"Tuma, get off me!" Kiburi attempted to say, but couldn't.
"Come again?" Tuma asked, lowering his head closer to Kiburi's.
To get his point across, Kiburi lifted one of his claws and pointed it at the foot that Tuma had placed on his snout. Tuma looked at where Kiburi was pointing, realization lighting up in his eyes as he removed his foot from the other's snout.
"Oh, sorry. Forgot about that. Now, what were you saying?"
"I said to get off me!"
"As much as I would love to, Kiburi, I can't. Nkiru will have my head if I don't follow her orders."
"Then why aren't you trying to kill me right now?"
"Because I don't want to kill you! I know that if I do, Zula would be devastated. I don't want to betray her."
"Are you really that close to her?"
"Zula's like a sister to me. I would do almost anything for her."
"Interesting. So, if you're not going to kill me, then what are you going to do?"
"The only thing I can do: make it look like a real fight without actually killing you."
"Well, it's a good thing that you told me all this, or else I would have tried to kill you myself."
Wasting no time at all, Kiburi thrust Tuma off his back and the two crocodiles went back to fighting. They became a tussling bundle of teeth, claws, and scales, with Tuma getting the upper claw, again. Kiburi was pinned down on his back, but before he could throw the other crocodile off, someone else beat him to it. The stranger sent Tuma flying into some bushes further away.
"You okay, Kiburi?" A familiar voice asked.
As he was rolling back onto his stomach, Kiburi had to do a double take when he realized who had just knocked Tuma off him.
"Beshte?!" Kiburi gasped, surprised to see the hippo. "What are you doing here?"
"We came here to save you and Makuu. It's a good thing that Talib found out where you guys were, or else who knows what would have happened. We've been looking all over the place for you guys...or, at least, we've been looking all over for Makuu. Uh, no offense?"
"None taken, at the moment. The rest of the guard here?"
"Of course! Masika's also here, and I'm sure glad that she is. You do know who Masika is, don't you?"
"Oh, yeah. I do."
Kiburi turned his attention to the battle, which was now more evened out with the lion guard and Masika participating in the fighting. As far as Kiburi could tell, everyone was evenly matched: the Valley crocodiles rivaled Kion's fierceness, Bunga's braveness, Beshte's strength, Fuli's speed, and Ono's keen-sight. Masika may be much slower as compared to the other crocodiles, but she was just as skilled a fighter as they were, and even more powerful. In the midst of it, Makuu was still facing off with Nkiru. Out of the corner of his eye, Kiburi spotted the twins being cornered near the rock pile by a few Valley crocodiles.
"Beshte, mind doing me a favor?" Kiburi asked.
"Uh...sure," Beshte replied hesitantly. "What do you need?"
"See those two dwarf crocodiles over there? Think you can help them out? They're friends."
"Of course, Kiburi! No problem!"
When Beshte left, Kiburi got back on his feet and began searching for Tuma, scouring the underbrush for the Valley crocodile.
"Tuma? Come on, Tuma, you can't possibly be that far away."
Kiburi didn't have to wait long before something erupted out of the bushes and sent him tumbling back into the clearing.
"You looking for me?" Tuma taunted.
"Why wouldn't I be when we still have a fight to finish?" Kiburi questioned as he regained his footing and went back to battle with Tuma.
Despite the entire thing being put on for show, they did their job of making it look like a real fight. Kiburi and Tuma were matching each other stride for stride, but both crocodiles soon began to tire-out, and before long, Kiburi managed to tackle Tuma one last time before pinning him. Tuma struggled to free himself, but he had spent too much of his energy already, and so thought it best to just give-in. Kiburi felt some satisfaction from this surrender, since he still didn't like, let alone trust Tuma in the slightest. He also felt pleased about having finally beaten someone as well, especially after all of the countless times he's fought Makuu and lost. Thinking about the seemingly unbeatable leader, or at least unbeatable by normal crocodile standards, Kiburi's concern began to grow.
{What if Makuu doesn't make it through this? I mean, he has to, right? Then again, he is facing-off against Nkiru, and she's made it perfectly clear that she's the strongest member of her float. Makuu may be the best fighter in the Pridelands, but there's no way he can possibly defeat Nkiru. I don't think anyone can, except maybe Nneka, but she's long gone now.}
"Get the hell off of him!" A female voice cried.
