the hyenas would've exacted their revenge on them for the Elephant Graveyard incident. Now they were in uncharted territory with creatures that wouldn't hesitate to devour them alive. The prince gulped.

"I will keep her safe," Simba reaffirmed to himself, closing his eyes in trying to keep his doubts at bay. "No matter what... dad..."

Nala sighed in sheer relief after letting it all out and steeled her snooze for the stink. All the while, her mind drifted to Simba and the way he got all cheeky with his own cheeks. The way he laughed so happily about it warmed her heart, especially with his father's death still fresh in mind. She sighed sadly while recalling how he rushed ahead towards Mufasa and begged him to wake up. The lioness cub had been able to tell that his highness's pleadings wouldn't be answered...

So the fact that Simba could still be that rambunctious boy who'd be bold enough to fart in Nala's face was sweet... in a stinky sort of way. Of course, she knew that deep down that he was more that just cocky from how he got between her and Shenzi. The lioness cub was scared witless while the prince definitely stood before her ready to go out swinging. That moment and imagining him carrying her across the desert always made her smile in her increasing infatuation.

"I guess Zazu really was onto something," Nala told herself with a blush before her nose picked up on something. The sweet scent seemed to overwhelm the rank stench and put a smile on the lioness cub's face with how... intoxicating it was. She followed the fragrance just behind a nearby tree, her legs moving her towards it almost without her knowing. Just around the trunk was a surprisingly tall flower that had a long stem sprouting up and bending back to the ground.

Nala took in more of the addicting scent and scampered up to the head of the flower, intrigued by the unusual plant. The head had no petals but rather a round hole that emitted the fragrance and appeared to be almost... moving. At a slow rate but she could swear that it was bending over further. The lioness cub got beneath the head in her curiosity and cocked her head. She couldn't help sitting down to lift her upper body for a better look, the scent still disarming as usual.

Next thing Nala knew, the head suddenly opened up its hole and lunged downwards...

I know the farting gag is very obnoxious but it helps to show that these two kids are just... well, kids and how the Jungle will put them through hell.