Two Brothers Under the Sun
Chapter – XVIII
Kasaba Ball
Hakuna Matata Falls, northern Bukuvu
It was another clear sunny day in the Bukuvu and in spite of that, the dense forest rose from the lowland and clung ever more thickly to the towering slopes of the waterfall. From its secret depths came a noisy chorus of birds, critters, and other unseen creatures. Simba prowled his way through the undergrowth. This was a shadowy world, very different from the wide-open plains the lion cub knew so well. Bagheera's lessons were just the beginning and the kitten was eager to explore more of his new home; clearly emboldened since that day with the stampede. Meanwhile, Tarzan and Terk were catching breakfast near the grove... well, at least Tarzan was.
"Pick a good one, cuz," Terk instructed her cousin from the ground as she lazed about beneath the shadow of a tree. "Make sure it is ripe and big and-"
"Is this one okay?" Tarzan asked, tossing down a medium-sized, round-shaped melon to her. It had a thick, tough, green, and smooth rind, textured with longitudinal furrows, wrinkles, and folds.
"Oh no," She moaned lazily from her spot. "Now I am gonna have to catch it." She extended her hand to grab the incoming fruit.
'THUMP'
"Ow!" Only for it to hit her head instead and bounce off.
Simba saw the melon heading toward him and swiped it aside with his paw. Tarzan, who had just scrambled down from the tree, intercepted it, started playing with it, and then kicked it away.
"Hey, this is fun." The man-cub said before crouching down so as to avoid the flying melon passing over his head, courtesy of Terk.
After catching it, Simba rolled the fruit on his back, balancing and juggling it between his shoulders and his backside. Afterward, he flicked it off with his tail. The melon flew across the field, past Terk, and landed right in front of an elephant calf. Grabbing it with his trunk, Tantor was about to send the fruit down his gullet when Terk intervened.
"No! Don't eat it, kick it." She said, walking to the pachyderm with the boys by her side. "It's the new game we just made up."
"Oh, no." Tantor shook his head, still holding the melon. "My mother says never play with your food."
"It isn't your food," Tarzan said. "It's our ball."
"Oh, sorry." The calf put the 'ball' on the ground and readied himself to kick it. "Okay, but I am pretty strong so watch out." The trio stepped away to give him space. He slammed his hind legs to the ground to propel himself up in order to stand on two feet with his front legs raised. He went to throw a kick but missed, lost his balance, and fell on his butt.
'THUMP' 'SPLASH'
Right on top of the melon. The others cringed at that and the rumble caused by the elephant's tumble.
Oblivious to his own clumsiness, Tantor gasped as he searched for the fruit in the far distance. "Whoa! I can't even see where it went."
"Heh, I can," Terk said, pointing down to the pasted melon on the pachyderm's bottom, and earning a disgruntled 'ugh' from the latter.
The two little apes laughed along with the lion cub, finding the silliness of the situation pretty funny. Getting back on all-fours, Tantor casually joined them as well.
The group continued enjoying themselves until they heard someone else laugh. Turning to the side, they saw Lala and one of her clanmates walking toward them, laughing their asses off.
"That was a great kick... not!" She scoffed while the other dog imitated the calf's failed attempt to kick the ball before blowing a raspberry, earning more laughs from Lala before he joined her. Unlike the others, their laugh embarrassed the little elephant, causing him to let out a discouraged groan whilst looking down at his front feet.
Simba assumed a pouncing position and snarled lightly at the dogs but it was Terk who stepped forward in the pachyderm's defense. "Knock it off, fuzzy-toes." She told Lala. "It could happen to anyone."
"Yeah, sure." She snorted offhandedly to the she-ape. "I didn't know you guys played Kasaba Ball."
"Huh?" Terk frowned in confusion. "Kasaba what?"
"Kasaba Ball." said Lala.
"Oh, oh, oh! Kasaba Ball." Terk repeated in faux realization, trying to hide the fact she never heard of it. "Oh, sure. I know it well. We play it all the time." She addressed the others. "Right, guys?"
Tarzan fumbled a bit with his words but managed to follow his cousin's lead. "Oh-oh yeah, we sure do."
Simba went along as well. "We love it to bits."
Smiling, Lala stalked around in front of them. "Well, then. How about my team challenging yours to a game?"
Terk's bravado washed off at that. "Oh. Well..."
Before she could come up with an answer, Lala got right on her face. "Yeah, you guys play Jungle Rules or Mountain Rules?"
Terk went back to stalling until: "Well... what do you play?"
"Mountain Rules: four in a Team." Lala turned around and started backing off.
Terk smiled, thinking she had found a way out. "Ah, shucks. My pals and I only play Jungle Rules. Too bad." After that, she began to lead the boys away. "Well, ta-ta, to-lo, see ya."
Lala's smile turned sly. "Well, we play Jungle Rules too."
That made Terk stop dead in her tracks, along with the others.
"You do?" The she-ape, the man-cub, and the kitten turned back to her and asked in unison. Tantor looked over behind them to listen too.
"Yeah. Three in a team." Lala clarified as she came closer again. "Unless you are scared of challenging me."
Terk's ears perked at that, right before her brows furrowed. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Did I stutter?" The dhole remarked with a prideful smile.
