Authors Note: First, I'd like to give a shout out to Nitro Zeus, who had some suggestions for the story. I thought they where good so I tried to tie them in.

The Poachers Main Camp

"I told you amigo, we shouldn't have come out here like this." Javier Casas, the tall Spaniard poacher, spoke while lying down in the back of the truck. His wounds from Vitani aren't life threatening, but are still severe; his right arm has deep punctures from her bite, serious claw marks, and bruises from getting pounced on and knock to the ground. The two dogs that were with them, which are lying protectively next to him, are almost as bad as he is.

"You don't need to tell me that!" Marcus Bright, the shorter brown hair man yelled. He was the driving the truck, and once they pulled into the main camp he said "Let's just talk with William so we make a plan on getting my brother back!" Marcus faired much better, he had small claw and bite marks from Timon and headache from falling out of the truck. Plus, a large bruise to his ego.

Marcus walks straight to William Hatton's tent. William was talking with some of his other men when Marcus barged in and said "William! Tarzan has my brother! We need to do something before..." As he was talking William punches him right in face, sending him flying to the other side of the tent, Javier is walking in just as he lands on the ground.

William, visibly angry, interrupts him "I know."

Baffled by this simple statement, Marcus says "Wha... what do you mean you know? How do..."

William interrupts again, glaring him in eye as he walks forward "I told everyone not to go into that section of the jungle today. A simple order and yet you still ignored me. And now James is captured, Mr. Casas is severely injured as well Balto and Caesar. Not only that but no doubt by now they would've collected MY traps."

Javier speaks up "I'm sorry Senior, I tried to stop them, but I only managed talk them down to setting traps. I went them because I thought it would be safer, I should've said something."

William softens, somewhat, and sighs, looking at Javier he says "Yes, you should have. But it's not your fault, hindsight is 20/20, at least you realize your error, unlike others." he said turning his gaze to Marcus who had a more upset, almost defiant expression.

"William! The section of jungle you wanted us to go to was almost 2 hours away!" Marcus said as he stood up. He was going to continue, however the look William gave him quickly froze the words in his throat, causing him swallow them along with nerves.

William turns back to Javier "You, for your part, will get a 20% pay cut. Until you fully heal you will be moved to our storage tunnel, they should have some minor work for you. Now get your self fix-up, you can report to the tunnel tomorrow. I have more to say to Marcus."

Relieved, Javier takes a heavy breath "Gracias, Senior." He leaves with the help of one of the men that were in the tent, feeling like he escaped with his life. He feels sorry for Marcus, but he did warn him that William wouldn't be happy with what they did.

"As for your brother, Mr. Bright, he will most likely be taken back to England by the naval patrol ship scheduled to dock in two days." As he speaks he walks over to a small desk, and begins to make notes in a small book. "I have contacts that can get him released, for a price. I'll take it out of your and James pay, as well as the reimbursement for the lost equipment, medical supplies for my dogs and your own, and finally a disciplinary pay cut of 20%."

This didn't sit well with Marcus "Are you joking?! You expect my brother to sit in a cell for who knows how long when we can just run in and get him? Not only that but Fredrick's dead and you're sending his pay it to his family and yet you're cutting ours!" When he finished yelling, he realized he may have made a mistake doing so. Williams eyes were like an alpha wolf staring down a rival. Unfortunately for Marcus, it was more like a wolf verses a dog, since he was a full foot shorter and at least 80lbs smaller.

Williams eyes are furious, his voice though was controlled. He slowly got up and walked back around, telling him "Fredrick's death was because of a simple mistake, not disobedience. He listened to my orders and said 'yes sir' 'no sir', he showed me respect."

"Well, sir" he said with sharp sarcasm "James was never the quite type, and all that time with those sailors, let's hope he doesn't say the wrong things."

The threat doesn't seem to scare William, it only mildly irritates him. So he says, with a small, unsettling smirk "Oh I'm not concerned. I have men to ensure that if he begins to get careless in his conversation, they'll... correct him, so to speak." Those words caused Marcus' heart rate to spike, while it felt like his body was ice cold. He knows William isn't someone to bluff, that threat is more of like a promise. He tried to say something, anything, a threat, a bargain, but fear for his brother kept him silent, which was for the best. William continued "Don't worry, I'll have someone tell James that he'll be freed once back in England, so long as he behaves. Despite your short comings, you two have proven your value to the crew and I wish for you to to stay on. Your military combat training has been useful." William gently places his large hand on the side of Marcus' neck before saying in a deeper, darker tone "However, I do not tolerate insubordination." as he continues, the grip on his neck gets tighter until Marcus can't even breathe "If you keep ignoring my orders and causing problems, well... I won't even bother to bury you next Fredrick. Understand?"

When he's finished talking, he let's Marcus go, who then collapses to the ground, gasping for air. When he's caught his breath he looks up at William, who is almost daring Marcus to make a threat, but instead he simply says "Yes."

William, however, isn't completely happy with that answer, so he kneels down and bends his ear toward him "Yes?"

And with a quite and shaky voice, he says "Yes... Sir." This time without the sarcasm, because he knows he's been beaten.