Kiburi was so entranced in his thoughts that he didn't notice the fight taking an intervention, and a rather serious one at that. The leader lifted his gaze, which turned into one of surprise as he scanned the clearing. What was once a chaotic bundle of fighting animals was now a quiet circle of onlookers, who were staring at the few in the center of the clearing. Masika, the powerful newcomer, was glaring at Nkiru, who had Makuu pinned to the ground, her claws digging into the back of his neck.
"I might consider releasing him...assuming Kiburi's willing to let my own crocodile up first," Nkiru calmly replied, turning her gaze towards the exiled leader.
Kiburi felt a pit of anxiety form in his stomach, but he wasn't going to be threatened by this specific crocodile any longer.
"Nice try, Nkiru, but I'm not going to get off of Tuma unless you release Makuu first," Kiburi snapped.
"That's not how this works! Get off him now, or else I'll pierce this croc's head with my claws!"
"I wouldn't recommend doing that! Of course, that's assuming you want to live!"
It took the animals a few moments to realize that the voice didn't belong to anyone on the ground, but rather, belonged to a male crocodile who stood on top of the stone pile.
"Zaire?!" Masika gasped. "What are you doing?"
"Don't worry, sis, I have everything under control!" Zaire reassured. "Anyway, I just wanted to warn Nkiru regarding the huge mistake that she's about to make."
"I have no idea what you're talking about, kid, but I've been careful so far, and I know for a fact that everything is going according to plan," Nkiru responded.
"You could say that, but I should let you know that your statement isn't entirely true."
"What do you mean by that, kid? No one can possibly stop me!"
"We'll see about that in...oh...I don't know...a few seconds from now? Ah, whatever. Let's just say that you should have thought about the impossible."
What happened next is exactly what Zaire was talking about, and the ironic part is, no one was expecting, let alone prepared for it. No one in the clearing was given any time to react before something lunged out of the underbrush and knocked Nkiru off of Makuu. The attacker, who was a crocodile, didn't hesitate to clamp their jaws around the dazed leader's exposed neck. Kiburi watched in horror as the newcomer ruthlessly tore a now helpless Nkiru apart, clawing at her underbelly and lower jaw, as well as shaking her neck back and forth. Within a matter of seconds, there was a loud crack and an overflow of blood as the other crocodile literally tore Nkiru's throat out. Only when the stranger dropped the battered body of Nkiru did Kiburi recognize who it was, but he wasn't willing to believe it.
"You should've known that one little fire couldn't have possibly killed me, sister," Nneka growled while glaring down at her sister's blood-soaked body. "Unlike everyone else in this float, I'm not so easily disposed of."
Nneka turned around to look at Makuu.
"You okay, Makuu?"
"I...I...uh..." Makuu stammered, seemingly only half listening to Nneka.
Kiburi let his vision set on Makuu, as well as nearly everyone else in the clearing, and to no surprise, they all were either shocked or horrified.
"Are you even capable of forming a sentence at the moment?" Nneka asked.
Even though it was completely obvious that no one was willing to speak, Nneka showed no hint that she was willing to go easy with anyone, despite the circumstances.
"Of...of course," Makuu stammered. "Um, thanks, Nneka."
"No problem."
Nneka turned away from Makuu to face Kiburi, who felt the scutes on his back rise from the icy fear that flowed through his scales. Kiburi also dug his claws deeper into Tuma, forgetting that the other crocodile was still beneath him.
"Ow! Kiburi! Quit it! You are literally embedding your claws in my scales!"
"Sorry, Tuma," Kiburi apologized in a whisper. "Forgot you were down there."
Tuma huffed in irritation at the remark, probing Kiburi to growl in response.
"Kiburi," Nneka said in a commanding tone that brought his attention back to her. "Mind getting off of him now?"
"Yeah, sure," Kiburi responded apprehensively, knowing better than to challenge an order from Nneka.
