Soon after escaping, the animals found themselves into yet another problem: they had no idea of which direction to go to return to the Pride Lands. They were in the middle of a desert, and some were in no condition to travel. Julisha's leg had a wound reminiscent of a crocodile's jaws that left her limping, and she couldn't gallop. They hadn't seen it because her prison hid most of her body from view.
As Kiburi pointed out, they had gone from the frying pan into the fire. Almost literally, in this case. "Did any of you at least consider this scenario before talking about escaping?" He asked the other animals, irritated, especially when none of the others could give him a positive reply.
"Well, frankly, it's better than being locked up back there," Usian stated.
"Whatever we do, we should stick together," Julisha said. "We'll have more chance of making it back that way."
Makuu usually didn't like working with animals that were not crocodiles, but on this occasion, he knew there was no other choice. The desert was the worst place for a crocodile, and he and Kiburi would need all the help they could get, especially since the latter hadn't eaten properly for who knows how long, and he himself hadn't been properly fed.
Thankfully, it was nighttime, and though it was very cold, they would rather have it that way while they thought of something, plus the stars helped them navigate around.
Kitwana then mentioned that King Simba had gotten lost in the desert during his exile, and was taken by Timon and Pumbaa to an oasis where Simba spent a few years before returning to reclaim the throne; he suggested to search for that oasis, take a break in that place and then return to the Pride Lands from there. The animals agreed it would be the best course of action... if they could find it before dropping dead from dehydration.
This was when Makuu noticed his foster son was not the same... almost. He had matured considerably, and he no longer acted like a crocodile (thankfully, he wouldn't have wanted Kiburi to make fun of him). However, he didn't talk to him much either, and he seemed to keep his distance even more than that time when he scolded him for getting into a fight with Mshale.
This hurt him.
The group wandered around the desert all night, while Kalere occasionally flew up to take a look at the surrounding areas, in search of the fabled oasis. Nurisha and Usian, being very small in comparison to the others, wouldn't be able to keep up on foot, so the former wrapped herself around Jafari's neck, and the latter rode on Julisha's back. Kitwana, however, continued on foot, even though he had to run for a few feet to catch up.
"You know, you could get on my back so you won't waste your energy..." Makuu offered.
"No, thank you," Kitwana said politely. "I wouldn't like to bother you."
The formal tone in which he spoke stung Makuu, he was talking to him as if he were a stranger. It bothered him, but as he tried to say something else, nothing came to mind. He even ignored the amused look Kiburi gave him.
Eventually, the sun rose, and with it came the hellish heat. Though the group felt the terrible wave of heat, it affected Kiburi and Makuu even more, since they were cold-blooded and had nowhere to cool down. Since crocodiles did not sweat, their jaws were almost wide open in order to release body heat, but it did not help much without any water or shade.
Much to the crocodiles' luck, the group soon came upon a rock formation that formed a cave, and they stopped there to rest. Exhausted and overheated, Makuu and Kiburi lay down with their jaws wide open and didn't move from there; in fact, they were so drained of energy they fell asleep. Meanwhile, Kalere went to look for any signs of the oasis.
"If I have to walk one more mile, I'll drop dead," Umoja said, panting.
"It would be better if we had some water," Usian commented.
"What do you complain about? You didn't walk at all, I'm the one doing all the job here." Julisha snorted.
"Shouldn't we stay here until nightfall?" Kitwana suggested, glancing over at the sleeping crocodiles. "The heat is killing both Makuu and Kiburi, being in the desert is worse than the Dry Season for them."
"Actually, I was going to suggest it too," Usian stated. "With this heat, we won't last any longer considering we have yet to drink any water."
"Are you nuts? The longer we take to go back, the more likely the humans will come after and recapture us!" Jafari said with a snort, stomping his hoof impatiently.
"I don't think they'd come into the desert if they are as puny as Kitwana said," Nurisha responded.
