XXXI

Dibi

It was so small, and yet so valuable, for it contained the insurance of their survival.

-Day in the Savannah

Three days went by. Because Gatu was so used to the lack of food and water from his adolescence, he could fight through the pain easily enough. But at least back then he had company. The boredom was boring into his youthful mind now, and he thought he was going to go crazy. Each day he had padded around in a small circle, and each night he had curled up in a tight, large furball of gold. On the third day, he was stalking around in the hole once more.

"Who would dig a hole this big?!" Gatu finally shouted out loud.

"Zat would be me." a small but loud voice said.

"Huh?" Gatu questioned the air, before looking up to see a small prairie dog at the edge of the hole. "What are you?"

"I am Dibi." answered the rodent.

"I said what are you, not who are you." Gatu irritably growled.

"I am a prairie dog." the strange creature answered, little nose twitching.

"Well why – how...?!" but he was at a loss for words.

"You zee, Dibi gets bored. And when Dibi gets bored, he digs holes. Big holes! Zomtimes 'ee will keep at it for zuns!"

"Well, how do you get out then?"

He shrugged. "Dibi will dig a tunnel zo that it zlants upward."

"A tunnel? Where?" and Gatu was all ears.

"Under that rock...?" suggested Dibi.

Turning his head, Gatu spotted a large rock jutting out from the earthly wall. He lowered himself to see a small tunnel leading upwards – it was only big enough for his paw to fit in. Growling lowly, the lion looked back up to where the amused Dibi sat.

"It's too small!" he shouted.

"Dibi can do nothing about that."

Rolling his one eye, Gatu replied, "Well get me out of here!"

"Oh, Dibi cannot do that." and he shook his head.

"Why not?!"

"Because if Dibi did so, then Mr. Lion would gobble him up."

Sitting down, Gatu said, "I will not eat you. I promise."

"Umm," thought the rodent aloud. "What about harm?"

"No. I won't harm you either."

"Hurt?"

"I obviously won't hurt you if...!" but Gatu stopped himself and heaved a sigh. "I won't eat, harm, hurt or kill Dibi if Dibi lets me out." stated the lion.

"Oh, good!" squealed the prairie dog. "But Dibi still can't help Mr. Lion."

"And why is that?" snapped the wild cat.

"Because Dibi is much too zmall and Mr. Lion is much too big for Dibi to do anything about it."

"Well find a way!...Because if you don't, and if I ever get out of here, I will eat you!"

Dibi screamed, and quickly scrambled away. Gatu closed his eyes in doubtful annoyance, but soon enough, the sound of a breaking tree came. With a roar of surprise, Gatu jumped back as a rotting log fell into the hole. Smirking, he climbed out with ease.

When he saw Dibi, he suddenly pounced him with a, "You!"

"Ah! Please don't hurt Dibi!"

"Thanks," Gatu said, smiling and he gave the prairie dog a lick, before standing up, a broad smile on his face.

Dibi blinked, then stood.

"How'd you get that whole log down there anyway?" Gatu asked with fascination.

"Dibi moved the lose rocks under it and it came rolling down a hill." then he paused. "What happened to your eye?"

Chuckling, Gatu answered, "Stuff."

Now lifting his head, he stared north, before beginning to pad off.

"Wait!" called the prairie dog. "Where are you going?"

"North!"

"But you must not! No!"

Gatu stopped and curiously studied his new friend. "And why not?" he asked as Dibi caught up.

"Because Dibi has heard things from other animals. They say they saw a great brawl of monsters in the north!"

Now laughing, Gatu said, "I'm sure I can handle it!"

From there, he took off, now sprinting through the lands, despite the rodent's warnings in the distance. He had a lot of ground to catch up on.