The Lion King: Hakuna Matata (Chapter 1)

Chapter 1 is the first chapter of The Lion King: Hakuna Matata by MarioFan65.

This chapter is called "You Don't Know the Half of It!".

Plot[]

(The story starts in a set of termite mounds as we see Dembe, a small dung beetle rolling up a rock as the camera move forward to the Pride Lands as the animals are living in harmony in wake of Scar's defeat. Giraffes, zebras, antelopes and hippos are seen taking care of their offsprings as the monkeys and baboons hop together on the grass with a view of Pride Rock. Far away, we see a meerkat and warthog telling stories to their neighbors while close to the jungle.)

Timon: And that is how Simba defeated Scar and reclaimed the Pride Lands from darkness.
Pumbaa: In the end, all of life returned to its former glory and brought everyone back at the field. The end! *make everyone clap*
Antelope: That was amazing Timon and Pumbaa!
Zebra: How were you involved?
Rhino: Ain’t no sidekicks can save the day without our king Simba.
Timon: Simba is the rightful king. It’s not the Pride Lands without a lion king ruling over a sharp rock.
Pumbaa: I thought they lived in dens, like tents.
Cheetah: They do. It’s on the peak of the rock.
Hippo: The lions are proud to govern our homes and lived in a wonderful kingdom like the Pride Lands.
Timon: It’s good to kick back when we got some storytelling to do.
Pumbaa: We’re the teachers for the day! *hear a familiar voice* Who’s that calling?
Timon: It sounded like.
Kiara: *show up* Uncle Timon and Pumbaa!
Timon: Kiara!
Pumbaa: Give your best uncles a hug!
Kiara: *hug Timon and Pumbaa* Hi.
Timon: Oh Kiara. The little princess. You're here today for our show and tell.
Kiara: Stories?
Pumbaa: Story day! No sockpuppet play. Just backstories. Real events that occur in real time.
Kiara: Ooh, whatcha gonna tell?
Simba: *show up with Nala* Hello Timon and Pumbaa
Timon: King Simba, your highness.
Pumbaa: Served with a bunch of back-up full of thrones.
Simba: Great seeing you guys. Me and Nala are gonna be off-hunting. Also, we have a meeting today with Rafiki at the rock. I want you guys to take good care of Kiara. Also, act like adults and not children.
Timon: Jeez. You really want to put some security detail on us.
Pumbaa: I'm not surprised. You're giving us security detail?! I'll rather work as a security guard in a fair!
Kiara: Timon and Pumbaa will take care of me while you guys are gone.
Nala: No worries Kiara. We'll be back.
Kiara: *shred a tear* I don't want you guys to go.
Simba: *nuzzles Kiara* Don't cry my little princess. Timon and Pumbaa promise to take care of you. In fact, I grew up with them at the jungle.
Timon: Say the one who almost fall off a waterfall!
Pumbaa: Or got pooped by some elephant.
Simba: No jokes you guys. They throw me off.
Timon: Our apologies.
Pumbaa: No joking around. Got it.
Kiara: *whimpers* How long you guys will be gone?
Simba: We'll make it back in time for lunch.
Nala: *nuzzles Kiara* Promise, it won't be that long.
Timon: Oh, the family emotion! It's making me cry!
Pumbaa: I feel like watching a opera again!
Zebra: Hurry up! We want more stories!
Giraffes: What's taking so long.
Rhino: Let's get on with the show!
Timon: Everybody calm down! Just be patient! We'll get back to our story session in a minute.
Pumbaa: Just relax. We have a family meeting right now.
Simba: Oof. We need to go. The animals are getting impatient here.
Nala: Be brave now, Kiara. We'll see you in few hours. Goodbye. *she and Simba head off*
Kiara: Goodbye mom and dad.
Timon: Alright, now we can go back to our story session. Now where were we?
Pumbaa: Ooh, let's tell a story on how Simba became king.
Timon: Pumbaa, we already told that one.
Kiara: Why not tell a story on where you guys grew up in?
Timon: Us? You want us to tell a backstory on where we grew up in? *laugh* Oh, the humor! It ticks me off!
Pumbaa: *laugh* Ha ha ha ha ha. *stop laughing* Okay okay. We'll tell our backstory on how we first met.
Zebra: Ooh, a backstory.
Hippo: I can't wait to hear this!
Giraffe: What about it?
Kiara: Did you two used to live together?
Timon: Well, let's take a little backstage tour. Take 'em behind the scenes for a *strokes his chin* revealing and intimate look at the story within the story!
Pumbaa: 'Cause what they don't know is how we really were there, even though they didn't know we were there, y'know?
Timon: Couldn't have said it better myself!
Kiara: So, you two grew up together?
Pumbaa: We were born in different places. We were poor, outcasted and hated. We had no food, no water and no snacks to feed among ourselves!
Kiara: How long the story is gonna take us?
Pumbaa: In the beginning!
Timon: Oh, no, Pumbaa. No. *gestures dramatically* We're going way back...to before the beginning.

