Author's Note: Again, thanks to all who reviewed this story! Your comments are appreciated!

And now for Chapter Four. Midway through, this one switches P.O.V's.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Lion King or Kimba the White Lion.

Chapter 4

Meanwhile, the panther, called Cassius, had heard his boss, a lion named Claw who looked something like Scar calling him. "What does Boss Claw want now?" he grumbled to himself as he bounded to the sound of Claw's voice.

When he reached Claw, the lion immediately asked, "Did you manage to find a good prison in that place?"

Cassius shook his head. "Only a couple of annoying hyenas."

Claw sighed. "Why did Kimba have to destroy our last prison? It was perfect, until we threw him into it!"

"Well, why didn't you just kill him and Gypsy, the one who told him about the boiling lake while we had them hostage, instead of throwing him into the prison?" Cassius asked.

"A question I ask myself all the time, believe me," Claw replied.

"I guess Gypsy's Purple Potion didn't work after all!" Tom, a hyena chimed in.

"Yeah, didn't work!" another hyena, Tab, repeated. Both hyenas were henchmen of Claw.

"It would have worked IF YOU TWO WEREN'T SO STUPID!" Claw and Cassius roared simultaneously, referring to the time when Gypsy, an old and clever she-owl, tricked Tom and Tab into giving Kimba the antidote for the poison. Tom and Tab yelped, clutched each other, and leapt a few feet into the air.

"What to do next…" Claw muttered. "Taking over the jungle isn't easy, and we learned that the hard way. We did almost everything possible. Fighting, trickery, gossiping, more fighting, poisoning, rebellion, deception, trapping, taking hostages, and more fighting!"

"Well," Cassius replied. "There is something."

"What?" Claw demanded. Cassius leaned over and whispered something into Claw's ear. Tom and Tab tried to eavesdrop.

"We made plenty of those," Claw replied dismissively. "And they never worked. The little rat always ended up thwarting us."

"That's because they never lasted long," Cassius commented. "Everyone was too loyal to Kimba. But, have we ever tried outside help?"

"Yeah," Claw retorted. "Specklerex. Gypsy. Tuskar Hippo. The Black Four. The crows. Remember them?"

Cassius opened his mouth to say that the plan with Tuskar only failed because of Claw's own feelings, but he didn't say that. Instead, he muttered, "But still. What if we made a deal with someone? Someone who wants to become ruler of his or her own land. Perhaps we can tell them that if they help us get rid of our adversary, we can help them get rid of their opponent?"

Claw's face lit up. "Now, that's more like it!"

"Foolproof!" Tom and Tab yelled at the same time.

"The problem is, though," Cassius continued, frowning. "Do any of you know any other animals who want to take over the land in which they live in?"

"Well," Claw replied. "We'll just have to find one, then."

"How the heck did you manage to make that?"

"I want one in the Pridelands!"

"Can you teach us how to make one?"

Those were the kind of reactions Kimba was getting when he showed Simba and Nala around the jungle. Right now, they were at the school.

"Right now, it's Saturday, so there's no school today," Kimba explained. "But during weekdays, all the young animals get together and we learn stuff, like how to read and write."

"Cool!" Simba exclaimed.

"Hey, can we meet some of your friends here in the jungle?" Nala asked.

"Sure," Kimba replied, grinning. "In fact—" He didn't have time to finish his sentence before three cubs jumped on top of him. One was a serval, another was a caracal, and the third was a cheetah.

"Hello, Kimba," the caracal sneered. "It's time for us to rule this jungle."

"Yes, time for us!" the serval bellowed. "I am Claw, a big, bad killing machine with anger issues!"

"I'm Cassius," the caracal added. "Good luck getting past me!"

"Herp derp, I'm Tom and Tab, and I'm an idiot!" the cheetah exclaimed.

"And Kimba," the serval growled, "Don't give us any of your peace talk. We don't want to hear it."

"Peace?" the caracal asked. "What is this 'peace' you speak of?"

The serval shrugged. "I don't know! What is peace? I've never heard of it!"

"I don't know what peace is, either!" the caracal replied.

"I don't know anything, derp," the cheetah chimed in.

