All ocs belong to me while everything else belongs to dream Works.

For those of you who are curious about this, I thought of probably introducing some of the family members of our dear Alex and also putting Makunga's misery to some of this. .

Leopard the Warrior of Africa

Makunga kept walking, trying to ignore his growing hunger. This was his fifth day without anything that he could really call a meal. Sure Zorillo tried his best at getting food for the lion, but hunting away from a good water source like the waterhole was harsh. And despite his bruises and some scars looking no real wounds, they were enough for Makunga not able to hunt for himself. Not that his black mane was enough trouble in hunting.

At the sight of vultures while eating a mouse Zorillo got, Makunga's ears perked up. It usually meant there was some dead meat near by, and for him, a decent meal for once. "Stay here, Zorillo," he told the polecat, trotting towards the birds. Zorillo did so, hiding behind the tree at the sight of the birds.

…

Makunga soon got to where the vultures were to see a young brown lioness over a dead warthog. 'Mighty catch here in the reserve. Most warthogs never come to this part of it,' he thought, closing in on what he was planning to be his meal even if he had to steal it from this lioness. Sadly, he didn't go un-noticed.

The lioness looked at him and snarled, clearly defending her own food. Makunga then raised an eyebrow. If she was part of the pride, why isn't she with the other lionesses, and … why do her green eyes seem familiar? Heck, this was probably the first time he ever remembering seeing a lioness with green eyes. Makunga shook his head and growled back, circling around the lioness to get a good position on the dead prey. "Don't you dare think about it, Makunga," she said, baring her teeth.

His ears perked. "Oh, you know me? Because I don't think I quite remember meeting you, personally," he said, still circling around.

"We didn't. My father warned me about you though, and with good reason."

"Then surely your father has told you that all families get one prey each."

"Well, I have my own family, thank you very much!"

"Temper, young one."

"Hey, I hunted and killed this prey, fair and square! And if you even think that you'll get it-, Hey!"

Makunga finally got a good spot and charged, knocking the lioness off the warthog. The male chuckled as the female got back up. "Apparently, neither of your parents has ever taught you that when someone is to steal your prey and circles you, you have to turn with them," he said before grabbing his meal's neck to drag back to where Zorillo was. Suddenly, Makunga felt a push that was even to throw him off balance to before looking at the lioness trying to push him to the ground. "Pathetic. Looks like your parents didn't even teach you how to fight." He kicked the lioness's back leg and ran off with the warthog.

…

After he and Zorillo ate the warthog, Makunga walked on with a stuffed polecat on his back, a smile on both males faces.

"So, where did you get the warthog? You're too weak to hunt still," Zorillo asked, looking at the lion.

"Oh, I just chased the vultures away from it and dragged it," Makunga lied, not wanting to admit he stole it. Zorillo then hopped off of Makunga's back when the waterhole was some distance away.

"You think you can make it the rest of the way? I need to check in on a friend."

"I'll be ok. Thanks for the help."

"No problem, Makunga!"

Makunga rolled his eyes and walked towards the waterhole, all eyes soon turning towards him. The lion's eager expression soon turned into confusion as everyone backed away from him. All faces were turned to him, all mixed with anger, hatred, horror, but none with relief or happiness that he had come back alive. Makunga turned to some lionesses to see one backing away into the crowd with some cubs. He went back looking around; trying to figure out why no one was happy or relief that he was back.

Everything and everyone was silent. Silent enough that even the crawling of an ant could have been heard by anyone. All until someone came up with the Alpha lions.

Makunga looked to see Zuba and Florrie, to first notice that Florrie had gain a few pounds. 'Oh the jokes I can come up with that subject alone,' Makunga thought, trying not to blurt one out. "So, Zuba. How's it going?" he said, trying to lighten the mood. Zuba narrowed his eye brows and crossed his arms.

"What do you want now Makunga?"

The lion rolled his eyes. "Do you honestly think I come all the way from getting a beating out of an old lady, meet a polecat that smells worse enough five miles away, nearly starve for five days to try and beat you to become Alpha Lion? No, I just wanted to get back home," he said, looked at Zuba again. The alpha lion huffed, clearly not believing Makunga.

"You should have stayed there," he said, shocking Makunga. The pale lion blinked, trying to get what had just been said.

"Say what?"

"I heard me. I know you, Makunga. When you get fully healed up, you'll start challenging me for the title of Alpha Lion like you always do. And you've already showed just how much of an Alpha Lion you really could be when the waterhole dried up. And if Alakay and his friend Marty didn't went and found the dam that was holding up the water, everyone here would have died by either hunters, or by thirst!" Zuba said, looking like he was ready to kill Makunga right then and there. If looks could kill, the looks everyone was giving the bruised up lion would have burnt him up. Suddenly, a lioness went through the crowd and passed the alpha lions… and glared straight at Makunga. Makunga took a step back, recognizing the brown lioness he took the warthog from.

