A/N: *Insert Disclaimer here*
Kovu felt relief wash over him, knowing that he was going to escape supplied the feeling.
"We better get the things we'll need to finish the rest of the plan," He said.
Leona followed him as they walked towards a group of bushes. The two lions both worked together in ripping up enough bushes from the ground for them. They piled them near the entrance to their cage before they went in search for the right rock. Toma had accompanied them on this step of the plan, seeing as he would need a rock as well. It took less time for Toma to find the right rock for him that it took for Leona and Kovu.
"Why don't you say bye to the others, since you're going to be leaving tonight," Leona suggested.
"Yeah I probably should," Kovu replied.
He and Leona walked towards the nearest tree, which happened to be Shuja's. Kovu walked up to the tree and called down the monkey. Shuja greeted them while he climbed down the tree to meet the lions at the bottom.
"What brings you two here?" Shuja asked.
"I wanted to say bye," Kovu answered. Shuja stared at the lion with wide eyes.
"Well, that probably means you're going to be leaving soon." Kovu nodded his head.
Shuja walked towards before he gave the lion a hug. Kovu smiled before he hugged back, wrapping his paw around the monkey. Leona smiled at the sweetness in the scene before her. Kovu broke off the hug after several seconds. After Kovu said goodbye once more he left with Leona to say bye to the other animals.
"How am I going to explain the reason why I'm leaving?" Kovu asked Leona.
"The best thing would be for you to tell them that you are escaping and telling them that you're a prince," She answered.
Kovu nodded his head in agreement. They walked towards Betty's tree, which wasn't that far from Shuja's. When they reached her tree they were surprised to find out that she wasn't there. They decided to search for other animals, figuring Betty would show up sooner or later. Leona directed them towards the water hole, knowing that May, Reta or Zane would be around there. Just as Leona guessed, all three of them were hanging around the water hole. Kovu and Leona walked towards them.
"Hey," Zane greeted, once the lions had reached the water hole. Kovu nodded his head, while Leona smiled.
"Uh, I came to say bye," Kovu started. He received confused looks from the others there. "I'm going to be escaping tonight, so I can go back to my pride because I'm the prince."
May was the first to break the silence that settled over them.
"My, my, Kovu is going to leave and he just got here well, never mind that, I wish you well and hope you reach your pride," She said, a caring smile on her lips.
"You really are leaving?" Zane said shocked. Kovu nodded his head.
"Like what May said, I wish you luck, though it's kind of sad that you are leaving so soon," Reta commented.
"Thanks and if I stay any longer I might not have another chance to escape," Kovu explained. He said a final goodbye as he walked off with Leona.
They began walking, searching for other animals out in the field. Suddenly, with a flash of fur the only warning, both Leona and Kovu were pinned to the ground.
"Whoa! Kaz, Sahi, what's wrong?" Leona asked.
"You're leaving!" Kaz and Sahi exclaimed in unison. Kovu was taken aback by their shouting.
"Who told you?" Kovu asked once his ears had stopped ringing.
"Shuja, he told us when we asked why he seemed kind of down," Sahi answered.
"Yeah I'm leaving tonight, so I wanted to say bye to all the animals before I left," Kovu explained. A loud squawk above the group's heads caused them to look up to see a familiar gray bird flying down towards them. Betty landed on Leona's back, tucking in her wings securely at her sides, before she turned to face Kovu.
"Did I hear you right, you're leaving tonight?"
Kovu nodded his head in reply. Betty's eyes widened as she started squawking, her sentences coming out rapidly, her words slurred. None of them could get a word in to stop Betty from rambling. She only stopped when Kovu shouted, telling her to stop.
"Oops, guess I kind of lost myself there," Betty said, embarrassed. Kaz looked at her with a raised eyebrow.
"Kind of?"
Betty gave a sheepish smile.
"Okay, a lot, I got out of hand there." The group laughed, before the sound of Kovu clearing his throat quieted them down.
"I came looking for you to say goodbye and that I don't regret meeting any of you," He said.
"We're going to miss you Kovu," Sahi sniffed, giving the lion a hug along with Kaz and Betty. Kovu hugged the three animals back.
"I have to go say bye to Ada, Dalia and Taj, so I'm going to have to end this hug," Kovu said.
The hug was ended and Kovu once again walked off with Leona to find the three animals he had yet to say goodbye to. They found the trio with Dalia standing on a rock telling something to Taj and Ada. The serval was telling her two friends of a time she had to fight off hundreds of snakes, coming out victorious in the end, most likely exaggerating the truth. Kovu and Leona sat down waiting for Dalia to finish her tale. Leona was shaking her head at the outrageousness of the story. The serval ended her story by jumping off the rock and landing by Kovu.
"Hey, what's up?" She asked.
"I wanted to say goodbye, because I'm leaving tonight," He answered, feeling the words roll off his tongue easily, having said them several times before. Ada, the genet, cocked her head to the side before asking where he was leaving. Kovu once again explained why he was leaving.
"You're a prince, so that means you're going to be a king, how cool," Taj gasped. Kovu smiled as he nodded his head.
"So you all see why I need to escape?" He asked. The trio nodded in reply to his question.
Kovu and Leona decided to stick around, hearing another one of Dalia's tales and wandering the field chatting with the other animals they came across. He knew he was going to miss the friends he made, but he knew he didn't belong there. He was going to be a king one day and he couldn't abandon his pride. Kovu half listened to the conversations going on around him. He was thinking of what the reactions of the lions will be when he gets to Pride Rock. Kovu would have been in his own world for a while if a voice calling his name hadn't called him back to reality.
"Kovu, you zoned out," Leona told him.
"What did I miss?" He asked.
