The Lion Guard: The Northern Crocodile

Chapter 16

A few days later... 

It has been half a week since Kiburi was dragged into something that didn't concern him. So far, things have been pretty normal, and on the plus side, receiving help from the twins hasn't taken a turn for the worst . . . yet.

On his fourth night of confinement, Kiburi met with Aziza and Azizi, who said that they might have found a way for him to escape, but need time to finalize the plan before putting it into action. Kiburi was skeptical, but he knew he had no choice but to trust the twins, and so, he thanked them for their help.

After the twins left, Kiburi turned around and . . .

"Kiburi."

The outcast was startled out of his scales. He looked up and noticed Nneka standing just inside of the cave's entrance, right next to the water. As far as Kiburi could tell, the guards were nowhere to be seen.

{Ah crap. I'm dead.}

"Hi, Nneka," Kiburi nervously greeted as he swam over to the scarred female. "I...uh...what are you doing here? I mean, you already checked on me today, unless..."

"No, Kiburi, not yet," Nneka interrupted. "I am actually much more curious as to what you were doing at the back of the cave, or at least as far back as you can go. Is there something I should know about?"

"No! No, not really. Just a couple of pests that have been bothering me recently, and I finally decided to get rid of them."

"Yeah, sure. You're lucky that I give second chances, Kiburi. I highly suggest that you don't let my generosity go to waste."

"Wait! How did you know that something was going on?"

"I didn't. My guards, on the other claw..."

"The guards? How would they know what's been going on when they've been asleep half the time?"

"Because they are doing exactly what I trained them to do. Why else do you think I keep them around? They are master spies through and through. Even when they don't start out all that promising, I still succeed in turning them. If there's one thing that you should know about me, Kiburi, it's that I can train any crocodile to turn their greatest weakness into their greatest strength."

"Of course you can. I guess I'll have to keep that in mind."

"For your sake, it would be better if you do. As for right now, I should really get going, but before I do, I just want to let you know that despite what I saw you doing, I'm going to let it slide."

"I kinda unfortunately figured that out, but how come you're not threatening me or my crocodiles?"

"Now where's the fun in performing that cliche? I prefer to leave and let events play out. It's certainly more entertaining that way, and nothing is better in my opinion than some surprising twists and turns."

"I'll admit, Nneka, you are the strangest crocodile I have ever met."

"Compliment accepted, even if it wasn't meant to be one, but don't think flattery will get you anywhere with me."

With nothing left to say, Nneka departed the cave, letting the guards get back to work, and leaving Kiburi completely dumbfounded. He didn't understand Nneka at all. No matter what she did or said, Nneka was still a complete mystery to Kiburi, and trying to decipher did nothing except bring about a massive headache.

{Eh, whatever. I doubt I'll ever get an answer. Might as well just sleep this whole thing off.} 

Exhausted and confused, Kiburi climbed out of the water and onto the cold, damp stone floor of the cave. He curled himself into a ball of scales and immediately fell asleep.

***Start of Dream***

"Ha! I got you!" Kiburi crowed triumphantly.

Makuu struggled to free himself of his opponent's grasp, but it was of no use. Kiburi finally managed to defeat Makuu, who seemed unstoppable due to his unmistakable winning streak. Kiburi waited his entire life for this moment, and he wasn't about to let anything ruin it.

"Kiburi! Kiburi! Kiburi!"

The crocodiles that surrounded them cheered their new leader's name. Kiburi lifted his head high, closed his eyes, and basked in the glory of the moment. However, it didn't last long when the voices began to die away until there was nothing but silence. Kiburi opened his eyes, only to see that no one was where they were just seconds ago.

{What the? Where is everybody? They were just here!}

A sudden thought hit Kiburi. He looked down to see that Makuu was not pinned underneath him. The only thing his claws grasped was dirt. Kiburi was shocked into disbelief. He looked around for the other crocodiles, but no one was to be seen.

"Okay, guys. Come on, this isn't funny! Get your tails out here now!"

Kiburi waited, but the only thing that answered him was silence. Dead silence.

Then suddenly, without any warning, there was a loud sound, and in the blink of an eye, the entire area turned into a bloodbath. The dark, shadow-like forms of crocodiles mauling each other surrounded Kiburi, but he couldn't bear to move. He was frozen in place.

"Kiburi."

Even in the chaos, Kiburi could hear the echoing voice, but he didn't know where it was coming from, or who it belonged to.

Kiburi's attention was severed when the fighting began to close in around him. He knew none of it was real, but that didn't stop the fear from overcoming him. The sights - the sounds - it was all too much for him.

"Kiburi."

Outside the chaotic battle field, Kiburi spotted what he believed to be a pair of sparkling dark red orbs, which, to his absolute disbelief, were the eyes of a crocodile. 

"It's time to wake up, Kiburi."

***End of Dream***

"Kiburi! Wake up!"

Between the loud voice and prodding claws, Kiburi jolted wide awake, breathing heavily. He looked up to see Nneka staring at him.

"Having quite the nightmare now, are we?"

"M...maybe," Kiburi gasped.

"Seems more than a 'maybe' to me," Nneka countered.

"I don't know. It was just...super weird."

"Having a weird dream is different than having a nightmare, and we both know that you were having a nightmare."

"I guess so, but I've never seen anything like it before. One moment I was having the time of my life, then everything goes silent, and before I know it, death and destruction just appears out of nowhere."

"That's the typical dream cycle for you. Goes from normal to dark pretty quickly."

"But there was also this other crocodile there. It wasn't like the others. It wasn't a shadow. It looked like a relatively normal crocodile, except for the red eyes."

Nneka didn't speak after Kiburi mentioned the other crocodile. Kiburi looked at Nneka, and noticed a change in her. Neither a bad nor good change, but a puzzling one. It looked to Kiburi like Nneka couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Nneka?" Kiburi asked.

"Did you say that you saw a crocodile with red eyes?" Nneka whispered.

"Yeah. Why? That supposed to mean something?"

"...Just go back to sleep, Kiburi. You could use it."

"You know something about that red-eyed crocodile, don't you?"

Nneka glared at Kiburi, saying nothing before leaving, but she didn't have to. For Kiburi, Nneka's actions speak louder than her words.

{I'll take that as a yes. That red-eyed crocodile definitely means something to her, but what?}