That annoyed Terk even more. She couldn't stand hearing anyone bragging... other than herself. "Okay, doggy. You wanna see what this ape's made of?" She matched the dog's feral grin. "Bring it on."
"Fine by me." Replied Lala. Like that, the game was on. "But thanks to your nimble friend here, we need a new Kasaba Ball. I will get one and meet you at the middle lands."
As soon as the red dogs left, the 'Cubs' went to make ready for the game. Tantor took the opportunity to train his kicks as he walked behind the group.
"First a left kick." He raised up one of his hind legs and then brought it down... on a rock that was in the way. "Ouch!" Trying to maintain his composure, Tantor suck back the pain and tried again with the opposite leg. "Then a right-OW!" Only to hit the same rock. Now, he succumbed to a pained moan. "Ugh, couldn't we play a safer game, like 'I spy' or 'charades'?"
"Are we seriously going to play with them?" Simba asked, having never imagined that his first match against the red dogs would be like this.
"Yeah, they weren't very nice to us when they arrived," Tarzan pointed out.
"Well, they don't scare me, and I'm not running away from dog-face back there," Terk argued. "We're gonna beat those guys, just wait."
"Here comes the best kicker in the whole game, heading down the field and-OW!" Tantor's pained moan shifted the group's attention toward him. Once more he tried throwing a kick and failed, he was now lifting his sore foot and continued his way hopping on three.
"But Tantor is so clumsy he can't possibly play Kasaba Ball," Terk spoke with Tarzan and Simba; the three of them had stopped a few feet ahead of the calf.
"Lucky for us there are only three on the team." Simba couldn't help but comment in a low voice.
"Well, break it to him gently." Tarzan pleaded to Terk. Tantor was his friend and he knew how (ironically enough for a literal 'thick-skin') sensitive he could be. "I don't wanna hurt his feelings."
"Don't worry, cuz." She reassured the man-cub. "Who's better at this type of thing than me?" Looking over her shoulder, she called to the pachyderm. "Tantor! You stink, you can't play."
"But-but I wanted to be one on the team." The small elephant stammered. "Shoulder to shoulder with you guys, you know? Fighting on to victory, as Pop calls it."
Feeling sorry for him, Tarzan gave his cousin a pointed stare. Catching the message, Terk amended. "Why, Little Peanut, you have a much bigger job to do!"
Tantor's expression brightened after hearing that. "I-I do?"
"Yeah," She grabbed a tussock and showed it to him. "Cheerleader."
Tantor grabbed the tuft of grass and swung it around with a somewhat subpar chant. "Hey-hey-hey!"
Terk gave him a thumbs-up nevertheless. "That's the spirit!"
"Okay, so..." Simba cut in. "How do we play that game again?"
...
...
...
The apes' mutual silence didn't reassure the lion cub.
"...We will figure it out."
Somehow, Terk's answer reassured him even less.
Once the younglings had worked up what they knew about Kasaba Ball (which was mostly nothing), they made their way to the middle lands, at the fringes of Bagheera and the dholes' hunting grounds. Not long after making their way up a tiny bump, which still was the highest point in the grasslands, they came across a particular patch of land. Some of the grass in the middle areas had died due to the heatwave, so the herds used the dried fodder from their piles, which they called straw, to cover the bare patches of dirt and the newly planted seeds for the replacement grass; creating a flat yet kinda fluffy broad patch in the middle of the plains. Ideal for a game of Kasaba Ball. The younglings wouldn't bother anyone there either as most of the herds stayed clear of that area for they didn't want to risk trampling or eating the grains.
Since they had arrived before the dholes, the three of them who were going to play prepared for the game by doing a workout routine as a warm-up. Tarzan stretched his legs, Terk weaved her arms, and Simba was doing some pushups. Having been relegated to cheerleader, Tantor cheered them on from the sideline, as enthusiastic as he was beforehand.
"Hurrah-Hurrah-Hurrah! Hey-hey-hey!" He kept shaking the tussock in his trunk. "Let's go out and play-play-play!"
At last, Lala showed up, accompanied by her clanmate and a quartet of vultures.
Terk immediately surged indignant at the sight of them. "Hey, we never agreed to a three-sided game!"
"The vultures are the referees," Lala gestured to the scavengers. "Our third player is 'Tiny.'"
"Whoa." Terk stopped, chortled, and put a hand over her forehead, pretending to be staring down at something on the ground. "She sure must be 'tiny,' I can't even see her." She let out a loud guffaw before laughing, her teammates joining in as well.
When the ground started to tremble, they froze.
A rhinoceros calf was running at top speed toward them, kicking up dust and shaking the ground as she did so. The small pachyderm came to a stop with a grunt, right beside Lala.
Terk gulped. So that was 'Tiny.'
Lala's smiled smugly. "If you are scared, you can just leave the field, fur-ball."
Once again, Terk's pride got the better of her. Snatching the grin out of the dog's face was too tempting, even if she had to face a charging rhino. Just like last time, their glares clashed and a threatening atmosphere settled between them. "Who are you calling furball, dog breath?"
The others looked back and forth between the two females before slipping away from them in case any sparks started to fly.
The vultures were already starting with the commentary.
"The red dog princess's entourage versus the man-cub and company?" Buzzy mused. "Should be a slaughter."
