A paradise is not always what it seems. (Open)

[crownprince]

What the.... where am I?

Those were the first words that entered Kovu's mind, and the question demanded to be answered straight away; but, from the look of the place, it would have to wait until he found someone to ask the question. And, he might very well have to wait a very long time: this new world was somewhat more barren than the Outlands.

The last thing that Kovu remembered, was that he was underground in the labyrinthine caves of the Outlands, asleep. And when he woke up, only a few minutes ago, he was no longer in the caves; he found himself lying underneath several large ferns, and in the dirt instead of on the rocky floor of the Outlands' caves. Kovu blinked, confused, and lifted his head from his forepaws and glanced around him. His ears swiveled in every direction, and lowered to the sides of his head. Unlike the Outlands, this place was rather noisy; there were a number of birds calling out to each other, or to nobody in general, in addition to one or two other animals. But what they were saying was hard to make out, for above all of that noise, the nearby waterfall drowned them out. For in fact, Kovu had been transported to the deep jungle, the home of Shere Khan.

The young lion pushed himself up into a sitting position, hunched over, his tail curled around his paws. He didn't want to be here, he wanted to be there. Back home. Where he belonged. Somewhat frightened, he stayed hidden under the ferns for some time, bugt before long his courage built up, and decided to go on a bit of exploration. He wasn't sure whether he could return home, for he didn't know how he arrived here, but he couldn't stay nestled amongst the plants forever!

Ears pricked up and forward, he crept out from under the ferns and padded along the dirt path that lay in front of his hiding spot, and lead to the deep pool that was fed by the large waterfall. Kovu stopped walking once he reached the edge, and crouched down, dipping a forepaw into the cool water. Looking out across the water's surface, it looked safe enough; and besides, the possibility that danger lurked in the water was not on his list of priorities. Back home, water was extremely hard to find.

And so, finding such an abundance of fresh water was simply paradise. All fears dismissed, Kovu's spirits brightened and he placed both forelegs into the water cautiously, testing how deep it was; it wasn't too deep, and soon he had all four paws in. If he stayed close to the bank, the water only came up to his shoulders. If he moved towards the centre of the pool, the water would surely cover his head.
Shortly after he had entered the water though, he made his way into deeper water, and he had to constantly kick with his hind legs in order to keep his head above the water's surface. That way, he lazily swam in circles, occasionally pausing to gaze up at the waterfall. Every time he tried to get closer, the force of the waterfall sent him backwards, but that just annoyed him; he had never seen a waterfall before, and only time would tell whether he was careless enough to swim too close, and get caught underneath the waterfall.

[namine]

Clearly, the jungle was not meant for a girl.

Naminé had been lost for who knows how long, and it was highly likely that she was walking around in circles. She liked the jungle, and how peaceful it seemed to be, but compared to the Mansion in Twilight Town? This was insane. The blonde swatted away some low hanging branches, pushing her way through the brush. There was some sort of fear in the back of her mind telling her that there was something bad about this place, but she ignored it. She wandered until there was a sound of running water in the distance, and paused as if she were trying to figure out what direction it was coming from. (After all, she didn't want to get lost again.)

When she reached the water, her features became visibly relaxed. She was tired, from walking aimlessly throughout the jungle all day. The blonde really didn't want to sit down in the midst of trees and bushes, either. Though it'd be nice to take a break, she also had to remember why she was here. She was trying to figure out why she was her own person, separated from Kairi. She didn't know how to explain it, but the blonde felt as if everything was off, like something bad was going to-- or already did-- happen. Aside from that, though, it was a relief to be her person. Though there wasn't the perks of having her own heart, the fact that she was momentarily in charge of what went on was enough to keep her going.

Naminé knelt beside the edge of the pool, cupping her hands so that she could splash some of the water on her face. It was refreshing, and she let out a soft sigh of relief. Sitting back on her heels, the blonde looked over the water, and that's when she saw the small lion cub swimming around in circles, and seeming to be enjoying themselves. She watched curiously for a few moments, never having encountering an animal before. Eventually, a wide smile grew on her face. There was just something about the lion cub that was just so cute!

She wanted to say something to him, so that she wasn't just sitting here and staring at him while he thought he was alone, but nothing came to mind. So instead, she took to examining the pool a bit more. It seemed as though it was just your everyday pool, with a waterfall. There wasn't really anything special about it. Moments later, that's when she noticed how dangerously close the lion cub had been to it, and how easily he could be trapped under it. "Hey!" Naminé called, not knowing if her tone showed her fear, "Be careful of the waterfall, you could get stuck under it!"

ooc:// ...*such a rambler* *flail*.

