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[h1][color=Goldenrod]Simba Lionhart[/color] and [color=LightSteelBlue]Kidagakash Nedakh[/color][/h1]
[h2]Present Day - The Wildes/ Atlantis - Part One[/h2][/center]

The sound of high pitched screeching filled the air around her in the cave that guarded the entrance of her home, the sound alone causing her to lift her attention to the air above, her bright blue eyes honing in on the graceful yet still quite dangerous creature that was circling above her head, enjoying its moment of freedom by exploring every little inch of the cave, much like she herself had done when she had first discovered it many years ago- the very sight of it causing her heart to soar within her chest, and her features to light up in understanding to how it was that the creature was feeling. She knew the feeling- that feeling of spreading her wings and having just that small moment of freedom; away from all the pressures that came with the title and responsibility of being Queen. She would not deny her that opportunity; though she knew that she would need to keep an eye on her- the outside world was barely ready for someone like her… if they ever caught glimpse of any of the creatures from Atlantis…

“Aithusa..! مجھے اپنی لڑکی کے لئے آو..!"

She couldn’t help the large and proud smile that crossed over her lips as she watched the dragon-like creature soar through the air, slowly but surely making its way back to where she stood upon the rocks, her arm coming up and around the back of her head so that she could scoop her long pure white locks over her to her left, her head tilting ever so slightly so that it was easier on the creature as it finally touched down upon her opposite shoulder, its claws gripping firmly though softly against her skin almost as though it were being careful not to harm the Queen as it folded her wings back in and against her body, “It should not be too long. Then we shall return to the city, and feast to our guest- welcome him into Atlantis.”

Dropping her head down to her hip as she reached across to the small pouch that she had resting lightly against her body, she took a moment to reach into it before pulling out a small bit of torn and raw meat, her attention lifting back to the creature resting lightly upon her shoulder as she brought the piece of meat up, offering it before she watched her snap out, snatching it quickly from between her fingers so that she could take pleasure to the treat that was being graciously offered to her, “Truly you are the pride of your species, Aithusa. Hold your head up high my girl; we both are warriors.”

/Alright, fellas, this is your stop./

Simba reared the buffalo he had been riding for the duration of the trip, using the mental bond he had created between himself and the animal to tell it what he wanted. In turn, the buffalo being the leader of the herd, the rest of the buffalo slowed to a stop and began to graze on the grass just outside of the cave he now knew would lead him to Atlantis.

There was a small scuffle among Simba's mane of hair before the small meerkat, Timon, popped his head out from behind Simba's neck, his black, beady eyes blinking as he tried to get them adjusted to the sun but more than that, the meerkat looked confused.

/This? This is Atlantis?/ Timon moved himself around Simba's shoulder, using a lock of his blonde hair to grab onto while he pulled himself onto the top of Simba's head and sat up on his two back legs, his front paws pulled into his narrow chest and put his head on a swivel to see if he might have missed anything. /Uh, Mwoga... buddy... I know you said that this city was ancient, and lost... but there ain't nothin' here!/

/Well maybe you're not looking hard enough Timon. Remember, patience is a virtue and only that which is lost will reveal itself to those who have proven themselves in time./ The warthog then gave a small grunt, billowing up a small cloud of dust at his hooves as if to hammer in his point indefinitely.

Shaking his head a bit, Simba reached his hand up to pluck Timon by the scruff of his neck, pinching it with two fingers as he lifted him up and then gently set him down on top of Pumbaa, ignoring Timon's startled and rather angry rants of protest about 'being treated like an animal.'

/Look, I already told you guys, I'm not taking you to the city. It [i]is[/i] ancient, and it [i]is[/i] lost, which is why we are stopping here. I can't have you two following me./ Simba told them gently, looking past the sad eyes Pumbaa was giving him in return.

/Oh, [i]I[/i] get it!/ Timon replied, a bit of hostility in his voice before he stamped his foot on Pumba's back a few times, tryin to urge the warthog to turn around. /He doesn't want us around anymore, Pumbaa. He's got [i]new[/i] friends. Ya think ya know a guy! Sheesh!/

/New friends are great! I wish [i]I[/i] could make new friends. It would make our afternoon slug-slurping contests so much more fun with more than three and-/

/No no no no, Pumbaa, buddy, you're not getting it.../ Timon interrupted. /We've been [i]replaced[/i]./

The warthog slowly lowered his head, looking down at his front two hooves.

