Leo the white lion stood at the top of the castle, surveying his kingdom. It was a peaceful morning. So far there had been no disputes between the animals, and the food supply was high. Until…

"News from the savanna, Leo!"

Leo sighed. He turned around to look at his friend and adviser, Mandy the mandrill.

"What's going on?" he said.

"The savanna is in an uproar! The giraffe clans are fighting again, and nobody's been able to stop them!" said Mandy, waving his hands in the air.

Leo stared. Not again! This was the third time this year that the giraffes had gotten into a fight. The last couple of times, the savanna animals had been able to calm them down. But now Leo wasn't sure if it would be easy this time.

"Have they endangered any animal's lives?" asked Leo.

"Yes! Yesterday they almost ran over a herd of antelope. They came running into the jungle for safety. That's how I found out about the giraffes. You see, the antelope told Tommy, Tommy told Coco, Coco told Lyre, and Lyre told me. And they all agree that these giraffes must be stopped!"

"Where are the antelope now?" said Leo, giving an angry swish of his tail.

"They're at the door of the fort. They want to talk to you," said Mandy.

Using his powerful legs, Leo jumped down from the top of the fort to a balcony, down to another balcony; finally he landed at the front door. It happened so fast that the antelope backed away a few steps and snorted.

"I heard about the giraffes," Leo said to the leader. "What exactly happened?"

"Well, both clans have been trying to claim each other's territory for the past few months now," said the leader. "At first we thought they would eventually forget about it, but it's been almost a month now and the fighting still hasn't stopped. I tried to stop them, but instead they tried to run us over!"

"You should have come to me first," said Leo.

"I know," said the leader. "But as long as they keep going on like that, no animal on the savanna is safe!"

Leo seemed deep in thought for a few moments. The antelope held their breath as they waited for him to make a decision. Finally, he spoke.

"I'll go to the savanna and talk to them. Perhaps they will listen to me, and if not, I'll use force."

The antelope breathed a sigh of relief.

"In the meantime, you are welcome to stay in the jungle until this problem can be solved," Leo continued. "We have plenty of room,"

"Thank you, King Leo," said the leader of the antelope.

Just then, Lyre appeared in the front doorway of the fort, letting Leo know that she wanted to talk to him. As the antelope walked away, Leo followed her inside.

A few minutes later, Lyre and Leo were sitting in one of the many rooms of the fort. The fort had been built as a sanctuary for the animals in time of trouble, but at the moment, only Leo, Lyre, and their cubs, Lune and Lukio, occupied it.

"The problem is," said Lyre, "the savanna is so far away, and you just got back from a long journey."

"It won't be a problem, Lyre," said Leo. "I feel as fit as before I went to Mt. Moon. Besides, if no one helps the animals on the savanna, who can?"

Suddenly, Lyre stood up. She looked around to room and out its various doors to make sure they weren't being watched. Finally, she went back to where Leo sat.

"I've heard the antelope talking about another pride of lions that live near the giraffes. They're meat eaters, and they may not like your ways, Leo."

"Very few lions like my ways, Lyre," said Leo. "Don't worry about them. I'll stay as far way from those lions as I possibly can." He nuzzled her gently. "I promise."

"I hope you do, Leo," said Lyre.

Meanwhile, Leo's cubs, Lune and Lukio, were playing outside.

"Come on, Lukio!" said Lune. "I'll race you to the fort!"

They started running towards the fort. At first Lukio was in front, but then Lune caught up with her and began to go faster. He was a white lion, just like his father.

"Wait!" cried Tommy the gazelle, who was running behind them. "Wait for us!"

"We can't go as fast as you!" shouted Coco the parrot, who was flying behind Tommy.

"Sorry guys!" called Lukio. "This is a race for lions!"

As they approached the fort, Lukio was in the lead, with Lune lagging behind her by a foot.

"Ha! Can't catch me!" laughed Lukio.

At that moment, she tripped over a root and fell to the ground. Lune seized the opportunity and ran up the stairs, straight to the front door of the fort.

