Two Brothers Under the Sun

Chapter – XXII

The Rain's Monster

Part 3: Blood Brothers

The rising sun shone over a large, dry canyon within the confinements of the savannah. Cloud shadows scrolled slowly over the cliffs and the surrounding landscape; wildebeests grazed on the ledges above, their green feeding grounds contrasting with the barren soil of the gorge below. Trudging along the parched floor at the bottom of the gully were two lions: one fully grown but with a thin body, his fur dark tanned, and his mane pitch black in color... and the other was a little golden cub.

"Dad was pretty upset with me," A meek and embarrassed Simba said as they walked side by side through the gorge. Yesterday's mess with the hyenas was still fresh in his mind.

"That's why we're here, Simba." The grownup responded while moving ahead. "I think I know a way for you to make it up to him. A gift that will make him forget it ever happened."

The tiny feline peeked his eyes up to look at his uncle. "But he's the king. What could I give him?"

The adult smirked for a split second before sighing and turning his head away. "Then again, it might be too soon for you." He stuck his nose up in the air to hide his expression. "You may not be ready for our ancient rite of passage."

Now curious, Simba's eyes twinkled. "What is it?" When he saw the elder lion kept his vision focused on the far ledge, Simba whined and begged at the same time. "Come on, Uncle Scar~"

"Ho ho ho. You are such a naughty boy." Scar chuckled, rubbing his nephew on the head. "Alright, I guess I can tell you. But you gotta keep it secret from your dad." Following a frantic nod from the latter, the old cat looked directly at the cub.

"Your roar."

Simba blinked after hearing that. "My roar?"

"YES!"

Simba cringed and looked all over the area as the shout traveled in echoes across the cliffside. He clambered onto a rock beneath one of the few trees that grew on the harsh terrain to catch the last of the sound before it faded in the distance.

"Did you hear that?" The youngling turned around to his uncle. "This gorge is where all lions come to find their roar."

Simba perked. "All lions? Even my dad?"

Scar nodded. "Even Mufasa came here when he was your age. Refused to leave until his roar could be heard above the rim." He motioned to his nephew to the ridge overhead. Quite distant from them.

Simba suddenly looked shocked. "All the way up there?"

"That's when you know you've found it." Scar, clearly enjoying himself, put a paw on Simba's shoulder. "With a little practice, you'll never be called a cub again."

Narrowing his eyes in determination, the kitten readied himself. "Watch this:"

'YOWL'

His attempt to roar just resulted in a kittenishly sound.

"You'll get it, Simba. Just takes time" Scar assured him. After patting the youngling rather roughly on the head, he started to pull away. "I'll check on you later."

"Dad will be so proud, won't he?" Simba said with a bright grin. Scar paused in his tracks then turned back over his shoulder to address his nephew one last time, allowing him to see his sly grin.

"It's a gift he'll never forget." With that, he walked away, leaving the cub sitting down on the rock.

A little while later, Simba spotted a dragonfly buzzing by the tree and crouched down in order to stalk it. Suddenly, a chameleon snapped up the insect with its tongue. In silence, the lion cub watched the reptile climb down from a tree branch, hopping down next to Simba and ambling along. This should give him good practice.

'YOWL'

The chameleon carries on, unfazed. Simba then bounded after it and tried again.

'YOWL'

The bulky lizard keeps walking, seemingly with no reaction to the sound but with a youngling pacing after it. With a devious grin, Simba pounced, landing just behind the chameleon, getting as close as possible before inhaling deeply.

'ROAR'

The chameleon skitters off. A loud roar echoes through the walls of the canyon. Feeling triumphant and proud of himself, Simba lifted his ears to relish the echo. However, he soon found the echo eclipsed by a low rumble. His smile sank and he looked down to find tiny pebbles jumping and pattering at his paws. As the rumbling grew deeper, he glanced up uncertainly to the lip of the gorge.

Thunder was heard within the caves, drowning out the snores of the resting tenants. Simba's eyes shoot open instantly to find he was still in the same spot had fallen asleep in, almost hanging off Pumbaa's belly. Only a few more moons and he would be as big as the warthog. Glancing around and seeing the others were still snoring, the lion cub sighed, yawned, and carefully stretched himself, showing his impressive teeth and claws.

"Whoa!" But that wasn't enough to keep him from waking Timon. "Watch where you aim that morning breath." The meerkat bemoaned before curling up and trying to go back to sleep. "Whoo, what a wake-up call!"

Simba chuckled at that, the friendly faces helped him feel safe after that discomforting dream. "Heh heh heh, looks like someone woke up on the wrong side of the warthog. Simba looked down at him in mock patronization. "What's the matter, pops? Had a little too much Hakuna Matata?"

"Ooh. Sonny Boy, that will be the day."

Baloo clicked his tongue to wash his mouth. "Hey, did anyone else hear a thundering noise?"

"Oh! Sorry." A waking up Pumbaa smiled sheepishly, fearing that he might have broken the wind while everyone was sleeping.

"Not that kind of thunder." Baloo let out a yawn and then raised his head to look at the cave's entrance. They had managed to sleep well enough yet all the bear could see outside was thunder, lightning, and endless rain. "Just like we left it." He remarked with half-lidded eyes. "Oh well, not like I had much to do today anyway." The ursine closed his eyes again once he had comfortably put his arms behind the head. "All in favor of staying in bed till later?"

"Good call." Timon expressed and shifted himself on top of Pumbaa, who was already leaning his head down to rest. For the three grownups, there wasn't much for them to do but nap. And none of them had a problem with that.

The younglings on the other hand...

"Psst~"

Simba, ears perking up, turned to where he heard the noise. Tarzan had woken up before him, unlike his friends from the lowlands, he was used to getting out of bed early. From the mouth of the tunnel, the man-cub waved to his feline friend, urging the latter to come and join him. Feeling up to exploring the caves more than going back to sleep, Simba strode after Tarzan.

The Bowels of the Theluji: a maze of cavernous passages that's only been thoroughly explored by the cave bats and many of which lead to dead ends. It was like a world beneath the world, one that the curious younglings were eager to explore. Being a newcomer to this reclusive corner of the Bukuvu, Simba could do little more than wait to see where the path ahead would take him and Tarzan. Leaving the Troop's nesting chambers behind, the two younglings found themselves all alone in the dark tunnels.

That was when the lion heard something, he looked around... and caught glimpse of a shade moving along the corridor.

Simba came to a halt and eyed the rocky walls. "Who's there?"

Tarzan joined the cat's side, wondering what made him stop. "What?"

"I think I saw someone moving over there," Simba answered, eyes narrowing as he surveyed the area. Still confused, the man-cub glanced around the underground galleries, taking in their darkness that surpassed that of the outside at nighttime.

"You saw in the dark?" He quirked an eyebrow at the lion cub. "How?"

'PLOFT'

"Hey!" "Tarzan exclaimed when he felt something soft splat against the side of his head. He turned to where the projectile came from. "Who did that?"

'PLOFT'

"Oy!" Now it was Simba's turn to get pelted on the forehead by an unknown projectile. Wiping some of the smears off himself, the naked ape brought his fingers to his nose and caught a familiar fruity smell.

"Monkey berries?"

Simba searched for the 'attacker' and immediately spotted movement in the corner of his eyes. Smiling slyly, the small cat pounced on the rugged cave wall.

"Can't hide from me!" He declared, only to find nothing between the jagged rock formations.

"Now I saw it." For the smallest of moments, Tarzan had seen a creature disappearing in the wide chambers.

"Yoo-hoo!" A sound traveled from behind the two younglings, prompting them to snap their eyes to one of the curves in the tunnel. "Over here, little pussycat!"

Eyes narrowed in determination, the pair raced to catch whoever was the one that called to them. But there was nothing after that turn except for a dead end.

"Where did he go?"

"I'm over here!" A different voice called all the back to where the duo had been seconds before.

"Huh?" Tarzan and Simba turned to look north, south, east, west, up, and down in a frantic attempt to find literally anything that wasn't simply empty space.

"You're not very good at this, are you, Cuz?" Another voice, this time from a female, asked in a noticeably mocking way. Recognizing both the voice and tone, the pair stopped whirling their heads everywhere.

Terk.

"Oh yeah!" Tarzan now growled in defiance. "You'll see!"

"Really, how do you plan on finding us?" Mungo called from wherever his hiding spot was, causing the boys to figure out they had been disguising their voices to fool them.

Tarzan and Simba exchanged long faces; those three were making fun of them.

"How are they moving around so quickly?" Questioned the lion cub. Tarzan didn't respond since he had no answer and inspected the cave wall instead. Carefully running a hand over the rough surface to the bottom corner, he found the answer.

"Aha!" Beside him, Simba also came over to check the medium-sized opening leading down to the ground. "It's a tunnel, they must be hiding here." Crawling down his arms and legs the man-cub made his way inside with the lion cub close behind. Unfortunately, his vision wasn't the best one to guide them in the shadowy passage. That much became obvious when his hands suddenly lost their footing and he plummeted down another, more vertical hole. The man-cub's sudden gasp prompted Simba to advance, resulting in the two of them tumbling into an undignified heap on the ground below with a series of groans... twice.

'THUD'

'THUD'

"I don't know about you Simba but I've had enough of this." Tarzan bemoaned as the two of them clambered back to their feet.

"Me too." His friend replied with a grunt.

Slinking around the passageway, the man-cub and the golden lion tried to retrace their way back to the higher chambers. To their luck, the short and slick tunnel took them straight to the first cave.

"Finally." Tarzan sighed before he stuck his head out of the hole... and was greeted by a beaming prince.

"Whoo." Flynt grinned as he glanced down at the duo. "Hey, the rabbits sure are looking weird this season."

At the Donlumangani's laughing, Tarzan frowned while he worked on getting himself out of the cramped space. "We aren't rabbits!"

By the time he and Simba had climbed out, Flynt was already turning away. The prankster laughed as he went inside another tunnel to escape his pursuers. And when Tarzan prepared to go after him.

"Watcha doing, Cuz?"

"How did you-OW!"

Terk's disguised voice startled Tarzan into an upright instance, while his head was still in the hole. Simba tried to find the she-ape but failed, despite the darkness not posing a problem for him.

"We are getting tired." Mungo's declaration came from parts unknown.

"Why don't you just give up?" Flynt asked the two younglings, still hiding somewhere in the cave.

"How are you doing that?" Simba inquired while the man-cub massaged his noggin.

"Doing what?" Mungo asked back.

"Popping around all over the cave."

"If you want to know, you will have to catch us first." Snappin' their heads to the side, the cubs saw Terk vanishing into another hole after she was done speaking to them. Now growling in frustration, the pair accepted her challenge and hurried to the opening on the wall. Once there, they found no sign of the she-ape.

"I don't get it, she is already gone-WHOA!" The annoyed lion crawled inside and quickly found himself sliding down the slanted passage.

"Simba!" Tarzan didn't have to think twice before he jumped after him. At the bottom, they found the path split up in two.

"Which way do we go now?" Simba asked.

Tarzan rubbed his head as he thought. "This is getting complicated."

Taking their chances with the left path, the two younglings found the rocky walls narrowing around them.

"Darn it, a dead end," said Simba.

"Okay, nothing to worry about," Tarzan replied as they crawled in reverse to return to the bifurcation. "We just need to retrace our steps."

"They are running in circles around us as if we were fools," argued the lion cub. "We don't even know where we are now."

Not long after they took the right path: there was another fork.

"Come on, come on, cubs!" Flynt spoke from somewhere in a singsong tone.

"We are waiting." His brother was heard.

"What is gonna be, right or left?" That was Terk.

They were having fun, that much was clear. The cubs, not so much. Tarzan and Simba chose the right turn one more time and...

"YAAAAAAA-HOO-HOO-HOOOEEEYYY!" x2

'DOUBLE THUMP'

Between pained groans, the cubs checked their surroundings to find they had slid all the way to a chamber intersected by, presumably, every secret passageway inside the cave walls.

"That does it!" Simba shouted, definitely not wanting to go through this one hundred more times.

"I had enough of this!" Tarzan exclaimed, feeling the same way.

"Good work, Cuz." Terk's voice reverberated around the gallery. "You fell all the way to the bottom of Zugor's Lair!"

"We will see you when you get outta there!" —Flynt.

"'If' you can get outta there, that is." —Mungo.

Frowning more than ever, Tarzan and Simba answered their dare. "We found your tunnels and we are gonna find you too!"

"All right, here I am." This time, the cubs could pinpoint the she-ape's voice. They turned to find her smiling as she leaned by one of the entrances. "That was fun, wasn't it?"

"You thought that was fun?" Simba pounced on her, eager for some payback. All he got was his back slamming on the ground when the female rolled, flipped him over, and finished by pinning the lion cub on his back.

"Eeyup, you were pretty scared, weren't you?" Terk grinned slyly as she sat on top of the feline.

"No way!" She suddenly was giving him that scary smirk she usually showed when she was about to deliver a finishing move during their 'wrestling' lessons. "Okay, maybe just a bit."

While Terk got off the cowering cub, her cousin came to her. "What's the secret, how can you be in two spots at once?"

"Easy!" A couple of ape-shaped rascals called out from far across the corridor and the trio didn't have time to dodge the furry ball that came rolling out of the hole, causing a collision and leaving a pile of bodies in the middle of the chamber.