Kiburi removed himself from Tuma and retreated closer to the jungle, away from the others. Taking a spot under one of the trees, Kiburi turned around to get a better look at the scene in front of him. Everyone started to break-up into their own groups: the Crescent Valley float and the Guard formed clusters behind their leaders; Masika checked on Makuu before joining her brother at the rock pile; and then there were the twins and Makuu, who joined Kiburi at the treeline. The only ones who weren't budging a muscle were Nneka and Tuma, who was back on his feet and staring at his leader. From his sight line, Kiburi noticed that most of Nneka's snout and face was heavily scarred.
{That has to be from the fire. The scales literally look like they've been melted to her face. A flaming branch must have fallen and landed on her or something. At least she's still alive, but I sincerely hope that things don't get any worse than they already are.}
"Kiburi!" Makuu snapped, his sharp voice breaking Kiburi from his thoughts.
"What, Makuu?" Kiburi snapped back, his tone also sharp.
"There's no need for your attitude. We are still on a tight schedule here. Keyon still needs help, and I don't think we have much time left."
{ What . . . }
"Crap! I completely forgot about Keyon!" Kiburi hissed. "Thanks for reminding me, Makuu!"
"You seriously forgot about why we were out here in the first place?!" Makuu exclaimed.
"After everything that just happened, how could you not expect me to forget?"
"Okay, I'll give you that one, but I have the feeling that one of us needs to tell Nneka."
At Makuu's suggestion, Kiburi knew what he had to do, even though he didn't want to do it. He took a nervous breath, then walked over to Nneka. On his way over, Kiburi passed by Tuma, who was standing over Nkiru's body and looking down at it, his expression unreadable.
{I wonder how things are going to change for him, since he was more or less a loyal follower of Nkiru, doesn't really respect Nneka in the slightest, and on top of all that has two sons to take care of and worry about.}
"You need something, Kiburi?" Nneka asked, breaking Kiburi from his thoughts. He was less than a tail length away from her.
"Uh...yeah, actually, I do," Kiburi replied in as steady a voice as he could possibly muster.
"Well, I suggest you make it quick, before I grab Tuma and get going."
Kiburi hesitated for a moment, then spoke.
"Keyon needs help, and we can't leave without him."
Kiburi remembered Keyon telling him that he and Nneka had a special relationship, but he was still surprised when concern lit up in her eyes.
"Why? Is Keyon alright? What happened?"
"Not that long ago, Keyon and Nkiru got into a fight about whether your...um...'death' in a jungle fire was an accident or not...and it didn't exactly end well for Keyon. He was badly wounded, and ever since then, his condition has been getting worse. He needs healing, but..."
"That means you have to take him to a healer, or else he won't make it."
Kiburi would normally be irritated at being interrupted, but in this case, he was willing to let it drop. Instead, he just nodded. Nneka closed her eyes and sighed before responding.
"If it means saving Keyon's life, then I have no qualms about having him be brought to a healer. However, I can't have one of my own crocodiles transport him. I don't exactly feel comfortable letting them out of my sight at the moment."
"That shouldn't be a problem. I could just ask Makuu and some of the others to take Keyon to a healer for you. I'm sure they wouldn't mind."
"Sounds good, but why aren't you volunteering to take him to a healer yourself?"
"Well, I was thinking of staying with you guys for a little while longer, if you don't mind, that is."
"Come again? I mean, I heard what you said, but why? You can just go find your float and head back home. I have no need for you lot anymore, especially since the plan has...well...let's just say that it isn't any of your concern anymore."
"Glad to hear that, but I've been becoming pretty close with Keyon's siblings, and they trust me, so I thought I would keep them company for a little while. You know, till their brother gets better and all."
Nneka continued to eye Kiburi suspiciously, but she didn't push for further information.
"Alright, then. You have my permission. Grab Makuu and at least two others, but remember that if they so much as make one wrong move, you will all regret it."
Leaving their conversation off with a threat, Nneka moved past Kiburi and over to Tuma. Kiburi, finally managing to catch his breath after the stress of the talk faded away, turned around and headed back towards the others to let them know what was going on.
"Hey, Nneka! "Don't forget about your end of the deal!" Zaire called out from the top of the rock pile.
"Oh, don't you worry, kid, I won't," Nneka coolly responded.
{Deal? What deal? What are they talking about?}