Once Upon a Timon - ENGLISH

Chapter 1: The start of an unexpected journey

"We will be back soon!" Pumbaa yelled as a goodbye to the group of lions they were leaving behind, and hurried to catch up with the three meerkats that would accompany him on the trip.

They were down from Pride Rock in less time than they expected, and up on the warthog back. With Timon in front, Ma behind and Uncle Max closing the group, they headed towards their next destination: the jungle where they had lived for the last few years, until Nala came to interrupt their tranquility. Pumbaa was excited at the idea of ​​going back, and finally meeting the rest of her best friend's family. But no one could say the same for Timon, who obviously wanted to come back and hug Kopa's neck until Ma got tired of insisting on going.

Why had not Lian created one of her last-minute clever alibis? Any excuse would have been better than being dragged along on that trip.

Timon sighed as he imagined what awaited him there.

"Don't be like that, Tími," his mother said. "No one is mad at you anymore for all those tunnels you destroyed."

Another detail coming to light.

"It wasn't because of that, but thanks for reminding me, Ma," the meerkat rolled his eyes. Then he added with some drama: "Another reason to plunge into misery."

"I don't think it's so bad to spend time with your family, Timon," Pumbaa said.

"In a normal family, no," Uncle Max growled.

"But when it comes to our family," the youngest continued.

"Enough for both of you," sentenced the only female. "This is going to be a nice family visit and everything is going to be okay. So enough complaining."

"As if that were possible", Timon grumbled.

It was not for less. Life in the colony had not been bad, but it had not been pleasant either. The bad times in Timon's life began right after the first significant day in his life.

His father, Roch, was a brave meerkat like no other. He was known all over the place, in his colony and the next, for being the only one with the guts to go head-to-head with predators and chase them away to keep his colony safe.

When Timon was old enough, Roch, secretly from his mate, would take the little meerkat on his expeditions in the savannah. With a watery sight and a fine sense of smell like his, a slight movement was enough to detect the most cautious cobra or the most skillful falcon even before the guard in turn. When the alert screech warned their brothers and sisters of danger, they would run for cover as quickly as possible, and by the time the predators were close enough, the entire colony had safely retreated into its burrow. Everything except Roch, who, in the hubbub, was sneaking off to face whatever threat it was.

As long as his mate did not stop him.

Timon was proud of his father's work. Roch hoped that one day his son would have the courage to chase off animals like him.

In his eagerness to teach Timon to be a fearless hyena chaser, he would let him watch whenever one got close enough to the den.

"The first rule, and the most important, is to never be afraid of hyenas," he told Timon, prior to the meeting. "Neither its teeth nor its claws are as dangerous as fear."

Many times, young Timon heard his dad say those words. And then, as if they were his war cry, Roch would approach carefully so as not to be heard, waiting for the predator in question to get close enough to jump by surprise.

Many times, young Timon watched his dad play the same tricks on a number of animals that the boy was unable to remember. He sometimes rode on them and made them angry for pure pleasure, they got so angry that they did not even realize when they had left the colony or when the meerkat had come down from his back. Other times, he chose to appear in front of the animals to make them run after him and drive them out of their territory, where he would disappear by sneaking into a hollow log or an uninhabited burrow with escape exits. On certain occasions, even when it came to younger specimens, he would improvise a costume and a mask with grass and pieces of wood with which he could scare off intruders.