Tojo (C) Disney

Nalo (C) Raven of the Shadows

Monifa, Nia, Rudo (C) Me

I do not lay any claim to these characters besides my own. I apologize if any  characters appear out of character during the course of the story.

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"I can't believe you got us into this." Nalo stared below him as they were surrounded by a group of hungry crocodiles, just eyeing for a snack. He dug his claws deep into the lone tree they were hiding up on, and climbed up higher.

His fearless friend and the one responsible for getting them into this trouble, Monifa, just laughed. "Don't worry Nalo, I got an idea!"

Nalo sighed but he could not help but smile. Monifa was always the adventurous type and she had been getting him to do this kind of stuff ever since Tojo found her and brought her into their little family. He had pretty much gotten used to any sort of obstacle Monifa suggested they conquer whether it was wrestling with wild antelopes or running away from an enraged herd of water buffalo. Nalo saw the crocodile adventure coming a mile away, it was just a matter of when.

Monifa suggested they run across the backs of the crocodiles as they were gnawing away on the poor unsuspecting zebra. Nalo was against the idea, but once he saw Monifa charging across the backs of the crocodiles, yowling loudly, he had to join her, though he did not find the exact level of amusement she did. It was lucky that the tree happened to be in the middle of the lake, or otherwise Monifa and Nalo would've been crocodile chow.

"What's your idea Monifa?" asked Nalo. "Should we feed the crocs and maybe they'll go away? Or are we going to run across their backs to shore?"

"Hush, young grasshopper," said Monifa.

"I'm not a grasshop-"

"WHEEEE!" Nalo watched as Monifa leapt off of the tree, her paws extended in midair followed by her landing on the muzzle of one of the crocodiles. The others launched themselves into action, squirming over to where Monifa still stood on the one crocodile, and Nalo saw what she was doing. He took a quick gulp and threw himself off of the tree and onto the back of one of the crocodiles. Seeing him join her, Monifa quickly bolted across the backs of the crocs until she fell into the water. But by this point Nalo was the target so Monifa was able to safely cross the water onto the land.

Nalo launched himself across the roaring crocodiles, but unlike Monifa, if he fell into the water, he would easily be overtaken by them. Landing on the back of one of the crocs, Nalo sucked in all the air he could muster and lunged for the shoreline with such strength that, in fact, he almost flew over Monifa. Almost. Gravity established itself and Nalo crashed on top of Monifa. Nalo was blushing madly while Monifa was cracking up. Seeing them still in reach, the crocs began to swim over to them.

"We... we gotta go!" laughed Monifa as she rolled underneath Nalo and ran off. Nalo, still a bit embarrassed, didn't realize why Monifa was running until his attention turned back to the crocs who were now getting closer to the shoreline. He didn't waste his time catching up to Monifa.

Monifa was still laughing when Nalo caught up to her. "Wasn't that fun?" she asked him with a big smile on her face.

Nalo could argue against that point, but he had to admit that going on these kind of adventures with Monifa was fun. "Yeah... fun," he panted. "Come on Monifa, let's sit for a bit. I'm all... out of breath." To prove his point, he sat his rump down firmly on the ground.

Monifa didn't seem to want to argue with him though. She sat down next to him.

"I think next time... we should stay away from the crocs," said Nalo.

Monifa nodded. "I think so... too." She looked up at him. "But you had fun, didn't you?"

Nalo looked back at her, and could see that she was giving him the 'puppy dog eyes'. He smiled. "Yeah I had fun." He pushed her in the shoulder with his paw. "But now you're IT!" He scampered off, but when he turned around to see if she was following him, he was shocked to see her just sitting there. Her not pursuing him in a game of tag definitely let him know that something was wrong and he quickly trotted over to her.

"Are you okay Monifa?" he asked as he stood over her.

Monifa winced a bit and Nalo grew a bit worried about his friend. He leaned over to look at her face and was so close that their noses were almost touching. Monifa finally took notice of him and moved her head around so fast that they bumped heads.

"Ouch!" cried Nalo as he sprawled onto his backside, rubbing his head.

"Sorry!" cried Monifa as she too fell onto her backside.

