An early afternoon rain shower had come, surprising most of the pride and sending everyone back to pride rock, soaking wet but refreshed. No one complained, even though it had been raining for almost a month now, everyone welcomed it knowing that an even longer drought would show up in three months. Kijani and Hondo entered the cave with the cubs in tow, Kijani shook the rain off while the cubs ran to their mothers to get cleaned off and warm.

"I love sudden rain showers," Hondo said happily as he started to lick his leg.

"Yeah it's so refreshing, no doubt a story is in order soon though," said Kijani.

The cubs did not say anything, they only gave their story teller a sly smile knowing they would get one shortly. At least until their bath was done.

Kijani started to wash himself when Conga, Mahiri and Kairu suddenly appeared soaking wet. Even though the birds enjoyed flying in the rain, Kijani could sense Conga was not in the mood for it and her angry face showed it.

"Oh Conga she is still young, she might change her mind one day," said Kairu as he landed.

"Yeah, remember how you changed your mind for a while," said Mahiri.

"Yeah but I had a reason too, that little brat would rather cause trouble," said Conga as she fluffed up her feathers making her bigger than she appeared to be.

"What's wrong now?" asked Kijani.

"Oh Chiku my niece is not that interested in taking over for me once I'm gone, she said it doesn't seem as interesting as she had first thought," said Conga.

"What about your nephew?" asked Hondo.

"Mopati wants to follow in his fathers footsteps and I am fine with that, he was the first hatched of this new brood so Dinari gets to teach him," said Conga.

"Finding a successor can be tough, but don't worry I bet things will change sooner or later, who knows you might find someone else for the job," said Kijani.

"Yeah perhaps, I guess I shouldn't worry too much, I have a few more months before she decides to up and leave, and children's minds are like a river, always running," said Conga as she stared at the four cubs who then rolled their eyes.

"And we are all guilty of that," said Kijani.

"Yup and since I am here and stuck because of the rain I might as well ask if you are going to tell a story," said Conga.

"I was going to once the children are done with their bath," said Kijani.

"Can I pick a topic?" asked Conga.

"Sure you can, the cubs pick one all the time, it's a nice change of pace," said Kijani.

"In that case I want to hear a story involving a hornbill, I don't care what the genre is, I just want to hear one," said Conga.

"Well there are many but there is one that is probably more fun to listen to than the rest because it has a good lesson," said Kijani.

"What kind of lesson?" asked Jelani while his face was all scrunched up because his mother was cleaning his face.

"A lesson on how not to be self centered, arrogant, or selfish," said Kijani.

"….Go on," said Conga sounding interested.

Kijani smiled at her curiosity and began the story.

As most of you know, a king is always in need of a good advisor, one that is strong, smart, and one that is not too nosy when it comes to finding out things in the land. Sometimes it works out well, sometimes not so much. But the best advisors are the ones who are humble and are not too demanding when it comes to helping out the king when he cannot do it himself.

Tawfiki was the best example of this, he had been King Akbar's advisor since the day he became king, for he was also Akbar's father's advisor as well. He was an old bird but still had a lot of flight left in him. He was up bright and early in the morning, making sure all the herds were doing well for themselves and he followed Akbar through the land until it was too dark to see what was going on.

Now this story is not about Tawfiki though, but about his son who everyone called Midas, he had another name before that but no one could remember it and that was fine with Midas because he liked his name he had heard it before from the local shaman who told him the story of a rich human named Midas and Midas had hoped to be rich like him one day.

Because his father was the king's advisor, Midas believed that he could do whatever he wanted inside the land. He bossed everyone around, took things that were not his, and often spread gossip around that was definitely not true, it usually ended in Akbar trying to sort things out.

Because of this, Tawfiki did not want his son to become the next successor of advisors, he had never told his son that though because Midas never listened and getting through to him was like talking to someone on the other side of a brick wall.

Not only was Midas spoiled but he was also very selfish, he would often go around boasting about how much better he was compared to the other animals and proclaim how silky and shiny his feathers were. But what he loved most about himself was his beak, to him there was no flaw in it and the way he talked about it made others want to rip it off his face so he could somehow be miserable.