Shortly afterward, the younglings were sitting in a circle, eating berries and sharing stories.

"Grandpa Zugor found these caves when he and the Troop moved out of the Theluji," Flynt told to the two newcomers. "They made their home here before they joined the others around the Wakalu." Simba and Tarzan listened as they relished themselves on fruit. "And when the monsoon came over, we all started to come here to wait out the rains."

"The grownups always worry too much this time of the year, so we come here to hide and do whatever we want." Mungo laughed. "And we wanna have fun!"

"When we saw you passing by, we had to play a trick on you."

Terk finished licking off the fruity leftovers around her mouth. "Now you have to swear you'll never tell anyone about the place."

The cubs nodded as they rubbed their full bellies. "We swear."

"Flynt! Mungo!" The group stiffened collectively when Sokwe's powerful voice echoed from outside. "Where are you?"

"Yikes, looks like Papa is looking for us, but he won't find us," Flynt said, now sporting a bored look.

"You probably should go to him, shouldn't you?" Simba suggested, slightly unsure.

"So we can get grounded, not a chance." Mungo dismissed that as he and his brother got up.

Terk turned to the two newcomers. "Ever been to an underground cave?"

"Never," Tarzan admitted.

"It's awesome!" Declared the she-ape. "Crystal grottos, waterfalls, secret pools." She listed whilst making ready to join the brothers. "Come on! It will be fun!"

Watching the small gorillas gather around a dark and mysterious cave, the cubs go after them. But Simba didn't look particularly convinced.

"I-I don't think we ought to go in there." He said, staring off into the abyss that would get them even farther from the adults. "Are you sure it's not dangerous?"

"Course not!" said Flynt. "We know this place like the back of our hands."

Catching the hesitation in the cub's demeanor, Mungo didn't bother keeping his facial features from forming a mischievous look. "Then again, it might be too dangerous for cats."

His statement made Simba pause; soon enough, he glared fiercely at the apes. "Oh, I will show you!"

In the blink of an eye, the lion cub flung himself into the hole. One silent moment of surprise later, the others were already on his trail.

"Let's go, we're gonna show you our secret tunnels!" Mungo said before they all vanished inside the pit.

"I can't believe we lost them!"

A meerkat and a warthog pace restlessly around the main chambers. Timon stops and jabs an accusing finger at Pumbaa. "I thought you were gonna watch them!"

"Me?" Pumbaa stood appalled as the mongoose marched past him. "You were gonna watch them!"

Timon turned to face him on his other side. "I thought you were gonna watch them!"

Now with his frustrations boiling, the swine pointed accusingly at the meerkat. "No, you were gonna watch them!"

"You were gonna watch them!" Timon restated his argument.

"Ah! Watch this!" Pumbaa snapped and belly-flopped on top of him.

"Ow!" The mongoose countered by flipping the hog onto his back and tugging at his lip. "Take that, you creepy warthog! Say it!"

Kala too had allowed herself to rest past her usual hour. But now the she-ape strode towards the bickering pair as she stretched her sleepy arms.

"Fat!"

"Say it!"

"Fat!"

Unaware of the amused mother watching them, Timon had Pumbaa immobilized by the leg while barking for him to submit.

"Fatty! Fat! Fat!" The warthog shouted, unable to break free.

"What are you doing?"

Timon and Pumbaa immediately snap out of their wrestle and turn their attention to the female. Pumbaa grinned innocently, while Timon landed on his own stomach.

"Ah! Good question." The meerkat said as he got back on his feet. "Uh, lemme ask you one."

"Hippo-thetically," Pumbaa stated quickly.

Timon hopped onto his snout. "Very hypothetical. There's this gal..."

"But she's not a gorilla!" The swine added, shaking his head.

Timon joined in, waving his hands in denial. "No! No! She's not a gorilla."

Kala just smirked knowingly.

"Sheesh." The mongoose wagged a finger at her. "Definitely not a gorilla." He held up his arms. "And, ah... Ah, her son, um, say..." Crossing them together, he finally muttered under his breath: "Vanished?"

Kala suddenly wasn't smiling anymore. "Tarzan is missing?!"

"He is not the only one." Spinning their heads in the entrance's direction, the group saw Sokwe and, surprisingly, Bagheera walking up to them. "We can't find Flynt and Mungo anywhere."

"I don't like this at all." Sokwe half-moaned, already imagining what the kids could be doing. "When I can't find them that can only mean one thing: they're up to something."

"They probably went exploring the caves..." Kala predicted, even as a frown appeared on her face. "Though I told them not to."

Bagheera frowned as well when he saw the sloth bear, golden fluid all over his face, making his way over.

"Hiya, Baggy. Nice of you to come by."

"Balloo, where are the children?" The panther asked. "You were supposed to keep an eye on them."

"H-how come they are not with them?" The bear fumbled with his words before he gestured to the meerkat-warthog duo. "I am pretty sure it was their turn to keep watch."

Ignoring the pair's appalled looks, the big cat kept his attention on the bear. "Where were you anyway?" He asked, despite the visible amount of a familiar substance on the bear's muzzle. "Stuffing your face with honey, I see. It's all over your face."

Either feigning or showing genuine surprise, Baloo brushed a paw over his nose to check. "Uh? Oh, what do you know, it is." The ursine slumped his shoulders. "Well, there is only one thing to do with this." He started slurping.

Slightly irked at the bear's aloofness, Bagheera went to address the others. "Let's separate. We've got to find them."

Splitting up, the grownups started their search for the younglings. Unfortunately, the kids didn't look like they wanted to be found.

"Yoohoo, Daddy!" Hearing Flynt's voice, Sokwe hastily turned to look back. "Over here!"

Spotting his son vanishing behind the cave wall, the king pushed forth in pursuit. "Hey, come back here you two!"

Kala was about to join him but heard Terkina calling in the opposite direction. Glancing to the far distance, the she-ape saw her niece hanging on top of a tall stalagmite. "Auntie Kala, here I am! Whoa!"

As Terk recovered from her fall, she quickly ran off before her aunt could get to her. "Terkina!" Kala shouted while chasing after her. "You better come back right now or you are in deep trouble!"

Hearing the commotion, Baloo rushed across to find the princes sliding down into a small hole. Sokwe arrived right away and put his arm deep inside the secret passage, trying to catch the two rascals. "Boys, get out here this instant!"

Sneaking up behind the cave wall, Tarzan watched Baloo move to find an alternate route to reach the brothers. While he was a bit hesitant, the man-cub still hollered to get the bear's attention. "Yoohoo, Baloo! I bet you can't catch me!"

By the time the ursine whirled his head to where he had heard the boy, Tarzan had already disappeared into the shadows of the cave.

"What is going on here?" A confused Baloo pondered as he scratched his chin. The man-cub was nowhere to be seen but he was able to hear him loud and clear. "I don't get it, he was here just a minute ago."

"We are here, Papa!" Mungo called this time, causing Sokwe and Baloo to shift their focus again.

"This isn't funny!" Meanwhile, Kala continued to chase her niece, coming quite close to snatching her in her arms. The adult she-ape didn't stop even when Terk went down another hole. "Don't you run away from me, young lady!"

"Hey, Auntie, where are you going?" Kala stopped, felt something moving beneath her, and looked down to find Simba hurrying away toward the tunnel. "I'm right over here!"

As the matriarch turned the other way, she missed the heads of two younglings coming out of the cave hole behind her. Flynt and Simba stared after her as she left the area.

"Doh! Keep this up and you will be sorry!"

Her statement only served to make Flynt let out a loud guffaw, which Simba now realized sounded an awful lot like his father's. The Donlumangani prince continued on till he and the lion cub had returned to the hidden chamber.

"They have no idea where we are!" chortled Flynt.

"They are getting mad," Simba pointed out, his eyes glued to the ceiling up to where the grownups kept looking. He regarded the young gorilla. "Don't you think we should go back now?"

"So they can ground us? Not a chance!" Flynt, repeating his brother's words, shot down the idea and moved near the tunnels on the other side. "Wouldn't you rather make them run a bit?"

"Um... no." The small cat mumbled at nothing, gazing upward at the way he had last seen Baloo. Turning back to Flynt, Simba saw he had already hopped into one of the holes. The lion cub looked around the chamber still unsure but, ultimately, he followed after the mountain ape.

"Where is he?" Kala nearly gasped when she suddenly heard someone else speak from an underground promontory, a figure wreathed in the shadows. Kerchak moved over so she could see him clearly in the cave's dim light.

Kala, easing up, answered: "He is playing around the tunnels with the other kids."

Kerchak cocked his eyebrow mistrustfully. "Where?"

Kala sighed yet stayed mute, already sensing a lecture on the way.

"He is with Terkina and the twins, isn't he?" guessed the stern Silverback, inwardly hoping this wouldn't be Zulu Falls all over again.

His mate offered him a nod. "Don't worry about it, the others are already looking for them. They should be back soon."

"As long as they keep away from the mountain's bowels." He commented under his breath.

Now Kala's eyebrows raised, only hers were due to light disbelief. "They wouldn't go there, no animal can survive in that heat."

"Including men?"

She paused momentarily. "...Yes." Her memories traced back to the Dry Season when her son started wallowing his hair to protect himself from the sun. His kind wielded the Red Flower but she was now certain they weren't immune to its burn. She looked him right in the eye. "Will you help us?"

Kerchak nodded slowly but nodded nonetheless. "Always." Together, the ape pair made a stroll about the inner passageways. Not another soul in sight nor a sound to be heard even as a distant echo. Despite so, the couple felt at ease with each other's company. Eventually, the Chief Silverback broke the silence. "Baloo's lion cub, is he with them as well?"

"Most likely, he and Tarzan are inseparable." the matriarch replied.

Kerchak's expression turned dry and he was now sporting a sidelong look. "He belongs among his own."

Kala really, really wished she could feel surprised by his statement... but she wasn't. She knew that Simba would always be a stranger to Kerchak, pretty much a stray cat that kept coming back. One of them.

"Don't you think he belongs here?" She asked in return. "He was born in the savannah but now this is his home, Bagheera reared him in the treetops." She spoke as they roamed the caves. "We aren't much to talk about that either. We came from the mountains, but you and I were born here. I feel like the jungle is where I am supposed to be." Seeing him looking to the side, Kala knew her mate was merely pretending to be focusing on the search so as to not face her arguments. He could be more stubborn than an actual bull sometimes. "Don't you feel like a creature of the jungle?"

"I do." He responded, finally turning his head to look at her. "Kala, there is something I have to tell you. Have you heard the story of the Ram in the Theluji?"

The she-ape blinked, not expecting him to just change the subject like that. "...Chirin, that is his name, right?"

After confirming her guess, Kerchak explained: "I meet him and, before we left, he told me about men; his kind used to live by their dwellings."

They came to a halt. Kala's face changed, now showing surprise due to this bit of information, confusion before she fully processed it, and weariness about where her mate was getting at with that.

"What did he tell you?" She looked uneasy while asking.

"Not much, but there was one thing in particular that he couldn't tell me. Something that caused me to worry." 'For you.' The Silverback hesitated, sending an unsure look at her for a moment. He exhaled before continuing on: "Birds fly, herds roam, and cats pounce... but what do men do? What's their place in the Great Circle?" No answer was given. Without ceasing eye contact with the female, the great ape spoke. "Look at him: barely a frail youngling anymore but more different than ever. He mingles with cats, runs in the fields, swims in the rivers, sleeps outside of our territory, and his club swats instead of smashing. He keeps changing and he will look even less like us." His tone was dead serious while her expression turned wistful. "How long will this last, Kala? Tarzan is growing up, and there's nothing you can do about it. Sooner or later, he will want to go back to his own kind. His heart will call him to the ruins of the Bandar-log. Like the Ugani who visit their old home in the Theluji, or like the rams and goats that now make their home in the mountains like their ancestors have always done."

"Are you saying that I should leave him?" Kala questioned disheartened.

"Not yet, but someday you will have to... I am sorry, Kala. No matter how much you want it, he never was or could truly be our son." Shaking his head, Kerchak struggled to maintain his composure. His personal feelings aside, he knew that the man-cub and his mate shared a bond of attachment and devotion. "I don't want to be cruel to you but there is nothing you can do. There is no other way, he is what he is and that won't change."

"But he... he's my son." She countered. "You said he could stay, he is entitled to the protection of the Troop."

"And he will remain so." Kerchak acknowledged then pressed on. "He may call you his mother but you know he will never be like us. He is not a gorilla, he is a man."

Kala looked broken. She wasn't, the Silverback realized, for he knew exactly how her features looked when she did. She knew his words were true, even though she would rather have Tarzan be a gorilla of the Troop to his life's end. "He is mine. He shall grow in the Troop and fight for the Troop." Her voice stuck in her throat, her form shuddering with a thousand emotions. "I-I love him. I love him as much as I loved our baby."

"Then think of what's best for Tarzan and not yourself." The Silverback not once raised his tone. His voice wasn't soft but still calm, as if not to startle her into flight. He didn't take any pleasure in what he said yet, it was his unpleasant duty to tell the mother. As her mate and leader.

"When the fruit falls from the tree, it doesn't return to her."