"Beat ya!" He cried.

"No you didn't," said Lukio. "You only won because I tripped!"

"No way! I was gaining on you and won all by myself!" He struck a pose at the top of the stairs. "Oh, yeah!"

"No you didn't!"

"Yes I did!"

"No you didn't!"

"Yes I did!"

"No you didn't!"

"Yes I DID!"

Lune gave a flying leap and landed on Lukio. They wrestled on the ground for a few minutes, each biting at each other's necks. At last, Lukio had Lune pinned to the ground.

"Do you give up?" she said.

"No!" yelled Lune. "I can't be defeated by a girl."

"Watch it, Lune," said Lukio. "Mother might be around."

"So?" said Lune. "I don't care if…wait!"

They listened. From a balcony near the top of the fort came the sound of voices. It sounded like Leo and Lyre.

"Let's go see what's going on," said Lune.

Just then, Coco and Tommy ran out of the jungle. They stopped at the bottom of the stairs, completely out of breath.

"Who…. Won…?" panted Coco.

"Shhh!" said Lukio.

The two cubs tiptoed into the fort. Carefully, so as not to make a sound, they climbed the stairs until they got to the top. Lune pressed his ear against a door.

"Not here," he said.

The cubs continued down the hallway, pausing at each door to listen for the sounds of voices. Finally, they came to the last door. It was the one that led to the bedroom. Lune listened carefully for a few minutes. At last he said,

"They're talking about trouble on the savanna."

"What kind of trouble?" whispered Lukio.

"Two giraffe clans are fighting each other and endangering the other animals," Lune whispered back. "Father wants to go stop them."

"Right now? Even after all he's been through the past few months?" said Lukio.

"I'm going with him," said Lune, who apparently wasn't listening.

"Going with who?" said a voice.

The cubs turned around to see Coco and Tommy standing behind them. Coco was sitting on Tommy's straw hat.

"Quiet!" said Lune. "They'll here you."

"If you intend on going anywhere, Lune," said Tommy. "You should tell your parents first. Where are they, Coco?"

"I don't know," said Coco. "The last time I saw them they said that they didn't want to be disturbed."

"They're behind this door," said Lukio.

"Then why don't you go in and ask them?" said Tommy.

"Tommy, did you hear what I just said?" said Coco.

"No."

Just then, the door opened and Leo and Lyre emerged. They looked at the cubs and smiled. Tommy and Coco gulped.

"It's not their fault!" said Coco. "We were eavesdropping, too."

"It's alright, Coco," said Leo. "We were just about to explain to them what was going on."

"Oh, phew!" said Tommy. "We were afraid they were in trouble."

"Come in, kids," said Lyre.

The cubs followed their parents into the bedroom. Lune wondered if they were going to ask if he could go with his father on the trip. But no, they didn't ask. Leo picked Lune up in his teeth and placed him on a bed of straw. This meant he was going to get a bath.

"Father, please," said Lune. "Do I have to have a bath now?"

"Yes, you do, Lune."

"If I let you give me a bath, will you let me go with you to the savanna?"

Leo stopped. He stared at Lune with a worried expression on his face.

"I'm old enough to do it," said Lune. "I wouldn't complain at all if you let me."

"No, Lune," said Leo. "It's too far away."

"Please??"

"No."

Lune sulked. Over on another bed of straw, Lyre was licking Lukio. When she heard Lune talking about leaving, she stopped.

"What's wrong, mother?" said Lukio

She waited for Lyre to speak. Finally, she said,

"Why don't you let him go with you, Leo? You were going twice as far as the savanna when you were his age."

"Well," Leo said. He hadn't really wanted Lune to come on the trip with him. But now that he thought about it, it might not be such a bad idea after all. It would be a good lesson for Lune if he were going to learn about settling disputes between animals.

"All right," said Leo. "As long as you let me give you a bath first."

"Darn," said Lune.

