Two days passed, and Kion had no visitors... and no sustenance. Hunger and thirst began to fill every aspect of his mind, every thought. He'd laugh from time to time, at the thought that he'd simply starve to death down here without any witnesses. Jasiri and Vitani were out there doing their thing, disrupting the Pridelanders' faith in Simba one incident at a time. Makini would return... eventually, once somebody negotiated with Makuu. And she'd be one step closer to Kion's side.

But none of that would matter if his body gave up.

So when Kion first heard rustling in the tree above him, he didn't react, assuming he was hallucinating at this point. Suddenly, a pair of pink hands broke through the pile of dried leaves and branches the concealed the entrance to Kion's little hole in the ground. They were followed by a ray of blinding sunshine and one delirious baboon with awful red scratches all over.

"Makini!" Kion rasped to no avail. She collapsed right in front of him, and there was nothing the crippled lion could do. Not that he wanted to save her. If he could've moved, he would've simply torn the meat from the bone and drunk her blood to rejuvenate himself. Kion's lone eye bulged in desire and fury as potential food lied there on the ground unconscious, right in front of him. His nostrils flared, filling up with her scent - the smell of prey. "Damn you, father!" he hissed, wishing now more than ever that he could simply move. "Makini! Get up!"

It was torture to the lion who was so used to his power. His deteriorating, useless muscles still remembered how to fight and push and pull. His teeth begged to chew and tear. Nothing in him had forgotten, but nothing moved either, save for his one eye rolling in its eyesocket, and a twitching mouth filling rapidly with saliva. He began to drool like an infant. "Wake up, you useless sack of dung!" he moaned.

An hour passed, maybe two. He had no way of keeping time anymore. Finally the baboon began to make noises and pushed herself on her back. "Thirsty..." she mumbled sluggishly.
"I can't give you anything!" Kion snapped. "You have what you need up in the tree, now wake up!"

The baboon crawled out of the hole, incredibly weak, and another hour passed. Kion fell into a sleep-like state, and recovered when Makini finally poured water into his own mouth and gave him a few moles to eat. It wasn't enough, but it was sustenance for now. The two looked at one another as Kion ate, two miserable souls in hurt bodies.

Kion spat out the last bone.

"I guess I should consider myself lucky you came back." He said dryly. "The worst menace in the history of the Pride Lands nearly just died without anyone noticing."

Makini snorted. "Luck had nothing to do with it. You were right. It was Jasiri. She made a deal with the crocodiles, to buy me as if I was some kind of slave! And Makuu did it! Just like that. When I tell Simba..."

"What will happen? You and I both know Simba doesn't have the power to go up against the crocodiles. At least not over something as trivial as one baboon. When I was in the Lion Guard, he always held us back from really punishing the animals. Why do you think we never got rid of Janja? Consequences, Makini. He always kept on going about the consequences, because he wasn't strong enough to deal with them!"

The baboon hugged herself, as if trying to deny the terrible reality of Kion's words.

Kion continued: "But when I became an Outsider... Janja vanished. Thurston stopped being trouble. The Pride Lands prospered, because I took care of things like a lion king should!"

Makini glared up at the evil, twisted form of Kion, her dark green eyes glinting with tears. She found it impossible to associate what Kion had become with any kind of justice. "You're a monster! The Circle of Life doesn't matter to you any more than it does to Makuu!" She wished now, more than ever, that Rafiki could be here. The wise old mandrill would be invaluable in troubled times like these. Though she was dedicated to her duty as Royal Mjuzi, she didn't feel she could ever be what he was. She couldn't even stay calm! Shwari...

"No, it doesn't." Kion agreed.

She bit her bottom lip and stared at the ground angrily, breathing in heavy, rapid bursts as her anxiety built up. "I will find a way. I will make sure those green beasts don't get away with this, and Jasiri! And I'll do it the right way! By following what I believe in! You'll see. The world is not as horrible as you make it out to be. Rafiki could see beauty everywhere." she said wistfully, remembering when her mentor was teaching her, and her new home seemed like the most magical land of potential. Why was it so scary now?

"Makini..." Kion drawled as the baboon grabbed her newest bakora stick and pushed the roots out of her way to leave.

"What?!" she snapped.

"At least let Vitani accompany you. She'll protect you. She needs you to keep her cub safe."

Makini paused for a second, letting the words roll through her mind. For once, something that Kion had said didn't seem like a bad idea at all. After all, the wild lioness was dependent on her. She could use that as leverage, yes...

Without replying, Makini left the dark, dingy hole, leaving Kion to plot and ponder once again.