THE LION KING

HAKUNA MATATA

(The story begins in a dark wasteland where a bunch of lion outsiders, some are white and gold, roar on the hill, preparing to take over the savannah as a group of lion kings and queens show up, glaring with fierce against an army of outsiders)

Timon: *narrate* It all started in the beginning of time, long before Pride Rock, came a group of feast-hunting outsiders and oh man. They are so mean that they want to peel a single banana skin off.
Pumbaa: *narrate* Our heroic lion ancestors decide to show up and prepare an attack on the bad lions.
Timon: *narrate* Then scramble! A war breaks out, clashing through the end as the two lion prides begin an attack on the fierce-killing outsiders!
Pumbaa: *narrate* There goes-

(Kiara interrupt the story after realizing Timon and Pumbaa are telling the wrong story)

Kiara: Hey. That's not the story you were meant to told.
Timon: Oh, sorry. Wrong story! That was way too long story. We weren't in the that story eons ago!
Pumbaa: Say, who think a bunch of maniac outsiders would try to claim their land.
Timon: Okay! It is now time for the real backstory!
Pumbaa: Three, two, one, go!

(We flash-forward to the animals at the Pride Lands celebrating their victory against Scar as the animals rumble, stomp and cheer after their rightful king Simba has took the throne of his late father Mufasa with Nala, Timon, Pumbaa, Rafiki, Zazu and the neighbors involved)

Timon: *narrate* There we are. Right after we defeated Simba's uncle Scar, the animals cherished their victory that the reign of Scar is finally over.
Pumbaa: *narrate* There were cheering, crying and some woos! Even we were there for the ceremony of Simba and Nala. Even our neighbors were there!

(Kiara interupted once more that it is not the story Kiara want to hear from Timon and Pumbaa)

Kiara: No! That's not what I meant!
Timon: Ooh, ouch. We're very sorry. I thought we were going to tell your story about your representation.
Pumbaa: Okay, now this is too far forward, here. For Pete's sake, we really need a new timeline remote.
Timon: You gotta work on your timeline telling better, Pumbaa.
Pumbaa: Sorry about that. Let's go start, right here on this very point of beginning.

(The story flash back to the beginning of Pride Rock is shown with a bunch of lions living on the den and King Mufasa roaring on the edge of the rock through the whole savannah)

Timon: *narrate* Here we are. To Pride Rock.
Pumbaa: *narrate* This is where the lions lived. They sleep, nap, train and fight for survival. Oh, we also see a king standing by and he roar in front of the whole savannah.
Timon: *narrate* So majestic.
Pumbaa: *narrate* So powerful.
Timon: *narrate* So ginormous.
Pumbaa: *narrate* And so... bizarrely named.
Timon: *pause the story* Pumbaa, how can a rock be proud? It's a rock! How can it has features when it's a thing. A thing that look like a big tent!
Pumbaa: Well, I think it's because a "pride" is what they call a group of lions.
Timon: Well, the lions get Pride Rock. And what about us meerkats? Where I come from we didn't have nothin' to be proud of. We were always digging and digging and making tunnels while hiding from predators. Why? *clears throat; singing* When I was a young meerkat...
Pumbaa: *singing* When he was a young meerkat...!
Timon: *peevishly* Very good.
Pumbaa: Thanks!
Timon: No problem. Maybe it'd be safer if I just show 'em where I came from.
Kiara: Ooh! Do we get to see where you grew up?
Timon: Yeah, Kiara, but it ain't pretty. Please remain seated while the camera is in motion.

(The camera does a super-high-speed truck-out from Pride Rock, past zebras, grasslands, the Elephant Graveyard, the Gorge, marshlands, the desert, and finally stopping at a dry plain of low mounds of dirt, with a tumbleweed blowing across)

Timon: *narrate* Here we are: from Pride Rock to the pit of shame. We're so low on the food chain we're underground! This is where we were singing and dancing to the ground of digging that it make you never wanna stop digging.
Pumbaa: *narrate* It's so far away.
Kiara: *narrate* So is this where you grew up in?
Timon: *narrate* Yes. This is where the horror begins. I'll just let my fellow neighbors to do the singing.
Meerkats: *chanting, nervously popping out of the ground*

What was that?!

What was what?! Shh!

What was that?!

Where? What?

Where? Where? Shh!

What was that?! Shh! *look around*

Quick, before the hyena come!

Meerkat Guard: *his guards are looking around in the rocks* Clear!

(The colony of meerkats all busily digging a network of tunnels, singing as they work as some land on ground to work through the cave tunnels)

Meerkats: *sing while they work*

Digga tunnah,

Dig, digga tunnah

When you're done ya dig a bigga tunnah

Digga tunnah,

Dig, dig a tunnah

Quick, before the hyena come!

DIG!

Digga tunnah,

Dig, digga tunnah

You can dig and never get dunnah

Digga tunnah

Dig, digga tunnah

What was that?! *silence as they look from side to side, listening*

Quick, before the hyena come!

DIG!

Digga tunnah is what we do *hold some sticks*

Life's a tunnah we're diggin' through *hold some rocks*

Digga tunnah is what we sing *march*

Digga tunnah is everything! *pop out of the holes*

Mud and clay is a meerkat's friend

Always more around every bend *put the sticks on the ground as three of them pop out the ground to dance through the camera*

And when you get to your tunnah's end

Hallelujah! Let's dig again!

DIG!

Digga tunnah,

Dig, digga tunnah

When you're done ya dig a bigga tunnah.

Digga tunnah

dig dig a tunnah.