Ignoring the throbbing pain in his head, Nalo got up and went to check on Monifa who was rubbing her head. "Are you okay?" he asked with great concern for his friend. "Is something wrong?"

Finished now with rubbing her head, Monifa looked up at him and Nalo instantly saw a quick flash of attitude in her. She gave him her usual cheeky smile, jumped onto her paws, and poked his shoulder. "You're IT!" she laughed as she sprang off.

Nalo frowned a bit, but nevertheless he chased after his friend.

****

The next morning, Nalo found Monifa sitting by a tree out on the plains. Grinning to himself, he crawled over to her and when he was within pouncing distance, he lunged up and tackled her to the ground.

Nalo was laughing as he sprawled onto the ground. However, he was the only one. "Nalo!" cried Monifa as she regained her footing. Nalo stopped laughing when he saw how serious she was looking, which was totally out of character for her. "Why'd you do that?" she asked him.

Rolling onto his paws, Nalo said, "I... it was a joke Monifa. You know when you do that to me sometimes." He gave a weak chuckle but Monifa wasn't amused. He frowned. "Monifa what's wrong? You're not acting like yourself. Did I say something?"

Monifa shook her head. "No..."

"Then what's-?"

"Oh, there you two are." A large male stepped out into the open, his eyes wide but kind. It was Tojo, the lion who took both cubs in and raised them as if they were his own. "I was looking for you two. I was thinking about a hunt. What do you guys think?" He looked back and forth between the two and immediately realized something was wrong. "Are you two alright?"

Nalo hung his head while Monifa turned to Tojo and brushed past him. Tojo turned his head and watched as she left. Immediately he turned his attention to Nalo. "What's wrong with her Nalo?"

Though he truly wanted to offer a good answer, all Nalo could really do was shrug. "I don't know. She's sad about something."

"Hmm, well I think a big gazelle or zebra would be good enough to bring her back into high spirits-"

"But-"

"Nalo, she wants to be left alone," said Tojo wisely. "I think that would be best to do so." Sidling up to the younger lion, he smiled. "Come now, let's go and get some food!"

"Okay then..."

Nalo found his eyes look around for Monifa, but at last he pulled away to go hunt with Tojo. For Nalo it felt a bit lonesome without having Monifa's quirky remarks abound. But it was easier to get food this time without Monifa. In no time, Nalo and Tojo both downed an adolescent zebra.

Standing victoriously over the zebra, Tojo smiled, his bloodstained fangs glistening in the sun. Nalo stared at the zebra and licked his chops. It felt nice to drain a lot of his energy in a hunt. He turned his head to Tojo who smiled back at him.

"Feel better?" asked Tojo.

Nalo nodded. "A bit yeah. But I wish Monifa was with us."

"You know what it could be? Homesickness."

"She's... homesick?"

Tojo shrugged. "Possible reason for being sad."

Nalo considered the thought. Homesick... He felt sort of stupid for not seeing that sooner. Though he did wish that Monifa confronted him about her being homesick.

Tojo saw Nalo look down, and nudged him with his paw. "Hey come on Nalo, let's see you smile," he said in an attempt to cheer him up. "You can always talk to Monifa about it. You two are awfully close..."

Nalo blushed. "W-What're you saying..?"

Though inwardly he smiled, Tojo played off a confused and innocent expression. "What am I saying? I'm just saying that you two are very close friends."

Nalo smiled a bit. "Okay then."

"There, don't you feel better now? C'mon let's take this meat back."

Both lions grabbed a hold of the zebra and dragged it back into Tojo's territory, where they soon found Monifa waiting for them. She had a look of disappointment on her face when she saw that they already got their kill, but nevertheless was excited to have something to eat. Nalo wanted to talk to her immediately, but when he saw her rush for a taste of the meat, he knew he'd have to wait.

When he looked at Tojo, Nalo saw the older lion wink back at him. You gotta talk to her, Tojo was basically telling him.

Nalo nodded, but decided that he and Monifa would get something in their stomachs before doing anything else. The three of them dug into the zebra, each enjoying the delicious flavor it brought