Private [DGF and Noah]

[DGFone]

Delano was so lost in thought, that when Nahaai spoke up, it took him a while to react. "Wait, another lion?" He looked up, scanning the horizon, and also spotted the lone figure charging towards them. He smiled when he recognized it as another lion. "It is a lion! Hey, he can help us! Tell us where to go or something. Come on, let's go talk to him!"

Eagerly, he began to walk faster towards the new lion, unaware that moving faster was the wrong thing to do.

[Noah]

Being the obedient bird he was, Zazu quickly took off towards home to check on Simba. Being the next in line for the throne meant all security measures must be taken into account. Mufasa had instructed Zazu to prepare for the worst: taking Simba, along with his mate Nala, to the underground cave bunker deep within Pride Rock. They both knew that if both Mufasa and Simba perished, no one would be prepared to take the reigns on the kingdom. "Calm yourself Zazu. It wouldn't come to that"

------

"Maybe we should slow down" Nahaai wondered aloud. He suspected that this creature might think of them as enemies, or worse, food. He knew lions didn't eat lions in the zoo, but being out here was different animal. The laws of the jungle could operate in ways he never imagined.

Since he got no response from his best friend, he continuing semi-running towards the charging beast. "Excuse me..." were the only two words Nahaai managed to exhale before the Great King leapt into the air, pounced upon Nahaai, and thrust him to the ground in one fell swoop. He was nearly crushed by the weight of the 500lb lion whose face was inches away from his own.

[DGFone]

Nala grinned at Simba's certainty that things would be fine. Sure, she agreed with him, and that Zazu was worrying too much, but Simba effectively radiated confidence. "I also think that this is too much, Zazu, Don't worry so much" She told the bird, and turned to Simba, "Let's go down and see who arrived here." She suggested. The Pridelands didn't get many lions passing bye, so to see anyone else not from the pride was a rarity that Nala didn't want to miss.

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Delano didn't know anything about fighting. But seeing this new lion jump on his friend was too much. "Hey, you! What are you doing!" Delano shouted, and ran over, hoping to push the lion off Nahaai, but was instead effortlessly toppled over right next to Nahaai, with the new lion standing over them, breathing hard in their faces.

"Uh... Hi?" Delano tried saying, hoping that it wouldn't make the lion even angrier. Because now he was feeling something he rarely experienced back in the zoo: fear.

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Mufasa stared down at the two lions. Whoever they were, they were compete push-overs, who he was able to defeat without even trying. "Who are you?" He demanded, his deep voice echoing through the lands. "Why are you here?"

[Noah]

The last few seconds seemed like a blur. One moment Nala and Simba were discussing which flower best resembled her face, the next Zazu flew in screaming "Move. Quickly. We're In Danger". Simba turned to the bird who had been chattering nonsense, completely unaware that both Simba and Nala had stopped listening to him after the word 'danger'. "Zazu" Simba said in a rather polite tone "Why don't you come with us? I'm pretty sure its not as bad you think it is." Though in Simba's mind he knew it wasn't as bad as Zazu thought. Nala grew impatient and motioned for the duo to follow her.

------

Nahaai couldn't believe the guts Delano had for yelling at this lion. He certainly would never had done that in the roles had been reversed. He couldn't help but feel a little guilty, but all of his other thoughts quickly dissipated when the mighty beast spoke. "We were just looking for help." He managed to say.

[DGFone]

As soon as Nala was certain that Simba and Zazu were following her, she broke off into a run, not wanting to miss the show. She spotted Mufasa quickly enough, but he was still fairly far away, so she sped up her pace, hoping that Simba can keep up.

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Mufasa glared at the two lions. "Help? What kind of help?" He asked, but his tone was now less threatening. He was able to tell that, even if they meant harm, these two lions were weak. He can afford to loosen his guard and relax slightly. Not to mention that he would have to talk to Zazu about panicking whenever a new lion wanders into the Pridelands.

Delano knew that this was their only chance to get out unhurt. "We're lost," he admitted. "Just need some water... and directions." He looked around, and his eyes widened when he saw more lions approaching. This was not what he wanted right now.

Mufasa got off the two lions. They weren't worth the effort. "And where are you heading to?" He asked. "And where are you from?" One of the lions looked away, and Mufasa followed his gaze, spotting Simba and Nala running towards him.

[Noah]

"She must really want to meet these people" Simba said when he saw her take off. It was only a moment later that he realized that Mufasa had their guests in a rathering unflattering predicament. "Oh Dear Me!" Zazu had also taken noticed of the situation's apparent escalation. All three of them were only seconds away from Mufasa.