The next day, all the animals gathered around the fort to say goodbye to their leader and his son. They were all sad to see them leaving, but Lyre and Lukio were the saddest ones of all.

"Goodbye, Lune," said Lyre as she tenderly licked his ear. "Be a good boy and don't give your father any trouble."

Lukio was too shy to speak, so she just gave her brother a little wave of her paw. Lune waved back to her. Nearby, Leo was saying goodbye to his friend Mandy. Tommy and Coco stood next to them, crying.

"Calm down, you two," said Leo. "I won't be gone that long."

"It'll feel like it to us, though," said Tommy, sadly.

"Oh, stop being so sentimental, Tommy," said Coco. He blew his nose into a handkerchief.

Leo gave his wife one last nuzzle before he and Lune turned around and started walking away from the animals. Soon, they disappeared into the jungle.

"Goodbye! Goodbye!" the animals called after them. "Be back soon!"

A few days passed. During this time Leo and Lune journeyed through the jungle. They had no problem finding food; there was plenty to go around. Passing animals always wished them luck on their journey, and occasionally they would pass by animals from the savanna that came to the jungle for shelter from the giraffes. Sometimes they would give Leo news on the whereabouts of the feuding tribes, but they always seemed to be in one place, so Leo wasn't too worried about them moving around.

On the third day, Leo and Lune finally came to the edge of the jungle.

"Wow!" said Lune as he stared at the flat, yellow grasslands. "It sure is big."

"It's big, all right," said Leo. "But there are just as many animals on these grasslands as there are in the jungle."

"Will there be lions?" asked Lune.

"Plenty of lions, Lune," said Leo. "And that's what I want you to watch out for. The law of the savanna is much different than the law of the jungle. Out here, lions will kill other animals for food and much more dangerous than the lions in the jungle. Be careful around them."

"I will, father," said Lune.

They traveled for a day. When the sun began to set, the two lions took shelter in the shade of a tree. They were just about to go to sleep when suddenly; Leo stood up and looked out over the horizon.

"What is it, dad?" said Lune.

"Shhh…" said Leo. "I see humans in a truck over there."

"Are they hunters?" asked Lune.

"I don't know," said Leo. "I'm going to go in for a closer look. Hopefully, they're friendly."

Meanwhile, Bob and his friend, Stanley, were sitting in the car Leo had seen, hunting for lions.

"Look, Bob!" said Stanley. "A white lion!"

Bob looked through his binoculars. He chuckled when he saw Leo sneaking through the grass.

"That must be the white lion I heard about from the last village. Strange, I though he lived in the jungle," said Bob.

"It doesn't matter," said Stanley. "Get him now, before he realizes we're hunters!"

Bob pulled out his gun, aimed it at the white lion, and fired.

Back at the tree, Lune waited anxiously for his father to come back. Suddenly, he heard a gunshot. Lune stood up, the fur on the back of his neck bristling. A few seconds later, Leo appeared, limping badly.

"Run, Lune! Run!" he cried.

Lune ran. He could hear the sound of a truck following him and the sound of his father limping along behind. The chase seemed to go on forever. Finally, the engine of the truck stopped.

"Crap!" said Bob; "We're out of gas!"

"We should have filled up at the last village," said Stanley.

"Oh, well," said Bob. "I guess we'll just have to wait until morning. Don't worry about the lion, Stanley. He won't get very far. My aim was pretty good on that shot, or at least I think it was."

Meanwhile, Leo and Lune had managed to find shelter in a patch of trees. Once inside, Leo collapsed to the ground.

"Don't worry, father," said Lune. "The hunters are gone."

Leo sighed. "Lune," he said. "I want you to go back to the jungle. Take care of your mother and…"

"Father," said Lune, tearfully, "You're not going to die. I'm going to get you help. I promise. I won't let you down."

Leo didn't move. Lune prodded him, but nothing happened. He started to cry. But wait! What was that? Lune heard his father breathing. He knew there was hope.

In a flash, Lune ran out of the patch of trees and out into the field. He soon disappeared over the horizon.