[crownprince]

The seemingly-endless swimming in circles started to tire him out; the muscles in his limbs were burning, straining as Kovu over-exerted himself in the cool water. It was no surprise that he would tire so easily, for he was quite malnourished; for in fact, he was around one year-old, but he was roughly the size of a three-month old cub, with over-sized paws, and a thin, somewhat ragged body. The lion cub discovered that he couldn't float for very long, to give his limbs a rest, but it helped a little. He swam closer to the waterfall and looked upwards, trying to discern where all that water was coming from; a couple minutes later he got the idea that if there were a path, he could probably climb it and reach the top!

And so, Kovu would start heading towards the poolside, but only after he tried one more time at swimming underneath the wall. He came close to it, as he did before, but he stopped when something called out behind him.
Kovu spun around, still doggy-paddling to stay afloat, his ears swiveling, and at last his gaze fell upon a newcomer at the poolside, a two-legger. The lion cub blinked, not understanding a word that the two-legger had said, supposedly to him; from what he gathered there was no one else around, but he could be wrong. This stranger could have allies hiding nearby, and this could be a trick. Ears flattening to his skull, his brows lowered, and he bared his canines at the stranger.

Furthermore, he was rather scared, for he was in a new world and therefore knew about its inhabitants and any dangers he could encounter; it was better to be safe than sorry, after all. Kovu growled softly, telling the two-legger that was not not to be approached, but the thought didn't cross his mind that she would probably not understand him. However, he detected anxiety from the two-legger, and his ears momentarily faced toward her, curious. She didn't look that dangerous, after all; for one, she had no horns, no claws, or fangs. But still..

He glanced to the waterfall and back to her, and making a stupid decision in a split second; he began to swim closer to the waterfall.

[namine]

"Oh..."

Naminé shrunk back as the small lion cub looked back at her, and bared its teeth. She wasn't expecting the small thing to be so vicious, and she was afraid that for a moment, it was going to come out of the small pool and attack her. She should've expected that, seeing as how she's currently in the jungle, and there are tons of lions in the jungle. Her hand gripped the edge of her dress, expecting the worst. But instead, the lion cub then looked as though he were rather curious, and she frowned. How could it go from looking as though it were going to hurt her, to being curious about her? It didn't make much sense to her.

"No!" It came out before her mind could process it, as the cub swam closer to the waterfall. The pressure of the water there was a lot stronger than it was anywhere else in the pool, and Naminé didn't want the poor thing to be trapped under it. She wasn't going to let what was probably a young child drown beneath the waterfall. Even though she was a bit afraid of the cub, she wasn't going to let it go any further.

She kicked her shoes off, sending them a few feet away and lightly stepped into the water. It was cold, sending goosebumps up her legs as she put her other foot in, wading through the water that reached up to her thighs. It was nerve wracking, trying to race through a pool of water to get to a lion cub so that it doesn't get pulled beneath a waterfall. If Naminé had a heart, at this point it would be beating rapidly. But that place in her chest was hollow, and it put a frown on her face as the thought crossed her mind. Eventually she reached the cub, and scooped him up in her arms, quickly going back to the edge of the pool because of the fear that she was going to be bitten.

The bottom of her dress was soaked, and the blonde shifted uneasily, trying to find a position where she could sit without feeling the coldness of the water again. She looked at the lion cub, and smiled a small smile. She hoped that it wasn't mad at her, because she wasn't sure how to handle an upset cub. Hesitantly she reached out a slender hand, and scratched behind its ear. "Are you okay?"

[/blockquote]

[crownprince]

"Almost.... there!" Kovu thought to himself as he neared the waterfall; the sound of it was pretty much deafening, forcing him to flatten his ears against his head. On account of the waterfall, the two-legger's sudden approach came as a surprise to him; he was so sure that she would have stayed on the bank, and left him to swim happily in the pool. He still couldn't get over the fact that this world was overflowing with life: there were so many green, healthy plants, and from the sounds of it, plenty of animals, too, two-legged or not. Back at the Outlands, everything was dying or close to it: the only trees were bare upright logs, and everything was covered in dirt, or termite nound dust. Kovu would be all too happy to stay here, that is, once he found out that the other animals did not find lion cubs to be a particulalry tasty meal.

