Private [DGF and OriginalLelis]

[DGFone]

Kopa and Awali chased after Delano down the slope. He finally stopped rolling at the bottom and they caught up to him. "Come on, Delano, what happened?" Kopa asked. "First you were talking, and the next thing, you were rolling."

Delano wobbled to his feet. He wasn't hurt, but the roll left him quite dizzy and lost. "Ugh, think I'm going to be sick," he mumbled. "We're still surrounded by sand, aren't we?" He looked around, confirming his fears. "Are we ever going to get out of here?" He asked.

---

Simba felt his breath catch when Nala said that she would rather not be with then. Not because of what she meant, because he understood her, but the words she used. The last time he heard "father-son thing" was right before Scar killed his father. He shook the memory away. "Well, if you think so," he muttered.

As for answering her other comment, he decided to tell her why he wanted Zazu to look outside the Pridelands as well. "I know Kopa is rather tame, but he is our son after all," he said, "and seeing as he's gone for this long... I don't really think he's in the Pridelands."

[Awali]

"And just because he's gone for awhile, you think he left the Pridelands, just like that?" she said jokingly, knowing it's exactly like something Kopa would do.

~-=-~

Awali was laughing quite hard by now. It was pretty funny, the way he wobbled when he walked. "Nice one, Delano," he said, still giggling. "And yes, we will get out of here. We just have to keep moving. I guess it's my turn to pick a direction, considering you can't even walk without falling over!" Awali said proudly.

~-=-~

Keep flying, Zazu kept repeating in his head. Keep flying and Kopa will be alright. He had been flying for a couple hours now. Way past the gorge, the land was empty and gray, as it was around the Pridelands for quite awhile. He began to turn back towards the gorge, considering nothing was out here. Not even paw prints. On his way back, he'd check in and around the gorge, in case the cub was stuck on a ledge, or something of the likes. From his altitude, he could still see the gorge clearly, though Pride Rock was a smudge on the horizon.

[DGFone]

Simba sighed. "Well, I don't know that they are outside the Pridelands, I just think they might be," he said, "but remember, we left for the elephant graveyard! We liked it... well, until the hyenas showed up. But that's not the point. The point is that if the two of us had no issues with leaving the Pridelands, I think that Kopa would also not be so hesitant to do so." He scanned the Pridelands again, but didn't spot Kopa. "I'm just making sure that we won't miss him by accident because we didn't look somewhere."

---

Delano grunted at Awali. "Well, if you think you're so awesome, pick a direction and go already!" He looked away when he felt like he might throw up. "But if you get us lost even more... I don't know what to do." He frowned. "I'll... what?" Delano stopped when he felt Kopa nudge him.

Kopa shook his head at Delano. "No one is going to do anything to anyone," he said, "right now we need to get out of here and find the Pridelands again. Only afterwards can we fool around and do other stuff."

[Awali]

"Alright then," Awali said proudly, trying to appear as if he was thinking. "That's the right direction," he said, trying to sound like it was the right direction, though there was no way to know for sure. All of the cubs began walking towards the soft edge of the dunes that lay before them.

~-=-~

This was one of the few times Zazu had ever left the Pridelands alone. It was eerie, with little life and sparse resources to keep it going. Reaching the gorge, he decided to fly down into it and check the whole length of the gorge. He picked one of the two possible directions to travel, and began flying in that direction. He was growing ever closer to Kopa. He could feel it.

~-=-~

"That's a good point. I don't know if I'd be able to go on knowing that we didn't look somewhere that Kopa might've been." Nala said sadly. "Do you think Zazu will find him?" she asked Simba.

[DGFone]

Kopa glanced nervously at Delano before following Awali. He knew Awali well enough to know that his friend didn't know what was the right direction. Not one of the three of them knew. As they walked, Kopa knew one thing: he was starting to hate sand.

Delano didn't argue with Awali as they began walking again. His spirits were too demolished to do anything but place one paw in front of the other as they headed towards yet another dune.

---

Simba heard Nala's saddened tone and placed a paw around her comfortingly. "He found us when we ran off, right?" he asked, trying to sound optimistic, "I think he'll find Kopa... I know he will." But in his mind, what scared him the most was that he wasn't so sure.

