A couple days later...
Despite his eyes still being closed, Kiburi could tell that it was midday due to the hot rays of sunshine that he felt burning his scales. He quietly grumbled in his sleep and blinked open his eyes. Once awake, Kiburi stretched his limbs before slipping into the cold, saving graces of the cave's river.
While floating in the water, Kiburi looked over at Makuu to see that he was still asleep. Kiburi snorted in amusement.
{I guess my knocking him upside the head was enough to keep him out of it for the time being.}
"Good morning, Kiburi," a familiar voice greeted.
"Huh? Keyon? What are you doing here?" Kiburi asked.
"Just thought I would check in."
"Why?"
"Because I wanted to. Anyway, you seem sort of surprised or shocked or whatever to see me. Is there anything on your mind that you would like to talk about?"
"No."
"Are you sure? Because if you're thinking of a way to escape..."
"Yeah right! As if I could with you lot around."
"Fair point. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that my sister is back to her normal self and she's very much looking forward to meeting you."
"Excuse me?"
"I'm guessing you're not ready to meet her yet."
"Why does she want to meet me? Did you tell her about me or something?"
"I didn't really have much of a choice! Zula doesn't stop bugging someone until they tell her what she wants to know, and for some reason she really wants to know about you."
"Sounds like a real pain in the tail end, if you ask me."
"She can be, sometimes, but she really is a great gal. If you give her a chance, I really think that you will like her."
"Okay, fine, whatever. But first things first, what did you tell her about me?"
"Well..."
Keyon didn't have the chance to finish his sentence before something headbutted him straight into Kiburi, sending both males underwater. When Kiburi and Keyon resurfaced and recovered from the surprise, they heard what sounded like a young female laughing at them. Both males looked up and spotted a young female crocodile standing at the entrance. She had blue-tinted light green scales and a mottled snout, but what really drew Kiburi's attention was the female's eyes, which were light blue in coloration. As far as he knew, only a select few crocodiles had blue eyes, if any at all.
Kiburi was so focused on the female that he was nearly startled out of his scales when Keyon shouted right next to him.
"Zula! How many times have I told you to never do that when I'm talking to someone?"
"Sorry, brother, but I couldn't help it!" Zula chuckled. "You do have to admit that I got you good this time. You weren't even expecting it, which made it all the better!"
"Yeah, I know. Good job, sis. You're getting better, that's for sure. Just promise me..."
Keyon didn't get to finish because Zula turned away from him to look at Kiburi, and immediately she dove in to get a closer look.
"Hi there! You must be Kiburi. You're Kiburi, right?" Zula barraged.
"Yes, that's Kiburi," Keyon quickly replied. "Now, do you mind backing off a bit and giving us some room before you two get acquainted with each other?"
"Okay, sheesh, brother. You don't need to be so rude about it. See? I'm backing off. Aren't I a good listener?"
"Hardly," Keyon mumbled under his breath.
Zula couldn't hear her brother's comment, but Kiburi could, and he couldn't help showing off some amusement at Keyon's remark.
"Don't you guys understand the meaning of not disturbing one's sleep?"
It was Makuu, now wide awake, and not happy about it in the slightest.
"And a good morning to you, too," Kiburi replied sarcastically.
"I'm not in the mood to deal with your attitude today, Kiburi."
"Why not? Considering you've been doing nothing but sleeping for the past few days, I'm surprised that your mood has soured even more than normal."
"I'm suffering from a constant headache, no thanks to you."
"Maybe if your reaction time wasn't so slow..."
"A slow reaction time? I had no idea you were going to react like that! How was that in any way my fault?"
"Well it certainly wasn't my fault."
"Whatcha guys talking about?" Zula interrupted.
Kiburi immediately noticed that Zula was right next to him. Feeling uncomfortable and not at all pleased about having a female around, Kiburi shifted away, but Zula, filled with curiosity, was undeterred. The two of them kept doing this for a while.
"Oh, come on!" Zula whined. "Stand still or sit still or whatever you do when you don't move in the water so that we can get to know each other!"
"Sorry, but I don't like females," Kiburi snapped.
"Keyon told me you were pretty temperamental, but I didn't think you would be this bad."
"He told you what?! Keyon...wait, where did he go?"
"Uh, Kiburi, you might want to take a look at this," Makuu said, tilting his head in the direction of the cave's entrance
When Kiburi turned to look at whatever Makuu was looking at, he felt a stone lodge in his stomach. Keyon was standing face-to-face with Nkiru at the entrance, while Jaz and Tuma hung back, refusing to intervene.
"Oh, no," Kiburi mumbled. "This can't be good."
"Nothing usually is whenever Nkiru's involved," Zula snarled.
This surprised Kiburi. He turned to look at Zula so that they could converse with each other.
"Sounds like you don't like her, let alone trust her," Kiburi commented.
"I don't, but unfortunately I have to follow her lead," Zula vented. "I'm a part of her section of the float, which means I need to listen to everything she says and carry out her orders. The only reason I'm stuck with her is because of..."
"Tuma."
"How did you...Keyon told you, didn't he?"