Kitwana glanced at the little elephant, noting he hadn't said anything. He didn't cry as often anymore, but he still was very shy.
"I just hope Kalere comes back soon..." Umoja said, groaning. "I really want to get to that oasis and get a refreshing drink!"
While they waited for the drongo to come back (hopefully she would), Kitwana approached the baby elephant, whose name was unknown to him and the rest of the animals. "Hey, are you okay?"
The elephant turned to him, raising his ears, and gave a very slight nod.
Instead of asking his name straight out, Kitwana decided to get him to open up a bit. "Don't worry, we'll get back soon and you can reunite with your family." He noticed the elephant's ear dropping and him looking down. "Oh... did you lose your family?"
Sniffling, the baby elephant nodded.
"I kind of understand how you feel, in a way. From what I hear, my mom was shot before I was born, though she managed to lay my egg. I didn't get to know her at all, and... Well, I have never gotten to ask Makuu if he could tell me about her..."
The elephant glanced at him in surprise, and then in compassion. A few seconds later, he finally spoke in a whisper. "Sorry..."
Kitwana was surprised he had talked. "Thank you..."
"My mama was k-killed by... them..."
"Do you have any more family?"
"M-My grandma and aunts..."
"I'm sure they will be happy to see you."
"...My name is Oga..."
"I'm Kitwana, nice to meet you." Kitwana smiled at him in a friendly manner
Unbeknown to them both, Makuu was overhearing. He was surprised Kitwana had gotten the previously and seemingly mute elephant to talk, which showed how much he had really changed and matured. Still, he felt guilty when the fledgling mentioned his mother and the fact he knew nothing about her. Makuu himself didn't know her at all except for a few minutes, so there was little he could tell him about her even if he wanted to.
"What?" Surprised to hear Kiburi's voice, he turned around to see him awake and noted he was staring at him in annoyance.
"You heard it too?" Makuu inquired, not bothering to show annoyance.
"Are you going to just stay there, or are you going to talk with that chick?" Kiburi merely said.
Makuu blinked. "Excuse me?"
"It's pretty evident you and your... foster son didn't part ways in good terms."
"You don't know anything."
"I don't need to, from the way you two are acting around each other I can tell."
He had to admit, one good thing about Kiburi was that he was very observant and paid close attention to details. "Even if you were right, what's it to you?"
"Nothing, but you become unbearable when you feel guilty about something and want others to feel miserable because of it instead of facing your problems," Kiburi snapped. "So instead of feeling sorry for yourself, you should talk things over with that chick."
Before Makuu could retort suddenly Kalere flew into the cave, panting heavily, and crashed against the ground though she was unhurt.
"Kalere, are you alright?!" Usian cried as he went over to her.
"It's really hot out there...!" she said, still panting. "If birds could sweat I would have lost three liters of all my body fluids!"
"So, did you find anything?" Nurisha asked.
"Well, I thought I did the first times, but my mind and the heat were playing tricks on me. Then I encountered a fennec fox and asked him if there were any oasis around, and he said there is one going west from here!"
"Can we trust a fox?" Kiburi pointed out. "Those animals are tricksters, he might as well be misdirecting us so we'll eventually die and he'll get to eat our bodies."
"I thought of that too, so I flew towards the direction he pointed too for a while, and then I spotted what seemed to be an oasis, but at first I thought it was another trick of my mind so I decided to check it out and-"
"Go straight to the point, drongo!" Kiburi snapped, his patience going thin. "Did you find it or not?"
"It was the real one! It's not far from here!" Kalere said in fright at his tone.
The animals cheered at the news, but then she spoke again. "But by foot, it'll take half a day, I think." Immediately, the cheers turned into groans of dismay.
"We were discussing if we waited until night to go to the oasis. Makuu and Kiburi won't last long with this heat." Kitwana stated.
"Besides, by day it'll be easier for those humans to spot us if they do come after us," Umoja added. "I say we wait."
"Me too." Makuu quickly added.