"let's hope so." Ziggy quipped.
Soon all the teams were in position, seizing each other up across the field with patches of woodland behind them. From the center, the birds addressed the two groups.
The one-with-bangs spoke up, his tone deadpanned as always. "Let's review the rules: this is a fight to the death and the team left alive wins." He grinned. "The dead team belongs to us."
The dholes and the vultures laughed, Tantor backed down, Simba tried to cover his snickers, and Terk and Tarzan shuddered before the gorilla grumbled at the raptor's sense of humor.
"Carnivore jokes, oy."
Buzzy moved forward to give the actual rules, gripping the melon in place with his talon. "Three in a team, two attackers and one goalkeeper. You have to toss the kasaba in between the arcs of those trees, that's your goal." He pointed with his beak to the arced trees on each side of the field. "The first team to do it ten times wins. All tackles, hits, and blocks are legal."
"A confident Lepay sits in goal for the Highland Dholes!" Flaps narrated like a sports commentator; his attention focused on the goalkeeper of the red dog team.
"Lepay is really on his game, he's healthy as he has been all season," Ziggy added his own commentary.
The one-with-bangs, unsurprisingly, was poker-faced. "Well, that's a disappointment."
On the far side of the plain, the 'Cubs' (named in honor of its two most 'unique' players) decided that Simba would guard their goal.
When Buzzy gave him the signal, The one-with-bangs emitted a raspy, drawn-out hissing sound to announce the start of the game.
"Play Kasaba!" Buzzy shouted; the players pounced, and the vulture barely had time to fly out of the dogpile before the kids darted across the field after Lala, who had managed to escape with the melon.
From the higher branches, Ziggy delivered some real-time commentary. "Lala passes to Tiny." The calf ran but kept the ball balanced on her horny until she bashed it to the goal. "Tiny takes it to the cub territory. She shoots..."
Tantor gulped in alarm from the sidelines as he watched Simba prepare to detain the projectile. "Not the face! Not the face!"
The lion pounced and missed. Good news: the ball didn't hit his face... it hit him square on the chest, sending him flying into the thicket. The youngling's team looked on in worry in his direction; Flaps arrived to check on him before Ziggy.
"Is he still alive?" Buzzy asked from afar.
Simba responded albeit woozily. "Barely."
Flaps nodded at him and turned to deliver the message. "Barely."
"Darn, it." The one-with-bangs remarked.
"GOAL!" Announced Buzzy; Terk slapped her forehead. The bald vulture dug a talon on the left side of a tree branch, giving it a single scratch. "That is one for the Dholes and nothing for the Cubs."
The game continues. The kasaba disappeared inside a hollow log and the two apes pursued it into the dark hole. Bursting through an opening on the log's side, the hard-peeled melon flew above the wide field, bounced on a nearby tree, and zoomed atop the heads of two cousins who had attempted to follow the ball and were now stuck in the smaller hole.
Terk cried out. "We are stuck!"
That's what I said.
Buzzy scratched his head. "Say, was that a goal?"
"As close to a goal as it could be without being close at all." The one-with-bangs refuted.
"Hey, where is the ball?" Asked Flaps. Ziggy pointed a wing to the field.
Lala was running with the ball to the Cubs' side. Tiny rushed parallelly to her and the red dog sent the melon in the calf's direction. The rhinoceros that was tiny only for her kind's standards caught the kasaba and bounced it with her horn all the way to the Cubs' goal before delivering a powerful thrust to launch the ball to the target. Just like when he was caught in that stampede, Simba could feel his muscles tensing as the projectile approached, remembering very well what had happened the last time. Indefensible! Acting on instinct, Simba crouched down to the ground, not eager to be sent back into the bushes again. Tiny scored another goal.
Lala has the ball, she passes it to Tiny who takes it across the field. Terk moved to stop her advance.
"I got it! I got it!" The rhino brings her to the ground and runs right over her. From the floor, the she-ape groaned and raised a finger. "I got it."
Tiny tossed the kasaba to the arced tree on the Cubs' side, Simba avoided it again, and the ball crashed and broke the stem of a small tree. Buzzy gave the Dholes' team another point and let out a disappointed sigh at the Cubs' performance.
Terk approached Tarzan to talk to him. "We need a new goalie." She murmured, pointing to the lion cub playing with the melon, looking clearly uneasy. "One that's not afraid of fruit."
Tarzan was put in position as the new goalkeeper. Simba was right behind Terk while the female waved her arms, jumped, and howled at the rival team's incoming attack. Tiny stormed through with the kasaba; Terk fell back, accidentally tripping over Simba, and giving the rhino calf the chance to shoot at their goal. Tarzan leaped at the melon only for it to go right over his head, hit his butt, and bounce to the trees, scoring another point for the dhole team. Lala and Tiny laughed at their opponents again.
Buzzy casually added one more scratch to the dogs' side of the tree, noticing the growing disparity between the teams' performances. "Well, this is bordering on the ridiculous."
Terk moved to assume the goal's defense. "You guys have scored your last goal! No ball is gonna go past me!" She raised her arm intending to catch the ball flying at her but failed and the other team scored another goal. Now disgruntled and embarrassed, she proclaimed. "Okay, that was your last goal.