What was that?!*pause to listen*

Quick, before the hyena come!

DIG!

(While the meerkats are working, a series of cave paintings about Old Fearless Buzz is shown while a old meerkat is seen carrying rocks with others singing along)

Old Meerkat: Sing the ballad of Fearless Buzz.
Meerkats: Greatest meerkat there ever was.
Old Meerkat: Said no meerkat should have to hide.
Meerkats: Wiped his paws off and went outside.
Old Meerkat: Fought a fearsome hyena back.
Meerkats: Even till he was blue and black.
Old Meerkat: But forgot hyenas roam in a pack.
Meerkats: *pray for Buzz* Meerkat brave equals meerkat snack.

(The meerkats continue on digging tunnels and march together while they work on a daily basic schedule)

Meerkats: *sing*

Digga tunnah,

Dig, digga tunnah

When you're done ya dig a bigga tunnah.

Digga tunnah

dig dig a tunnah.

What was that?! *pause to listen*

Quick, before the hyena come!

DIG!

Katie: *walk through the tunnels* Excuse me, coming through. Have anyone seen my son? Timon? Timon? Where are you? Have Timon been out hunting for bugs again.
Uncle Max: *sing* Digga tunnah, dig, digga tunnah... digga tunnah, dig, dig—Aaaah! *Katie pokes him, scaring him out of his chant*
Katie: Uncle Max?
Uncle Max: *spooked* Aaahh! Katie! You scared me! This is the tenth time in a week you've done this to me!
Katie: Sorry, Uncle Max. Have you seen Timon?
Uncle Max: Timon? Oh, no. He must have been digging through some walls again. He's really gonna tear down another wall. is he?
Katie: Uncle Max, there is no time for jokes. I want you to know where our boy is.
Uncle Max: Well, well, well. What a day it's been! There have been no fractures, no lacerations, no concussions, contusions, consequences or injuries of any sort. As a matter of fact, there's no sign of Timon's handiwork anywhere!

(The ceiling cracks and then comes crashing down around them, light streaming in all around; finally there's nothing left of the tunnel but a ring of dirt held up on a narrow protrusion, with a pup Timon standing under it)

Uncle Max: *fuming* That would be... TIMOOON!
Timon: *embarrassed* Heh heh heh. Hey, everybody! Nice day we're having!
Meerkat #1: Nice work, tunnel klutz!
Meerkat #2: Way to ruin another tunnel, three times in a row!
Meerkat #3: What a clumsy meerkat you are. You're too much!
Meerkat #4: *stuck on a hole* Aah! I'm stuck! Get me out of this hole!
Mody: Whoa, ho ho. Nice hole, Timon!
Dacey: You got the jazz!
Monzo: Boys, don't laugh. Look what your friend has done!
Della: He does this every season. Every, season.
Katie: *quietly despairing* Not again...
Timon: What? *defiantly* It's called a skylight! When you're sweating, you needed some fresh air of luck *the "skylight" crumbles to nothing on him* Aw man, I worked hard on this.
Uncle Max: Timmy, Timmy, Timmy. You always ruin a lot of everything we worked hard for.
Timon: I just waited to be like you.
Uncle Max: Me? You just tipped down another tunnel. As always! What is wrong with your digging skills lately?
Katie: *trying to salvage the situation* Ho ho. Wow! Isn't that creative. A skylight! Oh, ha ha.
Uncle Max: Katie, please have a word with your son.
Katie: Okay. *walk with Timon* Timon, I can't believe you just teared down another ground in a month.
Timon: I just wanted to be like you. I tried to shed a little light on our pathetic existence and didn't worked out.
Ma: Timon, this can't go on like always. You've pulled down four walls and collapsed two tunnel exit in a week. We have to improved on our digging skills.
Timon: Maybe I need to be the one to change as a person.
Katie: No. You are a great son.
Timon: Well sometimes. I get too winded up and make a teeny tiney mistake like how I pull some rocks and pop out some water geysers in front of everyone.
Katie: Well, that's not very nice.
Timon: Uncle Max is right. I'll never be part of the team.
Katie: You'll get there Timon. It's just the first step of being a tunnel digger.

(Timon and Katie hang out on a grass field together where they have a little talk close to the tunnels)