Thankfully, none of the others protested, and so they decided to wait until nightfall to depart. A few hours later, when the sun finally disappeared behind the endless sand dunes, the animals set off for the direction Kalere pointed out, though this time she didn't fly due to the darkness. Hopefully, they would get there before dawn.
Kitwana was now on top of the little elephant, and the two were chatting in a rather cheerful manner, though Oga still spoke in whispers that only Kitwana heard for the time being. The other animals were glad to learn the elephant's name, and overall that he seemed to be getting over what happened. Makuu felt like approaching to talk to him, but he didn't dare to, afraid of being rebuffed; not to mention he didn't want to ruin the progress with Oga.
Besides, he had enough to worry about with the unintentional promise he made to Kiburi when they returned. Part of him didn't want to help him after all the things he had done, but... he knew what it felt like to be completely alone and he wouldn't wish it even on Kiburi, especially given that the Outlands were especially inhospitable to lone animals.
Even though they were exhausted, they moved on through the desert the all night, with only the stars above to guide them. By the time the moon was about to touch the horizon, though, Kalere soon spotted the oasis in the distance. "Guys, there it is! The oasis!"
"Are you sure it's not an illusion?" Jafari asked.
"I doubt it, it's not hot as hell right now."
"Good, let's fasten up the pace!" Julisha cried in delight.
Even Kiburi's mood enlightened at the idea of some freshwater. "I just can't wait to get a very long dip."
The animals set out for the oasis, but Makuu had a bad feeling, he felt as if something bad was going to happen. While the others got up ahead, he stopped momentarily and took a look around.
Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but soon he saw a familiar figure hidden behind one of the dunes. He realized the human was aiming the long gun from before at...
The crocodile reacted before anyone else knew what was going on.
"KIBURI, LOOK OUT!"
POW!
The animals jumped in fright at the familiar sound of a hunting riffle. Kiburi landed a few steps away with a loud thud as he was pushed out of the way. When he turned around to see what had happened, his heart skipped a beat.
Kitwana screamed in horror "MAKUU!"
The crocodile was on the ground, panting heavily, and a bullet had pierced through his skin in right in on the upper part of his neck, staining the sand with his red blood.
Umoja was the first to spot the human who had shot, he was up on the dune. "There he is! What do we do?!"
"Leave him to me!" Kalere cried as she flew towards the human as fast as she could. She started pecking his head but was swift enough to avoid his arms to peck at him again, while he tried to strike her away in vain.
The other animals quickly gathered around Makuu, and Kitwana hopped unto his snout. "Makuu, are you alright?! Makuu!"
He didn't respond, he couldn't. His side was burning, almost as if there was an actual fire on it, and he lost track of time and place. He didn't know where he was, his vision was blurry, and the shouts were like whispers to him...
Kiburi was staring at him in utter shock, realizing what had happened: Makuu, his nemesis, and rival had just saved his life. This could have been him if Makuu hadn't pushed him out of the way... but why...?
Knowing Kalere wouldn't be able to hold him off forever, Nurisha quickly slithered towards the human, remembering Kitwana said they were more vulnerable than they looked. When she spotted a part of exposed skin on the human's leg, she quickly dug her fangs unto it and injected as much venom as she could.
The human yelled in pain and kicked the cobra away, but when he saw the bite, he went pale and looked as if he had seen a ghost. He scrambled back to his feet to run away towards his 'vehicle', climbed into it and disappeared through the sand dunes in almost confusing turns.
"M-Makuu, please don't go to sleep...!" Kitwana cried at his adoptive father, trying to shake him awake in desperation. "Don't leave me again!"
"S-So cold..." Makuu whispered almost inaudibly.
"W-What do we do?!" Usian cried out in horror.
"We must get to the oasis before the sun rises or it'll be worse!" Kalere said, landing on Umoja's back in worry.
"He cannot walk in this state!" Jafari said. "Heck, he can't even think clearly, from what I see!"
