Chapter 2 – An Unpleasant Meeting

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"It means no worries." said Pumbaa.

"I see." Zina replied, "And you call it what again? Hakuna…?"

"Matata." said Timon, "We're almost there."

Timon, Zina, and Pumbaa were now a short distance away from the jungle oasis. Timon had his hands over Zina's eyes. Finally, they arrived and Timon moved his hands away.

"Okay, here we are." he said, "Welcome to our home."

Zina opened her eyes and gasped with excitement at what she saw.

"Wow!" she said, "This is amazing!"

"But true." Pumbaa replied.

As Timon and Zina climbed off Pumbaa's back, they all heard a nearby voice shout, "TIMON!"

"…Pumbaa, am I the only one who just heard Uncle Max yell my name?" Timon asked.

"Uh… no." Pumbaa replied, "I heard it too. I guess they noticed we were gone."

"Ho boy, I'm in trouble."

The three of them turned towards the voice and found Max and Nina walking towards them.

"Where have you two been?!" Max shouted, "The whole colony's been looking everywhere for..."

Max stared at Zina.

"Look, I'm sorry, Uncle Max. I was just-"

"And who is this?!" Max interrupted.

"Well, she was part of another colony that was-"

"A rogue! You don't think I got enough problems?! Get out of here! You're not welcome in-"

Fed up with being interrupted, Timon clenched his fists in anger.

"Now you wait just a minute, Interrupter Jones!" he snapped back, pointing his finger at Max, "Her colony was completely wiped out by hyenas and she doesn't have anywhere else to go!"

"That doesn't make her part of this colony."

"Aw, Max, have a heart." Nina said.

"Et tu, Nina?! You know how much trouble rogues are!"

"Come on, give her a break. She's got no family left and we've got plenty of room. Why don't you just let her stay here for a little while? Just until she can find another place to live."

Sighing, Max turned around and started grumbling to himself. Finally, he turned back and said to Zina, "All right. You can stay for a while. But you keep out of my way and don't cause any trouble around here. You got that? I'll be watching you."

Max then turned to Timon and said, "You better make sure she doesn't cause any trouble around here."

Timon watched Max leave, then slowly started to pant. Pumbaa just stared back, almost afraid to speak.

"Sorry about him." Nina told Zina, "He's rarely ever in a good mood."

"Well unfortunately, you've just met my Uncle Max." Timon said to Zina, "This is my mother. Ma, meet Zina."

"Pleased to meet you." Zina said, shaking her hand, "Timon's told me a bit about his and Pumbaa's adventures. Did you really help King Simba by outsmarting an entire pack of hyenas at Pride Rock?"

"Ah, yes." Nina said, "I can still see my Timmy bravely running past the hyenas, jumping into the hole, and setting off the trap. I was so proud of him when he came out."

"There'll be more time to talk about our exploits later." Timon said, "Come on, let's get some breakfast and then I'll show you around."

Nina waved to Pumbaa, Timon, and Zina as they walked off.

"Well, that could've gone..." Pumbaa started to say.

Timon hastily covered Pumbaa's mouth.

"Don't say it, Pumbaa," he said, "or it might get worse!"

"Oh, right. Sorry."

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The hyenas stared over the edge of the canyon in disbelief. At the bottom was Dakota; who was dead as a doornail.

"There, you see?" Bob said.

"Let me get this straight." Lakota said to Bob, "A puny little meerkat knocked Dakota off the edge and down the chasm?"

"I know it's hard to believe, but it's true! I saw it happen!"

"And you did nothing to stop it?" Akili asked incredulously.

"Well, the meerkat had a warthog helping him and you know how bad warthogs smell."

"A meerkat who hangs out with warthogs?" said Brutus, "Yeah, right."

"Wait, you say he had a warthog with him?" Lakota asked.

"Uh-huh."

"That sounds like… Timon and Pumbaa."

"Who?" Brutus asked.

"You know. That meerkat and warthog duo; who fought against us and Scar at Pride Rock, years ago."

"Oh yeah, I forgot about them."

"Well, Scar really wasn't a good king anyway." said Akili, "We were actually better off under Mufasa."

"That may be true." said Lakota, "But I'm not letting Timon or Pumbaa get away with killing my brother."

"Well, what are you gonna do?" Bob asked.

"I'll find them. And when I do, I'll eat them."

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To be continued