The Longest Journey

[DGFone]

Sarabi quietly watched as Simba left, hardly noticing as Mufasa grabbed onto her paw. Like Mufasa, she knew that this was Simba's one time when he would get to do what he wanted to, instead of what someone else wanted him to. So as hard as it was to watch her son go, she knew that, at least in he heart if not mind, that it was Simba's choice and not hers to make.

Nala noticed how hard Sarafina was finding it to let her go. "I'll be fine, mom. I promise you," she said, giving her mother a parting lick. "We'll still be able to talk and see each other." But no matter what she tried, Sarafina didn't seem to be able to make it easier to let her go. "I'll come back to you mom," Nala said, "I promise that even should it be the last thing I'll ever do, I'll come back to you." She hugged Sarafina once more before letting go and following Simba outside.

---

Dan saw Simba and Nala make their way down Pride Rock together. "Let's go?" he asked. He was slightly surprised not to see the rest of the pride, but he figured that it was how they wanted it to be. Leading the two lions to his car, he opened the back door and motioned inside. "Get inside, it's how we go from here."

Strapping them down, he gave them a look of slight concern. He was now going to take them away from their families, and he alone was responsible because of it. "If you don't want to go, just say so now," he said quietly. "Because the moment we start moving, there's no turning back. You go, it's the entire way."

Nala looked at Simba, and then at Pride Rock. "I'm going." She said, "and don't make me change my mind." She was very ready to run back home, but she knew how much this meant to Simba, so in her mind, the sooner they will leave, the easier it will be for her.

[Regulus]

Simba studied the vehicle, in an attempt to take his mind off leaving his family. Everything about it seemed alien to him. The seats had a strange texture, there was a rumbling sound coming from the front of the vehicle, and, surrounding them, were transparent panels. But perhaps what caught his attention most were the numerous cold wind generators. If humans made this, he thought, then going to the moon shouldn't be too difficult at all. He concluded that, in fact, it must be quite enjoyable.

Suddenly, he remembered something Rafiki said; something about rocket fuel. "So... how do we get to the moon?"

[DGFone]

Dan laughed when Simba asked about the moon. "Not with this, we're not," he replied, "this goes on the ground. Wait until we get inside something that flies, because that's where I will tell you." With this, he gently pressed the accelerator and drove off.

As soon as they started moving, Nala closed her eyes in fright and leaned against Simba. Never before had she moved without it being because she was moving herself, and now, the feeling was so strange and quite frightening. All of the sudden, the movement stopped and Nala cautiously opened her eyes. Both Simba and Dan were looking at her in concern. "I'm... I'm all right," she said, "just startled."

Slowly, Dan drove off again, but Nala no longer minded the movement. While still odd and foreign to her, it wasn't dangerous and Nala stared outside, watching in amazement as the savanna move past them. Dan saw Nala looking outside and smiled. "Quite a view, huh? This is only the beginning." As much as he wanted to actually start talking to them, he was too busy making sure not to get lost. But as soon as they will get on a plane, he will change that.

[Regulus]

Simba's eyes were glued to the window for the majority of the ride. Though he had only been with the human for a few minutes, he was already beginning to like it. He watched as rocks and trees slowly moved by. Normally, he would be struggling to go that fast, but he was able to travel in comfort. His seat was cozy enough to sleep on, the cool air was refreshing, and the road and engine noise only seemed to be relaxing. The conditions were perfect for him to get lost in his mind.

Oddly enough, he did not find himself thinking about his journey to the moon, or Nala, or his family. Instead, he thought about life, the universe, and everything. He remembered other things Rafiki had once told him, and pounded over them. The monkey, while half insane, did seem to have a level of wisdom far beyond his own understanding. Fourty-two seemed quite convincing.

Before he knew it, he could no longer recognize where he was. He snapped back into reality as he began to notice this. If he wasn't going to the moon in the current vehicle, then where would he be going? He tried to remember what Dan had last told him. Realizing that Dan was busy navigating, he whispered his question to Nala. "Where did he say we were going?"