/Oh.../

A small pang of guilt ran up through Simba's heart, but more than that, he could [i]feel[/i] their disappointment as if it were his own.

/Fellas... I haven't replaced you. I promise. All I need is a little time. Get to the city, tell their Queen I brought back the buffalo herd, and then I'm out. We can go right back to Hakuna Matata./ Simba pushed his thoughts forward, on top of that, opening up his mind a bit more so that the sincerity of his words would be soon to reach their minds and hopefully their hearts. The bond worked two ways, Simba could just as easily shut them out as they could, he just hoped it wouldn't come down to that.

The sounds of grunts and hooves hitting the ground and growing louder outside the mouth of the cave caught her attention, causing her to turn her head slightly so that she was looking towards the opening that led to the world outside the safety of Atlantis, her eyebrow raising only slightly in a moment of curiosity before a soft pain shot through her shoulder pulling her attention back to the dragon-like creature that was perched upon her, its eyes (very much like her own had been) honed in on the entrance to the cave as though it too were curious to see what it was that was lurking just outside. She couldn’t blame her- just as herself, Aithusa wanted to explore the world beyond, though until she felt better about those who weren’t Atlantean, she just couldn’t allow that to happen… but it wouldn’t stop her from giving the creature even the smallest of peeks…

Twisting her body ever so slightly so that the palm of her hand was resting softly upon the top of the ledge in which she had been perching, her curiosity getting the better of her as she pushed herself forward and down to the ground of the cave, the young woman hesitating for a few moments before she finally straightened herself up, her arms softly swinging by her side and in time with her hips as she moved herself forward, her head tilting as she lifted her arm up, gently brushing the thick curtain to the side so that she could slip her body through- the dragon-like creature shifting it’s body over hers as it turned its head, it’s dark and almost completely black eyes honing in on the meerkat that was seeming to throw a little fit on the bigger creatures back; her own attention flicking from the two animals before finally coming to a rest upon the familiar figure that was Mwoga.

“..Mwoga- I welcome you back; truly, I am in your dept for your service to Atlantis…”

Turning his head at hearing his self-given name being called, Simba's light blue eyes fell on Kidagakash, Queen of Atlantis. But she was so much more than that in Simba's eyes, and she would never know it. She was human; another human being - a reminder that no matter how many years he had spent learning from the animal kingdom, he himself was also human, despite his greatest desires to forget it. Truly, things would just be easier as a lion. The males got to sleep all day.

Ignoring the multitude of questions that were being fired his way through the mental bond between himself, Pumbaa and Timon, Simba slid himself off of the large buffalo to cross over to her, stumbling a bit as one of his legs seemed to have fallen asleep but he recovered quickly and stopped a few feet away from her, giving her a quick, embarrassed smile.

"Kidagakash..." Simba stopped abruptly, his eyes catching sight of the creature he had never before seen or even heard of perched precariously on her shoulder, it's black eyes honing in on something behind him close to his feet. "What is that?" he then asked, forgetting all manners and etiquette when addressing royalty. Not that he learned much in The Pride Lands to begin with.

She had almost completely forgotten about the fact that he would have never seen a creature such as Aithusa before- the native creature of Atlantis, much like the people of her home, lost to the world long ago when the great floods had come through, cutting them off from the rest of the world like it had all those years ago. Turning her head ever so slightly so that she was able to let her gaze lift up and linger upon the creature on her shoulder, she watched on as it shifted its body over her shoulder, its head lowering and neck extending as it continued to stalk the small meerkat that sat upon the warthog’s back, its wings extending and beating a couple of times as it took a couple of steps further down her arm causing her to lift it up slightly as to accommodate the free movement of the creature.

“This particular breed; Opaleye… The species- Taragorn.” Turning her head back around so that she was once more looking directly at Mwoga as he approached her, she shifted her body over the spot in which she stood, her body standing a little taller and prouder as she moved her arm so that he could look over the creature better than he already was, her features softening slightly as a small though unmistakable smile played over her lips “Aithusa is my own- as well as one can be. I do not control her. We are warriors, respect runs deep between the two of us… just as it should always.”

"Opaleye, Taragorn, Aithusa..." Simba repeated, committing the names and their meanings to memory. It was a truly remarkable species, it's dark purple scales glittering in the light of the evening sun, casting a soft purple tint over the exposed skin of it's Queen - another breathtaking wonder. Truly, did everything that came from Atlantis expel beauty? Simba had never seen anything that would contradict otherwise, therefore it had to be so.

