A/N: I don't own the Lion King.
"Their name is Toma, he's the jackal," Shuja said.
"Oh, I haven't seen him around," Leona replied.
"Well, that's no surprise he keeps to himself most of the time so, no one really sees him," Shuja explained.
"Do you know where he is?" Kovu asked. Shuja nodded, he motioned with his hand for the two lions to follow him. Shuja had led them to a tree not far from his. "Hey! Betty!"Shuja called. Several seconds later, a gray bird with red on the underside of her tail flew down from the tree onto Leona's back.
"Hi, Shuja, Leona, umm…," Betty trailed off.
"My name's Kovu," Kovu replied. Betty nodded her head and continued talking.
"So what's up?" Betty asked.
"Do you know where Toma went off to?" Shuja asked. Betty tilted her head to the side before answering.
"Hmm, I saw him heading towards the edge of the field," she answered.
"Thanks Betty," Leona said giving the bird a smile. Betty nodded her head and flew back into her tree.
"Why doesn't she just fly and escape from this place?" Kovu asked once the trio was out of earshot from Betty's tree.
"She's like me, she was taken away from her family when she was little and this is the only place she knows, that's the same as me, if they were to put us both in the wild, we'd be dead meat, 'cause unlike some of the other animals here, we have never really had the chance to be real wild animals," Leona explained.
"That's sad, not being able to live the life as a real animal," Kovu commented.
"It is but, guess being a wild animal wasn't in my destiny," Leona sighed. Kovu gave her a sympathetic smile. Leona smiled back and they continued following Shuja. They had walked for several minutes before Shuja had stopped.
"Why'd you stop?" Leona asked. Shuja turned to face Leona.
"Could I ride on your back while we try to find Toma, these old bones of mine are getting worn out," He replied. Leona rolled her eyes. "Please, you're not even in the prime of your life yet," Leona said with a smirk. Shuja just gave her a sheepish grin. Leona shook her head and gestured for him to get on her back. Kovu let out a short laugh. She just shook her head and kept walking. They walked in silence for the rest of their trip.
"So, where is he?" Kovu asked once they had reached the edge of the field near the chain fence.
"Well, he could be anywhere along the edge it's not going to be easy finding him," Shuja replied while he jumped off Leona's back.
"How about we split up," Leona suggested.
"That's a good idea I'll go with Kovu to the left and you search the right," Shuja said. Leona nodded and walked towards the right. Kovu walked to the left with Shuja next to him. They walked in silence for a few steps before Shuja spoke up.
"So, Kovu, tell me about yourself?" He asked.
"Well, what do you want to know," Kovu replied. Shuja tapped his chin for several seconds. "Where'd you live before they captured you?"
"I lived in a pride in a place called pride rock and I was going to be the new king of that pride when the time comes," Kovu answered. Shuja's eyes widened. "Whoa, a king, now we really need to get you back to your pride," Shuja exclaimed. Kovu gave him a grin. "Who's going to be your queen?" Shuja asked.
"That would be Kiara; she's the King's daughter," Kovu answered.
"You are one lucky lion Kovu, I can tell you that," Shuja replied. Kovu grinned.
"Now, you tell me about yourself," Kovu said. Shuja let out a short chuckle.
"Well, I can tell you that I'm not going to be a king," He started. "I lived in this tree in a beautiful forest and there were many different types of monkeys that lived in this forest, that was the life, there was enough food for everyone and good company too, but, one day the hunter, James, had came in with his gun, the monkeys had all scattered, getting as far away as they could I was also trying to get away but my foot had gotten tangled in a vine so, he shot me with a tranquilizer and I've been living here for a while." Kovu was silent as he absorbed what Shuja had told him. "Wow," were the only words that came out of his mouth.
"This place is not as fancy as the place where I used to live but, the animals are just as nice here," Shuja said.
"One question, what's a gun and tranquilizer?" Kovu asked.
"Did you see James carrying an object that looked like a stick and when he shot it something that was a capsule and had red feathers got you, those are the gun and tranquilizer," Shuja answered. Kovu nodded his head. "Hey, guys I found Toma," Leona called out.
They both turned their heads towards her.
"Where is he then?" Shuja asked.
"He's back there not too far off," She answered turning around. "C'mon." Kovu and Shuja followed Leona. When she stopped, Leona walked up to the bundle of fur and nudged it with her nose. The animal that was the bundle of fur lifted its head and yawned revealing its sharp canines.
"This is the lion I was telling you about, Toma," Leona said gesturing to Kovu with her head. Toma stood up and stretched, letting out another yawn in the process. He turned to look Kovu in the eyes. "So, you're the lion who wants to escape, huh, well let me tell you something, I escaped 'cause of luck, there isn't a way out, so forget about it," Toma said.
"Are you sure there isn't a way to escape?" Kovu asked desperately.
"Didn't you hear me the first time, forget about it," Tome snapped. Kovu glared and started to take a step but, Leona placed her paw in front of him before he could do anything.
"Tell us how you got out," Leona said.
"By luck, now leave me alone," Toma growled. Leona took a deep breath before she spoke.
"I mean how did you get out, how did you get out of the cages to come outside," Leona said.
