A Crocodile's Journey

The Reunion

After his outburst, Kiburi ignored Makuu completely. 

Makuu couldn't blame him. And this time, he could find no justification for what he'd done, no matter how hard he tried. The realization of what Kiburi had been doing all this time made his stomach churn. 

The worst part? Kiburi was right. He'd only become interested in Akina once he noticed that everyone in the float wanted her. He hadn't considered her feelings at that time when he wiped the floor with all the other males, Kiburi included.

Everyone's words about Makuu being a selfish, insensitive jerk replayed in his head.

The current situation was no place to re-evaluate his life and his choices, though.

Still, no matter how much they tried, they couldn't find a way to escape from their prisons. The chains—what the two legs had called the black rings keeping Makuu and Kiburi attached to the wall—were too hard even for Makuu's teeth, and pulling against them choked him. The thick bars of the others' cages were thick and seemingly unbreakable, too.

Nevermind that Kiburi wasn't been of too much help, either.

"Damn it!" Makuu glanced back at his chains, panting heavily. The only thing that changed was the reddened mark around his own neck from the collar. "What is this thing made of, anyway?!"

"Tell that to me," Nurisha murmured.

"It would be easier if you could figure out how the two legs put that thing around your neck. It must have a trick of sorts." Jafari pointed out.

"I'm not a giraffe. I can't look at my own neck...!" 

Makuu noticed Kiburi, indifferent and unmoving, a few feet away. He glanced back at the chain. Would it be long enough?

Before Kiburi knew what was going on, Makuu was on top of him.

"What do you think you're doing?!" He asked irritably. It was the first sentence he had directed at Makuu for two days.

"Don't move. I need to take a look at your collar." Makuu retorted.

"Get off me!"

"I just need to see something!"

Makuu squinted his eyes, trying to see every detail in the collar. It was thick, teeth-proof, and attached to the chain at the back. How was it put around their necks if it can't be broken...? 

No, wait. There's a straight line in the collar with a tiny hole a few inches away. It was just like. the holes in the 'padlocks' keeping the other cages shut. This means...

"I said GET OFF!" Out of patience, Kiburi whacked Makuu's head with his tail and violently pushed him off.

Makuu shook his head, growling in pain. He decided to let it slip this time. He kinda deserved it, anyway.

"There's a small hole on that collar. It seems like it opens in two halves," he said.

Kiburi simply turned away again. "Well, congratulations, Sherlock."

"If you can open it, you could get us out," Usian deduced, leaning against the cage's bars.

"The problem is I can't find where the hole is in mine. And even if I did, I don't know how these things work or how they can be opened."

Kalere cocked her head a bit. "I think I've seen the two legs insert a stick of sorts into them."

"That little bit of info would have been useful a long while ago, don't you think?!" Umoja growled at her.