Simba's thoughts were then quickly pulled away, feeling an urgent series of tugs on the cloth he wore around his middle. Looking down at his feet, Simba saw that Pumbaa, at some point, had made his way over to his heel, his eyes fixated on the Opaleye with a slight tremor in his thin legs. Timon, the culprit of the tugging as he had a pawful of the blue cloth bunched up in his paw, also had it's eyes on the Opaleye, seemingly looking frozen in fear. Realizing then that Simba had shut out their thoughts and was unable to hear what his friends were saying now, he re-opened their bond, once again feeling rather guilty.

/What are they?/ Timon asked, and Simba, for the first time, realized that his friends weren't just staring at the Opaleye, but Kidagakash as well. It hadn't occurred to him until then that he had been the only human they had seen alive before. He could feel their apprehensiveness coupled with a small amount of fear, making Simba feel the same way for a moment before he quickly shook his head and pressed his own feelings forward.

/It's okay. They are friends./ Simba started to explain and then held out a hand, gesturing towards the Queen of Atlantis. "Kidagakash." he told them both, giving them a name to know her by but also speaking it out loud so that Kidagakash might understand what it was that he was doing. "Aithusa." Simba then said, now gesturing towards the dragon-like animal.

/I think they want to eat us.../ Pumbaa then replied, rejecting Simba's emotions and keeping his apprehension as all the small warthog could do was stare, making Simba laugh out loud a bit.

Her stomach twisted with guilt for a moment, though why she was suddenly feeling this way she wasn’t too sure- the bond that had been formed between the two of them was still completely new to her; unexplored territory which left her feeling both defensive and also extremely vulnerable. She had never before seen such magic, and now to have another able to put influence onto her own emotions and thoughts; it still left her weary, though excited to explore the possibilities that came with the sudden closeness she could feel towards him. Quirking her eyebrow slightly as she heard both her own name and the name that she had given to the Taragorn that sat upon her shoulder, she dropped her gaze so that her attention was now resting upon the creatures that were huddled up against his legs, realization dawning over her features as their conversation from earlier once again coming to the forefront of her mind as her stunningly blue eyes lingered upon the warthog that she had attacked earlier that day.

"..Pumbaa..?” Glancing over at Mwoga for a moment to make sure that she had gotten the name correct before she turned her attention back down to the warthog, she lowered her arm and brought her hands together in front of her body as she bowed herself over in his direction as a way to apologize for her actions earlier, her sudden movement causing Aithusa to ruffle her wings in surprise and screech out in protest, its eyes and attention turning back to the meerkat after a few moments of regaining its composure, “..forgive my actions this day-… Aithusa no..!”

Shooting her head up instantly the moment she felt the weight of the Taragorn lift up from her shoulder completely, she stood herself back up and straightened her back, her eyes quickly working to follow the path of flight that it was taking before her eyes came to a rest upon the meerkat that was tugging upon the clothes that she had given Mwoga earlier that day, moving forward as quickly as she could, she leant her body forward as she reached out with her left hand so that she could scoop the meerkat up into her arms before she turned to face Aithusa, her right hand shooting into the pouch resting upon her hip before she pulled out a larger piece of raw meat than she had before, her face once more expressionless as she threw it up into the air, watching as it was quickly sought out and snatched up into its mouth, “میں بعد میں آپ کے ساتھ نمٹنے گی... please- forgive her. She knows no better..."

It was an instinctual thing. The very moment the body of the Taraorn flexed, getting ready to take flight, a terrified squeal came from the warthog, digging his hooves into the ground and dove underneath the 'skirts' of Simba to seek refuge between his legs, twitchin his tail a bit to ensure the small, twisted thin came in from pokin out of Simba's cloth. This, however, left Timon holding onto the bit of cloth he still had in his hands, the back of the warthog no longer underneath him forcing him to hang as he just began to realize what was happening. Issuing out his own cry of terror, unsure whether to drop down and run or scamper up and hide in Simba's hair, he suddenly felt a soft, warm hand scooping him up that didn't at all belong to Simba. With a surprised, high-pitched bark, Timon began to squirm as much as he possibly could in Kidagakash's hold, using his paws to try to pry open her fingers around him.

