sighed, “Hm. Wonder what time it is now, day or night, breakfast or supper?”

Simba shrugged, “Who could tell down here? It’s much too dark.”

Kovu trotted on ahead he give a little surprised grunt suddenly, “Hey, careful. The stream widens here, and it has made the ground soft and…”

Simba paused and squinted ahead, “Soft and what?”

There was no answer.

Simba’s voice echoed ahead as if there was nothing else ahead but empty tunnels.

Simba took a step forward, “Kovu?”

Suddenly he felt something soft underneath his paws; he looked down and recognised the scent immediately, “Quicksand!” he gasped. There was a pause and then he yelled, “Omigosh, KOVU!”

He reached down into the sticky mud with his forelegs, keeping his back claws placed firmly on the solid ground before it.

He reached far into the mud, fearing for his friend “Come on come on!”

Suddenly his paws grasped something furry, even through the mud he recognised Kovu’s small mane. He heaved up as hard as he could, and Kovu’s head appeared.

Simba panted and pulled harder, Kovu’s shoulders, then his middle, then his back legs and finally his tail.

Simba looked over his friend, “Kovu? Kovu!” he didn’t answer.

Simba began pressing hard on Kovu’s chest, as he had seen Rafiki do once to a cub that was still-born. It had saved the cub’s life- why couldn’t it save Kovu’s?
Suddenly, Kovu coughed and heaved up a mass of mud from his lungs.

He spat and lay for a moment struggling to breathe. He hurled up more mud and dirty brown water and then looked up, “Simba… You saved my life.”

“Now we’re even.” Simba grinned, “And you can tell that to your mother.”

Kovu rolled his eyes and smiled, “Ok, so, we can’t go that way… Well, the stream cuts off in a different direction through that small tunnel over there… How about we follow it?”

Simba nodded.

Kovu coughed a little more, then began to grow angry, “This STUPID tunnel! I seriously hope someone just comes and destroys it someday!”

Simba shook his head, “You don’t really think that.”

“Well it sure feels like it! What use comes out of a tunnel like this? It has no beauty, no meaning!”

Simba frowned, “Dad says everything has a meaning. I’m sure this tunnel does too, we just don’t know it yet…”

“Shut up!”

Simba stopped short, he hadn’t expected Kovu to talk to him so sharply, and the bad thing was it made him angry too, “Oh yeah? Watch how you talk to me, Kovu!”

Kovu turned on him and growled, “What you say, Pride Lander?”

“I said; watch how you talk to me!”

Kovu bent down and leaped on Simba, but Simba was ready for him, he also crouched and leapt up slamming all his weight into Kovu.

Kovu flew back into the shallow stream, Simba began walking towards him but Kovu grabbed him and threw him ahead down the tunnel.

Simba stood up as Kovu banged him again in the side. Simba threw himself up and brawled with Kovu, until finally Kovu overpowered him and pushed him down.

They had reached another dead end but neither cub cared, the darkness of the tunnel had also darkened their hearts.

Kovu went to crash into Simba one last time, but Simba ducked at the last second and Kovu was sent screaming into the tunnel wall.

Only it wasn’t a wall. It was really a pile of roots! They had been thickened by mud and dust to look like a wall.

Kovu fell threw it flailing his paws wildly, Simba gasped his anger forgotten “Kovu!” he cried.

Simba ran to the entrance, there was a steep but not-too-high drop from the entrance to a small shimmering pool below.

Simba heard a splash, his eyes flew down and he could see the water rippling. After a few seconds, Kovu crashed through the water.

He coughed and opened his mouth to yell something at Simba, but then he looked around and all the anger drained from him.

“Simba…” he mused.

Simba looked at the ceiling, it was filled with sparkling stones like one he had seen in Rafiki’s tree once.

What did he call them? Simba thought. Jewels? Diamonds? Simba got the impression he had called them both.

The jewels made the water seem a shimmering blue, and it cast a beautiful pattern upon the walls because of a hole in the centre of the ceiling that the full moon’s light shine through.

Simba and Kovu started open mouthed.

“Simba…” Kovu repeated, “I think we’ve found it!”

“Found… what?” Simba looked down at his friend.

“Our secret hideout!” gasped Kovu.

Simba gazed around, “But where are we? What part of the Pride Lands?”

“Or the Outlands.” gulped Kovu.

Simba gulped, “Or neither…”

Kovu looked around again then squinted at a corner, “Hey, look over there.”

There was a large slab of wood that had grown hard as rock with age.

Kovu swam over to the shore and heaved himself from the water. Behind him, Simba splashed in to follow him.

Kovu sniffed at the wood as a dripping Simba came up behind him, Kovu said, “Think we could move this? I can feel fresh air coming from the edges; must be another tunnel behind it.”

Simba and Kovu pushed their shoulders against the rock. It moved with difficulty then it got easier as it moved further.

The tunnel behind went straight down in a steep curve.

Kovu and Simba looked at each other.

“Well,” said Simba, “Let’s go!”

Simba crawled into the tunnel and continued with Kovu behind him. When he stopped Kovu said, “What’s wrong?”

In front of Simba, he could see the night sky in front of him and not far below him a large pool of water.

“Nothing.” said Simba, “Just trying to find out where…”

He trailed off and gasped with delight, “Look, Kovu, look!”

Kovu frowned, “How am I supposed to look at anything with THAT in my road?” he gestured to Simba’s backside.

Simba frowned, “Hey I… WOAH!”  Kovu shoved Simba out of the tunnel and into the water hole below.

Simba raised his head and coughed then glared up, “Thanks, Kovu. Anyway, look!”

Kovu looked ahead, it was Pride Rock!

Kovu’s mouth dropped open but he remained smiling, “Pride Rock! Who knew we had our own secret hideout right next to our home!”

“My home…” muttered Simba though unheard to Kovu.

Kovu smiled, “This is awesome.”

“And the best part is,” said Simba, “We can come here whenever we want! Mother won’t mind me coming to the watering hole by myself. And neither will Nala’s! And Kiara can come too!”

Kovu smiled, “And too think; we hated the tunnel so much. And it did hold a fantastic secret! And how far did we come to find our prize was right next to where we started!”

Simba grinned, “Come on, let’s go home, I’ll tell Nala and Kiara, meet you here tomorrow!”  And with that, both cubs went their separate ways; both had learned that there was always light at the end of the tunnel, or in this case, a great secret!

 The End!