The Lion Guard: The Northern Crocodile

Chapter 2

A couple hours later and the hottest part of the day is at its peak, the sun positioned high in the sky. Makuu panted as the sun's rays bore onto his back, practically burning his scales. At first, the sun on his back felt nice, but the heat eventually became quite unbearable. Makuu had made the mistake of wandering away from the acacia grove and out onto the open savanna. He knew he couldn't stay out in this kind of heat for very long, but he soon spotted a grove of tightly clustered trees nearby and headed over for some shelter.

After what seemed like forever, Makuu finally made it to the grove, but he didn't stop until he reached the darkest part where the trees were spaced so closely together that barely any sunlight filtered through their unusually still-green tops. Makuu breathed a sigh of relief and collapsed underneath the canopy as he felt his scales cool off in the shade of the trees.

{I think I'll just rest here for a while, then head back to the float. I shouldn't be too worried about something bad happening. After all, even Kiburi isn't stupid enough to try to attack someone after wandering around in this heat for too long.}

With that in mind, Makuu relaxed and drifted off to sleep.

***

An unknown amount of time had passed before Makuu arose from his slumber. He opened his eyes as he was waking-up and stretched his body to loosen his muscles. Makuu shook his head and looked around, realizing that he was still in the shaded grove.

{How long was I asleep?}

Makuu looked up at the tree canopy above his head, forgetting that the leaf coverage was so thick that no light could even get through. He mumbled something under his breath and walked over to where he thought he entered the grove, only to find that it was a ledge that he could fall off of if he wasn't careful. Makuu looked out over the edge of the dip. In front of him, wide, open, sunlit savanna.

{Well, at least I wasn't asleep that long.}

Makuu would have looked to see what was below him, if it weren't for something that startled him first.

"Hey! Excuse me! I was won..."

Makuu wasn't able to catch the rest before he turned around to see who it was that spoke, and certainly not before the ledge gave way under him and he fell into the dip. It wasn't a huge fall, but Makuu wasn't happy when he realized that he landed in a big thorn bush.

{You have got to be kidding me.}

Makuu closed his eyes and groaned as he slowly flipped himself off of his back and onto his stomach. He re-opened his eyes to see that he was completely tangled in the thorns, feeling their sharp points prick his scales.

{I really hope no one saw this.}

Makuu tried to untangle himself, but the more he struggled, the tighter the vines became. Soon, he stopped struggling, for he heard someone approaching.

{This is just perfect. How can I face someone while I'm stuck in this thorn bush? I can barely move in this mess!}

Makuu listened to whoever it was that was approaching him, until eventually the animal came into view. It wasn't what he was expecting. The approaching animal was a female crocodile, with dark-tinged scales and blue/green eyes. Makuu was dumbstruck.

{I didn't know there were female crocodiles in the Pridelands. In fact, she doesn't look like any crocodile I have ever seen before.}

The female slowed down to a halt in front of Makuu. She opened her jaws as if to say something, but then closed them. That didn't last long before the female started laughing. Makuu growled in response, since he couldn't open his jaws to snap at her because of a vine of thorns that was wrapped around his snout.