Timon: I'm not really ready to be a proud tunnel digger like my father.
Katie: Your father was a great tunnel digger. Even he used to protect you from those lousy grouchy hyenas.
Timon: What did he look like when I was born.
Katie: Your father was a legend behind all meerkats. He cared a lot about his colony and create a lot of tunnels to protect from the predators. One day, a clan of hyenas came and stormed through the grounds, leading everyone screaming and running as your father continue to fight the hyenas by the claws and sticks. And suddenly, he never make it back, only to get eaten by an army of five. His name was Ben.
Timon: Oh Ben. I wished you were here to see how improved the colony has become.
Katie: But that's not all. Old Fearless Buzz was also a legend. He was the first leader of our humble meerkat colony.
Timon: I heard a lot about him. What is he like?
Katie: Well. Old Fearless Buzz was the first leader of our colony as we know it. He made a lot of tunnels and formed a bunch of meerkats over. As much the tunnels continue to explain, we were once a cave, a city, and a hideout. The hyenas came for a attack as Old Fearless Buzz fight back the hyenas. Sadly, Buzz never make it back as he was surrounded by hyenas and was eaten by one of them.
Timon: That's sad. He was a good leader.
Katie: Sometimes, we always have to stand for our leaders and learn what they taught in the grounds.
Timon: Like what do you mean? The teachers taught us a lot of everything about dignity.
Katie: *comb Timon* Sometimes, we have to look after each other. Our survival depends on it.
Timon: What's the point? All we do is dig so we can hide, and hide so we can dig.
Katie: We dig every day and hide to our beloved holes until the end of the day.
Timon: *shake* Leave it alone, Ma! I wanna move to a place where we don't have to dig, hide or worry about everything!
Katie: Timon, this is our home. We live here. Our ancestors brought us the goods of a great ground to dig in. Me and Uncle Max made these tunnels because, we love you.
Timon: What's so bad about dreaming of a better home? Living out in some paradise where you can surf through the waterfalls and sing a lot of moo-lah, grazing in the grass and singing by the wazoos?
Katie: *she and Timon go to the gap in the grass* No. I wanna show you something. Look, son. Go on, look. *she a panoramic view of the Pride Lands in all their golden-lit majesty* Look out to the horizon, past the trees, over the grasslands. Everything the light touches... *sharply* belongs to someone else!
Timon: *amazed and somehow annoyed as a record needle scratches; the grasses snap back together and block the view* Funny. I thought you were going a whole different direction with this.
Katie: What can I say? It's nature's design.
Timon: What point of direction? Mother's nature?
Katie: This is where were here. Our point of direction surrounds it and where were meant to dig.
Timon: I feel like we've been digging through our lives. How poor can it be to be a digging survial?
Katie: You're gonna have to learn through these new acquaintances.

(Back at the digging grounds, Timon is seen digging through a wall in his room as Katie and Uncle Max check by and see what Timon is doing)

Timon: Come on. Just make a hole. Dig like you're finding a clue.
Katie: *chuckles* Oh Timon. It only take a few steps to dig.
Uncle Max: You tore down a tunnel today. Not just that, the whole grounds!
Timon: Something has gone loco with you, Uncle Max.
Uncle Max: I would've crushed a few skulls if I were you. Don't you remember the last time you made a few mistakes in tunnel duty?
Timon: Uh, I don't know. Three and a half?
Uncle Max: Oh, you know your lesson.

(A montage of Timon's past mistakes in the tunnels are shown as Timon walk through a group of meerkats, saying "Scurry, sniff, flinch" multiple times and bump in a line with everyone holding rocks. Timon also pull a rock and unleash some water geysters in the holes. Last, Timon hold some sticks on the wall and accidentally break them by flooding the mud through the whole colony. The flashbacks end as Timon realize how many mistakes he has made.)

Timon: I thought I was sorry.
Katie: See Maxie. Even he acknowledge his mistakes.
Uncle Max: Just because you apologize doesn't mean you have to go and make the same old mistakes with the same results over and over again.
Timon: So, are we like the food who are hiding from other animals like hyenas and jackals?
Uncle Max: You're right! We're food for other animals—a moveable feast. Feared by no one and eaten by all!
Timon: But when they die, they become the grass. And we eat the grass... right?
Uncle Max: Not exactly; we can't digest grass. We're grass intolerant.
Katie: *snatches Timon away* Ok, Max. Thank you. You've been a big help.
Uncle Max: *appearing out of another stand of rock* Meerkat... it's what's for dinner!
Katie: *increasingly sarcastic; pointing meaningfully off into the distance* Thank you, Uncle Max.
Uncle Max: *groans* Uhh.
Timon: Have you been eating so many bed bugs lately?
Uncle Max: No! We've been eating termites! They're yucky, gross and creepy crawlly looking. I haven't even ate a watermeleon in seasons. All we do, sit there and eat nothing, but garbage.
Timon: It only get you Uncle Max. Maybe you'll eat something new and get used to it like with grubs.
Uncle Max: It's not miracle looking my dear. It's a metaphor used to make a trick. I've seen for the worse and we got nothing to fumble about!
Katie: Uncle Max, go to your room. I gotta teach my son a little something.
Uncle Max: *walk off* Oh, the fraughts. Oh, the dangers. Oh, what kind of world are we living in today? Give me a break!
Timon: Katie, do you think everyone deserve a second chance?
Katie: *hold Timon* I believe you will get your second chance, Timon. You just need to improve your digging skills and keep an eye on the wall and ground when it comes to forming a tunnel.
Timon: Almost all the tunnels you made for me, they never collapse after all the grounds we moved from one place to another.
Katie: There is still some time to get you on the digging program.
Timon: I will improve. Trust me. Like no one is ever gonna criticize me for what thoughts I'm gonna put up.

(Seasons later in the tunnels, Timon is now a grown meerkat and is still digging on the walls while still stuck on the same hole that he used to dig for seasons. Timon seems not amused after what he has been doing in his whole life.)