The grotto was lit up by the crystals. Looking around in astonishment, Simba tried to count all of the gems he could see carved into the stones providing natural light for the narrow corridors, like stars beaming in the night sky. The young lion had never seen anything like this before. It was so bright and the ceiling so translucent one would hardly know the sun's light didn't reach this far underground. Flynt wasn't kidding when he said this place was beautiful. For a second or two, the lion cub found himself becoming frustrated at the ape's seemingly random route choices when he was showing him the way to this place. Such thoughts had left Simba by now.

"ZUGOR!"

"GYA!" 'SPLASH'

So startled was the little feline by the booming echo that he fell off the rocky ridge and plunged into the reflective pool below. Spluttering once he had come back to the surface, he took notice of the Donlumangani looking down on him from his previous spot, growling and laughing playfully.

Simba was suddenly tempted to pounce on him again.

"Pretty cool, huh? ZUGOR!" Flynt bellowed into a hole in the cave wall one more time. "Your voice can travel through these tunnels."

Lightly glowering, the lion cub dived his head back into the water and then emerged slowly. The prince, far too busy staring off into space, failed to see the lion's now bulged cheeks and the cheeky smirk coming over to his face.

The cat blew a raspberry, squirting directly at Flynt.

"Hey!" exclaimed the indignant gorilla. "Watch it, apes don't like getting wet!"

"Tell that to Tarzan," Simba uttered in response. "Come on, Flynt, try it out!"

"Nah, water is bad for my fur." replied the mountain ape as he shook the water off himself. "You and Tarzan can have it."

"Whatever you say." Simba began to move further into the underground lake, noticing he couldn't come back the way he came since the banks were both too slick and too steep. "See you on the other side!"

"Okay!"

After that, they separated. While he searched for a place where he could climb out of the pool, the lion cub took some time to admire the glittering crystals adorning the cave's corners. Moving nimbly as he swam across shallow waters with stacks of stone underneath, Simba couldn't take his eyes off of the subterranean kopje that towered over him and all the other stone structures in the area. Being face-to-face with the hillock, he felt small and unimportant before it... yet, at the same time, protected from everything the world had to throw at him. Just like home.

Was that why the gorillas came here in times like this?

Hearing something on the back, Simba turned to see a tiny, pristine waterfall. Just big enough for him to shower under it. Not thinking twice, he went through... and shuddered once the water soaked his almost-insignificant mane, sending tingles through every single one of his hair strings and shivers down his skin. This was a surprisingly cold spring. Gradually, his body grew comfortable under the feeling of the cold water, so much so that he could open his mouth wide to drink straight from the shower in large gulps. After he first drank from gourds, the little cat was forever spoiled to use his tongue to drink again.

On the bright side, though not the brightest one in that cave, he found a corner of sandy ground behind the waterfall's ledge he could use to reach dry land. Shaking off the excess of water in his wet fur, the little lion proceeded to leap his way to higher ground... only to gasp when he realized he wasn't alone.

"Easy," a soothing voice was heard and a familiar black shape stepped out of the shadows to the illuminated slope. "It's me."

"Bagheera?" The cub was surprised to find his mentor that far into the caves. "What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you," he stated before furrowing his eyebrows. "You kids made the others worried sick."

Simba had the decency of flinching under the panther's gaze, even though they would have gone back long ago if it were up to him. "Sorry."

"Let's go, I am taking you to them." Bagheera turned to retrace his path out of the cave.

"But what about the others?" The cub questioned as he trailed after the bigger cat.

"It's okay, we should find them on the way." The teacher assured and he and the youngling moved along.

While they walked, Simba quickly realized the brothers were also right about the secret tunnels being the best way to move across the cave system. For while most of them were cramped and small the ones that were large enough for a full-grown lion, or a panther in this case, to travel through were weathered into uneven and rugged paths, which forced the homeward pair to bound from one rocky formation to another in order to get past the obstacles. Jumping over broad crevasses, the lion cub failed his jump and had to climb up the stone slope. Having done that, he found the panther staring back at him across the passageway, jaws locking together and his body standing up in an aggressive stance.

"Bagheera, what are you doing?" asked the confused lion cub, backing away.

"Pretend that I am a predator," Bagheera replied as he readied himself. "Come after me."

Simba blinked some more. A sparring session, right now? This was strange, they always trained together with Tarzan back in the Commune's territories. Was this even the time for that?

Snapping out of his own stupor, the youngling did as told and prepared a Spacing assault. Making good use of the distance between them, he gathered extra speed before going to tackle the older beast. Bagheera's legs came close to buckling due to the collision but he was able to retain his footing and brushed off the young lion to the side.

The black leopard smirked at his apprentice while the latter pulled himself together. "Not bad for your size. Let's try it again." He positioned to attack. "Defend yourself this time."

Simba rose up, fencing off against Bagheera's paw swipes. Catching some hesitation on the cub's moves, the panther offered instructions:

"Put your weight behind it." A well-delivered strike to the ear could knock him down a peg if he hadn't avoided it at the last moment. "That's it." They paused and seized each other up. "Much better, but this time do it like you really mean it." They bared their fangs at one another. Simba lowered in preparation for a pounce.

"Give all of your strength. Pretend I am a dhole."

The cub froze, his muscles failing him. A terrifying visage overtook his senses: foaming mouths, razor-sharp claws, bone-breaking teeth, and empty yellow eyes with a maniac tingle. So distracted was him by the mental image that he failed to see his teacher was now looking at him in concern.

"Just as I thought."

Right after arriving from the lowlands he had caught sight of the cub shivering in the night and could tell it wasn't because of the cold. It was only in his friends' company that the little lion was able to sleep in peace. And it's been that same way for several nights now: Simba would wake up from what seemed to be horrific night terrors and refuse to tell any of his guardians what was troubling him. Baloo and the others had been worried.

"What's wrong, Simba?" He asked, hoping to help with his inner turmoils.

"Nothing, I just got some dust on my eye." His denial came out weak, that much became obvious when he saw the look his mentor was giving him. "I can't tell you," Simba finally whimpered.

"Why not?"

The youngling answered with silence as he turned away.

"Simba, you know you can tell us anything," Bagheera said, lightly stroking the despondent cub's forehead. He couldn't bear seeing his protege like this. Inhaling deeply, the panther dared to guess: "It's about what happened in the battle, isn't it?" Ears down, Simba still wouldn't look at him. "There is no reason to be ashamed." The big cat said. "That was your first time, of course you would be afraid."

"It's not that..." Simba finally responded. "I just... I don't want you guys to leave me, too..."

"We wouldn't do that."

"But I let you guys down back there." rebutted the sad youngling. "You were facing the dogs and I didn't do anything to help you."

"You played your part, you helped as you could." The leopard pointed out in an attempt to uplift his spirit.

"But it was no big deal."

"But it was." The panther assured. "And if you think that wasn't much, remember all you've been through together."

Simba took a moment to register those words, his mind was too wrapped up in angst... but he still could remember his friends and their time together. He and Tarzan scruffling with the crocs, Baloo, Timon, and Pumbaa taking them in and showing their home, his friends vouching for him when they came to Zulu Falls, the trip to the Theluji, his lessons with Bagheera and Tarzan, his last moments with Pua, saving that wildebeest calf, playing Kasaba Ball, Baloo teaching him how to roar, looking for the 'bare necessities' for hours on end...

Even at that time, he didn't notice he was smiling again just from thinking about it.

"They care a lot for you, and nothing is gonna change that." Bagheera offered his own smile. "Besides, friends forgive each other. Especially if they are as good friends as all of you."

'CRAK CRAK CRAK'

Suddenly, a pattering of pebbles behind him caught Simba's attention, something was coming. He turned away from his teacher and a shadow popped out of nowhere.

"Eeeeek!" Between three different squeals of fright and surprise, the lion cub jolted backward and fell off the far side of the knoll into a pool below. Timon and Pumbaa immediately raced to the edge of the rock, the meerkat hopping off the hog's snout to get a closer look. The duo paid no mind to the panther who came to join them.

"Oooh! Don't worry, Simba, I'm comin'!" Pumbaa shouted as he jumped into the water.

"Oh, no!" Timon exclaimed in despair. "Oh! Uh... Uh... Let's see, uh..." He started rehearsing his next conversation with their bear friend: "Gee, Baloo. The good news is, we found our lion cub. The bad news is, we dropped a warthog on him." Finishing, the mongoose clasped his hands nervously. "Is there a problem with that?"

Meanwhile, Pumbaa found himself sitting in the water, oblivious to the bubbles around him as he searched side to side for the youngling. "Simba? Simba?"

"Pumbaa!" Timon called to get his attention and gestured angrily. "Let me define... 'babysitting'!"

Something moved beneath the warthog, prompting him to jump away to reveal a flailing and spluttering lion cub.

"Oh!" Pumbaa turned bashful. "Sorry." He apologized to Simba as they walked out of the water onto dry land. "Now, Simba, you know better than to go off all alone. You could have been hurt!"

The lion cub was about to explain himself but...

"Hurt!" Timon instantly hopped off the rock onto Simba's back. "Oh... You didn't slip a disc, did you?" He asked while softly stroking the lion's sides.

"But-"

The meerkat then crawled onto the cub's head, checking to make sure he is intact. "Catch a fever? Get a hangnail?" After that, he jumped off and lifted one of the paws to examine it. "I had one once."

Pumbaa flinched. "Very painful."

"Excruciating!"

As the duo continued their check-up, the helpless lion cub glanced at Bagheera. His teacher was flashing a knowing smile in his direction and nodded approvingly at the pair of concerned guardians. It all clicked for Simba and, soon, he was smiling as well.

He was right. His friends would never leave him.

"Flynt?"

The moment was cut short when they all heard an all too familiar voice calling from one of the tunnels nearby. Looking quite a bit anxious, the largest of the Donlumangani princes called to his brother, who was nowhere to be seen.

"Hey, Flynt?!" Mungo, hands circling his mouth, cried on. Noticing the others present, he came to ask: "Has anyone seen Flynt?"

"Isn't he always with you?" inquired Timon.

"Yeah, he is always with me, so where is he?!" the ape screamed, beyond worried.

"Mungo, calm down." Bagheera came forward to talk to him. "He must be playing around somewhere in the caves."

"No way!" Mungo shot down the cat's theory. "Flynt would never go long without me, something is wrong!" He then spotted the lion cub. "Simba, please tell me you know where Flynt is!"

"We got separated at the waterfall." Simba looked down, wishing his words wouldn't cause the gorilla to worry even more. "I haven't seen him since."

Before anything else happened, the panther stepped forth between the two younglings. "I will find him, don't worry."

"Oh, okay, okay... uh, it's just that we've actually never been apart, so it's... freaking me out a little," Mungo mumbled as he played with his hands; a desperate attempt to keep his nerves under control.

"Take the kids back to the Troop's lair," Bagheera addressed Pumbaa and Timon before he left to search for the missing prince. "I will be right back."

With their tasks at hand, the group split up. One went deep into the caves while the others hiked to the surface.

Kerchak hunched down to inspect the ground dripped by rain leaks. Falling droplets of water, along with the distinct sound of his very breathing, provided the only company for the Silverback since his mate had excused herself to catch some air. It was nearing a full moon outside, yet the tunnels were nothing more than a montage of shadows and reflections. Undeterred, the Mangani leader winded through the endless corridors, stumbling down the hidden passes and staring into the pitch-blackness of the underground chambers, his eyes always moving on the alert for the younglings.

'SHRIEK'

When he stood up so as to better probe the darkness, a colony of bats above him screeched on a loud high pitch as they suddenly took flight. Kerchak raised his arms in front of his face and clenched his eyelids shut when they passed by him, their sound overtaking the tunnels. Looking after the fleeing creatures, he felt his feet hit something. Lowering his head, the great ape came face to face with a broken tight bone. That instantly put him on the edge.

There was someone else in those caves. Someone who could break a skeleton by the looks of it.

Cautiously crawling his great bulk down the shadowy path, he soon found more bones. Full skeletons this time, lots of them, all from grasseaters. The Silverback clicked his teeth and narrowed his eyes. No herd in the jungle would climb the foothills in times like this, or even on regular days really. Their hooves weren't made for such things like the goats' were. Somebody brought them here.

That was when he heard footsteps.

Meanwhile, Timon and Pumbaa were busy being introduced to the members of the Troop through one of their oldest traditions: social grooming.

"Ha!" Timon's hand came out of a male's pelt with a louse on its grip. "Thought you could get away, huh?" The victorious meerkat smirked at the tiny snack before he flicked it straight onto Pumbaa's gaping mouth.

Together, the pair formed the second-to-last link in the grooming file. The mongoose would traverse inside the gorilla's thick fur to find the lice and share half of his gain with the warthog, whose lack of hand dexterity was made up by his tusks which he used to scratch the giant's lower back. Behind them, the last in line groomed the pig's back and hair tuft.

Close by, Kala smiled at the sight of the two Outlanders getting along with her troopmates. Since the other younglings had finally accepted her son, it felt good to see his friends were also coming together... even as Kerchak's words from earlier hang a feeling of doubt over her head. Not helping was the fact her son hadn't returned yet, which only served to add more to her internal bothering. Glancing aside, she found Baloo playing with Simba.

Then, as she began to make her way to speak with the sloth bear:

"OO OO EE EE AH AH!"