"Nothing much, but now it's time to go into the cages," She answered.
While walking towards their cage Toma caught their eyes, he nodded, signaling that the escape plan was now in motion. Once he reached the rock that was going to be used to keep the door open, he grabbed it in his jaws keeping his head low to the ground. Kovu dropped the rock so it was beneath the door. Toma did the same as Kovu. When all the animals were in their cages, the caretaker, Claire, pressed the button that brought the doors down, closing them. She didn't notice that Toma's or Kovu's doors were a bit open. The only thing that Kovu and Toma had to do was wait until the right times.
As it got later, Kovu grew more tense and impatient. He started worrying, hoping that the plan would go smoothly. The lion paced around the cage waiting for Toma to give him the signal.
"It's gonna be alright, stop worrying," Leona reassured Kovu.
"I hope so," He muttered, still pacing. Leona shook her head and laid it on her paws. It wasn't long before Toma stuck his head under the door to the lions' cage, having already got out from his. He motioned with his head for Kovu to come out.
"Finally," He sighed. Kovu turned to Leona before he was going to get out of the cage.
"Bye."
Leona smiled before giving him a hug, which he returned.
"Never forget any of us, okay?"
Kovu nodded his head before releasing her. He crawled under the door, squeezing himself through. When, he reached the other side he grabbed the bush that they placed by the door earlier and pushed it under the door. Leona then took over on placing it into the cage, making it resemble a lion to the best of her abilities.
"When I say go we run towards the hole, no looking back," Toma said.
Kovu nodded his head. Toma had them waiting for two minutes or so, checking constantly for anyone who may be checking the cages. When no one came Toma said the word and the two dashed off towards the hole. Despite what Toma had told Kovu earlier, he glanced back to see the animals who were still awake near their cage doors, watching them, smiles of encouragement on their faces. After seeing that he ran faster as a burst of energy ran through him. As they were nearing the hole a large beam of light was on them. Kovu started to slow down, but Toma told him to keep running no matter what. A silhouette stood a large distance in front of the hole, blocking the two animals from achieving their freedom.
"I was right to come out and patrol all these nights," The silhouette said with a chuckle.
"The hunter," Kovu growled recognizing the voice. The hunter, James, chuckled again.
"I see you do remember me, well boys I need to put you two back in your cages," He said, propping up his tranquilizer gun onto his shoulder, but before he could shoot Toma lunged at James, surprising the hunter into dropping his gun.
"Run!" Toma yelled.
"But, what about you, I promised I'd help you escape" Kovu replied.
"Remember that birds who I was talking with before, he told me that he saw my mate with another jackal, I don't have a family anymore, so forget about me and go!" He yelled again.
Kovu paused for a second before he prepared to run. He glanced at Toma before he took off towards the hole.
"Oh no you don't," James said as Kovu ran.
The hunter propped up his gun again, not aiming for the lion, but the jackal. He pulled the trigger, hitting Toma on his flank. Toma's legs wobbled, but he tried to fight of the effects of the tranquilizer. He stood in front of James, baring his teeth in a warning before he fell on his side. Kovu looked back when he heard the gun go off, watching the scene unfold. He kept his gaze in front of him as he saw the hunter preparing to point the gun at him. Knowing he shouldn't, Kovu glanced back again, just to see James running after him. Kovu ran faster, trying to make his trip to the hole shorter.
Once Kovu reached the hole, he noticed that a part of it was filled with dirt. He looked back to see James's silhouette getting closer. Kovu immediately tore at the dirt, chunks of earth flying in the air as he began digging. He forced himself to keep his eyes on the ground and not looking behind him. Feeling the thud of footsteps, Kovu dug more viciously, but when a different set of footsteps came in he paused his digging to listen. When a roar rang out, it confirmed his suspicions. He turned around to see Leona tackle James to the ground. She grabbed the gun in her jaws and threw it, so it landed several feet away from them.
"Hurry, keep digging, I'll keep him off," Leona told Kovu.
He nodded his head, and then went back to his digging. The hole was filled up on the side that was in the field. Kovu was getting closer to finishing clearing the dirt from the hole, while Leona held down James with her paws, growling every now and then. When, Kovu did finish digging, he immediately crawled under.
"Let him go when you can't see me, okay?" Kovu asked Leona.
She nodded her head in reply. He gave her a smile before running off. When, he was barely a dot in the horizon Leona got off of James.
"He must have been a king or something for you animals to do that," James sighed, rubbing the back of his head. He patted the top of Leona's head before he walked to him gun that was thrown carelessly to the side and picking it up.
"Come on girl; let's get you and Toma back into your cages."
Leona followed James as he led her to her cage. He opened a panel on the outside of Leona's cage, entered a code and pressed a button. The door opened up after a beep. Leona went inside and lay down, finding herself to be very sleepy. James removed the rock from under the door and did the same with Toma, but he went inside Toma's cage and laid the unconscious jackal down.
"Goodnight," He said when he passed Leona's cage.
Kovu ran as fast as he could, ignoring the protest from his legs. Though he didn't know where he was, he knew he was running in the right direction. He knew he would definitely have a story to tell the pride when he reached them. Kovu ran faster, urging his legs to not give up on him. Thinking back on his short stay at the mansion, Kovu knew he wouldn't miss being in cages and food served, but he did know that he would miss the friends he made there, but one thing was for certain, he would never forget them.
A/N: Yup, the story is done! Sorry I took so long to update, blame school, projects, and the usual boring stuff, but now school has ended for me and summer is here! I'll more free time now. I'm thinking of writing some shorts of the animals living in Remington Mansion. I think it'll be posted on FP. Well, thanks for reading!