Upon being scooped up, Kovu curled into a ball, his tail started to sweep the air, and he instinctively gripped onto his assailant's arms with his forepaws, the claws unsheathed, He did not try to tear her skin, the worst he could do (at the moment) was leave her with grazes; enough to hurt and show his displeasure at being 'attacked', but really, it was more due to the shock and trying to hold on, rather than a full-blown attack. The dark lion cub wriggled; he was not a well-fed, plump cub, but he was still too big and gangly to be held comfortably for very long. the fur along his back rose on end, his ears stayed flat; he raised his lips in the beginning of a snarl, baring his teeth, and a low growl rumbled deep in his chest and throat. His heart and pulse rate had considerably quickened, and so the two-legger would probably be able to feel just how scared he was.

He didn't want to show such weakness, but sometimes you just couldn't control yourself. Kovu spread the digits of his forepaws across Namine's arm, and was about to push against her with his backlegs and spill forward over Namine's arms, and scamper away to safety, when he felt her hand touch his head. He growled deeper, but this growl didn't end up sounding as aggressive as the previous one; he didn't know it, but Namine's magic was having an odd effect on him. Soon, he'd be able to understand her perfectly, as though she were a lioness, or if he were a.... whatever she was. The magic was starting to have a calimg effect on him, but he didn't like this change, and so for now he would try to fight against it, but how he could that?

"Rrrrlett-mm-me-go..!!"

[namine]

Naminé continued to uneasily scratch behind the cub's ear, not knowing if she was making things better, or worse. He had his claws out, leaving marks on her arms that probably wouldn't go away for a couple of days. Either way though, she continued her actions, thinking that she was making the young cub relax when she was in fact doing the complete opposite. His growl set her on edge again, and she pulled back slightly, but her hand still remained behind his ear. The thought finally occurred to her that she was doing something wrong.

"Rrrrlett-mm-me-go..!!"

She gasped, pulling back completely and quickly placing Kovu back on the ground. Did she just... understand him? How was that even possible? Naminé had never even heard of humans being able to understand what animals were saying. Then again, this wasn't a normal world, so she should've been expecting this. After what was probably a good two minutes of silence while the blonde mulled things over in her head, she looked around for the lion cub.

"I..." she started, not sure how to go about this, "I hope I didn't scare you."

Could Kovu understand her when she talked, too, or was this just a one-sided thing? Naminé looked at him, frowning, as she finally realized that she wasn't exactly comfortable around animals. During her entire existence, she never encountered any sort of animal, other than Donald, Goofy, and Mickey. They actually talked normally, though, and acted like any other human. Kovu was a full-fledged animal, and she had no idea how to handle him. Should she try to make him feel safe? At that thought she slowly got down to her knees, hoping that she wouldn't frighten him like she did before. Naminé figured that he was probably scared witless, and being confronted by her probably made him even more nervous. She reached her hand out to him as a small welcoming gesture.

"Come here... I won't hurt you."

ooc:// Gah, sorry it's on the short side. *flails* I felt bad about taking a while to reply.
But, I'm curious as to what situations Kovu and Nami'll get themselves into, now that they can understand each other. O:

[crownprince]

As soon as he felt soft soil underneath his pawpads, he moved as though he were going to abandon his saviour, the one he had until now identitifed as his enemy, a supposed random inhabitant of this jungle. However, the two-legger's growls- which is what he heard them as earlier, had made complete sense to him. And so, Kovu just stayed where he was, hunched into a little ball, the fur on his back still on end so as to make himself look bigger. Kovu stared up at Namine, his ears slowly swiveling forward expectantly.

"I hope I don't scare you."

The lion cub flexed his forepaws against the ground, sheathing his claws as he regarded her with one eyebrow raised. She, she could speak to him, and vice versa. How was this happening, exactly? He doubted he could and would ever understand how that happened, so for now he accepted it as just another particularly odd change to his life in a new world. Green eyes watched carefully as Namine reached out one hand to him, and he instinctively drew back, stitting up straight with his chest puffed out, and he lifted one forepaw to lightly swat at the approaching appendage.

"Scare me? Hah! I'd like to see you try, two-legger."

Kovu snorted at her with feigned contempt, and turned his head away, and raising a forepaw to his muzzle he began licking his pawpads, and using his paw to smooth down his wet fur. A couple times he shook himself, spraying droplets of water around him, some hitting Namine. He quite looked like he was bored with this whole affair, and the smirk on his face was evident enough.