"Come to mamma!" She didn't get the next one either. "Alright, that was your last goal!"
She hit the ground trying to catch the next. "This is your last goal!"
She tried again. "Okay? No! This is!"
And again. "This is gonna be your last one!"
The one-with-bangs shook his head as he tsked, the boredom starting to sink in. "It's a massacre and not our kind of massacre."
Ziggy, who was by his side, felt like this would be a good time to change the subject. "Come on, Chil... chill. Ha-ha-ha!" He laughed before taking off, leaving behind the other vulture, 'Chil', alone with his eyebrows twitching.
"Chil, chill, Knock it off!" He squawked at his companion with the brown top. "And people wonder why I changed my name," He addressed the reader before flying away. "just call me Dizzy."
Simba, Tarzan, Lala, and Tiny chase after the bouncing ball, pushing and shoving each other as they go.
"Don't let it get away!" Simba rushed on relentlessly, his best friend from the jungle not far behind him.
"There it goes!" The man-cub shouted; eyes ripped skyward in shock as the ball flashed overhead.
"Catch it!" Terk shouted all the way back from the goal. The ball came to a stop in the middle of the downfield, just a few paces away from one of the vultures.
Flaps stared blankly at the ball in front of him, looked up to see the younglings closing in for a pounce, and concluded it would be safer if he left, so up he went. Tarzan lunged at the melon and grabbed it but couldn't stop his own momentum, so he found himself rolling together with the ball into a burrow in the base of a dead tree. The man-cub and the melon rolled up inside the hollow interior, then stopped, and rolled back down at top speed, launching them outside. Simba leaped to catch the ball but only managed to catch his naked friend instead. Steamrolling her way through the boys, Tiny caught the ball and broke across the field.
"Okay. It's all fun and games till someone loses an eye." Commented the elephant calf, gulping at the downed cubs.
"Pass it!" Lala closed in; Tiny grunted before shooting the melon to the dhole princess, who takes it into Cub territory. It was all up to the goalkeeper now.
"No ball is gonna escape me now!" Terk proudly declared as Lala threw the melon in the air, sending it straight to the Cubs' goal. She was gonna beat that dog if it was the last thing she did before lunch! Assuming a strike position, the female Mangani readied herself with an intense and serious glare. The she-ape then jumped up high to deflect the ball, trusted her arms forward to catch it...
'THUMP'
It had happened so fast. To Terk, one moment the ball was inches away from her grasp.
The other... she was seeing stars.
Tantor sighed with a head shake. "I just knew this would happen."
Since the Cubs had called for a time-out, the vultures declared the ending of the first half of the match and the start of the interval.
Tarzan, leaf in hand, gently fanned his cousin, whose eyes were still moving in swirls. "Those guys are good." The man-cub commented, then slumped. "Of course, we are really bad."
Terk's voice rasped before she spoke. "It would help if Simba wasn't so scared of facing the ball."
"And what good would it do me?" refuted the little lion. "You won't share the ball with anyone."
"Why should I?" Terk grumbled as she got up. "I am the only one out there trying."
Tarzan scowled at that. "And what do you think I was doing?"
"It looked like you were playing for the other team, cuz." said the equally angered ape. "You are slower than a snail on vacation."
"Me?! You play like you are afraid to mess up your fur!" Exclaimed an indignant Tarzan.
"You both stink like a wet wolf!" She told them both.
That did it. Tarzan and Simba lunged at Terk and started brawling with her, kicking up a cloud of dust that evolved the three of them.
Swooping down to a tree branch, the referees watched the brawling team.
"Well, looks like it just got worse." Chil 'Dizzy's' pointed out, earning utters of agreement from the others.
Downstairs, a dismayed Tantor moved to intervene. "Stop! Stop this!" He exclaimed, cutting off the trio's fight. "What kind of teamwork is this? When the going gets rough, that's when you need each other the most."
"It would be if they weren't holding me back," Terk complained. Huffing in disdain, they all separated after that and faced away from each other; sitting down with scowls splattered on their faces, the two apes went further and folded their arms. Tantor looked downcasted between them.
"Tsk-tsk-tsk. They are gonna feel guilty about this for the rest of their days." Dizzy stated before he shared a familiar look with his flockmates. The others nodded in silent agreement, it wouldn't kill them to do something to help those kids one more time. Descending to the ground level, they went to speak with the trio.
"The Little Peanut is right, you know?" said Dizzy.
"Yeah, you guys are getting trounced out there, and instead of working together, you fight like fledglings over the last piece of the carcass," Buzzy added.
"Oh, you guys don't have to worry about that." Terk snarked back at them. "There will be lots of pieces for you to pick after they finish us off."
Ziggy had the decency to scratch his head at the little ape's quip. "Perhaps we overdid it a bit."
"Now, we may look a bit shabby, but we've got Hearts," Buzzy replied.
"And feelings, too." Dizzy nodded.
"Well, it doesn't matter." She grumbled, sending a passing glance to the boys, who meet her gaze. Terk's gaze softened for a second before she shook her head and turned away from them. "Who needs them anyway?"
She tried to hide it, but the vultures noticed the crack in her tone.
