"Uh...that was...um..." Kion stuttered, trying to figure out what to say, since he and the rest of the guard, plus Makuu and Talib, were completely stumped.
"Yeah, I know, it's confusing and hard to believe," Kiburi said. "Don't worry, I don't understand any of it, either."
"Well, all facts aside, I finally know why you've been so jumpy recently," Makuu replied. "Must have been strange having someone inside of your head for a while."
"Yeah, it was."
{And speaking of strange, why are you all of a sudden being nice to me?}
"So...what are we supposed to do now?" Bunga asked. "The problem's been taken care of, but there's still the body."
The animals looked over to where Nneka's body laid and where Masika was trying to comfort her brother. Even with his sister by his side, Zaire showed no signs of calming down anytime soon.
{By the stars, Nneka, I hope you knew what you were doing, because it looks like Zaire is going to need all the help he can get.}
"I don't know," Kion admitted, then turned to look at Kiburi and Makuu. "What do you guys think?"
Kiburi and Makuu were surprised by the fact that Kion was asking for their advice.
"I'd say let them handle it," Makuu responded after some consideration.
"Same here," Kiburi agreed.
The lion guard seemed apprehensive at first, but thankfully listened to the crocodiles and didn't bother to try and deal with the situation themselves.
"Hey, Kiburi, I don't mean to bother you or anything, but I've got a question," Beshte stammered, as if asking Kiburi a question was a feat in its own.
"What is it, Beshte?" Kiburi asked.
"This might seem out of nowhere, but where's the rest of Nneka's float?"
That's when the alarm sounded off in the heads of both Kiburi and Makuu.
"Oh, no," Kiburi and Makuu replied simultaneously.
The guard exchanged their own unsettled looks before pressing the crocodiles for answers.
"That...doesn't sound good in the slightest," Fuli stated.
"It isn't," Makuu said.
"The float knows about the deal, but they didn't know what it would involve," Kiburi added.
"Granted, none of us did, but..." Makuu continued.
"How the hell are we supposed to explain this to them?" Kiburi finished.
"I have no idea, but I think one of you is going to need to come up with a good explanation for them, since I'm pretty sure they'll listen better to you guys rather than us," Kion explained.
"First we need to find the float," Ono pointed out. "Where are they, anyway?"
"They're hopefully back at the clearing, with the cave, assuming they decided to stay put," Kiburi answered, not even reassured by his own words.
"Yeah...I suggest we check on that, just in case," Kion replied. "Ono?"
"Affirmative, Kion!"
Ono obeyed his leader and flew up into the sky and began scanning the distant areas. Talib immediately joined the egret, pointing him in the direction of where the cave and the clearing with the crocodiles should be. With a nod from Ono, Talib rejoined the other animals.
"Hapana!" Ono cried a minute later, and everyone, except for Talib, knew what the egret's common call meant.
"Oh, no," Kiburi muttered.
"What?" Talib asked.
"Whenever Ono uses that word, it usually never means anything good," Makuu explained.
"That's certainly reassuring," Talib muttered sarcastically.
"Ono, what do you see?" Kion called.
"It's crazy, Kion!" Ono yelled, then flew back down to the group to explain to them what he saw. "Battles have broken out all over the place! I think the float has turned on itself! It looks like all of its members are fighting each other! I'm telling you guys, it's absolute chaos!"
"Did you see any possible deaths?" Kiburi asked, thinking about Zula and Jaz, as well as Tuma and his sons.
"I...I don't know. Even with my keen-sight, I can't see that well. I wish I could, but if there aren't any right now, I'm afraid there will be later if we don't do something about it soon."
"You think you can check again, Ono?" Beshte asked.
"I'll try, but no guarantees."
The young egret took off into the sky again and hovered in place for a while, then rejoined the group.
"I scanned the area multiple times, and I still can't tell if any of the crocodiles are dead, let alone if any of them are missing without getting closer. Sorry."
"It's okay, Ono, you did your best," Kion consoled.
"Wow. You're considered the keenest of sight, and yet, you can't spot a few missing crocodiles?"
This new voice sounded familiar, and by its tone, Kiburi could tell who the newcomer was. When he and the others turned around to face the grove, they immediately spotted Aziza standing a few tail lengths away, Azizi by her side, and Kiburi's float standing not that far behind them. At the sight of his float, Kiburi stopped worrying about Zula and the others for a moment and just focused on being reunited with his boys. While he and his float happily greeted and became re-acquainted with each other, Kiburi couldn't help eavesdropping on the argument that Talib unsurprisingly started with the twins. Despite having been mad about the twins sneaking off before claw, Makuu was surprisingly not getting involved in the argument.
"What in this ancestors green earth did you two think you were doing?" Talib snapped. "I've been looking all over the place for you! Do you guys have any idea how dangerous things are right now?"
"We were helping out our dear friend Kiburi - you should have known where we were - and that's what makes the current situation both serious and fun at the same time," Aziza nonchalantly replied, obviously enjoying herself as she tried Talib's patience.
"Wipe that smug look off your face, Aziza. You know, if we weren't stuck having to deal with a crocodile massacre at the moment, I wouldn't hesitate to poke your eyes out with my beak."
"Ha! Good luck with that, feather head!"
Aziza then turned to look at Kiburi and raised her voice when she spoke again.
"Oh, Kiburi, I forgot to mention that we had a few stragglers somewhat unknowingly tag along with us. What I mean by that is that they didn't know that I knew that they were following us."