Even his own father could not stand it and after being annoyed by his son's selfishness long enough, he went to the local shaman to ask for advice. Now the local shaman was also a very humble fellow, very quiet too and not as flamboyant as many shamans that you see today. He was a ratel or honey badger and his name was Njiru. (Pronounced Gee-roh) It was rare for a honey badger to be that quiet and humble but he blamed it on the many meditations he did day by day and the special honey he made for himself.

"Is there any thing you can do about my son?" asked Tawfiki after he gave the poor shaman a list of complaints about his own son.

"I know how you feel Tawfiki for I have also spent time with your selfish son and he angers me just as much as he angers you, I know how hard it is for a father to come to someone and complain about their own brood so I will think of something and hopefully your soon will change his attitude in time," said Njiru.

Now even though Njiru was humble he was very clever, so coming up with an idea did not take him long, he soon sent a friend of his, a mongoose to trick the young hornbill.

It happened one morning when Midas was staring down at himself in a waterhole admiring his feathers and trying his best to shine his beak hoping to impress anyone he saw that day.

"My goodness you do have quite a lovely beak," said the mongoose as he made his way to the gullible hornbill.

"Isn't it though, look at how shiny it is, and how soft," said Midas as he let the mongoose touch his beak. The mongoose rubbed his paw against it for a moment, it slid right off and he gave a mock smile.

"Why I have never seen such a soft beak and I even touch a hawks once while trying to save my darling wife but alas all I saved was a lock of her hair and felt that cold slippery beak," said the mongoose.

"Yes they do have lovely beaks, but not as handsome as mine," said Midas completely ignoring the story about his late wife which was most likely not true.

"Ah but I bet it can be more handsome if it were made of gold like that stuff the humans mine around here," said the mongoose.

"Yes I…." began Midas until he realized what the mongoose was saying. He stared back down as his beak and then imagined it even shinier, with gleaming yellow from the beautiful gold that he had often found lying in the dirt.

"Yes that would make me even more handsome," said Midas.

"Too bad you can't do that though," said the mongoose.

"Yes too bad my beak isn't brilliant but I believe someone else can help me with that, do you know Njiru?" asked Midas.

"I do," said the mongoose.

"I bet that because he is a shaman he could do anything with that magic of his, so I will go ask him and become he most handsome and richest in the land just like my father only he is not as handsome as I am," said Midas as he began to fly away and find Njiru. The mongoose only slapped his head; he could not believe how gullible the young hornbill was and could not wait to see what would happen to him.

Midas flew to see Njiru who was sitting around in his cave painting images of Akbar's pride, usually when a creature entered his cave, he would quietly greet them and give them a metaphor about life but Njiru knew that Midas would only ignore it and talk about things he did not care for.

"Hello Njiru the advisors wonderful son is here to see you," said Midas.

Njiru only rolled his eyes before turning to see the young hornbill. "Hello Midas, you are looking well today, and your beak is spectacular," said Njiru pretending he had no idea what Midas would want.

"Isn't it though, but I do believe it can be more spectacular!" said Midas excitedly.

"Oh how so?" asked Njiru.

"I was talking with a mongoose today, and he said my beak would be more spectacular if it was gold, so I would like my beak to be gold," said Midas getting right to the point without saying please or even "do you think you can?"

"Ah but do you remember the story of the human your name is based off of?" asked Njiru.

"Of course, everything he touched turned to gold and he lived a happy life," said Midas.

Njiru sighed, he knew that Midas didn't listen to the ending of the story or it's moral. The story goes that after Midas touched something, it would turn solid gold, well the wish backfired and when he touched food or water it would turn to gold as well so he could not eat anything and decided it was best to end what he wished for.

"Yes I guess that's the story then," said Njiru who knew better than to argue with the young hornbill, he would learn his lesson eventually, or at least he hoped so any way.

"So will you turn my beak into gold, I really want to show it off before it gets dark," said Midas excitedly.

Njiru stared at Midas for a moment and then dug around for various concoctions on how to make him look different. When he finally found what he needed, he mixed it into a bowl and began to chant.

"Now hold still, you move too much this might sting," said Njiru.

Midas held as still as he could, while he did that, he saw white smoke envelope his beak until he could not see it again for almost five minutes. When the cloud finally settled, Midas noticed that his beak was now very shiny and glistening.

"Wow its beautiful," said Midas.

