Since his grounding, Kitwana was stuck in Lake Matope, unable to hang out with Kion or Hodari, and some members of the float kept an eye on him to make sure he didn't leave his 'permitted area' on Makuu's orders. Though this was unnecessary since Kitwana never disobeyed his father, the crocodile would rather be safe than sorry. What saddened Kitwana the most was the fact that he'd miss the Kupatana; and no matter how much she tried, Akina just couldn't get her mate to change his mind.
Despite often acting like he didn't care much, the truth was that Makuu was bothered by two things: the first was that his charge didn't annoy him as much anymore, and tried to keep distance, even when he was hungry, perhaps because he thought he was still mad; he thought he'd be happy about it, but instead he... missed it.
The second was Kitwana's surprisingly quick growth rate: about three and a half weeks ago Kitwana was but a fuzzball with legs and a naked head, but now he had grown considerably. His baby down was starting to fall down, instead being replaced by milky white plumage, and his beak and head had started taking a dark coloration instead of the pinkish hue he had when he was born. Height-wise, he was perhaps only a few inches shorter than Ono. But what called Makuu's attention the most was his wings: the little stubs were growing longer with each passing day, and much like his baby down, it was starting to grow white feathers, though these had black tips.
Crocodiles took years, no, decades, to even reach a proper adult size, so naturally most of the float was stunned at how fast Kitwana's development was, some of them even missing the little gray fuzzball.
He was growing not only in size and body, but maturity as well. He didn't ask for food as often as before, instead preferring to catch his meals himself, something of which Makuu was grateful; it was tiring having to feed a chick every few minutes.
Makuu was worried about the time he'd have to tell Kitwana the truth: he would never fly if he thought he was a crocodile, because by common sense crocodiles did not fly. Not even with the notable difference in physiology did the ibis fledgling suspect he belonged to a different species.
And... Well, it wasn't that he actually cared, but how would his charge react to the news? Would he hate him for letting him believe such a lie? How would he react to the truth of what happened to his real mother? He didn't care if the chick did, but.... Akina and Hodari had gotten attached to him. Yeah, that was it.
However, though he might not admit it, he did like him. Akina, the float, the Guard, even some of the Pride Landers who had witnessed their interactions together had started to notice that Makuu did genuinely care for Kitwana's wellbeing, even if he didn't openly show it, and denied it when asked. Some could not believe it, others were relieved that the crocodile was starting to 'soften up'.
And Akina was hoping that, perhaps, he'd finally change his mind about having hatchlings of their own.
Kitwana, meanwhile, was completely unaware of what was going on in his 'father's' head. He was also noticing the strange changes in his body. His wings, in particular, proved to be a nuisance; he did not see them as wings, though, but rather as his 'forelegs'. They were much more longer and lacked any claws or fingers, and got in the way whenever he wanted to swim around. This frustrated him to no end; he had been dying to make a Death Roll, the characteristic hunting move of crocodiles, but his wings enabled him to do it properly.
He also noted the different... locomotion he had. Instead of walking on all fours, he walked on his two hind legs, which he thought to be too long. He was also confused for his white coloration, rather than everybody else's green, not to mention the lack of teeth. Was he a different type of crocodile?
"Ah, darn!" he cried out in frustration after his third attempt to catch a fish went awry. He was hungry, but he didn't dare go ask Makuu for food; he had overheard some of the crocs mentioning croclings tended to be independent from the moment they hatched, which made Kitwana feel a little guilty. He resolved to learn to feed himself to stop bothering Makuu so often, but it proved harder than he originally thought.
"What am I doing wrong?" Kitwana asked no one in particular, he just wanted to tell somebody how he felt, no matter if it was the wind.
Deciding to try again, he took a deep breath to fill his stomach with air-he found it helped keep him afloat-and lay down unto the surface of the water, only half-spreading his wings, and relaxing his legs. He remained unmoving, waiting for a fish to get closer, one small enough for him to actually catch without being dragged to the deeper part of the lake like last time.
Eventually, one tiny fish did approach his beak, looking for something to eat itself. But as Kitwana stretched out his neck to catch it, he released his breath and sank into the water again. Startled, he startled plashing in the water desperately to get back to the surface, startling his meal in the process.
Angry, he splashed the water-this time on purpose-with one leg. Makuu, Akina and the others made it look so much easier! Exhausted and hungry, Kitwana made his way back to the shore, panting. He was so tired he didn't notice his father approaching.
"Are you okay? You look like you wrestled with a fish." Makuu commented, chuckling a bit when he saw the state his charge was in.
"I can't catch a stupid fish!" Kitwana growled in frustration. "I always sink!"