"Come on, kid." Buzzy moved to her side. "Everybody's got to have friends, just ask us. Our flock here has been through bodies thick and thin."
"And thin and thinner," Dizzy joined them.
"You gotta fight to survive, it's a dog-eat-dog world," Buzzy said, causing Lala and Lepay to perk their ears in Buzzy's direction as well as flash a strange look to the vulture all way from the field's far distance, after a moment they turned away with Lala giving a huff to the bird.
That was not her favorite expression.
Oblivious to her nasty glare, Buzzy kept his focus on Terk. "Now, look here,"
"They're your friends!"
Terk was caught off guard when the bald vulture, along with the one with bangs, shouted singsong-like.
"They're your friends!" Tantor repeated the verse rhythmically, surprising Tarzan and Simba.
"They're your friends until the bitter end." The four vultures then joined together for a chorus. Terk merely raised an eyebrow at them.
"When you're down-in..." They danced in a circle around her.
"Who comes around..." They gathered around her, holding her hands and squeezing her shoulders. Terk tried to pay them no mind.
"To pluck you up..." Ziggy and Dizzy hoisted her up with their wings, straining a bit due to her weight. The she-ape just stayed in a sitting position with her hands holding the sides of her head and resting her elbows on her knees.
"When you are down?" She didn't move an inch, not even when the birds lowered her so she could sit on a rock.
"When you're out and the cover picks you up off the floor?" Flaps feigned a fall but his flockmates helped him back to his feet.
"Aha, aha, aha, that's what friends are for!" Tantor and vultures kept on singing and started dancing as Tarzan and Simba went to join them. Terk watched them from her rock.
"When you're lost, ye-yeah..." Tarzan and Dizzy do a do-si-do.
"In dire need, ye-yeah..." Buzzy was doing the same with Simba, suspending the lion cub to make him walk on his hind legs.
"Who's at your side, ye-yeah..." Ziggy moved to the side of the first pair.
"At lightning speed, ye-yeah?" Flaps danced his way to the second one.
"And when you're outside looking in; who's there to open the door?" The vultures clasped shoulders with their respective cubs, supporting each other.
"Aha, aha, aha, that's what friends are for!" Tantor, close to her right side, smiled at Terk.
At last, Terk twitched her lips upward.
"You know the zebra, the hyena, and the quagga too..." The vultures began singing the next part. "The cobra and the lion all agree it's true." They waved their wings and flashed their feathers festively. "We're fond of every creature coming down the pike."
"In fact, they've never met an animal they didn't like!" Tantor completed the last verse, the flock leaning against his left side.
"To all, that's near, ye-yeah..." The vultures circled around the three younglings as they danced.
"To all your chums, oh-yeah." Terk was still hesitant but then her cousin grabbed her by the hand and dragged her to join him and Simba.
"You have it clear, ye-yeah..." Now with a full-blown smile on her face, Terk joined hands together with Tarzan and Simba.
"When danger comes, ye-yeah..." The raptors created a 'bird tower' with Buzzy on the base, Dizzy was right on top of him, followed by Ziggy, and finally Flaps on the top.
"And so we're eager to extend A friendly claw?" Swooping down to their level, each of the flock offered one talon to the three younglings.
"Th-th-th-that's what friends are for!" Tantor stuttered before finalizing.
"You know the armadillo, elephant, and wild boar." Buzzy, Dizzy, Ziggy, and Flaps continued singing.
"The cheetah and the anteater, they adore!" And the elephant calf finished.
"We even dined with the rhino and his shiny spike..." Far in the downfield, Tiny nodded silently at the scavengers.
"In fact, they've never met an animal they didn't like!" Unconsciously, Terk mouthed the part when she thought no one was looking.
"Take it, kids!" Buzzy gestured the younglings to sing along.
"So you can see," Tarzan sang as he fluttered his arms.
"Oh-yeah..."
"We're friends in need," Simba bounced and started singing as well.
"Oh-yeah..."
"And friends in need," Terk gave in; letting out a verse in the spur of the moment.
"Oh-yeah..."
"Are friends indeed, oh-yeah!" All four younglings sang along, playfully shoving each other and smiling genuinely.
"We'll keep you safe In the jungle forevermore..." The Vultures came over to them for the grand finale.
"Th-th-th-that's what friends are for!"
Afterward, they all laughed animatedly, patted one another on the back, and exchanged handshakes.
Sighing at ease, Terk addressed the elephant. "You are right Tantor." She turned to the others. "Let's stop blaming each other and stink together." She quickly caught her mistake. "I mean stick together."
"Alright!" The team cheered and high-fived.
The team was mended and geared up for action, and the vultures were geared up for the show they'd been waiting for. Time for the counter-attack.
The vultures informed the dhole's team that the second round was about to start. One by one, the players assumed their positions in the center. Flaps brought the ball and looked between the teams' attackers; Lala and Tiny were on one side, while Tarzan and Simba were on the other. The blonde scavenger flew off, leaving the melon to the younglings and starting the game's second match.
Lala immediately came bearing down on the kasaba, delivering a powerful swipe that sent it flying past the cubs and straight toward their goal. Terk surged and stepped on the ball, stopping it in its tracks before she started balancing and moving from one place to another atop it, hooting all the way. Lala came to her but the gorilla halted in front of her, managed to kick the melon up in the air, and then kicked it away. Much to the dog's surprise.
