It was strange, falling unconscious in one place and waking up in another, especially when you hadn't been expecting to wake up at all.
The lion had been surprised, to say the least, after all one moment everything had been going dark and the next he had blinked open his eyes to find himself in an oddly-shaped cave made of gray stone. The rock had been strangely smooth, both the floor and walls, and there wasn't any trace of an opening large enough for him to fit through in order to get out of the cave. The only thing that had assured him he hadn't been trapped in some sort of weird underground cave was that there was still air for him to breathe, and his whiskers had felt the slight movement of air coming from some unknown place.
Not knowing whether it had been day or night, how long he had been unconscious, or even where in the Pridelands he was, he had staggered to his feet, feeling the curious absence of pain that he had expected to feel after what his last memory before blacking out had been. He had prowled carefully around the cave, feeling the familiar stretch of his muscles and none of the hurt that had been filling his body before everything had gone dark, and he had been both relieved and confused by that, though mostly relieved. Aside from him though, the cave had been completely empty, aside from some strange wooden thing somehow stuck into one of the walls.
Everything after that had moved quickly and blurred in his mind to a whirlwind of sounds and smells, beginning with the wooden thing moving and a strange creature dashing through the suddenly revealed opening in the cave walls and ending with a strange beast's blood in his mouth from where he'd bitten the thing that had run in after the first creature. He hadn't really thought before attacking, but the second thing had just screamed 'wrong' to all of his instincts, and so he had attacked and bit and clawed at all the parts he reach on the thing (it had looked a bit like a cross between a rhino and a gazelle). Blood had poured from the wrong-creature's body, and it had screamed with a voice that sounded like the baying of hyenas mingled with the trumpeting of an elephant.
After that, everything went a little hazy when the first creature, which had smelled of fire and dominance and power, had joined in the attack, somehow creating fire from the air. The battle had ended very quickly after that, and he had been left sitting in the middle of the cave, staring into the dark eyes of the first creature while the wrong-thing burned merrily behind them. It had been weird, looking into the first creatures' – Harry's, he now knew – eyes, but somehow it had calmed and reassured him at the same time.
The strange animal had made some noises, voice soft and low, and it had dawned on him that the monkey-but-not was trying to talk to him. He honestly didn't know how it had happened, but the blood in his mouth had turned into some strange goo, and he had followed the first creature as he (it was definitely a male) left the weird cave through the new opening. It had been an odd experience, emerging from the cave into a brand new world of stone and noise and sharp smells that he had no idea what they were, but he had padded after the tall human (it had taken him awhile, to learn what humans were, but he had been very pleased with himself when he finally got it).
It had been night when they had emerged from the strange cave – building, he later learned – but when they reached the tall human's den the sun had been beginning to rise. The man had kept looking over his shoulder at him and smelling uneasy, but he had pretty much ignored that in favor of following someone who knew where they were going and what was going on (oh, if only he'd known how often Harry didn't know what was going on, he snorted a laugh). Everything had been strange and loud, even at night, and he had jumped like a cub just out of the den at the slightest noise, but had calmed down minutely after the man had done something in front of his den and then opened the door so they could enter.
A few minutes after that was when he encountered Mister the cat for the first time, and first impressions hadn't been good on either of their parts. The gray tomcat, looking to him like an oversized cub at the time, had slammed into the man's legs and then darted towards him, and he had just instinctively reacted. Granted, swatting at the cat with one paw and knocking it back down the steps to the den probably wasn't a good way to be introduced, but the smaller cat had startled him!
After a great deal of hissing and growling (Mister hadn't been the only one doing it) and soothing noise-talking from the human, he had been inside the den and the gray cat had disappeared to who-knows-where. His first thought about Harry's den had been that it was…different, to put it nicely. There were weird things all around, none of which he recognized aside from some things made of wood set against the stone walls, and it was pleasantly cool. There was an odd tingle in the air that he faintly recognized as similar to what he felt outside, only different, but he had pushed that thought aside in favor of looking around. More noise-talking from the man, and then the human had started doing something that involved more noise-talking, but he had been more concerned with the large mound of gray fur that had emerged from one nook of the den to greet the man.
It took awhile before he had calmed down from his panic at the sight of a furry animal larger than him, but not terribly long because despite his size, Mouse the Foo Dog had been very polite and understanding. With the addition of the noise-talking from Harry (Mouse had told him the man's name while introducing himself), he had calmed down in record time and his fur had stopped standing on end. And then more time passed as he and Mouse had gotten to talking (the dog was undoubtedly the expert on the unknown place he had found himself in) and his head had been spinning by the time Harry reappeared from wherever he had been, carrying an armload of something that smelled absolutely amazing.
The Foo Dog had informed him, in between bites of his own food, that the food Harry now had was called 'pizza' just as the man presented a slice of it to him, and what it was called came in second to how it tasted. As he had eagerly eaten the pieces that Harry gave him, tail swishing happily, for a moment he had stopped caring that he was in a strange place with strange things and even stranger animals ruling it.
