Look who's back! Like Out of the Blue, I'm still working out details and such, so don't expect the next chapter up right away. It's kinda coming together, though. Oh, and I may as well say it 'cuz I haven't for a while: I don't own any of the characters in The Lion King, but I do own all the characters in this chapter and this little prologue you'll be reading in about five seconds. See y'all soon!

Natural Instinct
By Kari Gilmore

From the moment we enter this world we receive many gifts that will help us through life. Different beings receive different gifts, but there are gifts we all receive; the Body, the Soul, the Mind, and above all, the Inner voice.

The Body is the outward, what you can see. It houses the Soul, the Mind, and the Inner Voice.

The immortal Soul is emotions and feelings.

The Mind is memories and logic. But the Mind needs to be taught and even then it only learns a fraction of what it needs to know.

That is when you listen to the Inner Voice, Instinct. No matter where you are, or what the Mind is taught, the Inner Voice will speak and instruct you. There have been a number of occasions where one has gone against the Inner Voice and continue to thrive even to this day. But of course, the ability to suppress it does not pass onto every generation...

Chapter 1:

A young adult meerkat with red hair, blue eyes, and six stripes on his back grunted and jumped back, panting and holding a stick out in front of him. In front of him was a young cheetah, about fifteen months old. The cheetah crouched down, his tail twitching from side to side as he bared his fangs, snarling. The look in his hazel eyes signaled he was preparing to strike. The meerkat panted softly as cold sweat dripped down from his forehead. He stiffened when he felt someone step up beside him. He looked and saw a young reddish brown warthog, also over a year old, with small tusks.

The warthog took a quick glance at the meerkat, then back to the cheetah. "I know what you're thinking, Kito, but we can't back down. We can't let him beat us. Don't let him see you sweat."

"Tch, little late for that, Bango," the meerkat, Kito, said nearly breathlessly as he wiped some of the sweat from his forehead. He turned back to the cheetah and yelled out in surprise as the cheetah lunged at him, snapping his teeth. He tightly squeezed his eyes shut as he blindly swung his stick, smacking the cheetah on the bridge of the nose. The cheetah reared back, rubbing his nose. Kito opened an eye to see the cheetah rubbing his nose and blinked. "Wow, it worked." He gathered himself and held his stick out in a threatening manner. "All right, give up and I promise it'll be quick and painless!"

The cheetah recovered from the whack on the nose and growled as he crouched down, "Funny, I was just about to give you the same offer!" Bango snorted and lunged at the cheetah who, with lightning fast action, back-pawed the warthog aside. Bango landed hard with a grunt. He was now out cold.

"Bango!" Kito gasped and backed away, gritting his teeth. The cheetah only smiled as he slowly approached him. "OK, Morake, I need my personal space. Back off." He grunted as he ducked the cheetah's swiping paw. He looked at the stick he was holding, which didn't avoid the sharp claws of the cheetah. It laid before him in two pieces with one piece in his paw. He tossed it aside. "OK, you're hungry, I can dig that. How 'bout a cup of coffee and a nice Danish on the East side?" A jump to avoid the snapping teeth made the meerkat decide to stop talking and start running. He turned tail and ran, with Morake the cheetah in hot pursuit. "OK, OK, don't bite my head off! You pick the side!" He heard and felt the snapping teeth close behind him, making him try to speed his pace.

The cheetah blindly snapped his fangs for a few yards, and then leaped forward to get in front of Kito. But when he did, he found the meerkat was no longer there. The foot tracks left by both animals were visible, but Kito's tracks had stopped. Morake blinked and sat down, looking terribly confused.

Bango, recovered, ran towards him and slowed to a cautious trot until he reached him, noticing the confused expression. He looked around asking, "Uh... where's Kito?"

Morake shrugged, but then felt some movement in his mouth. "Mmm?" He opened his mouth wide, and Bango leaned forward to see. Kito was sitting inside of the cheetah's mouth with his arms crossed, his eyes closed, and one of his eyebrows twitched.

"Um... Morake?" he asked without changing any of his features.

"Esh, Ieo?" Morake asked, his mouth still wide open, making speaking difficult.

Kito climbed out of the mouth and onto the cheetah's snout, looking at him straight in the face and shouted, "That's not in the script!" Morake winced at the shout. "The hero's not supposed to get eaten!"

Morake coughed and wiped his tongue off. "Like I was planning to eat you? You don't taste that good, anyway... too much fur. Makes me a little sick."

Kito glared at the cheetah slightly. "I've got mixed feelings... Should I be relieved or insulted?" he asked himself. He spoke up, "Oh, yeah, and I've got two words for you: mouth, wash."

Morake furrowed his brow as he lowered his face to the ground, allowing the meerkat to drop down. Kito hopped off. "Anyway, I'm sorry, Kito. I was just really into it this time. I was going for realism."

Bango softly snorted as he rubbed his cheek. "A little too much if you ask me."

Morake whined softly and cowered his head slightly. "I'm sorry, Bango. I don't know my own strength."

Kito and Bango shared a look, and then Kito walked over and patted the cheetah on the paw. "Just try a little harder to be a little gentler next time, OK, buddy?"

