The next day, Rogers was up and about. He has set up a tent just out near the edge of Pride Rock, he felt he wasn't worthy enough to sleep inside with the royal family just yet. He was dressed in black pants, boots, and a white buttoned shirt. He exited his tent and covered his eyes from the bright sunlight. He was going to see the king and queen inside their 'castle,' as he put it.
He was suddenly greeted by the young lioness cub, Rosa. "Oh," he said. "Good morning, little girl."
Rosa glanced up at the older man, smiling widely. "Hey, mister!" she said happily. "Going to see king Simba? I'll come with you!" She hopped up next to him. "Been out here all day... gettin' boring, you know."
Rogers chuckled. "I see what you mean." He then raised his eyebrow. "You wouldn't happen to be princess Rosa, would you?"
Rosa blinked and looked up at Rogers. "A' course I am!" she said, as if rather offended by the question. "Everyone calls me princess Rosa. Cause I'm important!" She started loping in small circles, grinning to herself. "One day I can do more... not today though."
"Josh told me about you, and he was right. You're very pretty."
Rosa smiled again. "I know!" she said cheerfully. "But thanks for sayin' it anyway. I like hearing it. Come on, let's go! We gonna see the king, or what?"
"Alright, alright. Calm down." Rogers chuckled as he followed Rosa inside the den. As he entered, he saw Simba and Nala and walk up towards them. He bowed, respectively. "Good morning your majesties."
Simba and Nala, being lions, were unfortunately asleep. That was rectified when Rosa ran up and starting chanting "Grandpa, grandpa, grandpa!" to wake them up, prancing up and down on their bodies and tugging on their ears.
Simba was first to awaken, Nala only rolling away and batting the air with her paws. "Urgh... is it past noon yet?" Simba muttered.
Rogers bowed again. "Morning, sire."
Simba looked up at Rogers as Nala finally woke up from Rosa's pestering. "Rogers," he said with a loud, roaring yawn. "Good morning... what is the purpose for waking us? The day's barely half done, the hunting parties aren't supposed to go out for hours yet..."
"Just checking up on my patient." He then turned to Nala. "How are your legs feeling today, my queen?" Nala's front legs still had casts on them
Nala yawned as well. "Well enough," she remarked. "I can sleep, which is a good sign... until our precocious princess woke us up," she said with a smile and a lick over Rosa's head.
The cub sputtered and rubbed away Nala's lick. "Aww, I'm clean enough already..."
Rogers chuckled. "Sorry I woke you. I forgot that lions like to sleep long hours." Once again, he bowed. "Please forgive me, sire."
Simba shook his head. "It's all right, Rogers... and stop calling me sire. It's bad enough half the kingdom already does it... the other half will barely talk to me for fear of offending their 'great king,'" he said with a smirk.
"I'm sorry sir, but I am a British gentleman. And as such, I must address my king as your majesty." Rogers shrugged his shoulders. "I hope you understand."
Simba chuckled quietly and nodded. "Alright, alright Rogers... but I'll have you know it's not something I'll grow accustomed to easily."
Rogers nodded. He then looked around. "Is your daughter off hunting?"
Simba glanced around and nodded. "Seems so... she always wants to get going so she doesn't have to ask permission. She hates that."
"Don't we all."
Rosa walked up and looked curiously at Rogers.
Rogers bent down to look at her. "What is it, my dear?"
Rosa looked around cautiously, and then leaned forward. "Mister Rogers... what's British?" she asked carefully.
Roger's chuckled. "Well, British means one that is from England, otherwise known as Great Britain. I am from England and therefore British."
Rosa still looked confused. "But... what's England? I've never seen an England! Do they have lion kings there, too?"
Rogers raised an eyebrow. He then turned back to Simba. "Didn't Josh, Chen or Denzel tell you anything about England?"
Simba looked around and shrugged. "Some, yes... but they didn't really get into any deep discussions with us about it."
"Hmm..." Then Rogers was struck with inspiration. "How would you like to see it?"
Simba and the others perked up at that. "See it?" Rosa asked. "Sure! Which way is it? Is it far? Can we go, grandpa? Please?"
Simba chuckled at Rosa. "Of course, dear... Rogers, surely you aren't suggesting actually going there, though?"
