"Tama, how long do I have to keep walking for?"

"For as long as I say, you miserable excuse for a cub!"

Tojo rolled his eyes at that. He'd heard it all before from his leader and default best friend, Tama. Tama would agree with him – on the leader part, and not the best friend part. She preferred to think of Tojo as an 'assistant' in her evil schemes, and nothing more.

She was mean. Oh, man, was she mean! She was the meanest cub – or person, for that matter – Tojo had ever laid eyes on! Talk about irritable. If she heard someone muttering something about her behind her back then they'd be lying facedown in a river someplace five seconds later. Tama wasn't someone you messed with. Tojo was surprised he'd even survived this long with her, because Tojo was the type of person who Tama looked down on in disgust.

But for some reason Tama liked to keep him around, and Tojo was the only person who she let travel with her. She bossed him around all day, making him do everything she wanted him to. He was her loyal slave, and it was going to stay that way thanks to a deal he had made with her a few months ago.

Tojo first encountered Tama when his pride had died out. One day everyone was there; the next they were all gone. Everything was on fire, and the only other person Tojo spotted was Tama. She rescued him from the blazing flames, but in return Tojo had to obey her every command for the rest of his life.

It was only after that when Tojo discovered that Tama possessed magical powers. Apparently she was part of a mystical lion pride who had connections to the magical powers of the earth. Tama had many abilities, and Tojo doubted whether she even knew all of them. She claimed to have not been as experienced in magic as her parents were, because they didn't spend all that much time training her. According to her, they were always too busy arguing with some guy in the pride called Hago, because he wasn't very magical at all. This Hago guy didn't stay around for more than a week or so, and Tama hardly knew anything about him. She just knew that he was bad.

"Faster!" Tama ordered as she hit the top of Tojo's head. For the past two hours, Tojo had to carry her on his back, because she claimed to be 'too tired'. She'd been making use of that excuse a lot over the past few weeks, but Tojo just suspected that she was a lazy cub – which she was.

"Tama, I'm going as fast as I can!" Tojo exclaimed.

"You'd better go faster right now, or I might just have to squeeze your brain until it explodes!" Tama threatened.

Tojo narrowed his eyes in disbelief. "Can you even do that?"

Tama shrugged. "Who cares? I don't! Now keep moving!"

"But it's been two hours," Tojo moaned. "Can't we take just a little break?"

"No!" Tama snapped. "We're nearly there!"

"You haven't even told me where we're going!" Tojo exclaimed. "Don't you think you should give your assistant a little bit of information on where we're going b efore we leave?"

"Don't be ridiculous, Tojo," Tama replied. "Where's the fun in that? And don't argue with me again. Friends aren't supposed to argue."

"But you told me earlier we weren't friends!" Tojo told her. "You said that I was a nerdy, good-for-nothing, lousy, freakish—"

"Silence!" Tama ordered, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. "You're upsetting my magical balance with the Mystic Elementals of the Earth."

"Do you even know what that means?" Tojo asked, getting the feeling that Tama was making up most of this magic talk as she went along. After all, how would she even know so much if her parents were too busy arguing with someone else to train her?

"Of course I know what I means!" Tama declared, raising her paws into the air, only for her to almost lose her balance and fall off of Tojo's back. She managed to cling back on just in time. "And stop asking so many questions! You almost made me fall off, then!"

"You almost made yourself fall off, Tama. Maybe once in a while you could stop being so controlling? You know, for about five seconds or so?" Tojo suggested, knowing what Tama's answer was going to be.

"Yeah, right! I thrive off of ordering people around!" Tama exclaimed. "That's why you're my slave – I mean, assistant. You do each and every thing that pops into my extremely intelligent mind. Speaking of which, I could do with a paw rub right now. My legs are killing me."

"But you're not even walking!" Tojo shouted exasperatedly. "Now you're just being stupid!"

"How dare you call me stupid! I'm good enough to provide a home for you, aren't I?"

"What home? Tama, for the past two months you've been dragging me around every single lion pride in the world. We're pretty much outcasts."

"For your information, I am going to provide you with a home," Tama informed him. "Surely your nerdy brain has heard of the Pride Lands?"

Tojo nodded. "Yep. Best place to stay in the whole world. The kingdom belongs to King Mufasa and Queen Sarabi. I know a lot about the Pride Lands. Why?"

Tama rolled her eyes. "Because, stupid, that's where we're going. I'm sure if we pull off my little 'sweetie' act we'll be living there before you can say, 'Tama, you're so beautiful.'"

"I don't doubt that. No one in their right mind would say such a thing," Tojo said with a grin. Tama whacked him across the back of his head. "Don't make fun of me! I am your master, remember?"

Tojo winced as he rubbed the back of his head. "I have a hard time forgetting," he replied, as he looked ahead to see where they were headed.

Currently they were making their way through a barren wasteland, filled with nothing but dry, hard dirt and the occasional blade of grass sticking out of the ground. It was the type of place people went to die. Tojo just hoped he didn't collapse of exhaustion while he was out here, otherwise the buzzards were going to pick him clean by the end of the day.

However, he couldn't help but think that it was Tama who was eventually going to pick him clean by the end of the day.