"Guys! Heads up!" shouted Terk to her teammates.
Tiny stood in Tarzan's way, trying to block, only for the man-cub to suspend himself on her large bulk, which allowed him to bump his right hip against the ball, causing it to bounce off. Simba raced against Lala to get to the melon as they both tried to catch the ball. The lion sprinted to get ahead of the dhole and hit the kasaba with a paw strike. Seeing the incoming projectile, Terk helped Tarzan get on her shoulders so he could smack it with his clasped hands. The ball shoot through the air, Lepay leaped to catch it when it plummeted towards the goal... but he missed.
"We scored! Oh yeah!" Terk cheered along with her team, raising their paws and fists to the air triumphantly; Tantor was on the sidelines and raised his trunk. Buzzy, smiling, scratched the other side of the branch for the first time that day. Point for the Cubs.
Tarzan swatted the melon to Simba, who sent it flying with a mighty kick from his hind legs. Lala attempted to imitate the man-cub's stunt by climbing on Tiny's back so she could leap at the ball; unfortunately, her paw got right on the calf's face and caused her teammate to jolt suddenly, knocking on Lala's backside which in turn resulted on the two of them tumbling to the ground. The kasaba flew over their heads and Lepay wasn't able to stop it from going past their goal.
Buzzy laughed as he added one more point to the Cubs. "Looks like they finally got it."
Ziggy was exhilarating as well. "Now that's Kasaba Ball!"
Revigorated, and using their strength and wits, the Cubs' teamwork and playing were proving to be much for the Dholes' to counter, resulting in an incredible comeback. Much to Lala's frustration, she soon realized her team was now the one finding itself on a losing streak.
"What's the matter with you two?! I am the only one out there trying!" She barked to her teammates after their less-than-stellar performance. "What, you want to play on the other team, huh?" She accused while throwing a fit. "You stink like a wet ape!"
Watching the dog princess ripping her team a new one, Simba couldn't help but notice: "Sounds a little familiar."
Terk nodded as the lion cub turned to her and her cousin. "Yeah." Letting out an ashamed sigh, she addressed her two friends. "Sorry, guys. I shouldn't have said that stuff to you."
Tarzan offered her a weak yet genuine smile. "Eh, it was our fault too."
"Yeah. Friends shouldn't talk that way to each other." Simba nodded then Terk wrapped her arms around him and Tarzan for a double side hug.
"And neither should teammates." She declared as they all shared a friendly snuggle with each other.
Having witnessed the team's moment from afar, Tantor turned away, looking somewhat sad. "I would give anything to be a teammate." Of course, it would help if he was actually, you know, on a team.
Peering over her shoulder after catching some of Tantor's words, Terk spotted the downcasted pachyderm. Feeling a bit guilty, if a bit indebted for what he and the vultures had done, she decided to give him a chance and found the perfect way to give it to him.
"Ow!" Letting out a pained groan, she let go of the hug so she could bend down to massage her back. "My back, ow!" The boys, confused, just watched as she made her way to the sideline. "Ow, it must be from when Tiny ran me over."
Tarzan and Simba exchanged dumbstruck looks; It had taken this long for the pain to reach her brain?
"Ow, I guess Tantor will have to go in for me." She told her teammates before finally sitting down to 'rest'. "I will do the cheerleading."
Tantor's expression brightened immediately once he heard that. "I am in the game!"
So excited was the young elephant that he almost ran over two of the referees as he, at long last, came to the attack zone.
Hopefully, his feet wouldn't sink down enough to damage the seeds.
Inspired by his friends and the vultures, Tantor stepped out of his comfort zone and joined the match. The Cubs got the better of the opening kickoff; Simba swatted the ball into the attacking zone but Tiny intercepted it and broke off across the downfield, keeping the melon at her horn's end as she guided it. Then, out of nowhere, Tantor's trunk surged from above and took the kasaba away. The elephant now raced towards the goal while bouncing the ball. Once he had closed enough distance, he heeled the ball and jabbed.
Lepay reacted the same way one should when a pachyderm charges toward them, he fleed.
Point for the Cubs.
Lala ran the ball into Cub territory, Simba and Tarzan right on her tail. The dhole was so confident that she barely had any time to register the bulk body of the pachyderm in front of her and was cut off courtesy of Tantor, ramming herself head-first right on his front legs. Smiling at his achievement, the calf launched the melon to the man-cub, who passed it to the little lion, who leaped up in the air and hit the ball with full force, sending it straight to the goal and blindsiding the goalie.
Enveloping the kasaba with his trunk and snapping it, Tantor managed to send it flying at top speed over the playing field; Simba was right there to headbutt it once it came down, his headache was compensated when Tarzan caught the melon, and, demonstrating exceptional throwing skills, earned another score for their team when his shot got past Leapy.
"Now that is what I call teamwork." Terk clapped her hands.
After he was done checking the score, Buzzy turned to his flock. "It's a tie, fellas, you know what that means?"
Dizzy snickered. "Yeah, our favorite part of the game."
"Sudden Death!" said the four birds in unison. One last goal and the game is over.
"Next goal wins!" Buzzy warned the players. It was now or never: the moment of truth.