Out of the corner of his eye, Kimba saw Simba and Nala looking at the trio with wide eyes. Kimba himself started laughing hysterically.

"All right, guys, enough with the theatrics," he told the trio. "I've got guests with me."

"Are they really like that?" Nala asked.

Kimba shook his head. "No, they're just acting. Simba and Nala, these are Dot, Dash, and Dinky. Dot, Dash, and Dinky, these guys here are Simba and Nala."

"How do you do?" the serval asked, smiling. "I'm Dot."

"I'm Dinky," the caracal added. "Nice to meet you two."

"I'm Dash!" the cheetah announced. His fur was a shade of ocean blue. "And I'm ready to make a conversation twenty percent cooler in ten seconds flat!"

"How, by blowing on us for ten seconds after eating mint leaves?" Dot asked, snorting. Everyone, including Dash, laughed.

"Speaking of mint leaves," Dinky meowed. "Let's go to the restaurant, I'm starving."

"Same here!" Dot and Dash chorused.

"Do you guys want to see the restaurant?" Kimba asked, looking at Simba and Nala.

"Sure!" Simba replied excitedly.

"What he said," Nala added, flicking her tail at Simba.

"Come on!" Dash invited them. "There's juicy mint leaves, there's elephant grass, there's the recently added Meat Substitute for Carnivores—"

"Wait," Simba interrupted. "Did you say Meat Substitute for Carnivores?"

Dash nodded. "Yeah, it's made of tickle-chickle pollen and a bunch of other plants. But it tastes like meat! It's delicious! And Professor Calvin Hottage gave Dan'l Baboon the recipe—"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait," Simba interrupted again. "Professor Who? Gave who the what?"

"Oh, I forgot, you weren't there," Dash replied. "So, the members of the cat family were unhappy that Kimba wanted everyone to be vegetarians. So, they, led by Claw and another lion named Uncle Beetle, revolted against Kimba. Claw and his stooges taught all the young animals, including me, to like the taste of meat. I don't blame the way the carnivores felt; meat does taste great. But, I was forced to try it." He started to imitate a low, devious voice that Kimba recognized as Cassius's voice: "Take one bite, or I will take one bite of you!" Then, he switched back to his normal voice.

"Coincidentally, while all that was happening, a man named Calvin Hottage came to the jungle, looking for the tickle-chickle tree. That was the last ingredient he needed in order to make a meat substitute. Kimba stopped the revolt just in time, and told everyone of Hottage's intentions. All of us searched for pollen, but none of us found any, until Kimba found some on my leg. It turns out I had gotten it after treating the Turtle…a little roughly."

"A little?" Dot asked, raising her eyebrows.

Dash sighed. "Pretty roughly. Anyway, the Turtle led Kimba to the tickle-chickle tree, and Hottage let us carnivores try his meat substitute. It tasted just like the real thing, too! Even Claw liked it—well, only a little. Then, Hottage gave Dan'l Baboon—that's the owner of the restaurant and the elder of the jungle—the recipe, and now we can all enjoy it whenever we want."

"Can we try some?" Nala asked.

"Why not?" Kimba stated. "Come on, the restaurant's this way." Dot, Dash, and Dinky were already bounding off towards the restaurant. Kimba, Simba, and Nala followed.

It was just as beautiful as everything else. It was a couple floors of wood, each wrapped around a large, lush baobab tree. The wood was held in place by a few logs, and the outside was decorated with leaves.

"Hello, Kimba!" A very old mandrill baboon stood at the front of the restaurant.

"Hello, Dan'l!" Kimba called back. "I have guests with me." He led Simba and Nala to a table made out of a tree stump. "Dan'l, meet Simba and Nala. Simba, Nala, this is my good friend Dan'l Baboon."

"How do you do, youngsters?" Dan'l asked.

"Good," Nala replied, beaming.

"Me too!" Simba added.

Suddenly, something small, green, and feathery collided with Kimba.

"Whoa!" Simba shouted. "What is that?"

The small, green, and feathery thing revealed itself to be a parrot.

