approach.

Kiara stood up, giving a warning glance at her friends in case they were thinking of trying anything unreasonable. “Hello, Jino, Mkali,” she said, “How are you?”

“Fine!” replied Jino impatiently.

“Jino and Mkali have important news about food thefts,” And Mkali explained.

Throughout his quick telling of who they suspected, Kiara’s eyes grew wide. “Hapana,” she whispered. She spoke louder to the two friends, “Kovu thought it was the vultures and has gone to confront them!”

Jino and Mkali exchanged a horrified glance. “We have to stop him!” cried Jino.

“Zazu will lead you there; I’m sorry, but I’m exhausted- we were hunting earlier.” Kiara gave an apologetic look and glanced back at her friends.

She called for Zazu who flew off to lead them to Kovu.

“Mkali hopes we not too late!” Mkali fretted.

“Whatever happens, we can’t let him falsely accuse the vultures!” Jino agreed, “Fly like the storm winds, Zazu; we’re counting on you!”

Zazu nodded, “I will, young masters.”

 

* * * * *

 

As they approached a large tree, they heard the angry roar of Kovu. Tired though they were Jino and Mkali picked up their paces till they were both a blur of brown fur running across the savannah.

They leapt over a fallen log to find Kovu with his huge paws placed on the trunk of the tree.

Kuruka and some other vultures sat in its branches. Kuruka was speaking, “You have the wrong animals, Kovu. The one you’re looking for is…”

Kovu roared again and cut him off. “I know who I’m looking for; you!”

“No wait!” Mkali jumped in-between Kovu and the vultures, causing Kovu to jump back.

Jino followed behind, “They’re telling the truth!”

Kovu flicked his ear. “What do you know about this?” he asked, not impolitely.

Jino and Mkali looked at each other then explained.

Kovu listened carefully and his claws sheathed. He looked up at Kuruka and said, “I’m unfamiliar with Mwezi’s den. Please, show it to me and we’ll see what he has to say about these accusations.”

Kuruka nodded, “What a miracle; a lion listening to reason!” he muttered and took to the air.

The two lions, Mkali and Zazu followed as Kuruka led them to Mwezi’s place. Mwezi’s den was a small underground hole which Kovu now bent down at.

“Mwezi,” he called, “Are you there?”

A cheetah popped his head out from the tunnel entrance. He was lanky, like most cheetahs, with a wide nose and one tufted ear.

His fur was spiky and he had one large spot between his eyes that stood out from the others around it.

“Why, King Kovu,” Mwezi bowed almost awkwardly down, “this is a pleasant surprise. How can I help you?”

Kovu nodded in return and kept his voice level as he spoke. “Kuruka here,” he gestured to the vulture with a flick of his head, “claims you are the one who has been stealing food from Pride Rock.”

Mwezi looked shocked. “Me? No way! W-why would I?”

Mkali leant forward to try and sniff at the den entry but Mwezi quickly flicked his tail at Mkali’s nose, sending the poor hyena jolting backwards. Mwezi sat down, keeping one leg tucked under him, blocking the entrance.

Kovu frowned but a voice from above caught his attention.

“I don’t know what’s stranger, Mwezi…” Kuruka had flown to a nearby tree and had pulled back the branches to reveal a young elephant carcass. “The fact that you are eating food that lions normally eat, or the way you hid it up here like a leopard. Questioning your species, are you?”

Mwezi’s eyes went wide and he glanced between Kovu and Kuruka, stammering as he searched for an answer.

Finally he hung his head and sighed. “You got me… That’s not my hunt; it belongs to the Pridelanders.”

Kovu flicked his tail but he looked ashamed himself. He glanced apologetically at Kuruka before saying, “So you were the thief all along?” Mwezi nodded. “Why?” Kovu asked, puzzled.

Mwezi sighed. “It wasn’t out of selfishness; you see it was because of them…”

He moved away from the entrance and gestured with his long tail for someone inside to come out.

From inside the den two young cubs poked their heads out. One was pale and looked a little nervous. The other was darker in colour and flicked her ears in an uninterested way.

An older cub followed behind and he stood protectively in front of his two younger sisters.