'CLANG' The ringing sound of Ziggy boinging Flaps on the head with a stick announces the start of the final round.
'PAWOO'
Tantor was ready to give his all; he rushes through the grassy field where he was closed down by a wall of opposition.
"Look out!"
Which quickly crumbled down at Lala's cry of fear.
The pachyderm pushed forward, only to miss a step and trip to the ground with a loud thud. For a second there, he feared the worst had happened and he had bruised himself, but then he saw the ball was right in front of him and he instinctively blew his trunk to blast it to the goal of the opposing team; the skittish youngling's surprise display of unyielding defiance came with such force that the kasaba tore through one of the arc branches before it disappeared into the yellow thicket, along with the broken piece of wood. The referees looked after the melon in shock from the treetops.
"Well, I'll be..." Ziggy was simply speechless.
A tad confused Buzzy turned to Dizzy. "Well, Chil, what do you think?"
The 'one-with-bangs' scratched his head for a moment until he came to his conclusion. "Why... it's a goal!"
"Cubs win! Cubs win! Cubs win!" The four vultures cheered along.
"Hooray for the winning team!" Flaps shouted in celebration of the winning team.
"The new fella tossed the ball right off the scene!" beamed Ziggy enthusiastically.
"C'mon, mates, let's go congratulate the new champs," said Buzzy.
'ROAR'
They all stopped dead in their tracks at the sound of a powerful roar.
"Hey..." Flaps shivered, recognizing whose roar was it.
"Cheese it!" Ziggy said as their eyes darted southward.
"The boss regent!" Buzzy exclaimed.
"We gotta come back!" "Gimme room!" "Gangway!" and so, the flock of scavengers took off as if their feet were being attacked by fire ants.
Unaware that their referees had just made themselves absent, the Cubs showered their MVP in glory.
"You were fantastic, little peanut." Terk nudged Tantor on the leg.
"Well, you guys gave me the chance." The flushed calf pointed out.
"Sometimes, it's all someone needs," Tarzan told him, smiling at his friend. Simba nodded in agreement.
"I would carry you off the field, Tantor, but... you understand," Terk stated, bringing up their size disparity.
Tantor gave her nod. "Sure, Terk." Then he sent a knowing look down to her. "After all, you are injured."
The she-ape faltered when he said that, but then Tantor wrapped his trunk around her frame to bring her in for a hug, much to Terk's embarrassment and the amusement of both Tarzan and Simba. A begrudging Lala made her way toward them.
"I want a rematch." She declared with a competitive glare.
"Another game?" Terk laughed as Tantor put her back on the ground. "Alright." She meets the dog's gaze, steeling her eyes. "Anywhere, any time, bring it on."
Any day of the week they will defeat that fuzzy-toed dog again.
Lala didn't back down one bit. "Oh, we will."
Next time, she would defeat that stinking wet ape.
###
Hippo Springs, eastern Bukuvu
Makuu sank his claws into the arroyo and grabbed a huge chunk of earth on one side before working on the other, widening the hole as much as it needed for him to fit his jaws into it. Taking a look inside, he found what he had been looking for and smiled delightedly. Catfish, lots of them; they had buried themselves in the mud to survive the drought of the water hole but that would do little to protect them against a hungry float of crocs. He called to the others to get their attention and soon the entire float had gathered around in that section of the dried riverbed to feast on their leader's spoils. From atop the edge of the dried lake, Basi and his pod cordially provided them shade from the afternoon sun.
Catching a familiar smell from the opposite side, Makuu stopped, glanced upward in that direction, and scornfully smiled at the ones standing on the higher ground.
"Looking fine there, Bundo."
Bundo and his companions, now sporting a good number of scars across their bodies, glared daggers at the crocodile and his posse. "Not as good as you, you big fat lizard."
Makuu's demeanor did not diminish one bit, he could shrug off most of the bites he received that day on the riverbank thanks to his scales.
Insults on the other hand...
"Then why don't you come here so we can solve that?" He bared his teeth while his floatmates formed a line to face the dhole clan.
"Let us not be hasty," Basi interjected to defuse the situation. "It will do you no good to start a fight before the Colonel arrives."
"Then where is he?" Bundo asked the hippo.
"He will be here shortly, please be patient."
Makuu stared dully after hearing that. "Really? My float clawed all the way from our territories and his patrol, who's always on the march, is late?"
"Indeed," Bundo murmured with a huff under his breath. Not that he wanted to acknowledge that he and Makuu were on the same page.
"Don't hold it against the Colonel." Basi stepped forward to defend his liege. "He's been very busy because of the Dry Season. So have been the rest of you, I am sure."
The two predators whirled their heads to look away, accepting the pachyderm's point. A few moments or so, when Makuu's group was climbing out of the shallow ditch, Bagheera stepped out of the woodlands accompanied by a familiar face.
"Pua, what are you doing here?" asked Makuu, not exactly thrilled with the elder's presence.
"I was asked to participate in the meeting," Pua responded, with Bagheera stopping right by his side.
"You lost the Mashindano and were banished from the float." Makuu reminded him, eyes narrowing. "Our business doesn't concern you."
"I may not lead the float anymore but my new hunting grounds are nearby," He matched the youngster's gaze with no flinching. "And I have the right to voice my concerns."