Mungo's agitated hooting echoed from the end of the cave, where he had hoped to meet the grownups the moment they had returned with his brother. He jumped and slammed his arms on the floor, growing more and more frantic by the second. Then the other apes answered his call in similar vigor, confusing and worrying the trio of guests. Gathering up in a circle around the prince, the suddenly distressed gorillas jumped up and down on all fours.

"Hey, Baloo, what's with all the hullabaloo?" Timon, now on Pumbaa's back, asked as they watched the frenzied primates.

Baloo, who was equally confused, could do nothing but shrug. "I don't know. But it doesn't look good." Moving through the crowd, the four mismatched creatures walked over to the matriarch. "Kala, what's the matter?"

The she-ape didn't respond, her eyes were transfixed on the ground before them. Turning in the same direction, they saw it: molded solid on the cave soil was a giant print of a four-fingered hand; one the gorillas of the Great Troop knew all too well.

Amidst the darkness of the cave, where his grumbling was his only noticeable company, Kerchak put his right hand over the footprint and leaned closer to get a better look.

"Tublat..." He murmured, his pulse throbbing in apprehension. A silhouette moved behind him, catching the Silverback's attention. Then a familiar, gaping maw stepped out of the shadow.

'ROAR'

"Tublat's here?!" Terrified, Mungo clenched his hands close to his chest. "And he, and he, he got Flynt!"

"We gotta get out of here!" Someone shouted from amongst the crowd. Kerchak and the Silverbacks hadn't returned from the search yet, so most of the great apes present were inexperienced juveniles along with females and their infants. None of them were eager to face off against the aggressive deserter. They began to make a beeline for the exit until a voice shouted to get their attention.

"Stop it!" The gorillas did so, less than a few feet away from the hole. Now that Kala had snapped them out of their panicked state, she spoke: "You go out in that Hurricane and you will be killed."

"You better listen to her." Baloo, who along with his companions hadn't left the she-ape's side, adverted. "You don't want your hides out in that storm."

"We can personally vouch for that," Timon commented, remembering last night's events.

"Besides, I for one am not leaving." As he prepared to march into the tunnels, the bear declared with a fierce glare. "My man-cub is in those caves with that monster and I am going after him."

"Me too... just change that last part to 'my brother'." Mungo came to them, suddenly regaining the courage to save his sibling.

"Me three." Pumbaa was right behind them, looking as determined as his ursine friend. "If that Tublat guy lays a finger on Tarzan's scanty hair strings, I will show him a thing or two."

'ROAR'

The pretender's roar was so powerful one could hear it echoing across the cavern's whole system, carrying thunder to the depths of the Bowels. The apes gasped as more and more roars reverberated from inside the passageways. Huge feline forms descended from the darkness, stirring up gravel on their tread. Baloo threw himself between the tigers and the Troop, shoving a leaping cat back to his fellow attackers, dissuading them to circle around him instead. The noncombatants screamed and ran for the exits while the bravest of the Black Backs rushed to meet the tigers' advance. Hearing a noise coming from the ceiling, Timon and Pumbaa looked up to see none other than Tublat himself hanging on the stalactites before he came crashing down to the ground, dispersing the gorillas' line of defense at the same time he threatened the defenseless Troop members. Rising up on his hind legs, the treacherous Silverback let out a blood-chilling roar and furiously beat his chest. He destroys the defenders' resolve whistle the sound threatens their earbuds. Baloo was surrounded, Timon and Pumbaa were chased away, covering after the fleeing lion cub, Kala and the mothers grouped together in a circle to protect their children, and the warriors were overwhelmed by the big cats. Everything had happened so fast, the attackers seemingly had come from nowhere.

By the end, Tublat, a wicked grin on his face, stood triumphant.

"THE TROOP IS MINE!"

A single drop of water came down from a stalactite... drowning a child's falling tears.

Tarzan was sulking.

The man-cub was sitting on a boulder near a drop-off, his chin resting on his knees as he hugged his legs. Gazing at the empty space before him, he reminisced on his mother's words with the Chief Silverback, which he had unintentionally eavesdropped on once he and Terk had gone their separate ways.

Kerchak was wrong, wrong! Kala was his mother. He was an ape!

...He-he had to be. His mom's an ape, his fellow younglings were apes, his whole family. If he wasn't one, then... what did that make him? A man? He didn't know a thing about being one, Bagheera had only taught him so much and there was no way his teacher would let him live with the Bandar-log. Should he try being a bear like Baloo suggested and move over to his dwellings? Hakuna Matata Falls was such a nice place to live, no wonder Baloo, Timon, and Pumbaa loved it so much they were willing to face the dholes to defend it. But... the Wakalu was another great place to live, that was where his mother was with his cousin. He had spent entire days away from each place and alternated his suppers between them as well. He loved his two homes and would do anything to keep living in them... both. How could he ever make up his mind to stay in just one of them?

And what of his friends and family? After all his mother and Bagheera had done for him, after all his training to become a real ape, after everything he had done to get the respect of Kerchak and the Troop, did he really have to throw it all away once he had grown up? If he stayed in the Wakalu to complete his training, could he still make time for his friends in the lowlands or would they drift apart? The man-cub couldn't help but feel he would be letting someone down no matter his choice.

If he can't ever truly be what Kerchak wants of a son, what was he to do?

He winced at the realization that Kerchak had been right about that much: how could he call himself a proud gorilla of the Troop when he couldn't even tell if he should stay in the Troop?

Where did he belong? Where should he go? ...What was his place in the Circle?

'CREAK'

The whirled around his spot frantically, the sudden sound of something moving on the loose scree snapping him away from his anguish. Pinpointing the noise's direction but failing to find its source, he slowly walked over to investigate. Inching closer to the rocky slope, the anxious man-cub dared reach his hand out into the darkness.

That was when the red dog jumped.

'SCREECH'

Tarzan tumbled and gasped, falling under the attacking dog's weight and narrowly avoiding his snapping jaws before he kicked Bundo off with his powerful legs. Quick and agile, the dhole rolled back on his feet and leaped across the cave's stone structures as he bolted after the fleeing youngling. Without his fang, the man-cub ran at the prospect of facing off against the canine's own. He climbed to one of the higher tunnels and slid down to the other end. Glancing over his shoulder, he found the dhole still hot on his tail, so he continued through the narrow passage. No sharp turn he made slowed down the red dog, who kept coming dangerously closer to pouncing at him from behind. Sadly, the surefootedness he had long developed to move across the jungles would fail him in these slick, cavernous grounds... he tripped.

'THUMP'

Scurrying to a halt, a sinister grin spread along the dhole's face as he advanced toward the youngling. "No clever remarks this time, man-cub?"

At his taunt, Tarzan could do little more than crawl backward in terror.

'ROAR'

A new sound boomed around the echo of the cave. One so powerful and bestial it caused Bundo to halt and check his surroundings, his grin now reduced to a combined expression of fear and surprise. Tarzan, now relieved of his fear, too was trying to identify where it came from. Neither of them could tell 'where' but they could tell 'what' made that noise. While Tarzan had heard it his entire life, the canine had first and only heard it in the vicinity of his biggest defeat. The thought alone of squaring off against one of the mightiest beasts in the whole jungle served to convince him to leave the area immediately. Alone once again, Tarzan looked to find the one who had just saved his life. He found his savior down in the gulley.

When he fell, Kerchak had twisted and turned in a vain attempt to avoid all the painful stones sticking out of the barren soil and now laid still after he was done plummeting down to the depths of the gulley. As the mega-sized gorilla winced at his own pain caused by every single jarred blow his body had taken during the fall, the sounds of the chase stirred up his fury for being taken out so easily by the traitor's surprise attack. Gazing upward, he meets the man-cub's gaze.

"Tarzan?" What was he doing here? That tiny, hairless little monkey... this place was more dangerous to him than it was to the fallen and battered Kerchak. Tublat was definitely nearby. He had to go, now.

"Go." The Silverback commanded, sucking back his pain. "Get away from here."

Tarzan looked worried and confused. "B-but you are hurt."

"It's nothing." He lied between groans. "Go call the others, it's not safe here."

"I can't just leave you here."

"Just do it." The great ape managed his usual stern tone; he used his stone-solid demeanor to fight the pain and get the boy to do as he said, making clear right then and there that was the end of this conversation. Once the boy had vanished in the ledges above, Kerchak rested his back to regain his strength so he could finally climb out of there. For a moment, he remained in that position. Scratched and sore, the gorilla slowly pulled himself upright and padded his feet to get an idea of how much room he had to move in the narrow gulley. Looking around the sheer sides, it dawned on him how difficult (and painful) his climb would be. Nevertheless, he started moving. The supremely powerful ape wrenched at the solid walls repeatedly, loosening and breaking some of the stones to make a surface he could grab and suspend himself into. Kerchak's non-stop assault took its toll not only on the cliff face but on his mostly uninjured right side as well. Even so, the Chief Silverback cleaved his way up like waves crashing onto the shore: unstoppable, relentless, and steady. As he broke his way across the base, he firmly grasped the now jagged walls with his mighty arms, then dragged himself up the gulley. It wasn't long until he was halfway through. A remarkable feat considering the circumstances.

Suddenly, for the smallest of split seconds, he faltered and slipped...

But, surprising even himself, he recovered and felt a strong pull on his hanging elbow. He glanced to his side, an interlaced and twisted mass of stout jungle grass was coming from above and had nearly weaved itself on the uninjured section of his arm. Following the makeshift rope to the top of the cliff, he spotted Tarzan. He was trying to get him out?

"That's enough, go!" This time, he managed a perfect shout.

In spite of that, Tarzan still only wanted to help him. "Apes together, strong!"

It spoke of how much the damage from the fall had taken its toll on him that Kerchak didn't bite out at the boy, instead settling for an uncharacteristic hiss. The Silverback wanted to say, probably shout, something at the disobedient manling... but then paused. His mind suddenly flashed back to the night when the man-cub first responded to him without slinking under his stare: "I will show you how much I wanna be like you. I will not let anyone else get hurt!" Right now, he was standing his ground once again. Kerchak looked, just looked at the hairless little creature, and found his scowl ebbing under his gaze. He realized the boy wouldn't back down and there was really no time for this. The Chief grumbled and puffed for a moment whilst dealing with both his internal frustrations and the pain of his external wounds.

Until, finally, he completely gobbled it all down

Without ever breaking eye contact with the boy, Kerchak finished wrapping the makeshift vine around his arm, silently putting his trust in the man-cub's trick. Tarzan was the first one to break away from their staring contest, for he wanted to help the Silverback, and do so he would. With all his little might, the man-cub tugged the other end of the rope around a stalagmite so it would stay in place. The dangling vines worked for the great ape to support his bruised forearm at the same time they helped him maintain his balance while he worked his way up the wall. The Silverback's vice-like grip clamped to the climbable surface till the very end. A scrawny but willing hand reached out as the adult gorilla finally made it to the top of the gulley. In a last effort, Kerchak hauled himself onto the level ground. His trial done, he released himself from the lifeline that had surprisingly endured through the rescue.

Kerchak sat down and panted but his blood is up; there was still Tublat to deal with. His bruises were many and they hurt... but his Troop needed him. The man-cub moved next to his side, yet the Chief refused to look at him directly. Tarzan tried once more, only for the giant to start lumbering his way toward the tunnels, deadly intent shining on his eyes that concealed his worry. Tarzan stared after him in confusion before he too began to run.

"Wait! Whoa!"

The manling found himself being snatched up and roughly swung into the air before he landed on the Silverback's shoulder. Momentarily stuck in a state of shock, Tarzan hang on Kerchak's back for dear life as the latter galloped into the passageway. The great ape moved swiftly and powerfully through the caves meanwhile the boy regained his stupor. When he did, he looked at the giant primate... gradually, he felt the tension leaking out of his body, allowing him to sink his head into his broad shoulders.

For now, he felt safe.

It was quiet.

Too quiet for the nerves. Be them from a man-cub or a great Silverback.

Unnerved or not, the unlikely pair searched across what had once been the Troop's nesting area for the rainy night. Now there was nothing there. No Black Backs, nor mothers, not even infants hiding in places of difficult access. Only the occasional body sprawled on the cave floor. For Kerchak, it was no mystery what had transpired there.

"Mom?!" Tarzan called out in desperate hopes of getting an answer. "Bagheera?! Baloo?!"

Completely fruitless.

'ROAR' 'CRACK'

The man-cub jumped back a split second after the giant ape slammed his fists against the rock wall, roaring in sheer frustration as his pulse throbbed.

Tarzan stared in shock at him until his eyes spotted a red blob sticking out of the grey wall.

"Pumbaa?" He came closer and confirmed he was staring at his warthog friend's unmistakable backside. Giving it a light tug, he heard a response:

"Please don't kill me!" Pumbaa cried out inside the cavernous cavity. "I haven't even had my last meal!"

With a single pull from Tarzan, the swine was yanked out of the hole with a loud 'POP'. Opening his eyes to the (kinda) outside world, he noticed the boy staring down at him and the Silverback approaching from behind.

"Oh, Tarzan. Thank goodness." Pumbaa breathed out in relief before he explained what happened, in ramble form: "We were going after you but then we found this footprint, we heard a roar, and then Tublat came with the tigers, and then I got stuck in this hole and they took the whole family!"