"Yeah, he did. He probably wouldn't have told me if we weren't stuck searching for you."
"The snitch! I don't know why Nneka constantly tasks him with keeping secrets when he's not good at keeping his jaws shut."
"Maybe that's because you coax the information out of your brother by annoying him until he can't take it anymore. At least, that's what he told me."
"Really? Well then, if Nkiru doesn't rip him apart now, I'll be sure to do so later. Just out of curiosity, what else did Keyon tell you about me?"
Suddenly, the conversation was interrupted before Kiburi could answer Zula's question.
"Zula!"
Kiburi and Zula broke eye contact with each other and turned to see Nkiru glaring at them.
"Get over here, now!"
Zula didn't seem at all pleased about the order.
"Well, there goes my fun. See ya around, Kiburi!"
Just as Zula was leaving, Kiburi had the sudden urge to follow her. For some reason, he didn't want her to face Nkiru alone. As he approached the entrance, Kiburi saw surprise and irritation light upon Nkiru and Tuma's faces.
"What do you want?" Nkiru snarled.
"Nothing, really, except for you to back off," Kiburi replied.
"Excuse me?"
"You heard what I said. I don't think I need to repeat myself."
"Who are you to tell me what I can or can not do?"
"I'm just saying that you should at least show a little gratitude towards Zula for the amount of loyalty she has towards you, despite the way you seem to be treating her."
"That's rich coming from you," Tuma commented, finally entering the confrontation.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Kiburi questioned, turning away from Nkiru to face Tuma.
"You should know what I'm talking about, Outlander, or would you prefer my saying of the term 'rogue born'?"
Kiburi, as well as everyone else, was shocked into silence. Kiburi wanted to lunge at Tuma and force him to take back what he just said, but was frozen in place, and mentally thrust back in time as memories from his past began to resurface. Memories of when his mother left the float, and when he was stuck being rejected, untrusted, and almost always called "rogue born."
"Hey!" Makuu snapped as he swam up alongside Kiburi to face Tuma. "Back off, Tuma! There's no need to pick on Kiburi when he's done nothing to you!"
"How about you just stay out of my way, Makuu, or would you prefer it if we finished that fight right now?" Tuma taunted.
"Tuma, stop it!" Zula cried as she placed herself between the water and Tuma. "Enough, please."
"Zula? You too?"
"Yes, Tuma, me too. He's right, you know. You went way too far this time."
"I couldn't agree more."
Everyone turned their attentions in the direction of the new voice, and immediately recognized Nneka standing outside the group of quarreling crocodiles.
"Now, I suggest that you all calm down and shut up, before some possibly unnecessary violence comes into play. To be perfectly honest, I've been having a pretty pleasant day so far, and even though I don't want this moment to be the start of its downfall, I have a feeling that it will. So, who wants to begin the complaining?"
"How about we start with you getting these two under control?" Nkiru snarled, pointing her tail at both Kiburi and Makuu.
"Why? I don't see anything wrong with having them speak their minds," Nneka answered nonchalantly.
"You're only saying that just to piss me off more."
"Maybe, but you really should practice what you preach."
"What are you talking about?"
"You should know what I'm about to say, Nkiru, and it's that you need to keep Tuma under control."
"Tuma was addressing that indignant crocodile by what he truly is and you know it!"
"Really? You might have forgotten, which I doubt you have, but may I remind you that Zula and her brothers, as well as Tuma, all of whom are your own flesh and blood, are all 'rogue borns' as well?"
{Wait - the four of them - are rogue borns?}
"So? They're all related to you as well, and even you don't like outsiders!"
{The lot of them - Keyon, Jaz, Zula, Tuma - are like me - but at the same time - not like me.}
"At least I don't call them by that condescending title! An animal should be treated according to their actions and personality instead of publicly-placed stigmas or the reputation of their families."
{But if Tuma is a rogue born like me, then how come he dislikes others like us? Is he trying to prove himself? If he is, then what is he trying to prove?}
"But..."
"Shut it, Nkiru! I will have no more out of you today unless it is absolutely worth my time. I also suggest taking Tuma with you, before he steps out of line again. Oh, and before you ask, you're not getting Zula back until I say so. Now, get going before I change my mind."
Nkiru growled, but she didn't feel like arguing anymore. She pushed past Nneka on her way out of the clearing. Tuma followed suit.
{I wonder...could he be trying to prove his loyalty?}
"Thanks, Nneka," Keyon breathed. "I don't know what we would have done if you hadn't shown up."
"No problem, Keyon," Nneka dismissed. "After putting up with my sister for my entire life, I know better than anyone else how to deal with her."
"I don't know how you do it, Nneka," Zula sighed.
"Plenty of time filled with patience and temperance, my dear. I'm just waiting for the perfect moment when Nkiru will slip up, mainly so I can finally get rid of her, and hopefully for good."
"They do realize we can hear them, right?" Kiburi whispered.
"I don't think they care if we overhear them or not," Makuu whispered back. "It seems like Nkiru and Tuma are their top priorities at the moment instead of us."