[DGFone]

Nala tore her eyes from the world outside. "Huh? Oh, I don't know," she answered Simba, "something about..." she struggled to remember what Dan had said, "flying or something..."

From the driver's seat, Dan let out a small laugh. "Don't worry you two, soon I'll be able to answer all the questions you want," he told them, "right now, I'm concerned with knowing where to go, because this place is as foreign to me as it is to you. But all in good time, if you want to ask it, I will answer it."

"Yeah, but flying?" Nala asked, "how does that work?"

Dan laughed louder this time. "We need to cross half the world in less than a day," he answered, "the only way to do that is by flying. Don't worry, I won't ask you to put on some wings and stuff, it's much more intriguing than that. But you will need to see it to believe it, so as I said, once we're in the air, ask away!"

[Regulus]

"Why can't we start flying now?" Simba asked, questioning his initial belief that humans were an all-powerful species. Then, he remembered what Dan had said; that the vehicle can only travel on the ground. "Oh, yeah... never mind."

"So, if we're traveling across the world, I wonder what all is out there," Simba said, trying to change the subject. He had heard rumors before about the land beyond the Pridelands, but what he didn't know is if the rumors were true. Based on what he had seen so far, he hadn't been missing much.

[DGFone]

Dan mentally compared Florida to the Pride Lands. "You should like it there," he said, "it's just as hot, but it's much more wet there." That was when he realized that it was highly unlikely that Simba and Nala had ever seen any large body of water before. "Yeah, there's lots of water there, but it's good for drinking. Great swimming there though-"

At this, Nala groaned. All her life, she hated water, and to hear that there would be even more was not sounding nice to her.

Dan noticed how Nala did not like the description he was giving. "What? Don't like swimming?" He saw her shake her head through a mirror. "Relax, you don't have to. Besides, I somewhat doubt that you will even get a chance to swim. The training's going to start right away, and you will be kept busy the entire time."

He drove some more until he reached a road. Getting onto it, he allowed himself to relax as he drove faster, but smoother now that they were on a paved road instead of uneven ground.

[Regulus]

Simba wondered what he could possibly be busy doing. Little did he know what type of training he signed up for. During his life in the Pridelands, he and Nala had an abundant amount of time to spend freely. "We'll see about that," Simba replied in disbelief. From Simba's point of view, obviously, Dan didn't know too much about him. Whatever Dan would have him do, Simba assured himself he could do it in half the time. After all, he's the future king and all.

As Simba was lost in his thoughts about nothing other than his own awesomeness, he began to notice the vehicle picking up speed. "How fast can this thing go?" he asked with curiosity.

[DGFone]

Dan grunted in amusement at Simba's remark of disbelief. "Now, you see, while I already have a general idea of what you guys will be going through, you don't," he said, "so better relax and I would even say enjoy the last bit of freedom you have. Because before you know it, everything you do, it will be because either I or someone else will be telling you to do it."

Nala frowned. "What?" was all she was able to ask.

Dan grinned. It really was hard, but amusing, in trying to tell them about the training they will go though, while knowing at how little they know about it. "Just stick with me, and you'll do fine," he added, "trust me."

As they drove, Simba then asked about the car's speed. Sure, Dan could go faster than they were, but he would rather not get pulled over for speeding, even on an empty African road. Not to mention that he still needed to make sure to know where they were. "Oh, we can go faster," he said, "not by much. But then, we are already moving faster than a..." he looked at the speedometer, "faster than a cheetah." He said this with a hint of smugness, allowing some pride to creep into his voice. "And more importantly, we can keep going this fast for a long time!"

[Regulus]

Simba smiled at the thought of outrunning a cheetah. "Cool," he exclaimed, somewhat arrogantly.

As the ride became a lot smoother, he thought it best to take Dan's advice. With only an hour or two of daylight left at most, he lied down across the back row of seats in an attempt to sleep. "This is really comfortable," he said after polluting the air with a foul odor from his yawn. Though he was unquestionably invading Nala's space at the other end, he didn't need to ask if she would mind; he already knew she wouldn't.