"Respect the aged, Makuu," Bagheera upbraided the new leader as he joined Pua's side. "I told Pua about the meeting and he agreed to participate."
Makuu seemed as if he was about to start something when a shadow engulfed everyone in the vicinity.
"I apologize for my delay." They all glanced at the source of both the shadow and the apology, Colonel Hathi had arrived.
With his presence, the building tension dissipated.
The King of the Jungle marched forth and addressed those who were present. "Now, let us start our meeting, shall we?"
A/N: Breather Chapter before one of the most important ones of this Arc.
A/N 2: Would you believe it if I said I hadn't seen The Jungle Book (1998) before I had, conveniently, not written Dizzy's name in a chapter? That joke fit like a glove.
OMAKE
Knuckles Approving Mizfit Ohanas and Pooh's Adventures Ships
(Disclaimer: no OCs, no Avatars, Crossovers only)
-Wander and Sunset Shimmer:
"Meme!" Knuckles declared, quickly fetching a piece of paper, giving it a stamp, then handing it over. "Approved!"
CONGRATULATIONS! Your ship has been approved.
-Thomas the Tank Engine and Twilight Sparkle:
"Look at you, you who were once so proud." He waved it off. "Go now and never return."
CONGRATULATIONS! Your ship has been denied, don't even bother trying again.
-Princess Celestia and the Great Prince, Otis and Applejack, Marty and Muhimu, Ferdinand the Bull and Scarlet (Horseland), Valiente and Tempest Shadow (Fizzlepop Berrytwist), Alex and Leonette:
Knuckles took a good look at all the ships before him before finally announcing: "I don't know,"
CONGRATULATIONS? Your ships weren't approved but neither were denied, guess he can't decide right now.
-Winnie the Pooh and Alex Whitney (The Simpsons):
"No!" Knuckles' hand was quick to snatch a paper from the pile, writing down on it, and giving it a stamp before showing it to all. "It's now illegal to use your meme!"
CONGRATULATIONS! Your ship is now illegal, don't ever fucking try to use it again.
-Spongebob Squarepants and Twilight Sparkle:
"No." He said bluntly.
NO.
-Jiminy Cricket and Honey Lemon, Sarah Whitney (Horseland) and Lucario (Pokemon):
"No time to read into it, approved!" The echidna gave them a pass without even doing a proper check. "Next!"
CONGRATULATIONS? Your ship probably wasn't that good but it was approved!
-Jetta Handover (Clifford) and Baby Godzilla:
"No meme!" 'THUMP'
"No meme!" 'THUMP'
"No meme!" 'THUMP'
"No meme!" 'THUMP'
"No meme!" 'THUMP'
Knuckles continued grabbing papers and stamping them hard as he loudly shouted.
CONGRATULATIONS! Your ship was so fucking atrocious Knuckles made it illegal multiple times, how did you fuck up this badly?!
-Deadpool, Harley Quinn, and Poison Ivy:
"Threesome approved!" 'THUMP'
CONGRATULATIONS! Your threesome was accepted without hesitation!
-Mushu and Ariel:
The moment he was about to say whether or not he approved of the ship, a mysterious shadow crept over him, engulfing the entire office in darkness.
"Oh no!"
'CRASH'
'BANG'
'THUD'
'SMACK'
Knuckles' voice yelled out in the dark right before sounds of fighting and struggling filled the air. When the lights came back-
"Approved!" Knuckles smiled, with no bruises and his stamp in hand. But that wasn't the weirdest thing about the echidna; nor was it his voice that suddenly sounded an awful lot like Robin Williams'.
CONGRATULATIONS! Your ship has been approved but why tf is Knuckles blue, can someone please explain?
-Kronk and Belle:
"Excellent argument!" Knuckles beamed and stamped. "Approved."
CONGRATULATIONS! That was an excellent argument!
-Bagheera and Panthy:
"Sorry, Baggy, there is a lot of people waiting." He pointed to the ticket dispenser on the wall to the side. "You will have to take a number."
SORRY! Your ship was put on the Waiting List, please wait.
-Wreck-It Ralph and Merida, Daffy Duck and Heather (Total Drama), Timon and Marlene (The Penguins of Madagascar):
"Next!"
-Tigger and Bruma:
"Grow up, Tigger... pfft..." Knuckles sniggered.
CONGRATULATIONS! Your ship is immature but is funny.
-Bowser and Mistress Nine (Sailor Moon):
"What's the worse it could happen?" He spread out his arms and waited for a response.
...
...
...
...
...
"See? No consequences." He brought down the stamp.
CONGRATULATIONS! Your ship was approved without any consequences.
-Sonic and Princess Luna:
'THUMP'
...
"Huh?" Knuckles blinked dumbly, he stamped the paper yet there was no mark.
"Nice try, Knuckles." The person in front of him smirked somewhat wickedly. "But I am afraid your stamp is out of ink."
'THUMP' He tried again.
'THUMP' Again.
'THUMP' And again...
'THUMP'
'THUMP' Growling in frustration, the echidna threw the stamp across the run.
SORRY. Knuckles can't approve your ship. If only the spares hadn't disappeared mysteriously.
Also, Elise, what's that you're hiding behind your back?