Timon: *narrate* As the seasons go by, I am now a fully adult. Same me, same design, and same skills.
Pumbaa: *narrate* It's like you were stuck on one page in a book.
Timon: *narrate* Digging isn't easy Pumbaa. Neither is being on the digging program. Life can't be that bad. I mean, it can't be that bad, right? *talk* Aw. Why everything has to look the same?
Katie: Hey Timon. Still digging up those holes?
Timon: I dug a lot of holes and nothing look the same. I think I need to change for the better.
Katie: Oh Timon. I think you're getting there. The tunnels has been looking the same ever since you tore up that hole over a skylight.
Timon: Every idea I make, it goes right into the dump and no one seem to approve it.
Katie: Think you are ready to show the world your digging skills?
Timon: I think I'm ready. But it need some time.
Katie: You think?

(Outside of the digging grounds, the meerkats are seen working in the ground while Timon and Katie walk on the ground to catch up with their fellow neighbors)

Timon: Hey Mody.
Mody: Looking good on the ramp, Timon.
Katie: Long time, no see Monzo.
Monzo: Keep an eye on the walls. They have been tearing down like pieces.
Timon: Oh, Dacey. Sun's looking real hot.
Dacey: All that heat is giving me a sunburn for years.
Katie: Make sure no one get stuck on the hole today, Della.
Della: I'll make sure no one get stuck today, especially with mud.
Timon: Busy day today.
Katie: We're always proud working tunnel diggers who need to protect the colony from savage predators like hyenas.
Timon: We've been on the same spot for years. Yet, none of the tunnel walls haven't even collapsed yet.
Katie: We'll start over here.
Timon: From this unfinished hole, why?
Katie: It's only a practice. You can do it son. I always believe in you.
Timon: I always believe in myself.
Katie: Just try to make a tunnel without no mistakes.
Timon: No mistakes. Got it. *dig a hole* Come on, come on. Make it steady.
Katie: Come on Timon. Take it easy.
Timon: I'm trying.
Katie: Take the effort to dig.
Timon: *dig up* I'm going up.
Katie: *chant* Timon, Timon, Timon, Timon, Timon.
Timon: *pop out a hole* I made it!
Katie: You did it Timon!
Timon: Yeah! I told you I can make a better hole than a skylight. *laugh and suddenly fall on a collapsed hole* Aw, come on!
Katie: Ooh. You're gonna need a lot more work than that.
Timon: It's not a picture perfect I predicted.
Meerkat #1: Get a grip. Tunnels don't work like that anymore.
Meerkat #2: It's hard to make a hole if you don't put too much strength in you.
Timon: Too much strength. Like, you need more system on your skills?
Katie: *chuckles* I got something better for you.

(Timon and Katie walk up to the grass as they spot some scorpions crawling while trying to pinch a butterfly and dragonfly)

Timon: Why are we sneaking?
Katie: We're hunting. To prey for food.
Timon: To play with our food? This is not going to end well on a Tuesday morning.
Katie: Focus, Timon. You see that scorpion over there. That is our meal.
Timon: I thought worms and bed bugs are our meals. We're so low on the food chain that we can't even keep our course to ourselves.
Katie: Shh, it's moving.
Timon: What it's doing?
Katie: You gotta catch it.
Timon: With our bare hands?
Katie: No. Chase it.
Timon: Got it. I'm bringing my food to go! *chase a scorpion*
Katie: Come on Timon. Grab your lunch and eat it.
Timon: *chase the scorpion* Come on. Don't go away. You're my lunch and I need it for survival. Easy there. Easy coming. *pounce and eat the scorpion* I got it!
Katie: Way a go Timon! You got your lunch. I'm so proud of you.
Timon: I told you all of this hunting is easy.
Katie: You can hunt for bugs, but you are a okay tunnel digger.
Timon: I'll promise to improve on my digging skills, Ma.
Katie: As long you're my son, you will always be part of the digging program.
Timon: Hope I can make Uncle Max proud and be on his sentry duty as long I don't do anything stupid.
Uncle Max: *walk to his colony* All right, who's on sentry duty? We got the whole day to get everyone involved while guarding and watching for foes! Anyone up for the position? We have a job opening for every one of you!
Katie: *perks up with inspiration; gasps* That's it! That's it—My son on sentry duty! Timon the sentry!

(Later, Timon and Katie meet up with Uncle Max at the colony after being told that Timon would be on sentry duty)

Uncle Max: *in horrified shock* Timon the sentry?! Out of all the people you would choose, why would you pick the wimpiest guy on the town that tear down our tunnel grounds seasons ago! Kill me now! Just kill me now!
Katie: Relax Uncle Max. Timon got this and have the chance of saving us.
Timon: Everyone have been on sentry duty before. Maybe I can try.
Uncle Max: You think you can be trusted when you can dream and tear down walls by making the hyenas spot after us? Give me a break. You're ain't going on sentry duty.
Timon: Uncle Max, I wanna be on sentry duty. I have a point.
Katie: Timon is right. All he gotta do is watch for hyenas and yell if he see one. Look at Iron Joe for example.
Iron Joe: *standing on a rock in the middle of a nervous breakdown* Don't close your eyes! Don't look away! Somebody's gotta guard us! Somebody's gotta protect us!
Meerkat #1: Iron Joe, your time is up.
Meerkat #2: Come on. Your days of sentry duty is over. All this yapping and yelling must have distract us from training diggers.
Iron Joe: *walk with the meerkat orderlies* Save yourselves! We are doomed from the beginning! The hyenas are coming! They're gonna eat us all alive like we're on the menu for dinner! *breaks up in sobs*
Timon: Well. Now I'm nervous.
Katie: Everyone get a little nervous when being up in the breeze, under the wide open sky. All you gotta do is stand on a rock and watch for hyenas.
Uncle Max: Or maybe you'll have to go back to the digging crew, mining for bugs for the rest of your life.
Everyone: *the entire colony of meerkats shouts, listening intently* NO! *confused thinking they were being told and continue digging*
Timon: I understand.
Katie: Good... then we all agree. Timon, listen to Uncle Max. He'll teach you everything you need to know. And honey, *earnestly* try to make this one work.
Timon: Do you all trust me on this one?
Uncle Max: I trust you.
Katie: We're counting on you, Timon. You can do it. You can save the whole colony by one step.
Timon: I will save the colony. But where do we start?

