The Lion Guard: The Northern Crocodile

Chapter 30

After being trapped with Kiburi for over a week, Makuu forgot what it was like to actually be free. It was dawn, and the savanna air felt nice and cool, but it didn't do much to wake him up, and having to carry Keyon to a healer didn't make things any better, either. However, much to Makuu's relief, he had help, courtesy of Fuli and Kion. Fuli supported Keyon's head while Makuu and Kion carried the rest of his body on their backs. The only part that nobody could carry was his tail, which was dragging behind Kion and slowing down the group in the process.

"Ugh!" Fuli groaned as Keyon's head continued to weigh her down. "Who knew that it was this hard to support a crocodile's head?"

"At least you don't have to carry the back end!" Kion replied irritably. "If I knew that the tail would have given us this much trouble, I would have brought Bunga along to carry it."

"Or we could have just brought Beshte. He would've made our job a whole lot easier."

"How about you two just shut up?" Makuu growled. "I am too tired and in no mood to listen to your complaints."

Fuli attempted to protest, but Kion silenced her with a look. He didn't want a fight breaking out over Makuu's bad temperament. Fuli unhappily complied.

The group continued the rest of the trip in silence. Soon, they arrived at Rafiki's tree. They saw Rafiki and Makini organizing their herbs and other healing items, while Bunga and Beshte stood nearby talking to one another. They were interrupted when Ono flew down and started talking to them, and Makuu had a pretty good idea as to what the bird said when everyone's gazes turned towards them.

Once they reached the other animals, Kion and Fuli retreated from their positions while Makuu carefully laid Keyon's body on the ground. Silence followed as the animals who haven't seen Keyon before now gazed upon his battered body.

"Whoa," Bunga gasped. "He looks really beat-up."

"You weren't kidding when you said he was in bad shape, Makuu," Beshte stated.

"I can't even begin to imagine how he's managed to stay alive this long in his current state," Ono commented.

"We're crocodiles, Ono," Makuu replied. "We don't ever go down without a fight."

"That doesn't surprise me in the slightest."

"I don't think that should surprise anybody, Ono," a familiar voice spoke.

Everyone, except for Rafiki, who was busy looking over Keyon, turned their attentions to see Simba and Nala standing nearby.

"Hi mom! Hi dad!" Kion greeted. "You guys got here later than I expected."

"We would have been here earlier, but I had some last minute business to attend to, not to mention the fact that your mother and the lionesses were out hunting," Simba explained. "However, we're here now, and that's all that matters. Speaking of which, it's nice to see that you're okay, Makuu."

"Same here, Simba," Makuu replied with a slight nod of his head.

"We've been really worried about you, Makuu," Nala added. "We're all just so relieved to see that you're safe and unharmed. I mean, you are okay, aren't you?"

"Not necessarily, but I could definitely be worse off."

Makuu looked back at Keyon's limp form, thinking that there was the possibility that both him and Kiburi could have ended up the exact same way.

"Ono told us all he knew about what's been going on," Simba said. "Although, I have the feeling that there's a long story to go along with his rushed explanation."