Kiburi approached. "Get him on my back!" when they looked at him in surprise, he snarled. "Hurry up if you want him to have a chance at making it!"
With some considerable effort, Julisha, Umoja, and Oga pushed Makuu unto Kiburi's back; the latter struggled to stay on his feet due to the great weight.
"I have to take the bullet out!" Kitwana cried; by then he was crying of fright.
"Do it when we're at the oasis! We can't risk the sun rising before we get there!" Kiburi snapped.
Makuu whispered again. "Kitwana..."
Although surprised, the fledgling still went over to hug his limp leg. "I'm here, Makuu! I'm not going to leave you, I'm here!"
"I'm sorry... I'm sorry, Kitwana... I'm so sorry..." Kiburi would have groaned in annoyance under different circumstances; this wasn't what he had in mind when he told Makuu to talk things over with the kid.
The way towards the oasis was arduous for Kiburi as he struggled to continue with Makuu on his back, and he had to make sure he didn't slip off. Oga and Julisha moved along with him to help in keeping Makuu's nearly-dead form on his back, while Kitwana was on top of Makuu's neck, trying to stop the bleeding with his wings, staining his white feathers in the process. All the while, Makuu continued to speak in delirious whispers, or merely breath heavily.
To make matters worse, since they had to slow their pace, the sun had started to rise, and the wave of heat it brought with it made things harder for Kiburi. The oasis became closer and closer, but at a very slow pace.
"Akina..." Makuu whispered before starting to cough from the dehydration.
"Stop whining and keep your energy!" Kiburi snapped at him, panting heavily. "You will see her again, you better not die here or you'll leave her alone! You have to go back to her no matter what!" he never thought he'd ever say this to the one who stole her from him, but now was not the time for that.
It took them longer than they'd hoped, but eventually, they arrived at the edge of the oasis, and the burning sand was replaced with fertile soil, the sunlight was partly blocked by the trees, and the heat diminishes considerably because of this.
The group advanced a few more meters into the jungle, and finally, they came upon a great spring of clear water with a small waterfall, but they had no time to enjoy it just yet. Kiburi couldn't take one more step, and collapsed on the ground, panting heavily. Makuu slid from his back rom the small impact, but he was still unresponsive.
"Makuu, hang on!" Kitwana cried and warily started seeing the wound. He remembered Jiji's words.
Usually, the best way to go is to take out the bullet first, and then try to stop the hemorrhage by pressing; the organism will do the rest. Crocs have little to worry about, though, their blood has natural antibiotics, which makes their wounds heal faster and prevents any sort of infections.
The sight of the blood made Kitwana's stomach knot, but he armed himself up with courage and he inserted his beak into the wound; Makuu winced unconsciously.
"By the Circle of Life!" Usian cried out.
"I can't watch this!" Jafari said, turning around; Kalere didn't say anything, she fainted right on spot, falling unto the ground.
Kiburi and Umoja were the only ones who didn't avert their gaze from the sight, they were predators and used to this kind of scenes, though they did feel shivers at the sight of Kitwana dipping his beak carefully into the injury.
A few moments later, Kitwana managed to pull out a big, cylinder-shaped object made of metal and covered in blood that was the size of a dung beetle, and let it fall to the ground.
"Squash it!" Julisha neighed in fright, stomping her front hooves.
"It's not alive..." Kitwana whispered.
"You should get a bath, kiddo," Kiburi said. "You look terrible."
"Think we should get Makuu into the water?"
"It'll be best to leave him in the shade for now so he'll cool down. Besides, I don't want to drink his blood if it stains the water."
Kitwana was partly irritated that he made such a comment when Makuu was in this state, but he realized the other animals needed to drink too. He nodded silently but didn't move away from his adoptive father. Oga helped him move Makuu towards one of the nearby plants to place him under the shade.
"Aren't you going to get a drink?" Oga asked quietly.