"Yes it is, now remember be careful, this beak can get very heavy so if someone sneaks up behind you don't turn your head too fast," said Njiru.

"Yeah yeah whatever you say wise one," said Midas who then flew out of the cave and into the bright sunshine without even saying thank you.

Midas was now very proud of his new beak and flew straight over to his father who was busy helping Akbar solve a small waterhole issue.

"Look at me Dad, look at how glorious I look," said Midas as he moved his beak up and down to make sure both Tawfiki and Akbar would be blinded by the reflection from the sun.

"My goodness son, don't you think that's a little too much, I'd worry about it getting too heavy," said Tawfiki as he tried to shield the beak away from his eyes.

"It's not too heavy for me, I love it, now everyone will notice me and complement me," said Midas with his chest out proudly.

"Yes I see that but make sure you don't startle the meerkats you know how they scare easily," said Akbar.

"Oh you guys are such party poopers, now excuse me while I go out and get myself some grub," said Midas who then flew away leave both Akbar and Tawfiki shrugging their shoulders wondering what the heck had just gone on.

Now Midas had the golden beak on him for quite a while, the first week he had a lot of fun with it, polishing it in the waterhole, showing it off to everyone including a lady friend who admired him but could not stand him in any way, shape or form. Of course he did not know that and continued to show it off to her any way. He did end up scaring the meerkats which he only laughed at, and he did end up hitting his mother in the head with his beak after she had come over to surprise him. The poor thing had a black eye for quite a while and Midas only laughed and told her she looked like a pumpkin because it swelled so much.

But it wasn't until a week later when he awoke with a terrible head cold and his beak feeling heavier than normal.

"Oh it must just be one of those days," said Midas to himself believing that the beak would get lighter as the day progressed.

But it didn't happen and for many days he flew around with his head held low, not because he was sad but because the beak was now heavier than anything else. Flying was now difficult and just taking a quick flight from tree to tree was now making him exhausted. He tried to eat a dung beetle to calm make his beak feel better but it did not help and every chew was excruciatingly painful.

On the fifth day of his pain, Midas sat on a rock, wondering if he needed to see Njiru about this or if the problem would go away in time. He loved his new beak but now for some strange reason, he felt empty inside as if being glorious really wasn't all that it was cracked up to be.

He decided that he should go see Njiru to talk about the problem but before he could fly away, a leopard pounced on him sending him falling to the ground harder than before because of his heavy beak.

"Please don't eat me, I'm too glorious to be eaten," said Midas.

The leopard only growled as he was blinded a little by the beak. "Oh so you are Midas, the whole kingdom is talking about how stupid you are for turning your beak pure gold," said the leopard.

"That's only because they are jealous," said Midas.

"Hahahahaha! You really are stupid, is the beak heavy now for you?" asked the leopard as he showed his white fangs laughing.

"It is yes, and it's probably because I have a cold, Njiru can fix it," said Midas.

The leopard continued to laugh while Midas only shivered as he stared at the four canines that could do quite a number on him.

"Its not because you have a cold, your beak is pure gold, heavier than your original beak meaning in a few weeks it will become so heavy you won't even be able to fly and then you will be someone's lunch," said the leopard who was now drooling at the thought of eating Midas himself, he knew he would be praised for it, but he also knew that if this hornbill learned his lesson he would possibly be a changed bird.

"Well I did not know gold could be that heavy," said Midas.

"I find that funny because even after you named yourself after King Midas, you still have no idea how heavy gold can be," said the leopard.

"Well that was not mentioned, only that he touched things and he was happy," said Midas.

"Don't you remember that he also could not eat and that he was miserable because of that?" asked the leopard.

"No I don't remember that," said Midas who's jaw was now hurting a little and he was starting to rub it hoping to make it feel better.

"You really need to learn to listen sometimes, everyone is right about you, you really are a selfish freak who should have his wings clipped and his beak broken off," said the leopard.

"Others have said that?" asked Midas who now was trying his hardest not to make a pouty face.

"Yes, and did you realize that that is because you don't have any friends?" asked the leopard.

"No…….oh my goodness you are right, I should go speak to Njiru," said Midas.