"Fine, anything to get you all to leave me alone," Toma grumbled. "One night when they had brought us in and were closing the cage doors, the door to mine didn't close all the way so, when the humans had left I squeezed my way out of the opening, once I was outside I ran to the fence and started digging, when I had dug a hole big enough for me to squeeze through I did but, once I was on the other side of the fence an alarm sounded, I knew then that they must've found out I was gone, I ran and ran trying to get as far away as I could but, James had found me and shot a tranquilizer at me and after that I woke up back in my cage," Toma explained. Leona stood up and started to pace. They had sat in silence watching Leona pace around before Kovu spoke up.
"What are you doing," He asked. She turned towards him. "I'm thinking of a plan to get you out of here," She answered.
"Well, what do you have?" Shuja asked. Leona sighed. "I can't come up with anything honestly," She admitted. Kovu looked down while Shuja face palmed. Leona turned towards Toma. "Please Toma could you help Kovu get out, help us make a plan, please," Leona begged.
"Why should I help him," He replied. Kovu lifted his head and stood. "We could help you escape from this place and for good," Kovu answered.
"Fine, but I better get out of this place," Toma said. Kovu's face brightened. "Thank you so much," He said gratefully.
"Come back to this spot tomorrow and I will tell you the plan," Toma muttered before curling back into a ball. The trio turned, walking away from Toma.
"Maybe you might really get out of here Kovu," Leona said when they were nearing Shuja's tree.
"I know," Kovu replied excitedly.
"I'm happy for you, Kovu, but don't forget about us little animals when you become king," Shuja said with a grin.
"I won't," Kovu replied returning the grin.
"Well, here's your tree Shuja, I'm going to introduce Kovu to the other animals or do you want to come with us?" Leona asked Shuja.
"I'll stay in my tree, have fun," Shuja replied before he climbed up his tree. The two lions walked away from Shuja's tree in search of the other animals.
"How many animals live here?" Kovu asked.
"There are eight other animals that live here, so, there are thirteen animals that live here," Leona answered.
"You're going to introduce me to all of the other animals?" Kovu asked.
"Yeah, don't worry they're all nice," Leona replied. Kovu followed her to a patch of shade under a tree. The animals that were already under the tree were a serval, porcupine and genet.
"Hey, Leona," the serval called out.
"Hey, Dalia," Leona greeted.
"So you're the new animal?" the genet asked. Kovu nodded his head before replying. "My name is Kovu.
"My name is Ada," the genet said.
"And my name is Taj," the porcupine told Kovu.
"It's nice to meet all of you," Kovu said.
"We have to get going, I want to introduce Kovu to the other animals," Leona explained.
"Well, see you around," Dalia said before the two lions walked off.
Leona and Kovu were walking when they saw a giraffe walking towards the pond in the field. "Hey, May, I want you to meet someone!" Leona called out to the giraffe. May turned her head towards the two lions and waited for them to reach her before continuing to the pond.
"You must be the new animal," May said looking down at Kovu.
"Yeah, my name's Kovu," He replied looking up to meet May's face. Before May could talk an ostrich walked up to the group. "Hello Zane, meet Kovu, he's the new animal," May told the ostrich, Zane. "Nice meeting you Kovu, I hope you are getting used to it here," Zane said before leaning down to take a drink of water.
"Bye, we are going to introduce him to the other animals," Leona said when the introductions were done. Zane brought up his head. "Reta was walking away from the pond, if you go now I bet you could catch her," Zane informed Leona.
"Thanks," Leona said before trotting away from the pond with Kovu. It didn't take long for the two lions to reach Reta, the zebra. "Hey Reta meet Kovu," Leona said once she was walking besides the zebra. Reta turned her head towards Leona. "Nice meeting you Kovu," Reta said to Kovu.
"Nice meeting you to," He replied. Reta smiled at them.
"Well, we need to introduce him to two more animals before they take us back into the cages, bye Reta," Leona said.
"Okay, see you two around," Reta said turning to walk away. Leona nudged Kovu to get him to follow her.
"Who else is there?" Kovu asked.
"That would be Kaz and Sahi, knowing them they could be anywhere," Leona answered.
"Or we could be right here," A voice said behind the two lions. Kovu and Leona turned around to face a painted dog and cheetah. Leona grinned at the two.
"Hey guys," She greeted.
"Hey Leona, so who's he," the painted dog replied.
"This, Kaz, is Kovu," Leona answered.
"Hey Kovu," Kaz said smiling at him. Kovu smiled back.
"My name's Sahi," the cheetah told Kovu.
"Nice to meet you two," Kovu said to them. Before anyone could say anything else the doors to the cages opened. Leona turned towards Kovu.
"That means it's time to go inside," She informed him. Leona started walking towards the entrance to the lion's cage, after she took several steps Kovu followed. Once the two were in the cage, the doors that lead to the outside closed, Claire came by and gave them food. When Kovu finished his meal he lay down and rested his head on his paws and easily fell into a deep sleep. The thought of getting back to his pride went through his mind as he slept.
A/N: There we go, chapter three. Thanks for reading and I have a poll on my profile, if you have time, could you answer, much appreciated. Reviews welcomed.