"Wait a minute, Tublat and the tigers are here?!" Tarzan inquired in surprise. Kerchak hadn't spoken much on the way there and this new bit of info caught him off guard.

"Yeah, further down that tunnel," added Pumbaa.

"Where is Timon?" The man-cub asked. Noting how unusual it was to see the warthog without the meerkat.

A stifled scream cut him off before Pumbaa could answer. Gazing down at his thorax, the pig saw the flattered form of Timon attached to it like a wet leaf. In alarm, he shook him off. "Oh, Timon, there you are," Pumbaa said whilst the dizzy meerkat tried to regain his footing. "I was beginning to wonder if I would ever see you again."

"Funny, I was starting to wonder if I would ever see anything again." Timon moaned uneasily.

Tarzan moved to check the hole's entrance, previously blocked by the warthog's plumpy form. "Was that what you guys were trying to hide?"

Timon massaged his noggin to get back his bearings. "Actually, the plan was to follow Simba when he jumped in there but... yeah, that didn't work."

Tarzan seemed to ponder about that for a second but then he saw Kerchak was already making a beeline for the shadowy passages.

"You are not going in there, are you?" asked a troubled Pumbaa when he saw where the man-cub was staring at. "They're gonna eat you alive."

"Let them try." The boy stubbornly replied, determined to save the ones the traitor had taken. "I survived them once, I can do it again."

He paced for the tunnel – then screeched to a halt, Kerchak's mighty, fearsome form towered over him practically like a wall. Tarzan raised his head as much as humanly possible to stare off the giant. The mega-sized leader glared threateningly at him, his message clear as the broad stripe of silver fur on his back: No.

Their stare-off lingered on.

Deep inside the Bowels of the Theluji is one of its most beautiful sights. A hollowed-out chamber as big as the mountain that surrounds it on the outside and far more resembled the labyrinthine interior of a termite mound: wherever one was to look around its many levels, they would find a winding hole that would take them to points unknown. The ones in the ceiling were slanted, allowing for the rainfall to sweep in and accumulate as it made the course downward. A series of waterfalls dropped along the protruding rock formations, illuminated by the starlight reflecting on the water's surface.

Had this been a regular day, visitors would take their time to admire the scenery... this was not one of those days.

'THUD'

For the umpteenth time, Baloo slid down bottom-crashing from his failed attempts to climb out of the underground pit. Some of the apes nearby helped him back to his feet.

"This isn't working," bemoaned the sloth bear, who even with his powerful claws couldn't make the 30 feet climb. "These walls are too slick."

"Doomed!" Terk cried overdramatically, putting a hand on Mungo's shoulder to get some support. "We're doomed, I tell ya!"

The Donlumanagani didn't pay her much mind for he was happy to be reunited with his brother. "At least we are doomed together." He hugged Flynt's side. "Right, Flynt?"

"You said it, Mungo!" The thinner ape reciprocated.

"Do you mind?" Terk half-snapped. "I am trying to have a sincere moment of despair around here!"

"I will make it real simple." Those trapped in the pit snapped their head upwards at the sound of Tublat's booming voice. The treacherous gorilla glowered down at his former troopmates. "Everyone who accepts me as the new leader gets out of the pit. Everybody else, well, get used to living in a hole."

The mothers hugged their infants closer while the Black Backs tensed. Kala took action at the sight of her kin cowering in fear. "Don't let him frighten you, that's what he wants."

"Wrong, Kala!" Tublat rebutted loudly as he matched the female's glare. "What I want is the Troop." He snorted between his words. "Now, I've got it."

"Papa will stop you!" Mungo shouted defiantly with his brother by his side.

"Good," Tublat declared as a feral smirk spread across his face. He started turning to walk away. "Let him come."

Leaving his hostages, the treacherous ape spotted the red dog scurrying towards him from a great boulder. Once in front of the gigantic primate, the canine reported:

"The panther is still out there."

"He will show up, eventually," Tublat stated. "With Bagheera out of the way, you will have the hairless runt all to yourself."

"And then we shall share these lands," Bundo's remark carried some expectation.

Tublat noticed that and responded with a frown. "Yes, and you will be indebted to the Khan."

The dog nodded, a bit too slowly. "Indeed. So will you."

Tublat grunted, looked around their surroundings, and then answered quite gravely: "This domain will be mine. I will be king and if the tiger has a problem with how I do it, that's his problem."

Bundo tilted his head at that statement. "Shere Khan is king. He is the most powerful predator in the Bukuvu, he has defeated everyone that stood in his way and wields power even against the might of the pachyderms." He finished with a question, which he asked with a tone of mild surprise. "You would dare test him?"

Tublat simply grinned savagely in response.

As a reply, Bundo did the same. "Supposed the two of you crossed paths by any chance, you think you could beat him?"

Somehow, Tublat's grin widened and his ferocious intent increased.

###

Some days earlier

Northern Dirisha Riverbank, mid-north Bukuvu

"If you've got something to say, just say it!"

Things had been tense over the last few days. After their defeat at the feet of the Honey Cliffs, what was left of the Dhole Clan scattered to each and every corner of the jungle. Since their cause and will to fight were lost in the battle, mass desertions further weakened Bundo's forces. Thus the dhole leader had spent the last few nights rallying the remnants of his warriors, most of whom had already left for the savanna in fear of the pachyderms' wrath. It was only a matter of time until the entire clan was banished from the Bukuvu so he needed to act fast. Except there was a problem: Lala, his own daughter.

The young female had led one of the surviving groups during the withdrawal and only rejoined him the day before. She had been distant. When their respective groups reunited in jubilation, she didn't even spare him a glance as she walked to join her clanmates. Clearly, she was angry about something and it wasn't about the fight, that much became even more obvious now when she sat down on the riverbank, despite him having just given the order for them to cross it.

"Are you really going to join the tigers, father?" She asked, voice cold. "I thought you said you didn't want to live under the heel of the big cats."

Deepening his frustrated frown, Bundo responded. "We won't be licking his paws for long, only until we have defeated the panther and his man-cub. After that, we can rebuild our realm."

"And how long will that take?" Right then, her internal resentment broke through her facade. "More than half the Clan is already dead!"

"The fallen will be avenged, but we can't stop now," Bundo answered with narrowed eyes.

"Why not?" Her question was more of a challenge than actual curiosity. "Ever since we got here you've been thinking of nothing but the man-cub!"

"As I said, we're avenging the Clan!" He snapped with a furious snarl.

"Then do it yourself, I can't do this anymore!" She followed her declaration by turning around and heading northward.

"What are you saying?" Her Father was both astounded and livid.

"I'm saying that I refuse to continue with this." She stopped in front of the last group in line for the crossing, whom Bundo only now realized were some of her most loyal subordinates. Lala gazed over her shoulder to meet his own gaze. "I'm leaving and taking the others as well."

"What?" Bundo felt his eyes bulge and his nostrils flaring up. "You fool."

"We're leaving, if you really wanna stop us, you'll have to kill me... right now." She stood her ground alongside her comrades.

"How arrogant you are, have forgotten what I taught you?" He repeated the lesson: "You have to keep your eyes on the prize and remember what's truly important."

"I have, what about you?" She fired back. "You have only led us to war after you won the Mashindano."

"I did what I had to do." The leader responded, undeterred. "That old dog was a fool for accepting those intruders in our territory. Wasn't all that carnage enough proof to you?"

"You attacked their herds."

"Oh, and what would you have us do, play Kasaba Ball?" Lala flinched for a second upon finding out he had learned about the games. "They were hunters. They encroached on our territory and I wasn't going to just let them do as they pleased."

The female needed a moment to respond to that one. "Well, you could have tried talking to them for one."

"Talk with them, don't make me laugh!" Bundo scoffed. "You saw how they wiped out our prey."

"The old leader would have tried it."

"The old fool is dead!" By now, his eyes had turned bloodshot. "I thought I showed it to you after I beat him, kindness doesn't get you anywhere."

"Oh, I guess that's why you ran."

"Don't give me that." He glares in fury and pulls back the sides of his mouth to reveal his clenching teeth, this was not a subject he wanted to talk about. "The old codger feared my ambition and I proved him right when I came back to finish him off. If your mother had been smart enough to follow me that day, she would still be alive."

"Well, I am smart enough to know we won't be alive for long if you keep guiding us like this." She didn't budge.

Neither did he.

###

Present time

Bowels of the Theluji, northeast Bukuvu

Bundo was going to show her the next time they met. He would get through her thick skull that any sacrifice is worth the defeat of the enemy.

All of a sudden, the tigers guarding the entrances sprung up, then crouched down towards the tunnels and snarled ferociously at the darkness of the caves. Their actions did not go unnoticed by Tublat and Bundo, who perked their heads in the same direction just in time to hear the roar.

'ROAR'

Recognizing it, Tublat perked an eyebrow while he tried to identify from which of the tunnels the echo had come.

"Gya!" Down in the pit, Flynt screamed girly in fear and went to hide behind his brother. "It's the ghost of Kerchak!" Mungo yelped as well and retreated behind his sibling.

"Um, can I transfer to another pit, please?" Terk raised a hand.

"Come on, Chief, show yourself!" Tublat challenged him and Kerchak complied.

The Chief Silverback stepped out of the shadows of the main passageway like an apparition straight out of a bedtime story mothers would tell their children to get them to behave. A nightmarish sight that sent a cold rush across Tublat's blood vessels. Either that or a wind gust from outside had found its way to the underground chamber.

"I have come for you, Tublat," Kerchak stated, fangs bared toward his enemies. The cave's echo carried his voice to the captives in the hole, bringing hope back to their hearts.

"Attack!" The traitor barked wrathfully to the tigers. "Kill him!"

The big cats advance in a mad charge. Numerous clubs wielded by powerful arms surge out of the darkness and clash with the claws and fangs of the predators, breaking the latter's offensive. Kerchak, side-by-side with his fellow Silverbacks, smashed any invader that got too close to their battle line. The sounds of fighting obfuscated a tremor coming from a higher level. Only a handful of tigers took notice there was something happening beyond a wall of boulders that loomed over by the cliff side. Little did they know there were several sets of unblinking eyes hidden among the great rocks.

Then, another roar was sounded.

"Push!"

From behind the nature-made rampart, a hoard of black and silver pressed as one against the piled-up line of loose stones, which tumbled upon the horrified tigers like a wave and buried entire rows of their warriors. Pouring over the mound created by the rockslide is a new swell of gorillas led by Sokwe, who descend to slam down on the stunned felines.

"UGANI BUNDOLO!" Sokwe bludgeoned his club on three pouncing tigers. He instantly lands a strong foot into the side of the downed cat's face, hammering him with a single powerful strike from his club before turning to the next one.

Tublat jumped in front of the reforming ranks of the tigers. He grabbed a fleeing soldier and flung him back toward the fighting. "DESTROY THEM ALL!"

The Khanate's fighters found difficulty trying to sneak past the Troop's loose yet impenetrable ranks. Those who bite high were hauled back while the ones who bite low were crushed under the gorillas' weight. Kerchak parried a blow and then whirled with his club at another tiger. With his own weapon, Sokwe blocked a claw swipe meant for the Chief, who flashes his old friend a look before swinging his club directly into the attacker's eye socket. This is the hardest fighting they have faced in since the Clash at the Floodplains. War cries howl from both sides as they do battle.

One of the felines leaps onto the thorax of an attacking gorilla. His toe-claws sank into the ape's belly before he bared his fangs and closed them around the neck of the great ape, killing him. The warriors of the Troop begin to lose ground to the recovering tigers. The Khanate's strike force had come with fewer numbers than it was necessary to destroy the Troop, but their mission was made easier with most of the gorillas being stranded inside the pit. They claw as they rally, their fangs tearing into simian flesh. The Chief Silverback found himself fighting two at a time, grimacing through clenched teeth. He falls back as the tigers take their toll on the now-withering apes, locked in a hand-to-hand struggle with one of the big cats. The tiger's gnashing teeth are just inches from Kerchak's face and he was barely able to draw his club, spinning it to dislodge the attacker's jaw.

Tublat took to hauling boulders to thin out the enemy ranks. One of those cracked a section of the cave wall into pieces that clogged one of the pools, diverting its water down to the pit. At the sight of the rushing water rapidly filling the hole, the hostages desperately tried to climb their way out lest they drowned in there. Standing up against a rock wall between them and the chaos, a duo of freshly arrived small ones stood out from the battle of giants.

"Whadda we do?! Whadda we do?!" asked a frantic Pumbaa.

Timon lifts a finger emphatically in response. "There's only one thing we can do, Pumbaa." The meerkat smacked a fist into his hand. "When the going gets tough, the tough get going." He then gestured with his arms. "That's our motto!"

"I thought our motto was Hakuna Matata!"

Timon massaged his head. "Pumbaa, stop livin' in the past! We need a new motto." The mongoose leaped to join the action. "Yeehaw!"

Pumbaa was hot on his trail, the two of them yelling out a battle cry full of gusto. They race in the tigers' direction, who turned and roared so powerfully the pair's fur blew back while they pulled up short in terror.

"Like I said," Timon reevaluated his words before he and Pumbaa ran off screaming. "Let's get going!" The big cats pursued after the two.