----

Delano and Nahaai were both relieved to see they weren't going to become a rotting corpse within fifteen minutes of waking up. "Let me back up a little bit" Nahaai began. "I'm Nahaai and this is my pal Delano. We're not from around here". When Mufasa asked where they were from, Nahaai knew things were about to get complicated. "Well, we are from a zoo".

Around this time Nala arrived at the scene, followed closely by Simba and Zazu. Simba spoke up with "Father, What's going on..." but was quickly interrupted by Zazu with "Just who ARE you two?" The bird felt rather safe speaking his mind in the company of three friendly lions.

[DGFone]

Zoo... Mufasa remembered that word, but couldn't recall from where. But he felt that it meant bad business. Now if only he can remember why... But he didn't feel like it was right to just have these lions walk off. They weren't lying that they needed help. It was amazing that they were still alive. "Very well," he answered, "we will help you. But only if you leave in a few days, and stay out of trouble in the meantime."

Nala looked at Simba, unsure if she heard correctly. "What's a zoo?" She asked him. He shrugged, not knowing.

Delano let out a breath that he was holding. "Thanks," he muttered, "We'll leave. Just as soon as we will know where." This big lion was scaring him, and he didn't plan on hanging around for longer than necessary anyways. He looked at the other lions. The one that addressed the big one as 'father' clearly had to be a son. But what about the lioness? A daughter? Other family member?

He didn't really care. But Delano didn't want to give off the wrong impression. "So what are your names?" He asked, hoping that he didn't cross some line.

[Noah]

"I'm Simba and this is my mate Nala. You've already met my father, Mufasa". Zazu interrupted: "He's King of EVERYTHING the light touches. So you better keep it cool, kitty!". The hornbill couldn't keep his reservations to himself. Although everyone else seemed content on letting these foreigners stay, at least temporarily, Zazu wasn't keen on the idea of letting these scoundrels enter on his watch. "And that's...Zazu Simba's voice trailed off and couldn't help but make eye contact with Nala at those last words.

A slight frown crept across Nahaai's face when Simba mentioned his connection to Nala; he hadn't recalled ever seeing a female of his species before, but he knew some had to exist. Putting that aside Nahaai inquired: "We're both really hungry. Do you any food?".

"Yeah, we can get you some" Simba replied.

[DGFone]

Delano frowned at being called a kitty, but he didn't dare and make any witty comeback. The last thing he needed is to get himself and Nahaai kicked out of the only place that can help them. So he kept his insults to the blue bird to himself.

Mufasa saw that Simba and Nala seemed to be getting along with these newcomers well enough, so he decided that he might as well let them be. "Well, I've got other issues to attend to, so I guess I'll leave you two with our guests, Simba, Nala," he said, as he walked away, "Tell me if there are any problems. Come, Zazu!" He walked away with his majordomo flying besides him.

"You know, Zazu, you don't always have to think that invaders are coming to our borders," Mufasa told the bird. He chuckled lightly. "Even if they wanted to, they would not have been able to succeed in taking over." He laughed some more, finding amusement at how bad Delano and Nahaai were at fighting.

Delano smiled gratefully at Simba. "Thanks. And no offense meant, but your father is rather scary," he said, "and rather strong." He knew that the memory of getting tossed around by Mufasa would not leave him any time soon. "So you live here?" He asked.

Nala nodded. "Was born here," she replied, "Wouldn't want to be anywhere else," she added. "So where are you two from? You don't look like your from around here, if you get what I'm saying." She was referring to how Delano and Nahaai were suffering from the heat, which she considered normal.

[Noah]

"No, we aren't. We are from Kopa, India.". That name sounded familiar to Nala, but she couldn't quite place it. Regardless, it seemed like a very pretty name. "We don't know how we got here." Nahaai continued as the fear of abadonment nearly came back to him, but he fought to put that away for good. Neither Simba nor his father seemed fearful of them. Why should he act that way? "We just woke up here".

"Where we're standing?" Simba briefly broke eye contact to notice Zazu and Mufasa heading back towards the watering hole. "Well, not exactly." said Nahaai. "We woke up several yards back that way. Or was it that way?" He had trouble remembering where they had just come from, as their little shake up with Mufasa had messed up their sense of direction. Everything looked the same regardless of where they were turned.

Simba wondered why the two couldn't see the trail they had just made. The small indentations in the dirt, coupled with the faintly bend grass made it obvious to any feline they came from the East. Their tracking abilities must not work, or perhaps they've never been turned on. "You came from that direction." pointed to the right of them. "Are you certain?" Nahaai asked. "Oh I'm certain" Simba said confidently. "Come on. Let's go investigate." Walking past, Nala winked at Nahaai, or was Delano, neither of them could tell.