The Lion Guard: The Northern Crocodile

Chapter 31

Throughout the course of the day, Makuu continued to slip in and out of sleep, only managing to open his eyes to slits to see if anyone or anything out of the ordinary was hanging around before dozing off again. By the time he completely woke up, it was lightened darkness with a cool air about it. Makuu thought it was dusk, until he saw the sun starting to rise above the horizon.

{It's sunrise already? Well, I'm not at all surprised, considering how tired I was and all. I wonder if Kiburi got any sleep? Probably not, but then again, hanging out with Zula has been helping him keep his mind off the bad things. At least, I think she has.}

Thinking about how Zula makes Kiburi feel, Makuu couldn't help feeling happy for his half-brother. For once in Kiburi's life, someone, aside from his followers, was willing to be by his side. If all goes well for the future, then there is the possibility that Zula and Kiburi could end up together. However, that future possibility could mean one of two things: either Kiburi and his boys join the Crescent Valley float, or Zula joins Kiburi's float. Taking into consideration what Rafiki told him, Makuu knows that Kiburi and his float will end up staying in the Pridelands, but whether Zula will join them or not is currently unknown. Makuu knows that Zula likes Kiburi, but he's not entirely sure whether she will leave her current float to go join Kiburi's or not.

"Ow! Zaire!" A female voice cried.

His thoughts having been interrupted, Makuu looked up to see Zaire pinning Masika in a rather unnatural position that was clearly uncomfortable.

"Yeah, sis?" Zaire asked nonchalantly, as if the pain in his sister's voice wasn't at all reaching him.

"Get the hell off of me! Don't you see the position that you have me in? I mean, since when did you get so vicious when it comes to fighting?"

"I would think the answer to that would be obvious, Masika. Ever since the day father banished me, I have been fighting every single day in order to survive."

"Will you get over that already?"

Zaire's reaction to his sister's response was one of complete bewilderment, but he still obliged to her demand and removed himself from her. Once he was off, Masika positioned herself more comfortably, surprisingly lacking any broken or twisted bones.

"How can I when he made the decision solely based on the superstitions of the float?" Zaire questioned. "No one gave me a chance to prove that I wasn't like our grandfather! Did dad, or in fact, you or mom, stick up for me? No! None of you guys bothered to do anything! You and mom just stayed back and let dad banish me!"

Makuu swam closer to shore to break up the fight between the quarreling siblings before things got out of control, but then thought better of it and decided to sit this problem out.

"I can't lie to you, Zaire. I will admit that I don't have a reason for why I didn't stick up for you, but even if I did, there was nothing I could have done. Mom and dad tried their best to convince the float otherwise, but they wouldn't listen. I'm sorry, Zaire, but there wasn't much we could have done without risking all of our lives."

"And you expect me to believe that?"

Silence fell . . . for a little while . . .

"Hey, temper croc, got a question for you," a familiarly snarky voice spoke.

It was Aziza. The female dwarf crocodile and her twin brother Azizi were lounging on a large, flat stone next to the watering hole, their gazes fixed on Masika and Zaire. So far, the twins haven't been getting on anyone's nerves and have mostly been keeping to themselves, much to Makuu's relief. That is, of course, until now.