Now from the heart of the Khanate's horde, Tublat rushed forward, a full seven feet tall at the shoulder, veins in his neck bulging like serpents as he roars, brandishing an abandoned club with a kick while at the same moment crushing another gorilla not quick enough to retreat behind his own club. Pinpointing Kerchak in the middle of the melee, the treacherous Silverback went on a mad dash to get to him. Turning around, the gorilla leader stared directly into the gaping, teeth-baring mouth of the traitor, who let out an unworldly roar at him while furiously beating his chest. Tublat advanced in an attempt to push the Chief off of the high rockface. In haste, Kerchak shifted his balance, gripped his attacker, then proceeded to slam his elbow into the enemy's snout, regaining some distance between the two of them.

"To the death then, old friend." Tublat's grin flashed sinisterly.

"Yeah, yours." Kerchak matched his crazed expression with a hateful glare.

The Silverbacks roared and ripped two stalagmites out of the cave floor to use as rock clubs before they sprung at the other, swinging their weapons like two berserkers. Tublat rises into the air on a thundering stride, cutting clean in two both his weapon and Kerchak's. He lands with his full 370 pounds of crushing muscle on the injured Mangani's armed guard, throwing him back onto the mutilated bodies of the fallen. Kerchak, lying on his back, recovers his wits just long enough to have the wooden club he was trying to reach out for kicked from his hand. The junior Silverback pulled another stony shaft to bring down on the exposed head of the senior, who raises his arm, catching the heavy, blunt stone with a roof block on his thick forearm. Then Kerchak summons from deep within his warrior soul a crushing right to the jaw of the pretender, who spits blood as he roars in defiance.

"I have waited a long time for this." Tublat moved right into the Chief's face, roaring as he opens his mouth. A mix of blood and saliva pours in rivulets between the sharpened teeth of the giant while his eyes fix on Kerchak's neck. The Troop leader's muscles strain beneath the mass of his enemy.

Skulking out of a cramped tunnel, a small and hairless little ape leaped to the battlefield. Taking advantage now that the last remnants of the tigers tasked with guarding the pit had gone to chase down the duo, he dragged along a whole bunch of interlaced vines as he moved over to the hole's edge. The battle carried on without any combatants paying attention while he twisted and wrapped the ropes tight like a python's coils around the solid stone pillars before dropping the untied ends to the gorillas.

"Grab on!" shouted the man-cub to apes in the now half-full pool.

"Tarzan?!" A good chunk of them looked up at him in stunned surprise.

"Ha!" Baloo, on the other hand, guffawed. "Nice one, Little Britches. You've done it!"

"Ladies first!" Terk was the first one to the lifeline. "I am outta here!"

"She is a lady?" One of the Black Backs furrowed his brows.

"Who knew?" The other by his side shrugged.

Tublat was inches close to Kerchak's neck when he heard the battle cry of the freed Black Backs. Seeing his opponent is momentarily distracted, the Chief Silverback strained the last remaining inches to catch a medium-sized rock. He lifts the giant off him on two powerful legs and in the same motion punches the boulder squarely on the pretender's broken nose. Tublat's body turned limp.

'BOOM'

A booming echo shook the entire mountain to its foundation. The sound reverberated across the corridors, causing the fighters to pause on the edge. The Troop could only assume a lightning bolt had struck the mountain near the hole in the ceiling. But the tigers knew such noises from somewhere else and when their eyes cleared a path in the darkness, they saw a red light. Just like that, they broke off and fled to the opposite exits. Soon after, a burned and repulsive stench spread across the chamber behind them, overtaking their senses and aiding the gorillas' counterattack.

Baloo joined the Ugani soldiers as they chased off the felines. The bear pulled one tiger free and turned quickly, throwing him at his retreating companions. Baloo roared out loud, fighting on. Swinging, biting; missing a parry, his arm is cut. In exchange, he caught the tiger's tail and snapped his jaws onto it, prompting his opponent to soar in pain all the way to the nearest exit.

The gorillas shout and curse, charging wildly, turning into a brawl what once was a battle.

Giants from the east and west lowlands, from the mountains and river crossings. Great apes all, teeth clenched in battle rage; fists and clubs aimed at the frightened throngs of their enemies. Pushing, bulks colliding against stripped pelts. Forcing dozens of heavily weighted cats off their territory. Kerchak pushed forward, muscles flexing, made hungry by the wide-eyed terror of the invaders, who fall over each other to flee the attacking Chief Silverback.

A cackle comes out of the hole where the repulsive odor came, announcing the arrival of the triumphant meerkat-warthog duo. "Yeah. Yeah!" Timon boasted as he spins Pumbaa's tail idly. He could hardly tell why Pumbaa's secret weapon caused that explosion at the sound of two falling rocks grinding on each other, but he certainly was not complaining. "Talk about your winds of war."

"We meet again, Man-Cub."

Tarzan had taken scarce a dozen steps to get away from the battle when a form rose before him from the shadows of the cave. Looking up, he found his way blocked by a menacing Bundo. The boy could not back down, could not flee... or die. Meeting the red dog's charge, the man-cub knows this would be different from the fight at the Honey Cliffs... but the challenge must be met. Tarzan knew he had to fight for his life. He braced himself and held up his wooden fang. For a moment they rolled upon the ground in the fierce frenzy of combat. Then they fell into this chasm. More and more weakly, the boy's now bleeding arm struck home with the long, sharp blade. Although similar in size, the tailless leader still outweighed the man-cub. But the manling's wit, speed, and fang served him well. Clutching his weapon, Tarzan sank the pointed tip into the canine's flesh. Bundo, who had expected an easy victory, cries in anger and pain. The dhole strikes the boy with fangs and claws as Tarzan plunges the long, sharp blade, again and again, aiming for the blood-matted pelt. Pulling off, the dhole leader disappeared in the blackness of the fissure.

"You won't escape this time." A gangster grin came to the dog's face. "Give up, you are done for! Your friends will be next!"

His icy tone causes the lad to shutter even as he glared fiercely. "Over my dead body!"

"That can be arranged." All turns quiet, they are too far underground for the battle to reach them. The canine bided his time, he expects the long silence to break the naked ape's will. Coupled with the fact the man-cub couldn't see anything, a cold feeling rushed across his back. His nose would be of no good, the only smell he could distinguish was that of the blood drops on the ground. Shifting so his back was facing the wall, Tarzan rallied on his audition to find his attacker.

Unknown to the two fighters, their ferocious cries had attracted the attention of a passing lion cub. Simba had spent hours trying to find his way back to the nesting area after he fell down that hole and he now tumbled into the chasm. Drawn by shrieks of pain and savage growls, the little lion hurried to the area, anxious for his naked friend. His eyes were made to spot prey, and right now, he used them to search for the dhole.

"Tarzan, look out!"

The boy snapped to the side, then up to see the red dog descending, barely having the time to raise the shaft of his fang to defend himself. Both dhole and man-cub alike fell to the ground, bemoaning due to their bodies having hit the hard floor of the abyss. Recovering, Bundo snarled and fenced against Tarzan when the latter bared his wooden weapon toward him. A scrap on the knee made the man-cub falter in pain, allowing the canine to force him back to the barren soil, causing even more scratches on Tarzan's back. Desperate to escape, he fought to keep the branch between him and his enemy's gleaming teeth.

"The time has come. A life for a life, tear for tear. For all of my Clan that was killed by you worthless monkeys!" With one last insult, Bundo brought down his jaws to finish off the stupefied boy.

Simba's alarm skyrocketed. If only there was someone to help them, where was Bagheera?! The thought of losing his friend brought great pain to the young lion, and a great and guilty fear welled up within him. His mind raced back to his father's death, for which he only had himself to blame. Now his friend would die because he wasn't brave when needed to be. A kitten that stood behind the pack of lions. Was all that training a waste? He wasn't brave when he needed to be... but when his eyes froze on the gruesome sight before him and he heard his friend crying, something snapped inside of him.

He wouldn't allow that nightmare to repeat itself, no freaking way!

'ROAR'

The roar shook the air and curled blood within the veins, Bundo almost twisted his head turning in the sound's direction. Doing so, he came face-to-face with a lion electric with the wrath of a musking elephant as it charged at him, tackling the dog off the man-cub. Bundo twisted as he rolled to get back on his paws. He feels a tingle in his ear... but feels more the insult. His face shrivels with rage. Tarzan stared at his best friend with greater surprise than the dhole's.

The young lion matched his enemy's stare with a calm menace. "If you want him, you have to go through me."

"You're dead meat!" sneered the red dog.

Simba, eyes searing, did not budge one smidge. Tarzan joined his side, his fang firm on his grip, and his gaze measuring up to the prince's own. A gleam flashed by the tip of his weapon.

Bundo feels the heat of anger welling up inside him due to the pair's insolence. Brash. He growls. Lunges. Tarzan sidesteps, swatting the dog's ear with his fang as if sparring with his feline friend. The dhole turned and lunged again, this time for the lion cub. But Simba stays tight, returning claw for claw just long enough for the canine to push his mass forward. Simba spins away, jumps onto the dog's shoulder, and pulls down, clawing him to the ground, and rolling him over. Unhinged with fury, the red dog lunged once more. Tarzan hopped back to avoid his mass and then flanks him, he and Simba closed in as the beast twisted around, leading him, leading him, beating him out with footwork, feinting and dodging, rapping the beast for good measure then backing out, feinting and dodging in tandem, until Simba managed to throw the beast down. Bundo bounded to get far away from them and right himself, staring at his tenacious foes. The cubs move cautiously, knowing this match wasn't over. They close in again, circling, growling, fangs bared. Cat and dog smashed together like enraged bulls. Bundo forces Simba back and throws him down. The young lion slips away before the dhole can carve open his belly. Not giving the youngling to catch a break, Bundo bolted at him only to gasp still as the man-cub struck him expertly under his ribs with the blunt end of his fang, making the air rush out of him. Bundo choked between ragged breaths. The red dog leaps again, fired by his berserker fury, meeting each of Tarzan's thrusts with a counterstroke, forcing the youngling back. But the man-cub is too quick to take a decisive hit. The opponents round each other again, ears tattered, bodies scrapped, and lips sliced. BOOM: they clash again, Simba pulls out, dodging to the side again, and throwing Bundo down. The latter bites at Tarzan's legs, throwing off the boy's assault, knocks him down, rolls on him, and gets rolled on in return. They tumble to the cliff edge, clawing and slashing point blank and face to face, trying to shove each other to the brink. Simba reared forth and swung his claws like a ragin' lion. The cubs whip out and back away. The earth at the edge crumbles out from under Bundo's feet but he scrambles away, limping back to solid ground.

Simba and Tarzan stood at the center, struggling to catch their breath, battered and exhausted but still iron-willed. Bundo trudges towards them and then stops. Simba turns at a forty-five-degree angle, setting up for the move. Taking notice of the lion's stance and remembering it from his sparring sessions with Bagheera, Tarzan stepped back to cover his guard. Bundo stares at them in disbelief, then the trace of a smile, and...

Bundo screeches as he charges. Simba pitches down. Bundo, a smug gleam in his eyes, leaps straight up. But Simba anticipates and springs up on the canine's side, pushing him over, jaws digging into his throat. Bundo shudders for the briefest of moments before the man-cub's fang came crashing down on his skull, tearing open a hole through the head. An asthmatic panting leaves his lungs before his lids finally creep closed... one moment later, his headless body tumbled and fell.

Spacer Style. One hit, with the full power of the body behind it, delivered with all the speed one can muster, devastating enough to finish a fight right then and there. The closest anyone could ever get to the power of the unstoppable Pachyderms.

Torn and bleeding, the cubs prevailed.

Giving their feet some well-deserved respite, the pair fell on their bottoms while their lungs heaved. Heads inclined but eyes almost inactive, Tarzan bringing his hand along his sweating forehead as both he and Simba felt the adrenaline leave their bodies. Their injuries stung more than anything, the pain subsided in short order. Sparing a glance at the dead dog, Tarzan lasted more than a second before he felt his insides twisting. That was not a pretty sight, even so...

"Can't say he will be missed." He uttered.

Simba wheezed a snort, the air getting momentarily stuck in his throat. "Eh-eh."

They exchanged a smirk.

'CRACK'

Then they grimaced when their ears caught the distinct sound of stone breaking apart. Looking back to the ceiling's general direction, they spotted nothing except the exact moment the water started flowing down into the crevice, which their eyes followed until it reached their feet. Staring up once again with their worried expressions unchanged, they saw rocks being dragged by the current and dropping to their level. Moving instinctively, they distanced themselves from the cliffsides. And when bigger and bigger boulders started to come down, the pair felt the color rush out of their bodies.

"Run! RUN!" Tarzan shrieked. Now he and Simba rushed into flight through the crevice, hoping there was another way out of that hole. Rocks rain down in their wake. Sadly, the pair soon found out the abyss kept going beneath the layers of solid rock; climbing to freedom was suddenly not an option anymore. Retreating further away from the falling debris, the cubs practically skidded to a halt once they came across a large cluster of winding tunnels.

"Which way?" asked Simba.

"I don't know," Tarzan admitted, his voice failing as he got a closer look at the passages. "It's too dark in here, we are going to get lost!"