"You! You no good little selfish prey thief!" she yelled, charging at the lion. Makunga dodged, letting her run into one of the elephants. Makunga looked at her before recognizing her green eyes. They were just like Zu-… Makunga looked at Zuba then to the lioness, and then back. She was the exact female version of Zuba! Zuba stepped forward, his gaze now at the lioness in concern.

"Shani, what are you doing outside the den?" he asked as the female walked towards him. "And what's this about prey thief?"

"I… um…. I…" Shani looked down, not making eye contact with the alpha Lion. Florrie stepped forward, signaling to Zuba to let her do the talking.

"Shani, sweetie, please answer your father's question," she said, her blue eyes judging the younger lioness's face.

"I… was… um… I had hunted down a warthog…."

"WHAT!?"

"Zuba, calm down! And what Shani?"

"Makunga stole it…."

Makunga looked shocked through this whole thing. Was it just him, or did Florrie just say Zuba was this lioness's... Shani's… father? The lion didn't notice that all gazes were on him now as he looked back and forth from Shani to Zuba. Finally looking at Zuba, Makunga felt his eyes narrow at him. Why hadn't he taught her how to defend? How to fight? Why hadn't Shani been hunting with a group of lionesses? Why did he want her to be in the den? Hadn't Zuba taught his daughter ANYTHING about the way of life or her position as the daughter of an Alpha Lion? Failing to catch the words that were coming out of Zuba's mouth, Makunga shook his head and looked at Zuba again. "Say that again, Zuba? My thoughts were elsewhere while you were talking," he said, hissing out the word 'elsewhere' to indicate of what he was starting to think.

"You. Are. Banished. For stealing prey, for near death of the reserve, and the point of betraying to the Alpha Title," Zuba said, his words coming out in short, angered breaths before turning to Shani. "And you, Shani, we will be discussing about you hunting when your not suppose to."

Makunga was left standing there, his lime green eyes widen at what Zuba just said. Banished? Him?

…

Makunga laid under a tree in the banished area of the reserve, looking to the waterhole. This was the closet thing to home he was going to get to… He already tried to see where his mate and son were… only to find that his son wanted nothing to do with him and his wife... or rather, ex-wife had left him. Makunga sighed, remembering Zorillo now. The polecat would be wondering why he had lied to him where the warthog had come from. Hearing pawsteps coming towards him, the lion sighed and looked up, expecting to see a disappointed Zorillo, but instead meet the two wide green eyes of the youngShani. Makunga sat up, giving her a questioning look.

"Let me guess, going to try and get revenge for me insulting Daddy's little girl?" he sneered, not looking at her. Shani stood next to him, looking at him carefully.

"No. I… I wanted to apologize, really. For making another ...crime mark I suppose my brother Alakay would say, against you," she said, her eyes trying to judge Makunga's expressions like her mother, but clearly failing at it. The lion sighed and laid down, his eyes shifting towards hers.

"Apology accepted. I guess."

The two soon were just there, sitting and laying in silence before Makunga spoke up.

"Pretty standard, don't you think?"

Shani looked at him, clearly not understanding the question. Makunga looked at her and sighed. "The warthog. Even for a lioness your age, isn't that a little bit… more of a beginner's target?"

"Well... it was my first try at a hunt..."

"What?!" Makunga stood up then, looking at her in disbelief. "You're telling me that you've never hunted before!?" Shani just nodded her head, looking away now. Makunga looked shocked at her. She never… Makunga sighed and looked the opposite way in anger. "What kind of father is Zuba!?" he yelled out, kicking the ground.

"It's not his fault."

"Yes it is! I mean, it's just three simple words only that would tell you why. HE'S. YOUR. FATHER. He's supposed to teach you stuff just as much as your mother. In fact, why didn't your mother teach you how to hunt!?" Makunga nearly yelled, not caring if the whole reserve heard him.

"Because I'm a runt!" Shani said, looking straight at him in the eye. Makunga just looked at her in return. He nearly blinked just looking at her eyes. They were full of shame, sadness, and also a lack of innocence as they filled up with tears. "Even if I'm the oldest, I'm still a runt. That's why Alakay was chosen as the Dad's heir. Mama and Baba thought that I was going to die because I was so weak as a baby! As a cub! As a teen! Even now as an adult! Every time I get sick, they do everything to keep me in the den. Every friend that I ever had as a cub had been related to me!" She said, starting to sob and she finally broke the eye contact. Makunga blinked in shock.

"And why are you telling me when we just meant?"

"Cause you're the only one right now, and I can't find Zorillo anywhere," she said, trying to hold back her sobs. Makunga looked shocked at her again before thinking.

"I'm guessing he's your friend?"

"Yes."

"You have a son, don't you?"

Shani looked back up at him. "How did you-?" she began to ask as Makunga ran a paw through his mane.

"He told me that he had a friend here who has a son he babysits," he said, sitting down against the tree again. Shani sat back down as well, besides Makunga. Makunga closed his eyes for a moment before looking at Shani again. "Wait, if your parents still thought you were weak while you were growing up even after Alakay was taken by hunters, who was to be the heir while Alakay was gone?" he asked, thinking about what Shani had said about being the runt.

