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[center][h1][color=Goldenrod]Simba Lionhart[/color] - Present Day - The Wildes -[/h1][/center]

A lone buzzard let out a resonating cry that echoed as far as the planes extended in all directions causing Simba to look up from his perch to watch as the large bird soared overhead, eying it's prize.

/It's gonna eat me!/

Simba lowered his head from watching the vulture fly past to watch as the small warthog began to run around in frantic circles, squealing and grunting as he tried to find a place to hide though amongst the vast terrain of The Wildes, the feat was impossible.

/He's not going to eat you, Pumbaa. Settle down buddy, you're scaring the buffalo./ Simba shook his head lightly, unable to help but smile at the expense of the warthog as the animal slowly started to settle himself down. /He'd want you dead before he tried anything, anyway./

/Dead?!/ Pumbaa began to circle himself again, letting his paranoia get the best of him, but before he could get back into the grunts and squeals, Simba let out a verbal laugh which immediately let Pumbaa know that he was only joking.

From the time that Simba had left Atlantis earlier that day, he did just as he had told Kidagakash and sought out the buffalo herd he had recalled passing a few days prior. It was simple enough to track them down; he had bonded with the leader of the herd so that finding them when there was a food shortage could be easy. It took very little convincing on Simba's part to get the herd to agree to turn back from where they came - closer to Atlantis - so that the Atlanteans could use them as a food source until he could come up with a better solution to the problem. The only thing that Simba hadn't exactly been counting on was the rate at which the herd traveled.

Drawing out a soft sigh, Simba pushed his torso forward so that it was flush against the back of the buffalo he had decided to ride during the trip back to Atlantis, his arms swinging uselessly on each side of the animal. He could have swore that the snails he had swallowed yesterday for a quick lunch were moving faster than these smelly, over-grown cows. Reaching back a bit, he adjusted the blue strap of cloth that he had been gifted by the queen as it was starting to ride up... again. Perhaps it wasn't the smartest thing to wear whilst straddling a buffalo, but it sure beat walking the plodding pace the animals had set. At least he had Pumbaa and Timon to talk to. Once he reconnected the bond of his friends after he left Atlantis, they met up with him rather quickly.

/Well I for one think the old buzzard has the right idea. I'm starving!/

Looking back at his leg, Simba watched as the small meerkat jumped off of the back of the warthog and grabbed hold of one of the strands of cloth Simba was using and climbed up it and onto the buffalo with Simba. Keeping his torso pressed forward, he strained his neck to then watch as Timon then ran up his bare back and sat himself down on Simba's shoulder.

/So when do we eat?/ Timon asked, tilting his head cutely as he looked back at Simba.

/[i]We[/i] are not eating. You and Pumbaa are going to leave just as soon as we get there. I told you that already. This place has been lost for thousands of years, it's important enough that they are letting [i]me[/i] in. The last thing they need are more strangers running about the city./

/And [i]I[/i] told [i]you[/i] that you ain't goin' [i]nowhere[/i] unless I'm there to protect you./ Timon remarked, puffing out his chest rather proudly on Simba's shoulder.

Simba turned his head back to look forward and let out a quiet chuckle.

"So besides from this being a recently found lost civilization that dates back before all existence in a never-ending cycle of life, what's so important about this place anyway?" Pumbaa asked, keeping up a steady pace at the buffalo's feet below them.

Simba sat up a bit at that, bracing his palms out on the shoulders of the buffalo and looked upwards to the sky where he found the vulture still circling. He didn't answer right away, closing off his mind to be alone with his thoughts while he tried to come up with an answer.

/There's... well... they are like me.../ Simba said after a while, opening his mind back up. 

/Like you?/ Pumbaa asked.

/He means that they are able to talk to animals too./ Timon clarified for Simba.

/Actually... no, Timon. I meant, they're human... human like me./

Timon jumped up from Simba's shoulder and onto his head, burrowing himself into Simba's mane of blonde hair and began scratching around, messing it up even more.

/You mean there's more of you hairless things? I always thought you were like, an extremely small albino lion or something... like, the kind with the disease the hyena's like to pick off from the herd./

Simba chuckled and shook his head, feeling the weight of the meerkat there and promptly raised one hand to pluck Timon from his hair and set him back on his shoulder.

/Nope. I'm all human. I just... I never thought I'd see another one for the rest of my life.../ Simba paused to let out a quiet sigh. /She's different though... different than were I came from. She-/

/Woah, woah, woah! [i]She[/i]? As in... a [i]girl[/i]?/ Timon piped up, an air of snark in his tone that for some reason, put a blush on Simba's face.

/Well why didn't you say so? Timon and I would be [i]happy[/i] to help out. You see... the art of willing the female to mate is as complex and terrifying as-/

"Woah! Hey! I didn't say anything about [i]that[/i]!/ Simba interrupted quickly.

Timon and Pumbaa took a moment to look at one another before looking back to Simba, both with expressions on their faces as to being completely lost.

/Well she's a girl, aint she?/ Timon asked.

/Well, yeah... but-/

/And she's like you, ain't she?/ Timon interrupted.

/Yeah but-/

//Then she's your mate!// Timon and Pumbaa both expressed at once, now looking quite pleased with themselves.

Simba sighed and let himself fall back into the back of the buffalo, hiding his face between it's massive shoulders to give him some time before he even [i]touched[/i] on that topic with them. He may have been raised by the wild, but that didn't mean that he wasn't completely unaware of how things worked in the human kingdom either. And though he didn't know exactly [i]how[/i] they were different, something just felt... different about it all.

/Let's... let's just get back to Atlantis guys.../