Simba came closer and did the same. Too dark for an ape. But not too dark for a lion. His feline pupils dilatated to take as much light as possible so he could find his way across the tunnel. Having discovered what, to him, was the most illuminated of all the holes, he turned to Tarzan.

"This one." He gestured to the slightly cramped corridor. "Stay close to me!"

The boy needed little incentive to do so, the sound of rushing water being more than enough. From then on, they glued to each other; the man-cub never wandered into a hole without the lion cub's sayso. They watched after one another as they trekked the neverending galleries, avoiding all detours that echoed more like rivers, spat out steam, or just served to bring them further underground and thus away from the nesting chambers. Without Terk or the brothers to show the way through the cave's labyrinth, the young feline prince stepped to the front. Guided by the fresh breeze hitting his mane and his eyes that saw through the darkest night, Simba led the two of them through slanted floors of rock they could slide to get across and over mysterious ground holes they had to propel their legs to jump across. On the way, they disturbed a colony of bats and would have gladly followed when they showed their emergency exit out of the cave... if it wasn't on top of a towering and steep ravine. Eventually, they came over to a hidden chamber.

"Where to now?" Tarzan turned to his friend, trusting him to get them back.

Searching quickly, Simba had difficulty picking a path among the ones in front of them; these didn't seem particularly dangerous or seemed to stray away from their destination. So many to choose from as well, which would take them to the others?

"Simba!"

The young lion stiffened. Baloo?

"Tarzan!"

Auntie Kala?

"Did you hear that?" He asked the naked ape.

But Tarzan merely tilted his head in confusion. "Hear what?"

"Boys!" "Kids!"

Pumbaa and Timon. "It's the others, they are looking for us."

The man-cub's eyes widened. "Where?"

Focusing to find where the noise came from, Simba pointed to one of the holes. "That way!"

Once the lion cub had crawled inside, Tarzan took a moment to check the hole. "But it's too narrow."

"It's the best one we got, follow me!" Simba carried through the cramped passage, Tarzan was right behind him. The lion cub remembered what Flynt had shown him earlier: they couldn't go travel through all tunnels, but their voices could.

'ROAR'

All the remaining members of the victorious Great Troop had hiked to the steaming hot springs to get the special mud that always healed wounds quickly, which they brought and applied to their injuries. The group that had long gone searching for their precious cubs was not far from them. They stop short at the sound of the roar, some mistaking it for a tiger's and cowering in fear. After a beat, everyone else can hear it too. Recognition finally lights Baloo's face...

"Simba..." He trails off, his gaze drifting to the source of the echo. "Simba!"

He breaks off from the group, who snapped back to reality and head after him. Luck was on their side, there was only one hole from where they could clearly hear the younglings' calling.

"Hey, we are here!"

"Tarzan," Kala whispered and smiled in relief as they gathered around the entrance.

But then another sound reached their senses, this one somewhat more ominous. All over the looming cave walls, seams suddenly appeared on what was once a pristine surface. Meanwhile, the fainting rumble grew louder. The hideous implication behind it slowly sinks in. Inside the tunnel, Tarzan and Simba had the same realization when they heard the sound and noticed an increasingly large number of dust piles falling from the ceiling.

"Oh no!" The boy screamed. "The hole is gonna cave in!"

"I see a light!" Simba's eyes finally laid on the end of their escape route, where the already narrow corridor shrunk even more. "Hold your breath, we can make it!"

The duo sped up their paces, pulling back their bellies as they held their breath. Stones started to fall too, first small pebbles but their sizes varied by the second. Sadly, the path soon became too confined for them to crawl fast. At the same time, Timon worked to find the kids by practically gluing his face as close as possible to the outer wall.

"They're right beneath this rock!" He told the others. "We gotta get them out before they ran out of air!"

"Step aside everyone!" Baloo said as he moved in haste to the hole's entrance. "I am gonna dig till I reach them." He started to furiously claw the way to dig the boys out. Kala and Pumbaa cleared the rocks he left in his wake. Back inside, the younglings struggled to make it out of there. By now, both of them were too frantic to retreat even as the feeling of the walls closing in became more palpable. That was when a paw came to pull away a surprised Tarzan who, in turn, did the same to Simba. The cubs gasped until they saw the slender form of a black panther prowling into the narrow passage and began to clear the half-closed path with his stronger arms.

"Oh, no! No, no! No no!" Timon exclaimed while he desperately tried to keep the rocky foundation from tumbling down and sealing the hole shut. His small arms were shaking like twigs on the wind. "My arms can't hold on much longer!"

"Keep it together you all!" Baloo encouraged his peers while also heaving the bigger rocks.

Pumbaa, who had quickly stepped in to fill the role of the last support, felt his knees failing under the weight of the rockslide. "Tell the kids I love them!"

Out of thin air, a big blur followed by two smaller others burst out of the hole and tackled the bear from beneath the ever-larger rocky mass, causing the other two 'pillars' to startle and jolt back before the passage was closed off for good.

'BOOOM'

Lowering her arm as soon as the dust had settled, a surprised Kala was greeted by the vision of her son, his best from the jungle, and his mentor all perched on Baloo's belly, eyes frozen in a combined mix of shock and fright while literally clutching at the bear's abdomen that moments ago stood between them and the way out of the now blocked hole. Immitting his teacher, a still shaken Tarzan turned his head to see the massive-sized boulder that would forever stay there sealing the tunnel, at least if none of the great apes bothered to move it.

Shifting himself again, the man-cub took notice of the she-ape's presence. Tarzan instantly broke from the group and dashed to his mother's arms. She returned in kind, scooping him up for a hug and a nuzzle, their affection unquenchable.

"My boy," Kala whispered as she snuggled with her child. Holding him up in her arms, she looked at him before her eyes drifted to the others, Simba specifically. "Are you both all right?"

"We're good, Mom." Tarzan smiled and he hugged his mother again.

"Yeah, did you see when we took out that red dog?" Simba jumped and grinned full stop, so bright and his voice so brash it clearly showed the adrenaline's effects hadn't worn off. "Oh, gosh! It was so cool, Mom!"

Silence reigned. Everyone stopped their eye-popping gazes on the lion cub, completely transfixed. Simba stiffened, ears dropping as he instantly stared down at the ground. "Oh, I mean, I'm sorry..." He looked away. "I didn't..."

"Oh, Simba, it's okay." The she-ape, smiling warmly like only a mother was able to, put her son down and walked over to the cub to hug him as well. "I'm really happy you're safe too."

"I thought we'd lost you." Pumbaa cried, stepping after the matriarch to engulf the boys in an embrace of his own. "Thank goodness you're all right."

"Of course we're all right," Tarzan assured their swine friend before gesturing to his bestie. "Simba saved us."

"He did?" Baloo gave a knowing smirk. Little Britches had finally learned to roar.

Bagheera had a similar expression. "Looks like you finally found your voice." That was when he noticed something was different about his apprentice, and it wasn't his new confident smile; a red twist was coming out of his head. "Oh, would you look at that, looks like that mane is finally coming in too."

"Really? Let me see!" Timon bounded to the youngling's forehead, pulling the short entanglement so that Simba also could see it. "It's true."

"Really? I hadn't noticed." Simba pretended to play it cool in front of the others, which only earned giggles from the adults.

"Hey, what happened to the other one with red fur?" Timon questioned.

"It's OK, Timon." Tarzan stepped towards him. "He can't hurt us anymore. It's over."

Baloo snickered and surprised the two younglings by hoisting them to his shoulders. "Are you seeing this, Baggy? Our cubs are growing up."

The group shared a cheerful laugh, except Kala. Watching her son with them, it was suddenly so clear. They would never leave him... they would always be there. They would never let anyone or anything hurt him, clench their jaws at him, distrust him, or say they couldn't spend time with him because they were too busy. And they would forever answer his call when he needed them. There was an understanding there, a bond that she could almost latch on and grab with her fingers. Her son had struggled with fitting in with the Troop for so long but... with them around, he just looked so happy.

And so was she.

"Kala?" Bagheera asked, noticing the wistful smile that formed on her face. "What is it?"

"I am remembering something I heard as a youngling," she said. "A Mjuzi, the wisest of all, told me of something called "Udugu'."

"Udugu?" Timon tilted his head at her. "What is that, some kind of bug?"

"No. It's another word for 'kinship'." She started. "It's a special bond between siblings of different parents and even different kinds." Her smile was now aimed at the two cubs. "I saw it between the two of you back there."

The pair blinked simultaneously, a wistful glow lighting their faces. Almost tentatively, her son asked: "Really?"

Kala nodded. Baloo came over to them on cue. "It's true, Little Britches." Attested the ursine. "I know about that: you guys gotta make the Oath."

Simba was the one tilting his head now. "As in the one Bagheera has with Kerchak?"

"More like the one Kerchak has with Sokwe." Kala explained: "By joining your blood together, you can become brothers. That way, no matter where the two of you go or whatever you do, your brotherhood will always be with you." She found herself beaming fondly from such thoughts. "You'll always be bonded together."

"But we are so different." Tarzan lamented, a little bit sad as the echoing of Kerchak's words still rang inside his head.

Kala pulled away but still focused on her son. Simba, unsure, just stared between them. The she-ape's blank yet serene expression had the others holding their voices as well and they silently watched the mother with the two younglings.

"Is that what you think?" Reaching out with both hands, she cupped a cheek from each cub. "Do you know what I see here? I see two eyes, like mine." Clearing off the remaining dust in their faces, the matriarch went back to smiling. "And a nose somewhere..." She quirked a quizzical brow, playing pretend. "Ah, here!"

She poked their respective noses, causing them to tickle.

"Mom, stop." Tarzan tried to sound convincing. He really tried. He failed miserably. "I'm too big for 'nose and toes'.''

"Two ears..." He and Simba chuckled at the feeling of the Managni female playing with their hearing members. "And let's see. What else?"

Simba held up his paws, not caring about partaking in such 'infant games'. "Two hands?"

"That's right." With a chuckle of her own, Kala extended her hands outwards to the younglings. Giving in, Tarzan joined his friend and the two of them joined one hand each with his mother's.

Once he looked at their joined hands... Tarzan frowned.

The others' hands are different from his own. Simba's looked like that of any cat, while Tarzan's could not measure up to those of any ape in the jungle, especially his mom. Sighing, the boy spared a mournful stare to his limb.

His mother knew at once that the hand's fact was a bad idea so she decided to try something else.

"Close your eyes." Tarzan does so, although unsure. "Now forget what you see, what do you feel?" She took his hand and put it on his chest.

"...My heart." He opened his eyes, arching a single eyebrow.

She addressed the two cubs. "Come here." Tarzan did as told and Simba followed suit. The duo was now leaning on the mother's chest. The man-cub can feel something in there.

"...Your heart."

"You see?" Her smile filled her son with its special warmth. "We're exactly the same."

Glancing at his lion friend, Tarzan quickly noticed he was beaming too. "That way we will always be best friends, forever."

His lips instinctively pulled upward as well. "Yeah, forever." But then he stopped, his face turning hesitant. "But Kerchak..."

"Never mind what Kerchak will say." Kala gave him an encouraging nod. "You can keep doing what you've been doing, going back and forth and enjoying both sides of your family."

Family? That word struck a cord within the man-cub. Looking around the circle of companions that surrounded him, he had to admit they were the strangest group he had ever seen in his entire life: panther, bear, meerkat, warthog, she-ape, lion cub, and man-cub. Yet, he knew he belonged with them, and he knew they felt the same by the way they smiled back at him.

Yes... he was part of this family. And he would never truly choose one of his homes over the other. Tarzan lunged forth and hugged his mother and best friend tightly, and they responded in kind.

"Well, isn't that something," Baloo commented as he and his friends watched the touching scene.

"I suppose they're gonna want us to witness their Oath." Predicted an equally happy panther.

Without letting go of the younglings, Kala quirked a sly brow toward them. "Say, wouldn't this make you all their godfathers?"

Both panther and bear blinked. "We?" Baloo stated in bewilderment, moving a paw close to his chest. "Why... I am touched."

The she-ape made sure to add: "There is no one else in the world I would ever trust to teach my son as much as you all."

"We would be honored," Bagheera spoke for the four of them.

"Hey, whoa!" Timon chimed in. "Hold on, did you say 'godfathers'?!" He rushed to the boys, addressed them with a funny accent, and held up a finger. "I'm telling you: you got to respect your family." The meerkat was flashing a genuine smile to the pair, who embraced him. "'Cause without your family, you're nothing."

Pumbaa, whose poor heart had hindered him immobile so far, could not resist joining them. Sobbing joyfully and overdramatically as he held them in a bone-crushing hug. "That's so beautiful!"

Shaking his head with a chuckle, Baloo regarded the ape mother. "You just made him the happiest hog in the whole jungle."

"Talk about a dream team." Bagheera rolled his eyes at the swine's action, not that it did much to change his smile.

"You better believe it!" Tarzan and Simba whooped after they split up.

"Yes, sir!" Baloo reached down to the others' eye level. "And nothing or nobody is ever gonna come between us."