[Awali]

Zazu was at the rocky slope that the cubs had raced down earlier. He was looking very hard for Kopa, but didn't stray into the desert, knowing he was smart enough to never go out there. Giving up, he flew out of the gorge, flying along the large boulders. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a small ledge, with a single paw-print embedded in it. Flying closer to identify it, he noticed it was most definitely from a cub. I must tell Simba! Zazu reacted instinctively, flying as fast as possible to Pride Rock.

~-=-~

Nala didn't reply, but instead looked at the horizon towards the fading sun. Such a beautiful sight, with the vibrant orange bathing all of the land in its warmth. So wonderful. Yet so deadly, considering the dangers it held. She ignored the sadness and fear, and tried to think happy thoughts. Kopa will be home she thought, trying to make herself believe it.

~-=-~

Up another dune. Down another dune. It seemed to go on forever. They were tired, and there was little evidence that they were going the right way. "Is everyone doing alright?" Awali asked the cubs trailing him. They were all tired, thirsty, and hungry. "Try to keep going, we'll be home soon" he said quietly, conserving his energy.

[DGFone]

Kopa looked at Delano and Awali. While the three cubs looked fine, he doubted that they would survive another day like this. His paws hurt from the constant walking, and his tongue was already hanging from his mouth, stiff and dry. And neither Delano nor Awali looked any better.

So when Awali mentioned that they would be home soon, a clear lie, Kopa's temper flared and he rushed towards his friend, only to be stopped by Delano.

Delano saw what Kopa was about to do and blocked his path. "Now is not the time," he said, "wait until we're back. Or dead."

---

Simba saw that Nala was fighting with herself about Kopa, and was about to try and comfort her when he chose not to. Until they would find Kopa, there was nothing he could really do to help her. No words would be equal to the power of seeing their son again.

Scanning the Pridelands again, Simba was beginning to lose hope that they would ever find his son when he spotted Zazu flying as fast as he can towards them. There was only one reason why Zazu would be like that: he saw something. Simba quickly nudged Nala and pointed at Zazu.

[Awali]

Awali just ignored what had just happened, fully aware of what Kopa tried to do. He didn't care, he had one goal: Get everyone home alive. They kept walking as if nothing had happened.

~-=-~

Zazu reached the two lions atop Pride Rock. "What is it, Zazu?! What did you see?!" Nala said, running over to the bird. "I.. I saw.." Zazu said, trying to catch his breath. "What?!" Nala said loudly, beginning to lost it over the fact that Zazu may have found Kopa.

"Paw-print. Near the gorge. Only one. A cub's." he said, in between his deep gulps of air.

"A cub's? Kopa's..?" Nala asked questioningly, looking towards Simba.

[DGFone]

The three cubs continued to walk through the sand dunes. Kopa looked over at Awali and saw that his friend was limping rather badly. Running forwards a bit, Kopa caught up to Awali. "Let me lead. You... had enough" he didn't mention the limp. Even though Awali was determined to get them back, the pace he was setting was too fast for them to keep up. They had to slow down.

---

Simba's heart sank when Zazu mentioned the gorge. Despite the years gone bye, he still feared vising that place again. But Kopa's life was worth more than his. At this moment, Simba knew how Mufasa had felt upon learning of the stampede.

Nodding at Nala, Simba got up to his feet. "Take us there," he ordered Zazu, and tore down Priderock. Soon they would find Kopa, he was sure of it.

[Awali]

All three of them quickly made it to the gorge, and Zazu began leading them towards the rocky slope. It was in sight, but only a blur in the distance. "Sire, I don't mean to be a pessimist, but what if the paw-print isn't Kopa's?" Zazu said annoyingly. He realized a split second later what he had just said, but it was too late. "What do you mean, Zazu? What do you mean 'What if it's not Kopa's?'" she said angrily, getting ready to injure the Hornbill. "I'm sorry, Nala. It's just that --" he began to say.

"Are you saying it's not Kopa's?" she said, crouching in preparation for a pounce.

~-=-~

"Alright, that's fine" Awali said in an irritating tone. Everybody was getting desperate out here, and their tempers were flaming hot, just like the desert. "I was getting tired anyways." he pouted, still trying to hide what little of his injury was left.