"What are you doing here, anyway? This is mine; I found it first. " Of course, he was referring to the waterfall- he hadn't seen so much water before, as explained earlier, and he wasn't going to share it with anyone soon... which wasn't at all true. And with that, he lowered his head slightly, curling his lip, a faint growl in his throat.

[Scar]

Scar had been looking for his pride, his cubs, Zira, any sign of someone loyal to him. When he spotted the small brown cub and tasted the air that blew to him from the waterfall, he could smell something familiar about the cub.

His pupils shrank as he took in the human standing over Kovu, and he moved out from his hiding place. He walked with grace, elegance, and a calculated forethought put into each muscle flex and shift. His long claws disrupted the dirt under him as he walked closer, his long tail kept low.

As he got closer he growled, his rounded ears folding against his head as he got closer to the cub. Even if he was wrong, and this cub wasn't familiar to him, he wanted to get the human away from the boy. Not to mention she looked like a slow runner. His eyes were calculating and focused, locked right onto her, his shoulders shifting as he hunkered just a little closer to the ground, as if ready to pounce.

He was not around long enough to hear the cub speak to the human, so he knew only that a human was standing over a cub, and that the cub smelled familiar, even seemed a bit familiar. He didn't bother speaking, as he figured the human would nothing more than growling and roaring.

[namine]

From the way Kovu was reacting to her reactions, Naminé couldn't help but feel as though the lion cub didn't think too fondly of her. When he reached out and swatted her hand, she pulled back with a frown on her face. She was trying to make friends with the cub, but he was resisting, laughing at her attempts. If she wasn't paranoid that Kovu would go right back inside the pool and almost get trapped under the waterfall again, then she would've up and left to try and find her way out of this jungle.

Her hands shot up and shielded her face once Kovu began to shake himself dry. She was already wet enough from wading into the water rescuing him, she didn't want to get anymore wet. Then, it dawned to her as to why Kovu was so hard on her; he thought she was there to steal his 'territory'.

"Oh! No," she said, trying to defend herself, "I didn't plan on coming here. It was a mistake." Naminé took a quick glance around the jungle, wondering for a moment why any human in the right state of mind would ever come here. "You can have the waterfall. I only went in because you almost got stuck underneath it." Normally, she did not speak this much. But seeing the small lion cub growl at her as if it were ready to pounce struck some fear in her, even if it wasn't real fear. She was glad that there was no actual lion around.

A low, threatening growl made Naminé wish she never thought that. Turning around, she saw a lion stalking towards her. He looked at her as though she were his prey, a easy target that wouldn't be able to escape if she tried. It was moments like these where she was glad that she didn't have a heart, because if she did it would be pounding so loudly, that she wouldn't be able to think straight. She looked back towards Kovu, before down at the jungle floor. The only thing that she could do now was to wait, and see if she became the lion's next meal.

Oh, how she loathed the jungle now.

[/blockquote]

[crownprince]

The lion cub lowered his head and chest lower to the ground, his forepaws spread meningcingly, his hindquarters raised, long tail sweeping the air. He continued to growl low as the young girl spoke hurriedly to him;. As he did sound genuinely concerned about his safety.. at first he instinctively became defensive; there was always the chance that she was faking her emotions, especially when he considered that this jungle and its inhabitants were new to him. Kovu presumed that she lived here, although it was clear that she didn’t her behaviour was a little odd, but that was to be the least of his worries.

He raised his head, his green eyes focused on the girl's face, and he sat down with his tail curled around his paws. The cub stared up at her, uncertainty clear on his face. How they could understand each other… he still felt as though his fur had been rubbed the wrong way. Prior to waking up in this jungle, he had only known the Outlands, and the Pride Lands; there, everyone understood one another. He hadn’t seriously thought about other worlds, and the animals who would be living there; there was a 50/50 chance that he would understand them, because.. why not? But he just never had the idea that one day it would be possible for him to actually leave the Outlands and turn up somewhere new.

As the young human explained her situation, he caught a few subtle changes; her tone of voice, her movements, but he dismissed them as quickly as he noticed them, for he only knew her for a few minutes. There were no memories of past encounters to compare them to, in the first place. Her sudden anxiety didn’t seem to be a cause of alarm, but there was a familiar smell in the air that caught his attention, but briefly.

