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.
"What do you want, dwarf?" Zaire asked.
"This entire situation of yours sounds interesting and all, but not as interesting as your mysterious grandfather sounds. I mean, he must have been pretty bad if your entire life revolves around what he is, or was, assuming he's still alive and all."
"He's not alive. Our grandfather has been dead for a long time."
"Now how would you know exactly that?"
A million thoughts made their way through Makuu's mind, but he paid them no attention, for fear that he might miss something. He didn't have to worry about that, for right now, since it seemed like Zaire was taking his sweet time when it came to answering Aziza's question. Silence felt like an eternity before it became apparent that Zaire wasn't going to say anything anytime soon. In light of this, Aziza turned her attention towards Masika, all the while wearing a devious - and also unsettling - grin on her face.
"Well, if your brother refuses to talk about the matter, then I guess I'll have to get some answers from you. Now, who was your grandfather?"
"Why do you want to know about our grandfather so badly?" Masika asked warily.
"Let's just say it's about the truth, the one that your brother has taken a great pain to keep hidden."
"What are you talking about? I know that Zaire has been keeping secrets from me, but he's right when he said that Dakarai died a long time ago. The only reason we know that is because it is believed that our grandmother killed him some time after she banished him. That's all I know, and I am certain that is all my brother is going to tell us."
"Your grandfather was Dakarai?" Azizi asked, finally adding his voice to the discussion. "As in the most psychotic crocodile to have ever existed?"
"The one and only," Masika replied unenthusiastically, pained by the thought that she was even remotely related to someone like Dakarai. "Wait, how do you know about him?"
"Our parents told us stories about him. Apparently he's made quite the name for himself."
"Perfect. That's just what my family needs to be known for: the mate and direct descendants of a psycho."
"Can't we get back to the original point of the conversation?" Aziza interjected.
"Which would be what, exactly? You haven't told me anything about anything other than the fact that Zaire is apparently hiding a secret that apparently nobody knows about except for you!"
"That's not entirely true. You obviously haven't been picking-up on the hints that I have been dropping this entire time. Why do you think I've been asking about Dakarai, even when my brother and I already know about him?"
Makuu and the other animals, who were taking as much of an interest in the "conversation" as the crocodile leader was, kept their jaws shut. Nobody had the courage or guts or even plain stupidity to interrupt.
During this time, Zaire's anxiety started to peak, his scarred face turning from frustrated to worried. Based on his reaction, Makuu could confidently say that Aziza was getting somewhere, clearly on the right track. Then there was Masika, who didn't catch onto what Aziza was trying to tell her until it managed to click for her a minute later.
"Are you saying that Zaire knows exactly what happened to Dakarai?" Masika asked, filled with disbelief.
"Oh, he definitely knows what happened to Dakarai, but if I'm being honest with you, Masika, that's not the only thing about your grandfather that he knows of. You heard not 'what' but 'how' he said that Dakarai died a long time ago? He seemed so sure of himself. Now, tell me, how could he be as confident as he was with his answer?"
"He couldn't have..."
Masika paused and turned to look at Zaire, whose pleading eyes seemed like they were trying to keep Masika from forcing him to have to tell her the truth. Unfortunately for him, it wasn't enough to stop his sister from wanting to know his secrets, especially one that he has managed to keep for so long.
"Unless he was there when it happened."
The animals all looked at Zaire, expecting him to say something. Makuu just hoped it would be what he and Masika wanted to hear.
"You really want to know the truth?" Zaire eventually spoke, his voice sounding unusually cold.
Masika nodded her head, but didn't say anything. Now, she seemed just as cold as her brother.
"So be it," Zaire started. "Yes, I know what happened to Dakarai. Yes, I was there when he died. However, the circumstances are a little different than what everyone has been told."
"Zaire, what are you...no. No no no, you didn't..."
"Nia may have left to kill Dakarai, but she wasn't the one who ended him. I was. I killed Dakarai."
"You what?! Why would you do that, Zaire? I mean, I can kind of understand why you would, based on his reputation and all, but we never knew our grandfather. We didn't exactly have any substantial reason to confront him, let alone kill him."
"You didn't, but I did. No one knows for sure about this, but the float wasn't entirely off about one of their accusations regarding me and Dakarai, and I'm pretty sure you can guess what that is."
"You trained under him?! I can't believe this! I honestly can't! Tell me, was this before or after those rumors started spreading?"
"What do you think?"
"Damn the spirits, Zaire! After all that scrutiny was placed upon you, why the hell did you continue spending time with Dakarai?"
"Because he was the only one who treated me like an equal! Everyone else treated me like an outsider! Like a monster! Dakarai accepted me when nobody else did!"
"Really? Even when his entire existence ruined yours? Mind you, that does sound contradictory, but I digress. And aside from that whole, or rather, a part of that thing, how can you say that nobody else accepted you? Mom, dad, and I were there for you the entire time, Zaire, and we always will be. Oh, yeah, and if you were so close to Dakarai, then why did you kill him?"
"Seriously? While I was in my pit of despair, dad was busy with the float, mom was busy with dad, and you were too busy caring only about yourself to even bother helping me! You think you know what I am going through, but you couldn't possibly understand a thing that I have had to deal with! As for why I killed Dakarai, it's because I didn't have a choice. He would have killed Nia if I didn't show-up in time. Although, I will admit that even if Nia's situation didn't occur and she didn't need saving, I still would have planned on getting rid of Dakarai once and for all."
"So grandmother really was there?"
"Yes. It's just like what the rumors were about, except it was believed that Nia killed him a long time ago, when she was still leader of the float. Oh well. All that matters now is that Dakarai is dead, Nia is alive, and you got to know the truth."
Silence fell upon the clearing, leaving the animals either deep in thought or empty-minded as they waited to see what would happen next, if anything at all. Masika was completely speechless, but she eventually managed to get her mouth working again.
"Why didn't you tell me or anyone else about any of this?"
"Because none of you have ever experienced a single thing that I've been through!" Zaire angrily snapped, catching everyone off-guard with his sudden change in attitude. "And this especially goes for you, Masika! You don't understand me! You don't trust me! You. Don't. Know. Me."
By now, Zaire was past the point of reasoning, and his current temperament was scaring everyone, including Masika.
"Zaire...please...stop. You're not...I don't...oh hell! Who am I kidding? You're not Zaire! You aren't even my brother anymore!"
"You're right, Masika. I'm not the same. You better get used to it, sis, cause there's no way I can go back. Now, if you will excuse me, I have a little something I need to prepare for, and I've already wasted most of my time here."
Moving away from his sister, Zaire turned around and left the watering hole, heading off to who knows where. Makuu waited a minute before swimming over to see Masika. The female looked uncharacteristically scared, her eyes widened in shock as tears streamed down her face. Makuu could only feel sympathy for Masika while attempting to console her.
"Now you know."
The voice was a whisper, but Makuu knew who it belonged to. He raised his gaze and saw everyone, except for a certain feathered individual who was nowhere to be seen.
{Talib. You knew. You have known the whole time. The twins, Zaire, the Crescent Valley, Dakarai - you know everything! But how? Who are you really? What made you this way? Why are you this way? I swear, Talib, one day, I will find out. If Zaire can't hide his secrets forever, then you can't hide yours forever, either.}