"Kimba!" the parrot squawked. "Bucky and I have been looking for you! There are two new lion cubs in the jungle! In fact—" He glanced at Simba and Nala. "That's them! Those are the two lion cubs that are visiting the jungle!"

"Hi, Pauley Cracker," Kimba replied. "That's Simba and Nala over there. I was just showing them around the jungle."

"And we got hungry," Dinky piped up from the table next to them.

"Speaking of which, I need to take the orders of all six of you," Dan'l pointed out. "What would you like?"

"Whatever today's special is," Kimba replied. "I'm feeling flexible. And Simba and Nala want some Meat Substitute."

Simba and Nala nodded in agreement.

"I'd like some mint leaves," Dash meowed. Nala snorted, apparently remembering what Dot said earlier.

"Meat Substitute with elephant grass on the side," Dot added.

"Grasshoppers," Dinky mewed simply, shrugging.

"I'll have that ready in a few minutes," Dan'l told them all, and he walked off into the baobab tree.

"What's going on?" A Grant's gazelle was cantering towards them, huffing and puffing. Pauley flew over to him.

"There you are, you big dodo! I was worried when I didn't see you coming!"

"You were too fast," the gazelle stated.

"That's Bucky," Kimba told Simba and Nala. "He's another good friend of mine."

"And I suspect you're Simba and Nala!" Bucky apparently heard Kimba. "Word gets around fast. You two are the talk of the jungle."

"We are?" Simba asked, surprised.

Bucky nodded. "Yeah."

"I've got six orders here!" Dan'l had returned with everyone's orders. "Meat Substitute for Simba and Nala, Mango Leaves for Kimba, Meat Sub with elephant grass for Dot, Mint leaves for Dash, and Grasshoppers for Dinky."

"Thank you," Kimba replied, taking his dish. "So this is the special?"

Dan'l nodded. "Yes, you chose the day you order the special to be the day in which the special is one of your favorites!"

Dash was already inhaling his leaves. "They're so cold, I feel like my throat is freezing up."

"Ugh, I'm full," Dinky groaned, leaning on the table.

"Already?" Dot asked, surprised. "I only just started eating!"

"Spicy…" Dash muttered. "Sp-spicy!"

Simba tasted the Meat Sub. "It's great!" he cried. Nala nodded in agreement, her mouth full.

"I thought you'd like it," Kimba told them, smiling.

"Hey! Wait! That reminds me!" Pauley suddenly yelled. "We came because there's someone here to see you! And this time, we're not talking about Simba or Nala!"

"Hi, Kimba!" A young lioness padded out of the bushes.

Author's Note: Ah, the dreaded cliffhanger! I'm pretty sure you can all tell who that is.

As for Dot, Dash, and Dinky, I took a guess at what their species was. For Dash, it was confirmed he was a cheetah, especially in Episode 46 ("The Return of Fancy Prancy"). But how could he NOT be a cheetah, with a name like Dash? Speaking of Dash, does he remind any of you of someone else who is blue and fast?

Dinky, meanwhile, looked somewhat canine, though I assumed that he, like his friends, was feline. He had no spots, meaning he could either be a caracal, a lion, or an African Golden Cat. But with those pointy, tufted ears of his, and his short, though undoubtedly feline tail, made me almost certain he was a caracal.

Dot's species was the hardest to guess, and I'm still uncertain. She looks like a bobcat, but as anyone knows, there are no bobcats in Africa. So, I chose the closest thing in appearance to a bobcat: A serval. She might also have some cheetah in her.

Claw, Cassius, Tom, and Tab are obviously up to something. Actually, their side of the story is happening at the same time as Kimba and Simba's, so it might take them a while to catch up to what's happening with the jungle cubs. So, if in one chapter we're with Kimba and Simba, and it seemed like our villains were doing something completely different than that they were doing a few minutes ago, it's because Kimba and Simba are actually ahead of them, as far as the story goes. They'll catch up, though.

We also got to meet some of Kimba's friends and advisors. Don't worry; Simba's friends will have their chance to shine later.

Kimba Episodes Referenced:

Gypsy's Purple Potion

Journey Through Time

Legend of Hippo Valley

The Pretenders

Jungle Fun

A Revolting Development

Reviews are appreciated!