(Meanwhile on a lookout rock, under a small tree, Uncle Max is seen demonstrating the duties of the sentry while Timon watches how watching over for predators works)

Uncle Max: *demonstrating* Scurry, sniff, flinch! Scurry, sniff, flinch! *Timon is unimpressed and rolling his eyes* Scurry, sniff, flinch! Good. Now... what do we do if we see a hyena?
Timon: Scream for mommy!
Uncle Max: That's right, mister! Because the world out there is fraught with danger. Fraught, I tell you!
Timon: *aside, to the camera, over Uncle Max; sarcastically* Oh, boy. It's the Fraught Fest.
Uncle Max: *furiously pantomiming* Even all bloodthirsty hyenas are waiting to rip us limb from limb!
Timon: Bra-vo, Uncle Max. Way to sell it to the cheap seats.
Uncle Max: I was once a brave master of the watching. My brother was a great leader who believes he was a guardian of the colony. He watch over the colony and beat up many hyenas in his life than no meerkat could ever do that he even ate a whole stinkbug for dinner and threw up on a cobra!
Timon: Blah blah blah. Let's just cut to the chase. You are full of mysteries here, Maxie.
Uncle Max: You are our only hope left to protect the colony. Try clapping if you don't have any hands or claws.
Timon: I have hands.
Uncle Max: I didn't say you can clap!
Timon: Come on Uncle Max. We're adults.
Uncle Max: Adults, whatever. Listen to the person in charge. In fact, I am in charge of the colony!
Timon: I miss father when he lead the colony with few fractions.
Uncle Max: Quit wasting time and get on the rock. I have a colony to watch. It's your turn to scurry, sniff, flinch through the field to spot any hyenas. Got it?
Timon: I understand Uncle Max.
Uncle Max: Good. My brother is also a master of scurry, sniffing and flinching. Do your best and make your people proud. *walk off* You're gonna try to not let us down, do you?
Timon: Uh? *takes up his position on the rock* Scurry, sniff, flinch. Scurry, sniff, flinch. *marimbas begin; Timon starts to get into it* Huh... I like the sound of music. Scurry, sniff, flinch. *he begins dancing more and more flamboyantly* Scurry, sniff, flinch. Scurry, sniff, flinch. Scurry, sniff, flinch!

There's more to live than panic

And bein' some other guy's spot

I may be delicious, organic

But this little entrée's fighting back *spin around and trip*

"I'm gonna put makin' tunnls behind me

And live at a new altitude

I'm gonna reach for the stars to remind me *look around*

And meerkats are not merely food! *close eyes and open them*

For once I'll be *step out of the rock*

Looking out for me... yeah!" *dream of a fantasy-like setting of him living in the jungle and walking through a path with a bunch of grubs around him*

"I'll tell you what I want

This kat is moving on

Where he's a bon vivant

who's missing out on bon

I'd be a bigger cheese *eat a cheese piece*

far from the desert scene

A little cooling breeze

A little patch of green"

"And I'll be snoozing in my hammock *relax on a hammock with peacocks giving him fresh air*

By a rippling stream

Many miles from any holes

And the digging team

Looking after number one

Will be my only greed

That's all I need *slurps up some grubs*

That's all I need! *sing on a rock*

"I've always been good at running away

But now I'm gonna run the show

I've always been seen as the ultimate prey

But now my status ain't so quo" *the fantasy and the music dissolve as he improvises, unaware that the three hyenas have surrounded him*

"A dream sublime

It's hyena tiiime... oh! *stop the song*

Shenzi: Oh, look it's dinner and a show!
Azizi: And I thought mushrooms were the only musical food.
Kamari: We would love to see your cowboy show, folk.
Timon: *frozen in fear* Hy... Hy... Hy...
Shenzi: Well, hi to you too! *smacks Timon, who goes rolling down the hill*

(Timon roll down the colony and crashes into Uncle Max ahead of the hyenas reaching down into the colony)

