Chapter One: The Rogue Cub
"Timon, how far do we have to go on border patrol?" Pumbaa asked for what seemed, the millionth time.
Timon rolled his eyes. "We're not on border patrol. We're just checking something out."
"Oh," the warthog was silent for a minute before he spoke once more. "But why are we checking it out if Simba or another lion could check it out? Why not them? It'd be a heck of a lot safer."
"Because Pumbaa, my friend, I was wandering around the watering hole this morning, when I heard a zebra talking to a giraffe about something strange being on the border of the Pridelands."
"Oh," yet another pause in his speech. "Then that means we're following the word of gossip between herd animals."
"No, we're following a very reliable source."
Pumbaa snorted. "'Reliable' is not the word that comes to mind when I think of a zebra."
The two soon came upon the border, between the Outlands, and saw buzzards circling overhead. A few began to dive down on the small shape.
"Up for a little 'Bowling for Buzzards', Pumbaa?" Timon said with a sideways grin.
"I'm getting a sense of deja vu, but okay." Pumbaa charged out to where the buzzards were hobbling towards the small shape.
"Get outta here, all of ya!" Timon yelled, hoping off Pumbaa's back and chasing a few stragglers.
Pumbaa approached the small lump, realizing it was a small lion cub. "Hey Timon? I think you might wanna take a look at this."
"What is it Pumbaa?" Timon dusted off his hands and marched towards the warthog.
He stood there, confused for a moment, before following Pumbaa's gaze onto the ground where a small lion cub laid. It was a few weeks old, and seemed to have lost all of its strength.
"Geez, now I get your sense of deja vu," Timon commented, as he hopped onto Pumbaa's back.
"Can we keep it?"
"Well, I can't exactly call you nuts now. After all, Simba turned out lovely, as did Kiara. So yeah. We can keep the lion cub. Better let Simba see it though, it's a lot smaller than he was."
Pumbaa gently picked the cub up in his mouth, remembering how Simba used to carry Kiara when she was younger, and trotted off, with the cub safely in his mouth, Timon holding on to the hair on his neck.
…
The two friends made it back to Priderock just as the sun reached it's peak in the sky. A group of lioness laid in the shade of African trees, dozing in the afternoon heat. Most meerkats would be jumpy, nervous around such large predators, but not Timon. He and Pumbaa were officially off-limits for anyone living the Pridelands. No exceptions.
They were just beginning the long ascent to where the den was, when Simba began to walk out, his mate and Queen; Nala, trailing behind him.
"I'm not saying it's a bad thing, I'm simply saying it's not a good thing they can't have cubs." Simba said to her, not noticing his friends for a few minutes. When he finally did, his face lit up. "Timon, Pumbaa! To what do I owe the pleasure of my two best friend's company?"
"I found a cub, Simba." Timon announced, hoping off.
Pumbaa snorted.
"Well...we found a cub, Simba." Timon awkwardly laughed, scratching the back of his head.
"Oh? How odd. Where did you find it?" Simba asked, frowning slightly.
"The border between the Outlands and the Pridelands. All alone. No sign of anyone looking for this little guy. Vultures were gonna get him!" Timon replied, making exaggerated hand gestures.
At this point, Pumbaa had gently placed the small cub on the ground, causing it to make weak, distressed noises.
Nala approached the cub, her motherly instinct kicking in. She licked the cub gently, making it silent. "I think you are a bit misguided in the gender of the cub once more, Timon."
"Huh?"
Nala laughed a little. "It is a girl."
Timon's mouth fell open as he fainted.
Simba laughed. "Classic Timon. Pumbaa, you might want to take him to your home."
Pumbaa nodded, and picked up his meerkat friend in his tusks. He trotted off, heading over to the small cave which had become their home-away-from-home, where they usually spent most of their time, helping the pride by cubsitting.
Simba smiled as he watched them walk away, then beamed at Nala.
"What are you thinking?" she asked, licking the cub from time to time.
"I'm thinking Kovu and Kiara's inability to have cubs, could be solved with this one."
Nala tilted her head. "How?
"By allowing Kiara to raise this cub. Nala, it's the perfect solution!"
Nala looked dubiously at her mate. "But she cannot feed the cub, for she has no milk. How will the cub bond with her if she does not drink her milk?"
"She will bond other ways, by smelling her, hearing her voice. Nala, it might work! Especially since Akiki had her cubs almost a month ago!"
Nala sighed. "You make a good point. Let's bring her in, I guess."
Nala gently picked up the cub, who made no protests. Simba led the way into the den, where the sobs of his distressed daughter could be heard.
A/N
This took roughly all day. Phew! Anyway, this story was a request from Emolichic1, who wanted me to start writing a 60 chapter long story. That's gonna take awhile, as you can all tell. Anyway, a bit of a disclaimer: this is in no way relation to my own TLK story; Shadows and Blazes. This is a completely different story, suggested to me by Emolichic1, who gave me the broad outline of the story, and it is my duty to draw and color the lines, so to speak. I hope you all enjoyed this little chapter that I managed to spin up, it was actually pretty fun! And once again, I must thank Emolichic1 for the request! :)