The cub tilted his head back, watching for any signs that’d meant that she was faking concern and she did want to cause him harm, but there being none – save for her apprehension- he slowly got up and padded closer to her. He kept his head low, his ears facing the human girl, and he circled her carefully, sniffing her shins and ankles. She smelled pleasant, and didn’t seem ‘wrong’; even with her ability to understand him so quickly, she did not seem like a bad two-legger: the only two-legger he knew.

The tuft on the tip of his tail began to flick, and Kovu quickly circled her once more, stopping in front of her, tilting his muzzle up so he could look at her face. The silence between them remained unbroken as he considered her. She didn’t seem to be a threat, and that feeling came back again, that she was genuinely worried about him. He finally accepted her for what she was, just another creature lost in this jungle.

His tail continued to flick, and a smug smile spread across his face. ” I didn’t your help; I could have done it myself, two-legger. My name's Kovu, who--..huh?” As he was speaking, he had leaned forward to sniff the girl’s ankles again; and when he leaned back, at that moment the pair of them heard a deep growl, which belonged to.. who, exactly? As far as he knew, only him and the two-legger in the area.

Kovu stood up on all fours, his tail swept upwards once before lowering, the tuft close to his heels; he spun on the spot and glanced to the ferns that surrounded them, looking for a sign that’d tell him where the newcomer was, and which way it was that Kovu should run. The cub scented the air, and found that familiar scent again, which was the strange lion’s.

Unable to disguise his fright, he began to walk backwards, lowering his body to the ground, his ears alternately swivelling forwards and backwards. He shot a glance in the girl’s direction, hoping to catch her gaze. He wasn’t sure what to do now. His first instinct was to run as fast as he could, which would indeed take him far, but it wouldn’t be a good choice. After all, Kovu was a cub; his speed, not to mention his size, they would be no match for a fully-grown adult lion. The second option was to stand his ground, and hope for the best: that neither him or the two-legger would be attacked.

The Outsider unsheathed his claws, momentarily baried his teeth, and his fur stood on end- al his fur was still damp from his swim earlier, and so his puffed-up wet fur gave him a slight spiky appearance. He then dug his paws into the ground, readying himself to bolt. He wasn’t sure what the two-legger was capable of if anythng besides being able to understand an animal. There weren’t many two-legged animals back in his home world, and none of them were good at running fast. Looking back to the other lion, a strange idea entered his head, of that he had met this lion before. That couldn’t be true though; he couldn’t recall any time when he had met a lion quite like this one.

From behind the girl’s ankles, he looked across to the other lion, and opened his mouth to speak, but found that he could say nothing. Kovu swallowed hard, and waited, using the girl as a shield. This turned out be one of the rare times when Kovu wanted his mother, Zira, to be around; she’d stop anything bad from happening to him.. wouldn’t she?

” ……..”

[Scar]

At the cubs odd behavior he sat down, his expression turning half amused and half confused. His tail wound around his paws, his sharp emerald eyes locked onto Kovu now, and completely ignoring the human. His muscles relaxed out of their tensed state and he seemed passive, as if he had never been ready to attack.

After watching for a few moments longer he stood, languid, and dipped his head to drink from the water. He hadn't had a drink for some time, nor had he eaten. He licked he remains of moisture from his lips and whiskers, turning once more.

His nostrils flared as he took a breath, his lips curling back from his teeth once again as he scented the air. "You smell familiar, cub." he said, laying down and enjoying the slight splash the waterfall provided, cooling his heated body. The tip of his tail curled and uncurled as he watched the two of them.

"You smell like a mate of mine." he mentioned offpawedly. He primly folded his front paws together, one ear twitching away a nearby fly. "Tell me, who is your mother? What pride are you in?" he asks of him, completely focused on the cub once again. His voice seemed almost a purr, and he was unaware the human could understand them.

[namine]

Naminé stood protective in front of Kovu, though she wouldn't be able to do much if the lion decided to attack. She would probably end up as a human shield, killed so that the young lion cub could get away safely. Even though the thought unnerved her, she decided to stick to it.

But, the lion in front of them just sat down, acting as if he hadn't been on the prowl at all. She blinked, momentarily confused. He wasn't here to attack them? Not that she was going to complain, anyway. She liked herself the way that it was, unharmed by any lion.

