“S-Simba, what are these things?” Nala squeaked, backing away from the unnerving, creepy shapes that slithered across the floor. The two lion cubs had been cut off from the cave entrance by a sudden swarm of flat, leech-like creatures. Their upper sides were slick, glossy and oily black, while the undersides were flush with many thin tendrils that propelled them along. While most were long and thin, some were bigger than an outstretched hand. Whatever they were they had been resting silently on the walls and ceiling and had been disturbed as Simba and Nala had gone past. 

The things seemed to be homing in on the lions, detecting their heat and noise. The wide-eyed pair were running out of space to retreat and the sea of the crawling things was only growing thicker the more they waited. 

A sudden, cold, wet weight fell on Simba’s back and he let out a most unkingly squeal. The flat creature stuck to his body but the many tendrils wriggled on in fervor, brushing and rubbing at his back. He reared up, dancing around, trying to shake the offending critter off. However the loud sound and sudden burst of motion from him had caused the bugs to skitter even faster toward him. “Simba, Watch out!” Nala shouted in vain; the young prince’s front legs fell back to the floor and landed squarely on some of the creatures. 

They writhed and spun immediately so that the wigglers were up against his paws, and then they clamped over, squeezing and tickling mercilessly. “Ah! Ahahaha, no nohoho…” Simba barked in laughter, the feelings so intense it made his knees quiver and the creatures capitalised. Sliding over the top of each other, they only paused when they found fur and then pressed together, air-tight. They moved on, adhering to the top of the lion's paws, then his forearms, building the horrendous tickling feelings even greater on his hands. “Ge-hehehet off me. Hahaha! Nala, he-he-help.” 

When he tried to rear up again the weight of the cloying creatures stopped him from rising and fouled him so that he belly-flopped, his eyes widening and yelping as his chest and stomach were swiftly snared.

“No!” Nala shouted, leaping over to her downed friend, her claws were out and she was swiping, trying to bat the things away to clear space. Her jaw snapped for the one on Simba’s back and wrenched it off, yet when she opened her jaw further to throw it away it writhed around and grabbed onto her face instead! “Nhhh!”

Her own instincts set in, panicking and thrashing, pawing at the thing on her face, leaving her hind legs on the ground. The leech like creatures found them and soon she too was feeling the sharp tickling sensation. “Mmh, mnhhnnhnhnnn!” She squealed, muffled as she was while the bugs ganged up on them both. 

Simba quivered and writhed as the bugs claimed his sides and rear legs, they were slithering up his neck before he realised that Nala had been caught too. “No, hohoo not her, g-eehmnmm! Nmhmmhmhm.” A clump of them rolled over his head, quietening him and covering him, blocking away the little light that the cave had. 

Nala’s eyes were rimmed with tears, squeezed out from the terror of their situation and the enforced torment at her soft body. She’d fallen to her side and the constant assault of touch prevented her gathering her strength to stand again, instead all she could do was press and squirm in futility as they claimed more of her fur. Simba was almost gone from her sight already, the last of his orange fur replaced with the squirming, oil-coloured backs of the creatures. Even his ears were covered up! 

As she watched she saw a few longer tendrils creep out from the edges of his limbs, and they snared toward his body, forcibly bending and pinning the legs, then pressing his neck forward before another swathe of the bugs joined in. They plastered over the top, effectively sealing him away and also obscuring his shape further. 

The unlucky Nala got to watch every second and feel it being done to herself before her eyes were coated over. The tickling intensity grew more powerful by the second, with more tendrils than could be counted hitting every inch of her body from crown to tail-tip. 

The cubs’ muffled sobs of laughter weren’t even loud enough to be heard over the creaking writhing of the creatures as they built up a second imprisoning layer over the first. The remaining ones had squirmed away back to the cave walls, joining a growing shape on the ceiling. As more piled on the shape extended slowly downwards almost like a living stalactite, with two prongs, one above each lion.

The point’s touched at Nala’s hip and the back of Simba’s head, a few more creatures slid over to grasp, and then the shape pulled back into the air, suspending both of them by their respective point of contact. More slippery things slid down, dripping from the lowest part of the lions to anchor them to the floor. 

They’d already been unable to do more than shudder and squirm but now they were doing so uselessly in the air, with no chance they could break out on their own.





Three monkeys and a hyena entered the deep cavern later in the day. The primates bore sticks in hand to thwack away any of the leeches that took an interest in them on their way to the bundled cubs. It was impossible to tell the two writhing, whimpering masses apart, their energy spent in the hours they’d been teased for. 

Hands came down on Simba’s cocoon, strong fingers peeling the leeches off his face and then the one over his eyes. The poor prince was unconscious, even though his tear-soaked eyes were half-lidded and rolling. The monkey rolled her hands up the back of Simba’s head, stroking the soft fur with her thumbs as she appreciated the cute face below. “Hey lady, no touching.” The hyena snarled, the monkey woman sighed and brushed the leeches back over and into place, they sealed up again, tighter than before so that the lines separating them seemed to vanish. 

“Man, Scar is gonna be happy about this.” The hyena said with a wicked chuckle. “Let’s get him out of here.” 

“What about the other one?” Another monkey asked. 

“Scar was very clear, no witnesses can be allowed to escape. So either we leave her here, or, since you seem to find the prince so enamouring…” he said, noting the female. “You can take her with you. Just make sure she doesn’t go squealing to anyone before Scar’s plans have unfolded. Got it?!”

The monkeys looked between themselves, their wicked delight at the idea of keeping a squirming lioness as a display tickled their cruel interests. “You’ve got a deal.” 

The monkeys tied a vine around Simba’s chest, offering it to the hyena who took it in his teeth before the simians worked quickly to peel the leeches back. It took all three of them to counter their claim. The hyena was tugging all the while, when the hold was weakened Simba’s cocoon popped free and the hyena left hurriedly, dragging him away. 

The cocooned Nala was lifted and carried out, tucked in one arm while the other rubbed over the surface. With the tribute offered, the monkey’s silence was assured, in fact they were so enamoured with their own captive they didn’t ask what Scar planned for the prince. They weren’t from the Pridelands kingdom, so it didn’t really matter to them, anyway. 

When they had their own toy back in their home they prised off the creatures over Nala’s eyes and ears. Leaving the thick covering over her snout and below in place, they instead picked and plucked at the edges. The slug like beasts gelled back together, making the gap tighter and harder to see. That was the monkey’s intent and soon enough their plaything was coated in a way that looked seamless to a passing gaze. 

They could still prise off the layer at her snout if they needed to feed her. Had she been left in the cave, she likely would have perished in the sensuous cocoon. As the cruel monkeys theorised that they had saved her life, it was only fair that she entertain them for as long as they wanted...