“But…” Kovu blinked, “Male cheetahs don’t normally look after their cubs.”

“That’s because these cubs aren’t mine,” Mwezi replied, “These are my sister’s. My sister…” he swallowed and then went on, sadness etched into his voice, “my sister drowned in the floods a year ago and left her children without anyone to take care of them.”

He stood, almost losing his balance and continued, “I took them in but I was hunting a few weeks ago and injured my leg,”

The leg that had previously been hidden under the cheetah he now showed openly; there was a bad gash around the ankle and Mwezi was clearly having trouble standing on it as he hovered it above the ground.

“And as I’m sure you know, a cheetah who can’t run, can’t hunt. This is why I stole the food, to feed me and my family,” Mwezi hung his head in shame.

Kovu glanced at the group behind him then turned back to Mwezi and shook his head. “You need not be sorry,” he said kindly. Mwezi looked up in surprise. “All you needed to do was ask for help; the lions at Pride Rock would have been happy to assist- this time of year is hard for all of us, so the only solution for us all to survive is to share what little we do have.” Kovu smiled.

Mwezi sighed in relief, “I’m sorry… I didn’t think to ask. I thought you would say no; in these difficult times I assumed it would be every animal for himself.”

Kovu shook his head, “Perhaps in your old home, but not in the Pridelands.” he said, “Anytime you need food, Mwezi, come to Pride Rock and ask.”

Mwezi glanced back at his leg, “It may be hard for me to get there- my leg’s been getting worse- but I’ll try.”

Kuruka cleared his throat. “I’d be happy to inform one of your lions when Mwezi needs food and then they could deliver it for him.”

Kovu nodded, “An excellent idea, Kuruka.” he turned back to Mwezi, “There’s a friend of Kiara’s family too; a mandrill named Rafiki. He is very skilled with healing herbs and I’m sure could fix your leg right up, if you want?”

Mwezi looked delighted, “Why yes; thank you Kovu! I-I mean,” he bowed respectively, “Your Majesty.”

“Kovu is fine.” Kovu chuckled. He looked up at Kuruka, “Now, I believe I owe you a great apology, Kuruka. I almost made a very big mistake accusing the wrong animal.”

Kuruka shrugged, “Think nothing of it, my King.”

“I will be sure to leave you and your friends in peace from now on,” Kovu said, “And I apologise again.”

“Hakuna Matata,” Kuruka replied, “No worries!”

 

Chapter 4- The End of Two Mysteries

 

“All droughts have to end eventually,” Mkali was saying as his story drew to a close, “and the rains soon fell, returning the Pridelands to their former glory and food was once again plentiful.”

Kovu had lain down on his rock and the other animals had leant in eagerly as the story had gone on. Even Banzai had shown some interest.

Kovu nodded when the story was complete and said, “I almost made a horrible mistake back then.” he sighed before smiling, “I won’t do it again.”

Banzai stood nervously, “So I can go?”

“You can,” Kovu replied.

Banzai didn’t wait for Kovu to change his mind and quickly ran off laughing.

“But if it wasn’t the hyena,” called a zebra from the crowd, “Who was it?”

A cough came from somewhere nearby. An old lion with a full mane stepped out; his name was Leo. “I’m afraid that would be me,” he said. The group of animals around him gasped.

Leo looked down but still held his head up. He was ashamed of what he had done, but not scared to admit the truth. “Unlike Mwezi in the story, I did not steal food for a good reason; I was merely being lazy in these warm months. I would rather have slept in the sun than gone hunting for myself, when I’m still perfectly capable to do so.”

Kovu looked surprised and was about to say something but Leo interrupted him, “Now, now, don’t say anything my King. I know what I did was wrong; I’ll go now and replace the food I stole.”

He nodded nobly and turned to walk away.

“Hey, Leo; I’ll come with you!” called Jino.

Leo turned, “Why thank you,” he said.

“Just like Leo,” the zebra muttered to an elephant beside him, “he pretends to be stoic but all he wants is company.”

“But I’ll only come if you tell me one of your cool stories!” Jino said cheekily.

Leo grinned, “It’s a deal!”

“If there is story, Mkali is coming too!” Mkali quickly ran after the two lions.

Leo and Jino

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