"Come on, kiddo, a fish is not worth throwing a tantrum."
"I don't get it! Why can't I catch fish like you and the others!"
Everytime the ibis pointed out he couldn't the same things as him or the float, Makuu mentally cursed Akina for her brilliant idea. He bottled the feeling up for the hundreth time.
"How do you manage to stay afloat, Makuu?" Kitwana finally asked after a few more seconds of silence.
"It's..." He didn't know what to say, it was pointless to tell him why he could float. "It's easier if you hold air."
"I already did that, but as soon as I exhale it out I sink. But you never sink when you do so." Kitwana looked at his reflection in the water, saw a bit of his father's reflection too, and again noted the coloration difference... among other things. "Makuu, why am I so different?"
"Different?" Makuu repeated. He panicked momentarily, thinking he had finally caught on. Thankfully, crocodiles were pretty good at masking their emotions.
"I'm white! And I have long hind legs, and my forelegs are..." Kitwana glanced at his clawless, feathery 'paws'. "Geez, I think I resemble Ono more sometimes!"
Okay, he better think of something before he started to connect the dots! Glancing at the other edge of lake Matope, he noted a few flamingos and egrets among the reeds. One of the egrets was staring at the water intently, and his pupils were following something in it; a few seconds later, he quickly struck the surface near his legs with his beak, and when he lifted his head again there was a fish squirming in it.
That gave him an idea. "Well, if you can't catch fish that way, you could try using a different method..."
"Like what?" Kitwana asked, sounding impatient.
"Instead of going completely into the water, you could stand still where the water reaches your knees, and wait for them to come. When it's close enough, catch it in your... mouth."
Despite finding it weird, Kitwana did as told and went back to the water, but this time remained standing on his 'hind legs', completely still; Makuu approached to see how it worked out. He spotted a small school of tiny fish near the reeds. "There, they're coming. Don't go after them, let them come to you."
Kitwana had heard that sentence numerous times. It was the crocodiles' hunting mantra, and their method of catching prey. Their heavy bodies and short legs rendered them unable to chase after meals like lions, wild dogs and other predators. Instead, they waited, for hours if necessary, either passing off as a log in the water or hiding underneath the water's surface, waiting for their unsuspecting victim to approach.
And once they were certain their prey were close enough, they closed their jaws on their throats and made the famous 'death roll' to drag them into the water to drown.
Soon enough, some of the fish approached Kitwana's legs, mistaking them for reeds or branches, but it took him quite the willpower not to try to snap them up in his beak.
"A little more..."
One of the fish was more daring than the rest and swan closer to the surface.
"Now!"
In a fraction of second, Kitwana aimed at the fish and dove his head into the water, making such a huge splash that scared the school of fish away.
All except one, which was squirming desperately in Kitwana's beak, trying to get back into the precious water. Once Kitwana realized he was holding something, and opened his eyes to find his 'prey' in his mercy, he started laughing.
"I caught it! I finally caught it!" he cried out happily, jumping around in the water, though he made sure not to open his beak too much to avoid losing his prize.
All the while, Makuu watched his charge fondly. It had been a long time ever since he felt like this, since he'd shown his little sister how to catch crickets... Curiously, she had also started to jump around happily when she finally did catch one.
Realizing he was remembering again, he pushed the memory aside, even though it hurt him to do so. Sometimes he wanted to remember the good times before Scar's reign, but it had taken him a long time to keep those memories in check to avoid getting all wet-eyed or sentimental.
Crocodiles never cried.
Returning back to the present, he noticed Kitwana had already eaten his first catch, and was currently looking for another fish. He remained immobile until he was certain the fish was close enough, then dove his beak into the water, and seconds later lifted his head out with another fish, this one slightly bigger than the last. Again, Kitwana swallowed it, though it took him a little longer this time due to the size. With his belly quenched, Kitwana shook the water off him, fluffing his plumage and making him look like a real fur ball.
"Hey, Makuu, how come your scales don't fluff like this when you get dry?"
"Well...." He tried to come up with another excuse. "Let's say they... flattened out with age."
"And did you have trouble swimming too?"
Of course he didn't, but it wasn't like he could tell him that and make him suspect. "A bit." He noted the sun would come down at any minute down. "Well, it certainly took you quite a long time to fish your meal, my boy."
It didn't take long for Kitwana to see what he meant when he noted the sky was darkening. "I really need to practice..."
"You can continue tomorrow. For now, let's go back. Akina will be worried."
Kitwana followed Makuu out of the reeds, but he heard a whisper before walking any further. Without his parent noticing, he stopped to look around. When she was certain Makuu was out of earshot, Dalila peeked her head out of the weeds. "Kitwana!"