Then the lion spoke, and she was surprised that she could understand him, too. How was that possible? That wasn't important right now, though. What was important was that the lion somehow knew Kovu, but Kovu did not recognize him. Naminé awkwardly stood between the two of them, not sure of what to do with herself. This was their issue to sort out, not hers.

She looked down at Kovu, briefly wondering if he did in fact know the lion. He had said that the cub smelled familiar to him, so maybe they did cross paths somewhere along the way. She'd just have to wait for the two to talk, and find out herself.

ooc:// Fail reply is a fail, sorry. D: I couldn't have Naminé do much without interfering. I figured it'd be better to have Kovu and Scar talk first, before she jumps in and does something.

[crownprince]

What did this stranger want? Firstly, there were the telltale signs that he was going to attack, but the next moment he became passive, and seemed more interested in the waterfall pool. Kovu couldn’t make complete sense of the scenario, but then again, he couldn’t make sense of whether his mother honestly felt affection for him, considering how she treats him. But one thing was sure: he was grateful for the human, who did not run and abandon him, but nor did she initiate a fight- if she could fight. From Kovu’s earlier inspection, the human was wearing.. things on her hindfeet, and she had no claws for her forepaws. She simply stood her ground, as Kovu did.

The lion cub tensed, ready to run, but when the other lion spoke, he didn’t make a move towards the ferns. He raised himself of the ground and slowly padded closer to Namine, and peered around her ankles to look at the stranger.You smell like a mate of mine. Kovu’s eyebrows raised, his pupils dilated; the first thought that entered his head, was that this lion used to be a member of the pride. His pride. It wasn’t impossible, and Kovu thought it was alright to answer; he couldn’t recall whether Zira had told him anything about these kind of situations, but Nuka probably would have something to say about it.

He glanced upwards to Namine, then back to the lion, his tail flicking. He tried to relax his tense muscles and to stop trembling under the lion’s calculating gaze, but found it was harder than it seemed; he only made it slightly worse. Kovu breathed in deeply, staying close to Namine- so close he was practically leaning on her- and puffed out his chest with feigned pride. ”I, I… I’m an Outlander. My mother’s name is Z-Zira.”

[Scar]

Scar perked visibly at that, the very tip of his tail curling up, his whiskers flaring forward. "Is that so?" he questioned, curling his pawpads into the dirt under him, his bright green eyes squinted in delight. "And how is your mother?" he asks, his voice smooth as silk.

Until he realizes.

He stands onto his paws, his ears folded. "What do you mean by Outlander? They should be in the Pridelands." he growled low, pacing and angry. "Did no one else fight against that whelp, Simba?" he inquired, but seemed to just be speaking to himself.

He shook his thin, black mane in anger, his claws out and digging into the dirt. "And what of Simba?" he asks of the cub, flopping his hindquarters onto the dirt, studying the small creature that looked near a split image of himself.

[crownprince]

Kovu sat down, curling his tail round his paws, his green eyes fixed on the other lion. In truth he wasn’t expecting the lion to react in any specific way; glad, angry, and so on. What Kovu wanted to know, was that although he knew of Zira and her prides – not to mention the Pride Landers, as well- how much did he know about Kovu..? The thought scared him, for he had never met him before, but there was one possibility behind all of this: that this black-maned lion was.. No. Kovu shook his head, his ears pressing flat against his head. He couldn’t just trust a stranger, just like that. When- and if he returned to his home world, he’d have to seek out information from the others, but who? Heading straight for his mother and asking her such a question wouldn’t be the best choice to make.

The lion cub seemed to shrink in size when the older lion raised a question about Simba, of all lions. He hadn’t personally met Simba, but Zira and the other Outlanders could not go throughout the day without expressing their hatred for him, who was supposedly not the rightful King of the Pride Lands. And with that, Zira frequently reminded Kovu that he was the rightful heir. Whichever case was true, he was in no place to question his mother, or anyone else, even. Kovu swallowed hard, and flexed his forepaws against the ground. ““…I- I mean, my mother, her- my pride, we all live in the Outlands, since Simba banished us..” He shook himself, his fur almost completely dry by now, and he hesitated before continuing to speak, glancing upwards to the human as though for reassurance.

“..Him? He’s .. he’s King of the Pride Lands.” Brow furrowed, he studied the dirt at his paws for a moment, and looked back to the other lion, and mustered all his courage. “…I thought everyone knew that.” The idea that one of his own species didn’t know this, practically universal knowledge as far as Kovu was concerned, astounded him, to say the least.