"Nah, don't worry. I'm fine..." Kitwana lied, though he was actually very thirsty.
"I think we should leave him to rest. Crocodiles are tough, and that thing didn't hit a vital organ."
Makuu hadn't said anything in a while, rather it seemed like he had lost consciousness again, or fallen asleep. Kitwana looked down at his feathers and realized he was covered in blood. Perhaps he should get a bath, lest he wanted Makuu to have a heart attack thinking he had been hurt.
Hours went by.
By the time Makuu finally awoke, at a more stable temperature and a bit more lucid, he felt a terrible aching sensation in the area near his shoulder, plus a throbbing headache and great thirst. However, as his vision cleared, he noticed he was underneath a plant acting as a shading source. Confused, he lowly walked out from under it-wincing every time his neck stung-and found himself in a jungle, with a spring of cool water just a few feet away.
"What the...? However did I get here...?" he wondered. His mind was fuzzy, all he remembered was spotting a human with a gun, pushing Kiburi out of the way and then a loud sound... everything after that was a blur.
"Look who's finally awake."
His vision still blurry, Makuu had to squint his eyes a bit to spot Kiburi floating in the pool contently. "Kiburi...?"
"Are you going to start with that again?" Kiburi responded, partly annoyed.
"W-What happened?"
"It's quite a long story. If you want to hear it, you should cool yourself down a bit... literally."
Though confused by the... politeness, Makuu didn't need to be told twice and stepped into the water. It felt so good to feel the refreshing sensation in his whole body, especially after so much heat and little water the past days. He couldn't resist and dipped his head underwater, emerging a few seconds later. The coolness of the water partly relieved the ache in his newly-acquired wound. "Where are the others?" he inquired after a while.
"The zebra and the impala went to graze, the cobra is asleep under a rock somewhere, the aardvark's probably looking for an ant hill... I'm not sure about the drongo and the elephant."
"What about Kitwana?"
"The poor chick was exhausted after what happened, so the drongo insisted he take a nap."
"Really, Kiburi, would it hurt you to call them by their names? Besides, you didn't answer my question, what happened?"
Kiburi wished he could taunt him a bit longer, but decided against it, and told Makuu what had happened back at the desert, how he had been shot instead of Kiburi, how he had to carry him towards the oasis on his back, and how Kitwana had taken the bullet out of the wound. He had to contain a snicker at Makuu's face when he learned he had said quite a few things while delirious.
"You said Kitwana saved my life...?" he asked in genuine surprise.
"In a way, he said the wound wouldn't heal properly if he didn't take that... bullet thing out." Kiburi explained. "But I have the feeling he won't forget the experience anytime soon."
"And you... You carried me?"
Oh, no. Now he'd get all sentimental. "You took the bullet for me, I owed you one, so you could say we're even." Kiburi then growled. "If you ever tell anyone about it, I'll tell them about the things you whispered in your sleep."
"Deal." Before Kiburi could swim off, he called out. "Kiburi... Thank you." Kiburi only snorted and submerged underwater.
Makuu, meanwhile, just stayed in the surface, basking while enjoying the water, but at the same time thought about Kitwana; He had been the one to save his life when it was supposed to be the other way around. He was also shaken by what Kiburi did for him when he could have left him to die in the desert; though he claimed it was just because he owed him, he had the feeling that perhaps Kiburi was not a bad crocodile after all.
Sometime later, Kalere near the edge of the water to bath herself, and noticed Makuu. "Good, you're finally awake! We were worried that you wouldn't make it!"
"Where is Kitwana?" Makuu asked.
"The poor thing had to get a bath, his feathers were stained with your-"
"I'd thank you if you didn't go into details," The crocodile added quickly. "Just tell me where he is."
"He's taking a well-deserved nap in an old den we found. I know you probably want to talk to him, but I'd say you wait until he wakes up."
Makuu sighed and lay his head back down unto the water. "Yes. Maybe it'll be best."