"I'll try... should I go back to pouncing you instead of snapping my fangs?"

The meerkat cringed softly. Neither option sounded pleasant. "Uh... just pin my tail down or something. My back's still sore from last time you pounced me." He leaned backwards, releasing several cracks. Bango and Morake winced softly.

"Sorry, again." The cheetah then crouched down playfully and swished his tail. "Can we try again now? I promise to go easy this time."

"It's OK with me," Bango said with a smile.

Kito grinned and nodded, "OK, OK, we'll go another round as soon as I can find another good stick." As Kito turned around to look for said stick Morake's ears flattened and rubbed his nose. Kito hummed a tune as he looked along a nearby tree for any fallen branches he could tear a piece off for a weapon. A thick stick caught his attention under a bush, so he took hold of that and began to turn... but the stick did not budge. He turned around, took hold of it with both paws, and tugged on it, gritting his teeth. It didn't move. He turned around and tried pulling it over his shoulder. No luck.

Morake padded over and wrinkled his nose as he looked at Kito's choice in sticks. "C'mon, Kito, not so thick." He whined, "The last one hurt."

"OK, I'll find another one, but this one's a tripping hazard and needs to be removed!" Kito grunted through clenched teeth.

Morake arched a brow as he watched the stick, and then crouched down to the ground to inspect the bottom of the bush. "Maybe it's caught on something..." He reached in with his claws extended and pawed around. Suddenly Kito yelped and tumbled backwards with the thick stick next to him. Morake nervously smiled as Kito began to stand. "Guess it was caught."

Bango took a look at the stick, sniffing at it. "Actually, I think it's an old root. You must've cut it loose, Morake."

Kito furrowed his brow and kicked at the root, mumbling a few bad words. They suddenly heard some laughter from above them, causing them to jump. They relaxed when they recognized it, looking upward to see the source. A young adult female meerkat with blonde hair, pale brown eyes, and five stripes on her back sat on a branch and giggled as she looked down at the three. "Something funny, little sister?" Kito asked with a growl.

"Well, Morake almost eating you was kinda amusing, but you falling back after pulling on an old root is priceless!" the female let out a few more laughs. Morake coughed as Bango shuffled his foot. Kito blushed slightly, both embarrassed and fuming. "Imagine if that was all real and you were the only one to defend us from the killer insectivore cheetah. The colony's doomed," she said with a dramatic flair.

Kito clenched a paw and growled, "Don't push me, Shani! I'm really not in the mood!"

The female, Shani, frowned a little as she grabbed a nearby vine and began to climb down the tree. "You're never in a good mood when you practice anymore. I'm beginning to wonder if it's even healthy in an oasis that's based around Hakuna Matata."

"I gotta do it." Kito's expression softened and looked away from his sister. "Otherwise I'll let everyone's expectations down." Shani reached the ground, and then grimaced slightly, lowering her eyes.

Morake leaned downward and rubbed his face against Kito. "We all have faith in you, Kito. Bango and I'll be more than happy to help you like we have been." He looked to the warthog. "Right?"

"Right! Like our Dads' always say: 'Friends stick together till the end,'" Bango nodded, saying the last part as if he was rehearsing for a play. "That goes for family, too."

Kito smiled slightly as he patted Morake on the nose. "Thanks. Maybe practice will get to be fun again someday."

Shani tilted her head to the side as she walked up to her brother and dusted him off from his earlier tumble. "Maybe if you loosen up while you practice it can be fun."

Kito stared blankly at her for a moment. "How can you have fun when you're staring at a set of pearly white fangs wanting to use you as a chew toy and razor sharp claws wanting to use you as a scratching post?" Morake whined and put a paw over his other paw. "Nothing against you, buddy," he quickly added. Morake looked relieved.

The female meerkat softly smiled as she picked a small leaf out of Kito's hair. "Then maybe you shouldn't 'play' in that fashion. Play like you used to when we were all kids, without claws and fangs exposed, at least for a while."

"Can we, Kito? Please, please, please?" Morake asked eagerly with his tail swishing.

"Maybe later. All that exercise made me hungry." He cleared his throat as Shani continued to clean his fur. "Um, Shani? Is there a reason why you're picking my fur?"

Shani blinked, realizing what she was doing, then quickly pulled her paws back, blushing and nervously laughing. "Sorry. Grandma's influence."

"Right. So, anyone care to join me at IHOG for some eats?"

"You bet!" Bango smiled.

"My favorite," Morake said, licking his chops. "Count me in."

Shani cleared her throat and dusted her paws off. "Uh, I'll take a rain check."

"Suite yourself." With that, the three of them walked off, leaving Shani alone.

Shani sighed in relief, then dusted herself off. Dirt began to flake off of her fur. As she noticed she wrinkled her nose. I don't think they noticed. Note to self: wash off before anyone else sees you. She began to walk off in the opposite direction her brother and friends walked off in, but then--

"TIMON!" a voice echoed throughout the oasis. Anyone in the oasis could hear that scream. Shani stopped in her tracks and winced, slowly turning in the direction the scream was coming from.

"Oh, no. Not again..."

To be continued...