Surprised to see Dalila after what happened with Mshale, he approached.
For a few days ever since he saw her, she had changed considerably. She was taller, her down was being replaced by the white plumage he had seen in Ono; in fact, she resembled the adult egrets a bit more, except she was still smaller than them, her she hadn't grown all her adult plumage, and her crest was still coming out. But her pretty eyes colored like the tree barks were still the same.
"What are you doing here, Dalila?" he asked her in surprise.
"I thought you'd be lonely. And I wanted to see if you were okay."
"Aren't you afraid of me?"
Dalila shrugged. "I know it wasn't your fault. Mshale brought it upon himself, and he did it intentionally to get you in trouble."
Kitwana sighed in dismay. "I don't understand why he dislikes me so much..."
"It's not you, it's..." Dalila sighed sadly. "He has it against crocodiles because a croc from the outlands ate his dad during the Dry Season..."
"Crocodiles from the outlands? You mean where the hyenas live? I didn't know there were crocs there."
"Me either until I asked Ono about it. All I know is they plotted against King Simba, and were banished because of that." Dalila recalled why she was here on the first place. "By the way, I also came because I wanted to show you something."
"What is it?"
"I found a spot where you can see the sun come out!"
Kitwana looked down sadly. "I'm still grounded, I can't go..."
"It's not very far. You could ask Makuu if you could go at sunrise."
"Kitwana!" Both chicks turned their heads and spotted Makuu a few pawsteps away, looking at Kitwana impatiently, though he didn't seem to mind Dalila. "Let's go!"
Kitwana glanced at Dalila. "Okay, I'll ask him. Hopefully he won't be that mad anymore..."
Dalila nodded, smiling. "I'll be waiting!"
Makuu called out again, louder and more impatiently. "Kitwana!"
Kitwana rushed towards him. "Coming!"
XXXXX
The float had fallen asleep a few hours ago, but Kitwana couldn't sleep. He was worried asking Makuu for permission; he hadn't gotten a chance, and he was certain it wouldn't be a good idea to wake him up. But he didn't dare disobey him after what happened, and he didn't want to leave Dalila waiting for him there.
Kitwana stood up from his spot and silently walked towards his father's head, hearing his snoring. "Makuu?"
While usually a deep sleeper, Makuu started shifting awake when he heard Kitwana calling for him. However, he was still irritated about being awoken in the middle of the night. "Kitwana... Do you have any idea of what time it is...?"
"Sorry, Makuu... I want to ask you something..."
"What is it?"
"Umm..."
Makuu grunted. "Spit it out, kiddo."
"Who are the crocs in the Outlands?" Kitwana regretted asking the wrong question, especially when he noticed Makuu's eyes widening in surprise.
"Who told you about that?" he said.
"Dalila mentioned it, she said that Mshale's dad was eaten by a croc from the Outlands..."
Makuu remained silent. Should he tell him? Oh, well, he didn't have anything to lose in this case, it might actually encourage Kitwana to stay away from the Outlands, and them. He sighed.
"They used to be part of the float, but one of them, Kiburi, got a little too... ambitious for his own good."
"Is it true he tried to overthrow King Simba?"
"I have no idea of where he got that idea from, or why he thought it would actually work, but yes, he did. He challenged me to Mashindano to distract him while his followers killed him, but Ono caught them in the act."
"What happened then?"
"I ended up beating him, which meant he had to leave the float, along with his traitorous underlings. Then King Simba decreed they were banished from the Pride Lands for plotting to murder him."
Kitwana blinked. "Why did he do it?"
"Didn't you hear? They plotted to kill him-"
"Not King Simba. Kiburi. Why did he plot against Simba?"
Makuu grunted in annoyance. "He was not happy with the waterhole Simba picked for us, but it was the Dry Season, it wasn't like we had lots of options. He wasn't happy that I went to ask him for help in the first place."
"Were you friends?"
"Not exactly..." Makuu said, and soon found himself sighing sadly. "We used to be friends, though, when we were still hatchlings. We weren't exactly close, but we had similar ways of thinking."
"Why did you stop being friends?"
"When we grew up we had lots of differences, and I'll leave it like that. Are you done with the question-and-answer session?"
Kitwana decided to ask straight out before he grew more irritated. "Dalila invited me to watch sunrise with her nearby, on a hill. I wanted to ask you if I could go."
Makuu frowned. "In case you forgot, you're grounded."
"I know, that's why I wanted to ask you instead of doing something rash. I just don't want to let her down, she's the only friend my age I have. If you wish, I won't go to the Kupatana in return for this, but please... I want to see her."
For a moment, Makuu thought he saw a little spark in Kitwana's eyes when he spoke of Dalila.