William has a victorious smile, and as he stands he concludes "Good, then report to Malcolm, your working with him on 'resources and materials', and try not to lose any more traps while working there. Dismissed." As Marcus leaves, one of the men that had already been there before approached William, who returned to his desk, and with a large sigh he tries to wipe the sleep and stress from his face.

The man, whose name is Elias, says "Sir, if I may ask, what do we do about James if he tries to talk once he leaves Africa? We don't have anyone on the Naval ship, and it would be too late once they get to England."

"That's true, which is a good thing that his brother Marcus is here with us, isn't it?" William answers with a dangerous look. Elias doesn't seem to fully understand so he continues. "Tell our 'messenger' that when he informs James that he'll be freed when he reaches England, to also let him know that if he tries to expose our 'business activities' here, then I will be force to kill Marcus. That should be sufficient motivation for James to stay silent."

"Ah, understood sir."

William leans back in his chair, reflecting back on his time spent here and asks a semi-rhetorical question "How many men have we lost so far?"

Elias wasn't sure if he actually expected an answer, but he listed those they lost anyway "Um, well, we came here with 20, not including you sir, or the 4 that are on the confidential recon mission. Fredrick was killed by the large gorilla, and James has been captured. Also, after the two went missing in Kutoweka Canyon, we sent a three man team to search for them, and only Mr. Arquette returned."

William does the math "So, 6 are no longer with us, which leaves us with 14 still here. Has Remy's condition improved since he returned?"

Elias says "Physically yes, but he still won't speak, whatever happened to them must have been truly frightening. So we still don't know what happened to the others."

"Well let's not push him too much. So, 13 active men here, with another 25 on their way when the cargo ship arrives. Our numbers have certainly taken a hit here, but that just means we'll need to be careful as we continue. What about negotiations with that native camp for their animals?" He asks.

"Of the animals they attained from that failed mining camp, they are willing to part with three mules and a horse."

"Well that will have to do for now, the mules will make moving our supplies and merchandise in this jungle easier, and a horse will be much better than our trucks. I just wish we could've brought some ourselves. Now lets get back to work, there's much to do."

Williams Storage Cave

Kovu was anxious beyond words. He's been trapped for days in a cage with only enough room to turn around, there's the looming threat of being shipped off to the unknown, and Kiara due to give birth any day now. The only ray of hope is Habari, a teenage Mandrill who lost his left arm to a poacher trap, who had an idea to send a message for help. Kovu wasn't the only one, Mgeni the young rouge lion, and Tublat the violent gorilla, also were looking to him, although they hoped he'd open their cages instead so they could get revenge. As time passes, more animals are being brought in and taken farther down into the tunnel, mostly smaller ones such as birds, monkeys and so on.

The small cages, the increased noise from the new animal's, and the humans who stop time and again to taunt them, all this finally makes Tublat snap and yell at Habari, "It's been 2 days since you said you had a plan! WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR! GET! ME! OUT!"

The sudden out burst scares the young mandrill, who answers with studder, "A-actually I-I-I said I had an idea, n-not a full plan. The humans outside are a problem, and besides I need one to..."

"CUT THE CRAP!" He interrupts, "All you need to do is open our cages! Leave the humans to us!" US, meaning himself and Mgeni, although those two had hoped that Kovu would help with their "hunt".

"You see, um we shou... well, actually, uh, I can't, I don't feel... comfortable doing that knowing you'll, um, kill them. It's kinda an ethical issue." Habari managed to say, feeling somehow grateful that Tublat was locked up since he didn't handle what he just said too well.

"What? YOU LET ME OUT OR YOU'LL BE THE FIRST TOO...!" Tublat is cut off by by bellowing roar from Kovu, a roar that is amplified by the cave walls, shaking everyone and everything.

When everyone's ears stop ringing, Kovu speaks "Enough." He tries to think about how Simba would diffuse this situation, "I know we all don't agree on what to do when we get out. But that doesn't matter right now since our first problem is getting the keys."

Tublat looks out of the small opening in the wooden reinforcements of his cage, staring down Kovu before sitting back down with a growl. "Fine."

Kovu now looks at Habari and asks "Is their anything we can do to help you get them?"

He thinks for a moment before he answers, "Well I'll need for a human with keys to get close. The problem is if he's facing me he'll probably see me grab them, and it's not like anyone's just going to casually lean against my cage."

Mgeni, who had been sleeping until Tublat's tantrum, gets up from the floor and offers an idea, "What if he fell against it?"

Habari and Kovu look to each other to see if the other knew what he meant; they didn't. Kovu then asks, "Um, what are you thinking?"

Mgeni answers, a little proud of himself, "Well we can't exactly push them in these cages, so one of us has to scare them. Next time they come to feed us, when they open the small opening at the front to drop in the meat, we act like we're going to pull his arm in and attack. Naturally, he will panic and jump back to the other side of cave."

Habari lights up, "That could work! Let's go for it!"

Kovu also says "Okay, sounds like a plan to me."

Authors Note: I had thought about adding the part of them actually doing the plan to this chapter, but since it's been awhile since my last update I decided to just send it out to give y'all something to read. I know some of you are anxious for things to start falling into place, all can say is "please be patient, and thank you for reading." Also, "Kutoweka" means vanishing in Swahili, wonder what's in that canyon? :)