What? That 'pizza' stuff was pretty dang tasty (he could see why the fairies would like it so much, from what Mouse told him later).
It was a mystery, how he'd ended up in that strange room where Harry had found him, but one thing was for sure: there was no shortage of things to do to keep himself occupied. With strange monsters to kill, languages to learn, and a highly danger-prone wizard to try and keep out of trouble, almost a whole season passed before he realized that he hadn't even thought of trying to get back to the Pridelands.
Now, almost seven months later, one of Nuka's ears twitched as he heard the sound of voices coming from the sub-basement. He had to admit, now that he understood what people were saying, listening to Harry and Bob the Skull argue was actually pretty funny, not to mention interesting. He learned so many things just by listening to the wizard talk to his skull-bound assistant, and it was even more incredible when he got to help Harry work a spell or make a potion – he was still amazed by watching Harry bottle his roars, even if he didn't know what they could be used for.
He yawned as he reflected back on everything that had happened, and despite not even being in this strange new world for a year, there had been a lot happening, he thought in amusement. The strange thing he'd killed when he first met Harry had only been the tip of the proverbially iceberg, and of the creatures and beings he'd encountered over the following seasons, he knew all of their names and more importantly, their weaknesses. You had to know your enemy, he'd learned early in his life after being banished to the Outlands with Zira and his younger sister, and that knowledge serves him just as well in this world.
It also helps; he admits to himself, that the wizard he was staying with was packing the magical equivalent of an all-out elephant stampede. He idly scratched behind one ear with a hind leg as he listened to Harry argue with Bob the Skull about what would be best for the 'smell' aspect of a warding potion, snorting in amusement as he did so. Standing and stretching languidly, Nuka shook out his recently grown mane (waking up one day to realize that there was definitely more fur around his neck than there had been was definitely one of the best surprises he'd had recently), the thick dark fur fluffing out slightly before he set about grooming it into proper order.
The lion was proud of his new mane, all things considered, and he made sure to take proper care of it whenever he had a few spare moments. He spared a second to glance warily at where Mister was perched on top of one of the bookcases, the look returned twofold by the gray tomcat. He had reached an uneasy truce with the smaller cat almost four months ago, but there was still a low level of mutual animosity between them, despite Mouse's attempts at peacekeeping. They were rather good at putting up a good front around Harry though…
Sitting up as he was, his head would have been at about the same height as the wizard's chest if the man had been standing, and he was rather proud of the growth he had gone through since coming to this new world. In fact, if he'd had to guess he would have said he was even bigger than Kovu now! The very thought made him purr lowly, and he finished his grooming with a smile on his muzzle, whiskers twitching as his ears perked up at the sound of footsteps coming up the ladder from the sub-basement. Apparently Harry and Bob had resolved the argument over the warding potion.
Ooooh, sounded like something interesting was going on, judging by what Harry was muttering under his breath (in between the various curse words), and he straightened to attention as the man emerged from his lab.
Harry Dresden, all 6"9 of him clad in a thick flannel robe and carrying a potion bottle filled with a faintly glowing green liquid as far away from his body as he could, was definitely an impressive sight even without normal attire of a long leather duster with its' layered wards. He had shaggy dark hair that reached a little below his shoulders, a lot like Mouse's actually, but he'd been meaning to get a haircut or so Nuka had learned from the man's many rambles, and dark eyes. There was an annoyed look on the man's face at the moment though, and the lion listened as Harry carefully set the potion down on the kitchen table and went to change his clothes.
"You've got to be freaking kidding me. Stars and stones, what kind of self-respecting wizard tries to summon something in the sewers of all places? And giant monster slugs of all things?!" Continuing to mutter insults towards thick-headed warlocks in general and allegations towards one warlock in particular's heritage, Harry went around gathering up his standard equipment for a case that had a good chance of ending in a fight: energy-storing rings, shield bracelet, pentacle amulet, blasting rod, and of course the all-purpose wizard's staff. The last thing he grabbed was the warding potion, and he was grimacing as he carefully tucked it away into a duster pocket and went to the door, calling Nuka's and Mouse's names as he did so (Nuka still had to fight the urge to snicker wildly whenever he heard the name that the wizard had stuck him with).
As the heavy iron door groaned open enough for them to slip out, Mister darted out ahead of Harry, soon followed by Mouse – the Foo Dog with his leash in his mouth and his tail wagging furiously. Sharing a quick grin with Mouse, Nuka purred lowly as he felt the familiar tingle of the wizard's wards going up, and then the slight fizz of Harry casting an illusion over him. Probably a housecat like Mister or some such, he didn't really care as long as no one started screaming.
Yes, he thought contently, a genuine smile on his muzzle as he followed Harry down the street; some mysteries just weren't worth solving.
Author's Note: Because my mind is a strange place, and I apparently wanted Harry to have a pet lion. And hey, why not make him super-sized like Mouse and Mister? :P I leave what Harry decided to name Nuka up to your imaginations, as I couldn't settle on just one. Knowing Harry, it was probably something like "Tiny", LOL! This is pretty much a Christmas present for me and you readers, so I hope you enjoy it!