The leopard only smiled at Midas's statement, he was finally figuring things out and let him up. Of course the beak was now even heavier so Midas took quite a while to get up off the ground making the leopard chuckle because Midas was finally feeling miserable. Of course it's not very nice to laugh at people's misfortune but you can do it once in a while when they are not really paying attention, and have annoyed you all your life.

It took Midas forever to actually reach Njiru's cave, he did not say anything but let the old badger talk.

"I did try to tell you it wouldn't work," said Njiru.

"I thought it would be great, now it hurts to even talk," said Midas who now had tears falling down his face.

"But now you know what it is like to wish for something you think is the greatest thing in the world but isn't," said Njiru who stared into Midas's face.

"Yes sir, can I have my old beak back now?" asked Midas.

"You may but under a few conditions," said Njiru.

"I'll try to listen more," said Midas.

"Yes that and treat others with the same respect you get, don't act like you own everything because you really don't, stop showing off your beak, its not that great any way its just a place to chew your food and help you breath. Well it is great for that but not for gossiping and telling others how great it is," said Njiru.

"I promise," said Midas who was now holding up his right wing.

"Good, and one more thing, I would like to teach you about etiquette because you don't have any, I have never heard you say please or thank you to anyone," said Njiru.

"Please?" asked Midas confused.

"Exactly," said Njiru.

"I guess I will learn from you then," said Midas.

Njiru only smiled as he began to bring Midas's original beak back the way it was.

Now we must move forward, one year after Midas learned that having a beautiful beak was not so great after all. He was standing next to King Akbar while his own father stood in front of him with a big smile on his face knowing that Midas had done a complete turn around. And because Tawfiki was so proud of his son for his complete turn around, he ended up giving the advisor duty to Midas after all. Originally he was going to give it to a meerkat but he felt that the job was better for someone who didn't hide underground all the time.

"So are you ready to take my position?" asked Tawfiki.

"Yes sir I am," said Midas his chest out happily.

"Very good, do you promise to treat others with respect and dignity and none of this I'm better than you stuff?" asked Tawfiki.

I promise Dad, those days are over, I now know that everyone is special even if their father is not the advisor to a king," said Midas.

"Very good, Njiru taught you well. With that I am now retired and you are now King Akbar's advisor," said Tawfiki.

Midas only smiled, he now had an important duty assigned to him and he would do it as humbly as his father had done, he also hoped to teach his children to behave and he also hoped that they would never fall in love with their beak like he did or he would have to give them a long lecture about being selfish and annoying.

"And that's why you should never have a golden beak," Kijani said to Conga who sat there her beak wide open while Kairu and Mahiri only chuckled at the silly story.

"That was actually a very good one, I bet if I had kids I would have told them that story," said Kairu.

"Yeah it would have been a good story for my sister Tiki," said Conga.

"I liked it too because it taught that even though we are part of royalty we should not act like a royal pain," said Asha sitting up proudly.

"Yes that is very true, now then I bet we have time for one more tonight," said Kijani.

"Yay!" the cubs said excitedly.

"I think it might need to wait a while Kijani," said Safiya as she stood by the cave entrance, the rain falling heavily near it.

"Why what's wrong?" asked Kijani.

"It's Mazi and he looks really upset," said Safiya.

At the sound of the old giraffes name Kovu and Kiara jumped up along with Haidar and Kijani to see what it was all about. They looked outside in the rain and there he stood, his face full of concern.

"What is it Mazi?" asked Kovu.

Mazi gave an upset grunt before responding "I can't find Kifaa, and she is due any time now!"

A/N: There you go a chapter that brings on the next chapter. I hope you all enjoyed that one, it was probably really clichéd but what are you gonna do. The next one hopefully won't be and I cannot wait to do it. I won't tell you much but if you haven't already figured it out it will involve giraffes. Also my next chapter will be the last for a while, I'm gonna go on Hiatus here for a while and go do other things mainly Simpson stories which you are all welcome to join in and read. I do promise to be back with more. Any way here are the name meanings.

Chiku: Chatterer

Mopati: Helper

Tawfiki: Divine Guidance (yes I am aware it sounds like Rafiki)

Akbar: Greater

Njiru: Black one (Honey badgers are black with a wide stripe on their head, I just thought it fit him)

Well see you all around. If anyone is interested, feel free to visit my Deviant art site, I have drawn Homer as a lion. Well please don't forget to review and have a nice week.