Timon: Ayy! Ohh! Ow!
Uncle Max: Timon!
Timon: Sorry! I was hit on a roll over.
Uncle Max: This is no time for horseplay, You're supposed to be up there lookin' out for *see the hyenas approaching* HYENAS!
Shenzi: Oh boy. Lunch and dinner.
Kamari: I told you we'll find a feast of meerkats in one day.
Azizi: I'm gonna chew them down like lions.
Uncle Max: *snickering* Hyenas! *he and the meerkats pop up in terror and scream and run*
Timon: If I were you, I'll *run* RUN!
Kamari: Whoa man. Look at 'em scramble.
Shenzi: And that's just how I like 'em...
Azizi: Scramble. Let's scramble them up!
Mody: Run for your lives!
Dacey: Hyenas on the loose!
Monzo: How did they find us here?!
Della: We've been caught!
Katie: Everyone to the hole! Let's go! You'll be safe out there!
Shenzi: *chase some meerkats* Grr. Give me a tail.
Kamari: *scare more meerkats* Man, these guys are as fast as a mongoose.
Azizi: *catch some meerkats and make them go away* Straight outta more mongooses.
Timon: *run and encounter more hyenas while he dodge them and crash into a hole* Oof! That was close.
Katie: Come closer. What are you, a meshugginah?
Timon: Is everyone okay?
Katie: Yes. Just get in here.
Timon: I'm already here, Ma!
Katie: Through where the tunnels are.
Timon: Fine.

(Back outside, the hyenas are still chasing the meerkats as they try to bite them through the small tunnels with the meerkats hiding through the holes while some hyenas dig to track down the meerkats. One hyenas snuck into a hole and scare off the meerkats while the hyena pop out of the hole, running around)

Shenzi: Quit pacing around and keep looking for some scared ones!
Kamari: There's so many running around in circles.
Azizi: Ooh, they're scared. They're gonna cry for their mommies.
Shenzi: Almost all of them have flee down, because of us!
Kamari: *spot Uncle Max* Maybe not.
Uncle Max: *about to reach to a hole and get blocked by Azizi* Aah!
Azizi: Where do you think you're going, coward?
Uncle Max: *run away* Hyenas!
Shenzi: Don't let him get away!
Kamari: Get him!
Azizi: We got a dinner to go!

(Back at the hole, all the meerkats including Timon are safe as Katie do a roll call to see who's here)

Katie: Stumpy?
Stumpy: Here.
Katie: Flinchy?
Flinchy: Here.
Katie: Swifty?
Swifty: Here.
Katie: Iron Joe?
Iron Joe: I'm right here.
Katie: Mody?
Mody: Here.
Katie: Dacey?
Dacey: I'm the man.
Katie: Monzo?
Monzo: I'm over here.
Katie: And Della?
Della: Katie, I'm right here.
Katie: Oh, what a relief.
Timon: We're a full house.
Katie: Everybody's here except for... *gasps* Uncle Max!
Timon: You're right! Where is Uncle Max?!

(Back outside, Uncle Max is seen running around the grounds as Shenzi's clan pursue him chasing all over the grounds)

Uncle Max: Aah! Help me!
Shenzi: He's mine.
Kamari: Someone going into the hyena's belly tonight.
Azizi: Wah. I'm scared. Let's eat him!
Uncle Max: *found a tunnel entrance* I'm coming my friends!
Meerkat #1: *he and some meerkats come out of a hole* Run for your life, Max!
Meerkat #2: Play dead!
Meerkat #3: Ándale!
Meerkat #4: You're almost there!
Meerkat #5: Get over here!
Meerkat #6: You can do it!

(Uncle Max is about to make it to the hole until he is overtaken by the hyenas, beaten up and eaten alive as the meerkats all shield their eyes as we hear crunching sounds. Everyone back at the hole mourn for Uncle Max's apparent death.)

Katie: Uncle Max!
Timon: No. First Ben, and now Max.
Iron Joe: Even Old Fearless Buzz face his fate.
Mody: He was a good man.
Dacey: A great leader.
Monzo: He will be missed.
Della: He was a legend like Meekon.
Katie: *hear some cracking sounds from the ceiling and see Uncle Max pop out of the hole into the tunnel* Uncle Max! You're alive!
Uncle Max: *get up, defeated* I flinched when I should've scurried. *collapses*

(After the chase, the hyenas are seen guffawing, walking off after invading in the meerkat colony on the grounds)

Kamari: Ha ha! Oh man! That was fun!
Azizi: They were chasing, scrambling and rumbling away!
Shenzi: It never gets old, does it boys?
Hyena #1: The classics never do.
Hyena #2: We could have gone for the plump one.
Hyena #3: We almost ate him and he pass out like he lash out on a rage!
Kamari: I wonder how he would taste in lava.
Azizi: Dude, personal space!
Kamari: Sorry.
Shenzi: Let's go home before the lions roar at us again.

(Back at the tunnels, the meerkats comfort Uncle Max as they try to get him up, blaming Timon for bringing the hyenas over)