While the others had their attention on the boys, Kala spotted a looming form by the edge of a ridge. Kerchak had arrived late so he had quietly watched their little reunion. Seeing the frown on his face, Kala could only guess what he was thinking at that moment when he let out a diminutive snort. In silence and without drawing attention to himself, Kerchak was about to retire back to the mud pools. Yet, his stare lingered on the happy group a bit longer. He trudged without hurry; wounds and fatigue after a long and eventful night contributed to that. Also making it easier for Kala to catch up to him. She wasn't just going to let him leave just like that. Seeing her approaching, he stopped and turned to meet her.

"You're right, Kerchak."

He stared across at his mate, saying nothing.

"I can't stop him from growing up." She said, no doubts to be found on her face this time. "But I wouldn't miss it for the world."

The Silverback seemed to consider her words as Bagheera and Baloo led the rest of their little group up there. Inevitably, Kerchak's eyes fell upon the man-cub standing in the front. Like everyone, Tarzan was looking at him with curiosity, expecting him to say something. Had he come sooner, the Chief would have berated the boy for disobeying his orders to stay put... but it didn't matter now, the Troop had been rescued and all were safe, that's what mattered. So instead, he merely grunted grumpily.

"Then you better make sure he grows stronger." He said to his mate and began to leave.

Everyone eyed the great ape while he stalked back to the healing mudholes. Though, none of them had expected him to glance over his shoulder to regard the man-cub when he promptly did so.

"You did well." Growling low, Kerchak continued to walk off. "But don't make a habit of going behind my back."

...

...

...

"That's it?" Timon shriveled appalled. "We risk our skins against those tigers and that's all he has to say?!"

"He thinks I did well..."

"Huh?" The meerkat's scowl diminished into a confused face when the man-cub interrupted him.

"He's never said anything nice like that to me before." Tarzan felt himself overcoming with pride. He had gotten a compliment from Kerchak. Perhaps someday, he can prove he does belong in the Troop too. Just perhaps

"He must have seen how brave you are," Pumbaa encouraged the boy.

"Seriously?" Timon, meanwhile, was skeptical. "I think you are reaching for dried husks inside the beehive, Hairless Wonder."

"Kerchak can be too brash sometimes," Kala admitted, despite wishing it wasn't so. "He just can't see that we are not that different on the inside."

"Oh, what are we going to do with him?" Baloo shook his head as he and Bagheera saw him off.

"Nothing." The leopard responded, then glanced at the two 'brothers'. "It's up to them now."

Hearing this, Simba questioned the pinkish ape. "You think we can show him?"

"I am sure of it." Tarzan asserted, tone swelling with determination. "And, someday, everyone in the jungle will be singing songs about us!"

"Oh, I bet they will!" Both cubs laughed as Kala scooped them to her and started tickling their toes. Afterward, the boys were told the Oath's words by Baloo, raised their wounded fingers to mix their blood together, and pledged:

Out of the jungle, out of the sky

Whether the largest or the least

Whether we walk or whether we fly

Bird, fish or youngling, or beast

We are of one mind, you and I

Though life may change and years pass us by

We will remember this great law, of the sea, the earth, and the sky

Whether we swim or crawl by

We are of one blood, you and I

###

The skies rained nonstop over the next seven days until the weather finally cleared up. Today, the sun rose nice and warm. But The storm caused great damage to the forests and lowlands. Rivers ran over their banks and swept everything in their path, the sheer strength of their currents caught many unfortunate denizens by surprise while what burrows were on the way got swamped. With any luck, most of the jungle's inhabitants had fled to safer grounds in advance.

That is nature's way. —Only the cleverest and strongest ones will survive and carry on— so is the Will of the Great Circle.

~Oh, the power to be strong~

During climbing practice, the cubs raced against each other to reach the top of a great outcrop. Climbing on the hard rocks was more difficult for the lion cub since Tarzan made use of his dexterity to climb on the rock's features and irregularities.

~And the wisdom to be wise~

The man-cub soon left the feline behind and, confident of winning, took a nap midway through the race on a clinging bush on the cliffside.

~All these things will come to you in time~

When Tarzan woke up, however, he found that his competitor, crawling slowly but steadily, is closing in. Faltering in surprise, the man-cub broke the shrub under his weight and fell right on the maned cat.

~On this journey that you're making~

In the end, Bagheera cringed at the sight of his students tumbling down into an undignified pile by the bottom of the outcrop.

~There'll be answers that you'll seek~

Bagheera and Baloo taught them about the jungle life and its many mysteries. The brothers learned quickly and grew stronger each day. Simba wasn't scared anymore.

~And it's you who'll climb the mountain~

Timon and Pumbaa taught them which bugs were okay to eat and which ones would get them sick. Teaching them in their own 'special' way.

~It's you who'll reach the peak~

At the end of the day, they all trekked to Zulu Falls to get the perfect view of the sun setting in the direction of the Great Waters. The Great Circle vanishes beyond the jungles of the Bandar-log.

~Son of Man, look to the sky~

No matter how much they loved to explore the wondrous wilderness, the brothers always remembered to beware of Shere Khan and his followers.

~Lift your spirit, set it free~

Using the pachyderms for inspiration, Tarzan honed his fang with a stone he had sharpened until its pointed edge resembled a hippo's tooth. The next one was modeled after a rhino horn, and the last evoked the appearance of an elephant tusk. His thrusts became more precise by the day.

~Some day you'll walk tall with pride~

In their many adventures beyond the Dirisha's northern bank, Tarzan and Simba always took care of each other. Like true brothers.

~Son of Man, a man in time you'll be~

Occasionally, they would get into mischief, only for their guardians to bail them out. Not that different from how a pack would watch out for their young.

~Though there's no one there to guide you~

While testing his aiming skills, the man-cub accidentally gave his (one-sided) stepfather a hula fruit hat, at least, that's what he remembered the monkeys calling it. The two friends grinned nervously from the ledge as the Silverback glared up at them; suddenly they both zipped away, leaving dust clouds in their own shapes that lingered for a few moments.

~No one to take your hand~

The Troop's domineering leader didn't disapprove of their relationship but neither supported it. Even so, Tarzan had made his life goal to impress him.

~But with faith and understanding~

Playing around with the interlaced vines, Tarzan learned how to make a lasso and to make stronger ropes by twisting and tying the vines together. Unfortunately, Tantor passed by and managed to get his foot stuck in the noose and ran off in a panic, unaware that the rope had formed small knots beneath an unaware meerkat and warthog. Next thing Tarzan knew, he and Simba were hurrying after the panicked calf dragging their friends across the jungle floor.

~You will journey from boy to man~

No matter how long they stayed apart, the brothers' and Terk's friendship with Tantor carried on and they became even closer through the years. Heading the pachyderm's call for help, the boys helped the tick birds scare off a group of bloodsucking oxpeckers.

~Son of Man, look to the sky~

Of the two of them, Simba clung closer to the Hakuna Matata life and was constantly seen loafing around with Baloo, Timon, and Pumbaa. He and Tarzan frequently engaged in silly competitions as well: swallowing slugs, crunching crickets, gulping grubs, munching maggots, and slurping snails, among other things. Honey-glazed larvae were still their favorite snacks. Alternating between the mystery hot tub and the lazy current of Waingunga, the brothers retained their laid-back and fun-loving personalities as they continued to enjoy the easygoing life around Hakuna Matata Falls.

~Lift your spirit, set it free~

One day, Terk convinced them to lasso a marabou stork so they could ride on top of it. The end result was three younglings bundled together by a rope hanging over a tree branch, which the long-legged bird pulled, making them slam silly against the wooden limb.

~Some day you'll walk tall with pride~

Thanks in part to their diet, combined with the usual sparring and wrestling sessions and a newly-added routine of weight lifting, the cubs suddenly got bigger.

~Son of Man, a man in time you'll be~

As the days passed and the golden lion grew, Bagheera taught him much—to fetch and carry his own game, to lie motionless in hiding as he lurked for prey, to move from point to point as swift as a leopard, to hunt for hidden things by scent and to retrieve them, and to drive straight for the throat when hunting great beasts. Tarzan's physical growth was slow compared to the other apes. But his agility increased alongside his strength and he learned to put his brain to good use during his many trials. Among the impenetrable canopy, he felt as much at home as any other ape, only far more agile than those of the Troop.

~In learning, you will teach~

While he was little Simba had difficulty at first in clambering up the bigger bucks, but as he grew older and larger the young lion gained the objective more easily, and finally, a single leap would carry him to his goal and down would go the quarry upon its back with the feline tearing at its throat. Soon, his adolescent partial mane fully grew as he reached adulthood. Tarzan, for his part, gained a sturdy frame filled out with mighty yet sinewy muscles.

~And in teaching, you will learn~

Weaned on the biggest porch swing in the Bukuvu as they played treetop tag for hours on end, their balance in the vines and branches was soon only matched by the Bandar-log. Something that King Louie, watching from afar, took great curiosity on.

~You'll find your place beside the ones you love~

By far, their strangest (and most dangerous) hobbies were climbing on the face of waterfalls, harnassing the winds to glide on giant fern leaves as if they were birds, and jumping off great heights with vines wrapped around the waist. Their guardians could only guess where they got such crazy ideas and none of them were too eager to tattle them to Kala. Even crazier: they got Timon and Pumbaa to join them.

~Oh, and all the things you dreamed of~

Flynt and Mungo also joined in the fun and would eventually help Tarzan introduce 'hill tobogganing' (freshly invented by the naked ape) to the rest of the Bukuvu.

~The visions that you saw~

When the monsoon came back, Simba lend a hand (paw) to make a shade to protect Kala from rainfall. While he never called her 'mom' again, the Mangani mother still had an important place in the young lion's heart. In turn, Kala was proud to call him her son's brother as she was to have the others as their godfathers.

~Well, the time is drawing near now~

One day, when the Troop was having a hard time fishing for termites, Tarzan called Tantor to return the favor his friend owed him. Fixing the elephant's trunk on the tip of one of the mounds, he gave the signal for the pachyderm to blow.

'PAWOO'

~It's yours to claim in all~

Since the colonies were connected through a network of underground tunnels, all the termites came bursting out of each and every hole. The Troop had a banquet that day and the boy's family could not be prouder as they relished amidst the grub rain.

~Son of Man, look to the sky~

It wasn't the easiest life. In fact, it was as hard as life can be for most of the great beasts in the jungle. Yet, despite the odds, the mismatched cubs flourished under their guardians' guidance. Their ways pass on to them. Strange as it may seem... they were a family. Fate had given the brothers a family. And they were happy.

~Lift your spirit, set it free~

Tarzan and Simba joyfully ran and leaped side-by-side across Bagheera's hunting grounds, surrounded by their found family.

~Some day you'll walk tall with pride~

Tarzan tripped and would have certainly lost his footing if Simba hadn't sprinted behind him so he would fall on his broad back instead of the ground. The lion was now big enough for the pinkish ape to ride across the jungle plains on top of him. Which, strangely enough, they enjoyed doing a lot.

~Son of Man, a man in time you'll be~

The Blood Brothers promised to carry the Law of the Jungle for the rest of their lives, just like their brotherhood.

~Son of Man,~

Together, they beamed as they all leaped off the promontory, their jump kicking up Milkweed floss into the air.

~Son of Man's a man for all to see~

###

ARC EPILOGUE

The white seeds traveled far and wide across the country, wind currents dragging them away from the lush jungles of Bukuvu to the grass immensity of the Pride Lands. It crossed the barren desert and drifted over to a tall, thick baobab tree. The only living thing left in this desolate and dried terrain.

Once it passed by the tree's canopy, a hand struck out with an eagle's speed and snatched some out of the air to examine it. The old monkey, a long-limbed mandril with a wild mane of white hair that surrounded his multicolored face and expressive black-on-yellow eyes, sniffs experimentally the milkweed floss, his form in a pensive stance, after a moment, he grunted and bounded down into his tree. He poured the seeds into an empty turtle shell, sifted it around, and then grabbed one of the many gourds that hang attached to vines he had wrapped in the tree's branches, after breaking the fruit in two, he munched on one half as he examined the milkweed floss again.

He looked closer and saw something he did not expect. But could it be true? A look of realization dawned on his face.

"Simba?"

His eyes snapped toward the smeared painting on the tree's trunk, a golden lion cub.

"He's- he's alive? He-he-he's alive!" Little by little, his heart was filled with hope and joy. With the excitement of his younger years suddenly coursing across his body for the first time in many Seasons, the mandril laughed and bounded around his lair, happiness overcoming him with this great truth. As he laughed heartily, he took hold of his staff before racing to the image, dipped his fingers in some red dye stored inside the piece of a bisected melon, and used it to draw a mane on the smeared lion image on the wall, symbolizing that the prince was alive and all grown up... and that he would meet him again.

Rafiki grinned. "Someday soon!"

A/N: And that, ladies and gentlemen, concludes Arc 2: The Man-Cub and the Golden Lion.

Anywho, I'm kinda burnout after finishing this chapter (over 20k words!); I'm going to take a break for a while to focus on my minor projects (which are in desperate need of attention) along with adding some minor corrections to the chapters I've uploaded so far. My classes are also around the corner and I am gonna have to do some serious research to make the next Story Arc. I don't want to spoil it but... *whispering* Star Powers.

I'll start uploading it again either in July or sometime around the end of the year. Remember to share, comment, and follow my story and check its Appendix as well as my pages on Scratchpad Wiki and Tropedia.

See you all in the next Arc. This is Jareth the Globin King, signing out from the Labyrinth.