After another bath, Dan was finally able to accompany Shany for a short walk. Together, they walked a bit away from the Pride Rock so that Shany would show him the sights of the Pride Lands, beginning with Lake Shangaza.

"This is Lake Shangaza" Shany explained, "Although… there isn't much to see here: just a few rocks and acacias"

Dan was paying attention to what Shany was saying. However, she was right: that place just looked like a normal lake. Only with the difference that the brightness of the sun made the lake sparkle.

"Hey, I want to ask you something" Shany told him, "If you're not Kiara's son, are you Queen Nala's?"

"Uh, no either" Dan replied, afraid of having to tell her the truth.

Shany stared at him for a while, hoping he would answer. Feeling that he had almost no choice, Dan only thought to say:

"My parents died in a landslide" he told her new friend, "I passed out a couple of days before and Princess Kiara picked me up and brought me here, the royal family has been taking care of me ever since…"

"Oh, I'm sorry if that was a bad question..." she apologized, "I didn't mean to make you feel bad"

She lowered her ears, regretful. Dan took pity on this and replied:

"Don't worry, now... I don't feel so bad now that I know I can have friends like you"

Shany felt better hearing that... rather, she was moved.

"Well, if we're friends, let's continue with the tour" she said.

And they do it like that; Shany took Dan on a tour of other places in the Pride Lands: the Mbali Fields, the Misty Falls, and the Great Spring. The latter was a lot more crowded than the others, as it was full of hippos that were taking a long bath to clean themselves of the mud.

"They tend to get dirty very often" Shany laughed when they left there, "Come, let's go to Hakuna Matata Falls"

At their next stop, the place was bordered on one side by great cliffs; while a wide serine waterfall cascaded down these cliffs and formed a river at the bottom. The trees were covered with moss and ferns.

"It's... very nice" Dan said looking around, "It's like a little paradise"

"AHA!" said a voice that Dan recognized because he had recently heard it, "Wow! Who would have thought that you would come instead of looking for you!"

It was Timon and, as always, at Pumba's side.

"It's nice to see you again" said Pumba, "Uh..."

"Dan" he answered, knowing that they were asking him his name.

And then, Timon noticed Shany's presence.

"Oh no… do you already have a girlfriend? Ag, you maybe want to have time with her than your uncles"

"What…?" both cubs said blushing a little.

"No, she's just my friend" Dan replied.

"Yes, of course… just a friend" said Timon as if he were sure of what he was saying, "In short… it's better to enjoy life when you're young. And well, ready for your first round?

Dan and Shany looked at each other very puzzled. Then, Pumba lifted up a log and Timon pulled out a leaf on which various insects were scurrying: earthworms, beetles, a ladybug, and others.

"Your first round of worms, of course," he told him, "You don't know how long we wait to share our delights with another cub. Simba is too busy for these things"

Both cubs backed away seeing how bad the bugs looked. However, Timon caught one of the beetles and ate it. Pumba then licked his tongue and ate several in one go.

"Go ahead and try it" Timon told him, holding out the insect leaf.

"Uh… another time it will be, Uncle Timon" Dan said, "Shany, can't we get on with the tour?"

"It will be a pleasure..." she replied and together they left.

As they watched them leave, Pumba couldn't help but say:

"They always grow so fast…even he has a friend"

"Yes Pumba..." Timon replied with a bored face, "And in a few years it will be love again..."

( Meanwhile… )

"Whew, thank goodness we got out of there" Dan told Shany, "It's been a great ride."

"Uh, but we're not done yet" she replied, "You know, now that you're here, I think I might have enough courage to explore a place I wanted to go..."

"What place…?"

( A few minutes later… )

Shany and Dan were walking through a rocky environment. This last one was not a place as green as the previous ones: the place was somewhat dark and several cracks in the ground emanated gas or steam. Dan had enjoyed the rest of the trip up to that point.

"Shany… where are we?" asked Dan a little nervous.

"Only the brave come to this place" Shany laughed , "Don't tell me you're afraid"

"Well no, but…I feel like we shouldn't be here…huh? What is…?"

Among the vapors that emanated from the place, the shadow of something strange appeared. At first one couldn't make it out clearly, but when the smoke cleared a bit, it was better made out: a huge skull of a dead elephant. Then, Dan remembered what Zazu told him:

"This is the Elephant's Graveyard!" he yelled, "Shany, this place is supposed to be dangerous"

"Don't worry, there is no danger here since the hyenas went to live at Outlands" she replied, "This is the best hiding place of all …"

He didn't finish speaking, because the moment she put a paw forward, the ground cracked. Quickly, Shany stepped aside as from the crack that had formed, hot steam was escaping at great power.

