from the water and dawdled over to Bhati again.

“You feel better?” she asked me.

“Yes, but don’t you want a drink too?” I asked curiously.

“No, I had plenty of water to drink just before I met you” she answered, in a voice to assure me not to worry. Bhati headed off again and I quickly caught up with her.

The dry grass crackled under our paws on the walk back to the den. It prickled slightly, but not enough to irritate me. The sun was hot and burned my fur. Bhati looked uncomfortable in the heat, but as she didn’t want to complain, she kept it to herself. I could see it by her expression though, she couldn’t hide that. Soon I could see the den up ahead, and my face brightened up.

“Is this the place Maua?” questioned Bhati, although from her voice I could tell she already knew the answer.

“Yes it is!” I replied happily. I was glad to be back, and I hoped that someone was up.

I bounded up to the entrance of the cave and peered in. Mother and Tama were both up and yawning and Tama was feeding Zawadi. Nala was nestled against Simba’s fiery red mane, with Sambi huddled close to her, all of them sleeping peacefully. My father and Tojo were also sleeping, sprawled out across the hard ground. Malka still hadn’t returned.

“Maua, where have you be-” started mother, before noticing the small golden fox beside me.

“Bhati?” she said unbelievingly. “Is it really you?”

Tama looked up, stunned, mouth wide, before a smile emerged from the edges of her lips. Leaving Zawadi, she and mother came over and lovingly nuzzled Bhati.

“Oh Bhati, we thought they got you” said Tama, getting teary-eyed.

“Who?” I asked. My mother turned to me, and sat.

“Back when we were children, when we thought King Mufasa and Simba were killed and Scar’s tyranny reigned over the Pridelands, Bhati couldn’t bear to leave, and fought to ensure our survival. Scar grew tired of her complaining and asked her to leave. She refused to leave, just wanting to protect us. But Scar wouldn’t take no for an answer. He had the hyena’s chase her out of the Pridelands, and Bhati tried to fight back. We all thought she had been killed.” She explained. I saw that Tama’s face was wet and stained with tears. I could imagine all the loss and suffering they must have felt for all those years.

“But now, we know that you are safe Bhati. Our minds are finally at rest.” She concluded as she embraced Bhati once again, shedding her own tears of happiness.

“Wow, that’s… so sad…” I said softly, my eyes growing teary and blurring my vision. I felt my mother’s large paw sweep me towards her, and I stumbled across the ground until I reached her. Clinging to her other leg, I wiped my eyes on her dark fur. She licked my head with her rough tongue, causing some of my fur to stick up, as I nuzzled into her paw.

“Yes, it was…” said my mother, trailing off into thought for a few short moments. “But everything is alright now. Bhati is safe.” A reassuring smile appeared on her face. “We really missed you Bhati”

“And I missed you too, my darlings” the little bat eared fox replied, a loving, motherly smile plastered on her lips. “But, where are the boys? And Nala? I- oh, they’re sound asleep” she said giggling. “Well, we’d better leave them to rest. I’ll come back later when they wake up.”

“What? Don’t be silly Bhati! Please, stay with us here. We’d love to hear more about what happened after you left” said Tama, laying on the ground in her place and preparing for a story with eager eyes.

“Thank you dear, but there isn’t much to hear. Nothing much interesting happened between then and now” Bhati replied, flickering one of her oversized ears. She scratched the itch quickly.

“Please, Bhati. At least stay with us for a while. We don’t care how boring you think the stories will be, we still want to hear them!” begged Tama, pulling the cutest puppy dog face she possibly could.

“Well, alright Tama. I suppose I could stay for a while longer” Bhati said smiling as she sat on the cold rocky ground. She swished her furry tail, which piqued little Zawadi’s attention. He had wandered over to where we were sitting, and he jumped after it, missed, and stumbled onto his stomach. Bhati chuckled, and taking in a deep breath, she began her story.

“Well, it all started when the hyenas were sent after me…”

 

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