Mody: You're okay Max?
Uncle Max: I'm fine. Just had a itch on the back.
Dacey: You almost got eaten.
Uncle Max: Hyenas. Nasty hyenas.
Monzo: I hate them so much.
Uncle Max: No wonder why a lion didn't show up to save the day.
Della: They are always busy like the elephants.
Uncle Max: *to Timon* You. Do you have anything to say?
Timon: Uh... I can explain.
Uncle Max: Talk!
Timon: Okay. I owe everyone an apology. *pause* All right, I made a teensy tiney mistake. I was told that I was put on sentry duty. I broken into song by daydreaming of finding a wonderful home. Then I got distracted when the hyenas show up and accidentally brought them over. *nervous* Oh man. I crash when I get nervous.
Meerkat #1: You almost had us killed!
Meerkat #2: What is wrong with you?!
Meerkat #3: You're the worst meerkat we've ever known!
Meerkat #4: Even your father was a better leader than you who only made one mistake of making a skylight like a failed tunnel!
Timon: Enough! Maybe it's a little too soon, but I'm sure we're all gonna laugh about this someday, right?
Uncle Max: It's not funny. This is real serious. You should apologized after what happen. Daydreaming and bringing the hyenas over. That is not what a person on sentry duty always do on the job.
Timon: *depressed* I thought you trusted me.
Uncle Max: I barely trusted you. But, I don't trust you after what you've done.
Timon: *pause* But... I...
Uncle Max: Let's go. *he and everyone except Katie all silently file out*
Meerkat #1: What a letdown.
Meerkat #2: He can't even get a good guard to protect the grounds.
Meerkat #3: He's too much.
Meerkat #4: He's full of mistakes.
Iron Joe: I should have stayed longer on sentry duty in the first place instead of that lazy bum!
Mody: Oh Timon. What are we gonna do about him?
Dacey: He was our only hope.
Monzo: He's no hope than any leader who stand against a hyena in the past.
Della: If only a lion were here to help, they could have roar the predators out of the way.
Timon: Guys, come on. I could get a second chance. Like, everyone who made a lot of mistakes in the past deserve a second chance, right? *see the meerkats file out* Guys? Uncle Max? Mody? Dacey? Aw man, I blew it.
Katie: Timon?
Timon: *sighs* Aye yai yai. *walk out of the tunnels*

(Outside, Timon sit down on a rock, hunched after the hyena attack as Katie emerge from a hole to approach him by cheering him up)

Katie: Aw, sweetie. It only get you.
Timon: Uncle Max is right. I'm never gonna fit in the digging crew. No one in the colony even likes me.
Katie: Sure they do, honey. They like you. It's only you made a big mistake that no one even approve.
Timon: Not everyone is pleased with my works. Every time I try to improve, all I get is criticize, criticize, and criticize!
Katie: Maybe you should stop falling for the same mistakes and learn something new.
Timon: I'm trying, Ma! When I dig, it doesn't go up. It hit rock bottom and fall through the charts. I always collapse every ground I touch and make people mad.
Katie: A lot of people have different feelings. Digging isn't about what you get. It's about what you give. You have a lot of gifts in you.
Timon: I don't have nothing. I'm a nobody and no one is ever gonna appreciate my works, not even for Uncle Max.
Katie: I'm always proud of your works. Whatever you dig, you made your mother proud. Father would have been proud of you for what you did.
Timon: Father seems a bit disappointed after the hyena chase.
Katie: Perhaps, there's something you should learn. Constructive criticism.
Timon: Like, what is that suppose to mean?
Katie: It helps you on helping someone improve by offering specific, actionable suggestions, rather than simply expressing disapproval. It's not about what scores you get, it's about providing a balanced critique, acknowledging both positive aspects and areas for improvement, and offering guidance on how to make positive changes. Something that our ancestors taught us.
Timon: Otherwise, I'll quit the colony and move on to a better life.
Katie: Wait. What about your family? Your friends? The Pride Lands?
Timon: I've gotta go. My place is out there and I must find it.
Katie: Timon, this is home. We made these tunnels for you because, we care for you.
Timon: Not the grounds. What I've been dreaming of. I saw it from my visions and I must go there.
Katie: You can run a trail, ride a path and reach through the mountains.
Timon: Ma, I know. I'll find what I'm looking for.
Katie: If you ever find it, will you tell us?
Timon: Maybe. I'll start a new life. Somewhere where I don't have to stress out and live out worry. No digging grounds and no dealing with predators ever again.
Katie: *acquiesces* Well, I hope you find what you're looking for, honey.
Timon: Ma, I love you. *embrace Katie with a hug*
Katie: Oh, Timmy. My Timmy.
Timon: Thank you for everything, Katie.
Katie: Ooh. Mmm. Mmm-mmm.
Timon: *strained, muffled* Mom... choking... not breathing...
Katie: *stop hugging Timon* Sorry Timmy.
Timon: *aside* And people wonder why I have issues.
Katie: Don't listen to what people say about you. You got this.
Timon: *reassuring* I'll be okay!
Katie: Oh, I know you will! *wistful* You will.
Timon: And I'm moving out. *turns away, then begins striding purposefully away into the sunset*
Katie: *calling after him* Be careful!
Timon: I will!
Katie: Be safe!
Timon: I know!
Katie: Don't talk to any animals you don't know!
Timon: I never talk to strangers!
Katie: Remember to take a shower and wash your hands!
Timon: I'll wash my ears too!
Katie: Never go swimming without a buddy.
Timon: Ma, we don't swim!
Katie: Whatever. Never hunt alone!
Timon: Ma, I'm not a kid anymore!
Katie: *almost inaudible* Send us a message— *indistinct*
Timon: *exasperated* Oy! *he turns back and shouts at the top of his lungs* What?!
Katie: I said, send us a message!
Timon: What?! I can't hear you!
Katie: I said, send us a message!
Timon: *turns back to his path, waves her off* Good-bye, Ma!
Katie: Goodbye Timon! Enjoy your new life at the new place!

TO BE CONTINUED

Next: The Lion King: Hakuna Matata (Chapter 2)