"You see it?" Dan stressed, "It's dangerous. Come on, we must return to the Pride Lands"

Shany was about to say "okay" when more hot steam began to escape in the form of geysers from the ground. Wasting no time, Dan told at her:

"Run!"

Shany and Dan ran as fast as they could while the ground around them became more and more unstable. Now it was understandable why the hyenas had withdrawn from the place: the environment was not unstable anymore. However, if they wanted to live, this was not the time to think about that detail.

Both cubs ran without knowing where to go. The steam made it difficult to see the path clearly and on more than one occasion they were on the verge of losing one another.

"Shany, where was the exit?" Dan asked, seeing that they hadn't reached the Pride Lands yet.

"Eh... I don't know..." she said trying to remember, "It should be going up, but it's too high..."

They were trapped and the ground below them would not hold until it erupted into yet another geyser. The only way out was at the top, and there was no way up. Looking around, Dan tried to think of something and found an answer: the skull bone of an elephant.

"Shany, help me with this…" he said as he walked over to the bone and tried to move it.

"What comes to your mind?" Shany asked, helping him up.

"We must turn it around and get on this bone…"

They rolled the skull to the exact point at which the ground was to erupt with steam. Then, turning it around, Dan motioned for Shany to get on.

" Is this safe?" Shany asked.

"As safe as coming here…" Dan said.

"Wait, what do you mean…?

Just then, the new geyser erupted, releasing steam at such high pressure that it lifted the skull with the cubs inside, lifting them so high that they fell with a hard impact to the Pride Lands floor. It took Shany and Dan a few seconds to recover, but when they did, they looked at each other and started laughing at being saved.

"That was spectacular!" Shany laughed , "I can't believe how high we went up and then…"

"And then you fell in front of us" said a voice.

The giggling stopped, Shany fell silent, and Dan glanced sideways to see that they had indeed returned to the upper reaches of the Pride Lands, and in front of them were two lionesses: Kiara and Tiifu (Shany's mother)

"Uh…hi mom" Shany said trying to hide it.

"Shany, what were you and your friend doing in the Elephant Graveyard?" Tiifu asked with all the authority of a mother, "Maybe there are no hyenas there anymore, but it's a hellish trap."

"Well... I..."

"It was my fault" Dan accused himself, "I… wanted to see the Elephant Graveyard because Zazu had told me about it and… I convinced Shany to take me. I am responsible"

Shany was speechless with astonishment. On the other hand, Tiifu and Kiara looked at each other.

"Dan…" Kiara muttered. Then, she turned to Tiifu, "Tiifu, take Shany back to the Pride Rock. I'll talk to Dan."

Tiifu seemed to understand and turned to Shany: "Let's go, I have to give you a bath again"

Shany could only say goodbye to Dan with a "thank you" as she was led away. When they were far enough away, Kiara said to Dan:

"Come with me"

Not disobeying, Dan went with her before returning to Pride Rock. However, after a few minutes of walking, Kiara asked him:

"First day of freedom and you're already in trouble, right?"

Dan didn't answer because it was the truth: Zazu had warned him not to go to the Elephant Graveyard. Maybe he hadn't done it on purpose, but he had been there and Kiara and Tiifu had seen them escaping of there with Shany. He didn't have an excuse to save himself this time. However, Kiara stopped.

"Something tells me there's a little lie here" he said, "Can you tell me: whose idea was it really?"

Dan's mouth tightened: he wanted to tell the truth, but it would be blaming Shany for the idea. Tried to hide it again:

"It was my idea..."

" Umm" Kiara said thoughtfully, "Is that true? Or did you accuse yourself to support her?"

It was done: she had caught Dan's lie. He only lowered his head and closed his eyes while waiting for the reprimand. However, instead, he again felt the contact of a rough tongue on his furry body.

"It seems to run in the family to get into trouble as a cub," Kiara told him, "Don't worry, everything will be fine. Nothing will happen to Shany either, I'll talk about it with Tiifu. But be more careful next time, okay?"

"Okay…" Dan replied, relieved, but a bit puzzled: it seemed like Kiara was acting more motherly towards him.

"Good" Kiara replied, looking up at the sun, "It's already getting dark, let's go back. You have a special training with Kovu tomorrow."