No one knew why Aziza said this, until the answer came in the form of a young crocodile that near immediately lunged into view of everyone nearby.
"How did you know that we were following you?" The youngster demanded.
Kiburi wasn't entirely sure if Aziza was going to respond or not, but he certainly wasn't going to give her the chance to.
"Adisa?" Kiburi said, quickly recognizing Tuma's smaller son.
"Kiburi?" Adisa said, surprised to see the other crocodile.
"Adisa, what are you doing here?" Makuu asked, the realization that he and Kiburi knew this crocodile finally sinking in.
Adisa was speechless for a bit, but when it looked like he was about to say something . . .
"Adisa!"
Kiburi immediately recognized the voice as that of belonging to Zula. Only about 5 seconds later did Zula appear, with Jaz and Zuberi right behind her.
"How many times do I have to tell you not to run off like that? Don't you realize that we're in a time of crisis here?"
"Zula!" Kiburi called, trying to get the female's attention, and absolutely relieved to see her alive and unharmed.
"Not right now Ki..." Zula snapped, then paused.
Zula did a double take and actually looked at Kiburi, eyes lighting up with happy recognition. She put her irritation at Adisa aside and dashed over to Kiburi.
"I can't believe it's you! Oh, thank goodness you're okay! I mean, you look okay to me. At least, as far as I can tell. Anyway, I am so happy that we ran into you!"
"I am, too, but what are you doing here?" Kiburi asked, even though he already knew the answer.
"It's bad, Kiburi. It's very, very bad. The float's turned on itself and now everyone is fighting each other. It was instigated by Nkiru's followers, and I have no doubt in my mind that they want to take back control of the float. We managed to escape, thanks to Tuma, but he stayed behind to fight and buy us time to get out of there. I really want to go back and help him, but I promised to get his sons to safety and stay with them until...well...until this is all over, I guess. Anyway, I was hoping that we would run into you and Nneka so that you guys could hopefully stop the fighting before it gets out of control."
"Oh. Well, uh, that might be a bit of a problem."
"Why? What's wrong?"
Zula looked from Kiburi to Makuu and back again, unsure of why they were looking at each other as if they were scared of something. Eventually, a spark of understanding lit up in her eyes. Instead of opening her jaws to ask the question, Zula let her eyes do the talking for her. Kiburi understood what she wanted to know, and he nodded his head to confirm her suspicions. Zula stayed quiet for a minute, then sighed.
"I hope Nneka knew what she got herself into, and as much as I would love to know what happened, it's going to have to wait. Right, Tuma and the float should be our only priority. Like I said, I would love to help, but..."
"Zula, listen to me. Nneka might not be here, but I promise I'll do my best to help Tuma get out of there."
"Really? Oh, thank you so much, Kiburi! However, and not to add anymore stress onto you or anything, but since Nneka isn't here anymore, I'm afraid of what will happen if you just go by yourself."
"Then it's a good thing I'm going along with him," Makuu spoke, stepping up next to Kiburi. "You know, to make sure he doesn't get killed and all."
"Jeez, thanks, Makuu," Kiburi replied sarcastically.
"Of course, we'll be going as well," Kion stated, stepping forward with the guard by his side.
Kiburi rolled his eyes and growled under his breath. He didn't mind having Makuu tag along, but having the lion guard come, too, was going one step too far for him. Zula, on the other claw, didn't see it that way.
"Oh, thank goodness," Zula sighed in relief. "That makes me feel a whole lot better. Well, you guys better get going, before it's too late. Good luck!"
"Thanks, Zula!" Kion replied.
"Kion, why don't you and the guard go on ahead," Makuu suggested. "I'll catch up soon. I just want to take care of something first."
"Of course, Makuu. How about you, Kiburi? Ready to go?"
"Actually...I will catch up later as well, as I also need to take care of something," Kiburi responded.
"Well, okay, then. See you guys soon."
Turning away from the other animals, Kion and the guard said their group catchphrase in unison before rushing off in the direction of the fighting.
"Did they just come up with that, or do they always say it whenever there's a dangerous situation that they're going to take care of?" Zula whispered.
"The second one, and unfortunately a lot more often than they should," Kiburi replied.
"Sounds annoying."
"Oh, trust me, it is. Anyway, while we're gone..."
"Is Keyon still alive?"
Kiburi was taken aback by the interruption, but he decided not to fuss about it.
"I have no idea, but if Makuu brought him to who I think he brought your brother to, then I'm sure Keyon is fine," Kiburi reassured.
"Do you know where he is? Can I see him?" Zula asked.
"I'll bring you to him, if you want," Talib interrupted as he approached the two crocodiles. "I overheard you two talking, and I certainly wouldn't mind reuniting you with your brother at all."
"Really? Thank you so much...um..."
"The name's Talib."
"Okay, Talib, lead the way."
Talib bowed his head out of respect and took off in the direction of Rafiki's tree. Zula started to follow the bird, but stopped after a few steps and turned to look at Kiburi.
"Um, Kiburi, I know you probably don't want to hear this, only because it's such a cliche thing to say, but please be careful."
"Stop worrying so much, Zula. I'll be fine."
It seemed like Zula was convinced for the time being, since she let a soft smile appear on her face before turning around and heading off after Talib. Once Talib and the small group of Crescent Valley crocodiles were out of sight, Kiburi turned his attention to his float and the twins, and told them to stay with Masika and Zaire until he got back. Thankfully, none of them argued with him.