"Originally Maluuni, but she got taken some weeks after Alakay and she really can't fight like other lions or lionesses because she has no claws, so…. Cousin Chaka… before he got killed three weeks before Alakay came back… and then… Maluuni came back here two days ago," she answered, sighing as she fiddled with a stick. Makunga rubbed the back of his head, trying to remember Maluuni as a cub.

'Right… that clawless daughter with the back stripe,' he thought before looking at Shani for some reason. Makunga noticed that she had a medium tuff on her forehead, while having dark gray rims on her black tipped ears. The way she was fiddling with the twig was a bit… clumsy, but it seemed a bit cute the way she had her eyes half closed. Makunga stopped himself as he noticed that his gaze began to go to Shani's nimble shoulders just as Shani looked up at him. "So… um… mind to tell me about your son?" he asked, looking away and hoping she hadn't noticed that he had been...watching her.

"His name is Chui. I guess you could say he's a bit of a mini me. The only difference is the spots really…"

"Spots?"

"I… His father was a leopard. I was much younger than, and…," Shani sighed at the memory, tears coming into her eyes. "I'm guessing he thought he could be a leader if he married me probably, but he found out that it didn't work that way. He left me was I was still pregnant, and I later gave birth to Chui, who, like me, was born a runt." Makunga looked at Shani as she gazed out onto the plains. "I really wouldn't have trade anything in the world if it meant I couldn't be Chui's mother. But darn it, I just wish that I could raise him in peace, you know?"

"That's natural. To always protect your cubs. As his mother, you would want that," the male lion of the two said, flicking his tail as he placed his arms around the back of his head.

"Yes, but most of the pride doesn't approve the fact he's a leopon. And I don't want him stuck in a den all day like I did. I want him to be able to explore everything that I never got to," she explained, looking to where the pride was. Makunga looked to where she was gazing a noticed the alpha den. 'Probably where Chui is right now,' he thought, looking back at Shani.

"If you want, I could babysit him when Zorillo's not around," he said, looking at the sky. Shani looked at him, a slight distrust.

"Two weeks, and then we'll see."

"Deal."

…

The next day, Makunga found Zorillo sleeping next to him and stretched out to wait for Shani to come with Chui. When the polecat woke up, he went to find mice, since Makunga still had bad bruises. When he came back, both shared four mice, which Makunga had to give Zorillo some credit. For a striped polecat, he was a good hunter.

"So, Makunga, you met Shani?"

"Yep."

"You like her?"

"I guess."

"Like, like her, like her?"

Makunga looked at Zorillo.

"What?"

"Never mind."

Makunga looked at him awkwardly before scooting away from the polecat.

Later that afternoon, during the hottest part of the day, Shani came with Chui in her mouth while Makunga was helping Zorillo dig up a hole with water. Makunga looked up, and had to admit that Chui looked like a mini male cub version of Shani… with leopard spots. When Chui was put down, the cub ran immediately to Makunga before he began to ask the lion all kinds of questions (one of them being where babies come from, which Makunga said that he wasn't quiet old enough to know yet).

Makunga patted the cub's head. "Curious little one, aren't you?" he asked as Chui looked at Makunga's mane. Chui smiled and tried to play with the lion's mane, which to Shani's and Zorillo's surprise, didn't bother Makunga at all for some reason.

"Can I grow a big mane, like you, Makunga?" Chui asked, almost hidden in a part of Makunga's mane as he rested on Makunga's back.

"Mmmmm, maybe," the older lion said, not really sure if leopons grew manes at all, even though Chui had a black mane tuff. The cub soon looked at Makunga with his green eyes.

As Makunga spent time with Chui, Shani and Zorillo kept an eye on them so that Makunga didn't do anything wrong with Chui. Shani couldn't help but smile as she watched her son bond with the older lion. Looking at Zorillo, the lioness noticed that the polecat was looking at the two with a strange smile. "Zorillo?" she asked, catching her friend's attention.

"Yes, Shani?"

"What are you up to?"

Zorillo smiled and looked at Makunga and Chui. "Looks are close enough to be father and son, hmm?" Shani raised an eyebrow before looking at Makunga and Chui again. Zorillo did have a point. Even with spots, with the almost same eye color and the black tail tuff and manes, or mane tuff in Chui's case, one would think Makunga was Chui's father instead of a leopard, even though the spots would need to be explained. Shani looked at Zorillo again. 'What is this crazy polecat really trying to get at now?' she thought.

Me: Gods, that was the longest chapter I've ever wrote. That's it, not going to do a chapter that takes up eight pages on Microsoft Word. Just to the limit of seven.

Zorillo: *is singing* Chui and Makunga, son and father! Chui and Makunga, son and father!

Everyone: ZORILLO!

Zorillo: *chuckles* Review everyone!