/I changed my mind! I changed my mind! Give me up to the bird lizard! At least I'd go quick that way-/ Timon stopped then, watching as Kidagakash threw up a piece of meat that came from a pouch around her waist, tilting his head to the side as Aithusa very suddenly lost interest in him and went after the free meal. Timon then looked up to Kidagakash, keeping his head tilted, blinking his large eyes a few times before relaxing in her grip. /You know, I always liked you. Brave, daring, bold. The perfect warrior!/ Timon then looked over to Simba. /And [i]you[/i] were just gonna let me die!/ Something that sounded like a snort came from Timon's nose as he started to make himself more comfortable in Kidagakash's grip.

Simba, in the meantime, found the spectacle rather humorous and had to press the backs of his knuckles to his lips to keep from laughing out.

"It's fine. I would have eaten them both too if I hadn't bonded with them thirteen years ago." he admitted, the amusement in his tone ungiving if he was joking or not.

/Timon?/ Pumbaa then asked with obvious hesitancy as he was unable to see what was going on. /Timon? Are you dead yet?/

“You are bonded with this creature as well?” Tiling her head ever so slightly to the side as she lifted the meerkat up in front of her, she brought her other hand up from her side to help support his small frame as she allowed her stunningly blue eyes to look him over, a small and curious smile playing over her lips as she did her best to try and figure out just what type of creature he was, and just whether or not it was okay for her to handle him in the way that she was. He seemed to be enjoying it, but then without the bond that she was sure that the creature had with Mwoga, there was no way for her to truly know, “..you are what they call cute, yes?”

Lowering her arms and bringing them into her body once again so that he was resting softly against her chest, she relaxed her grip around his figure completely so that he would be able to move about as he pleased, her attention lifting back up before she turned her head, allowing her gaze to meet with Mwoga’s once more, “These are your friends? The ones that you spoke of earlier?”

Timon was soaking up the new-found attention as though he had been starving for it. The moment she gave him freedom within her gentle hold, he twisted his body around so that he was laying on his back, using the crease of where her arm met with her breast as a sort of pillow and support and nestled himself in.

/Keep talking strange albino lion. I wouldn't necessarily say cute - ferocious and terrifying maybe, but I like the direction you're going./ Timon answered, seeming to be unaware that she wasn't able to hear his thoughts like Simba was.

Simba chose to ignore Timon, instead taking a large step backward leaving Pumba exposed, the warthog having made himself as small as possible by curling up in a tiny ball though he lifted his head the moment he realized his shelter had moved.

"Yeah, these are them. I told them they could hang around while I brought the buffalo back here, but Timon-" Simba gestured towards the very comfortable-looking meerkat. "-and Pumbaa-" He gestured towards the confused looking warthog. "-were just leaving."

Bringing the arm that he wasn’t resting upon up and over so that she was able to gently scratch the top of his head with her nail, she shook her head lightly as her gaze flicked first from Timon to Pumbaa before once again returning to where Mwoga stood gesturing to the both of them in succession, her head tilting away from her shoulder as she once again felt the weight of Aithusa pressing down upon her body, its claws causing her skin to turn a light pink from the pressure of her gripping hold as so not to slip from her place upon the Queen, “I will hear none. Just as you; both are now my guests… and as such, shall be allowed to join in the welcoming festivities. Tonight, we feast to your arrival in Atlantis.”

Keeping her arm pressed lightly against her body as to accommodate for Timon as she began to lead the way into the cave, she reached for the third time into the pouch resting upon her side so that she could pull another piece of meat out from within it, her hand coming up and in front of Aithusa as she offered the small treat to her in reward for leaving both the meerkat and warthog alone once she had finished the meal that she had been given as a distraction.

Pausing for a moment, both Simba and Pumbaa looked at one another, and then both looked to Kidagakash as she headed back towards the mouth of the cave, and then looking back to one another. Pumbaa then uncoiled himself from his protective ball and pawed at the dirt a few times, shaking his body to expel the filth that covered his body from the initial dive he took and happily started to trot after Timon and Kidagakash.

"Pumbaa!" Simba called out, though it came out as more of a question.

Wiggling his tail cutely, knowing that Simba could only see his backside, Pumbaa promptly closed off his connection to Simba, letting out a few pleased grunts as he finally managed to catch up to the Queen.

/Hey, so long as [i]we[/i] aren't the feast, I see no problem./ Timon piped up, then like Pumbaa, closed their connection leaving Simba standing there with a rather blank look on his face. He remained that way for a few moments before shaking his head and jogged after the small group. His friends.