Rogers smirked. "I'll take you there without you ever leaving Pride Rock. Be right back." Rogers then quickly ran out of the den.
Simba blinked a few times, and looked at the others, who had no idea what he was talking about. "What do you suppose he meant by that?" Nala asked.
A few minutes later, he returned with a box, a rolled up piece of paper, and a strange wooden and metal box on stilts.
He then unrolled the paper, revealing a map of the world. He then laid it on the ground.
The lions jumped back at the sudden flop of paper on the ground, jaws dropping as they looked it over. "What... is it?" Rosa asked.
"This is a map of the world we live on," answered. He then pointed to a large continent that seemed to be the second largest on the map. "This is your home, Africa."
The lions looked around at the map, blinking and turning around as they look it over. "It is?" Rosa asked. The lions looked very confused, obviously not being able to comprehend that there was a world beyond what they could see outside. It was hard to picture it in their heads.
Roger pointed to a small country within the continent. "This is where you are. Kenya. Pride Rock is located right under my finger."
Simba and the others looked at each other, and then back at the map. "Wow... we're smaller than your finger?!" Rosa asked excitedly. "Can I see myself on this thing?"
Rogers chuckled. "No you can't. This is just a map. The real world is much bigger. Any questions?"
Simba hmmed to himself. "Where is this England that you were all talking about?"
Rogers smiled. "England is right…… here." He pointed to a large country which had an even smaller one next to it. "The smaller one next to is Ireland."
Simba followed Rogers' finger as it went between the different countries. "How... far away are they?" he asked, a little dazed by trying to imagine the shapes and distances involved in reading a human map.
"Probably about a few hundred miles. Maybe even a thousand." Roger then pointed to a large black dot. "That's the capitol, London. It's where I live."
The other lions were still too mesmerized by the confusing lines and squiggly shapes to formulate an answer.
"You want to see it?" asked Rogers.
Simba looked up at Rogers. "Aren't we seeing it now?" he asked, somewhat confused as to their perspective.
"Of course." Rogers then set up the strange wooden and metal box on it's stilts. It was a slide projector. He then reached into his pocket and pulled out a match box and a match. He struck the match and lit the candle inside the projector. A large white circle appeared on the den wall.
The lions ooh'd and ahh' as the projector suddenly cast light without any seeming effort. "How does it do that?" Rosa asked, apparently amazed by the simple object.
"Its just the candle inside." He then opened the small box and took out a slide. He then placed the slide into the projector, projecting a black and white image of London on the wall."
Simba shook his head. "You don't understand, Rogers. We've never been able to control fire to that kind of degree... this is amazing!" he said, watching the image on the wall.
"Almost as good as Rafiki's paintings..."
Rogers chuckled. "That's technology for you." Then he pointed to the picture. "Now this is London. That tall tree there is actually a clock tower. We like to call it Big Ben."
Simba and the others were spellbound by the pictures on the wall. They say nothing, allowing Rogers to do all the talking. Some of them almost look like they don't believe such things can exist.
Rogers then took out the slide and replaced it with one of a large building. "And this is Buckingham Palace, where the queen lives."
Nala tilted her head at the mention of the queen's palace. "It... doesn't look like somewhere I'd want to live," she said slowly. "I'd prefer Pride Rock to all that..."
"Well a queen like ours like to live in luxury. To her, Buckingham Palace is as comforting as your home here." Rogers then switched to a picture of several humans dressed in red uniforms and furry black hats. "Now a queen needs protection. These gentlemen are her royal guards. Don't try to make them laugh, you'll be trying for weeks. They are quite good at their job."
Rosa giggled at the large hats. "They look silly! I'd laugh at myself if I had one of those!"
Rogers smiled. "Alright. I'll try to bring one back for you, Rosa." Rogers once again switched the pictures with that of a large bridge. "Now this is London Bridge. There's a song that goes with it."
Simba tilts his head curiously. "A... bridge? You built it?" he asks, unable to believe most of this. "How? Why? And why sing a song about it?"
"Yes, we built it. So people can cross the river without getting wet. As for the song, it's just a nursery rhyme. It goes.."
London Bridge is falling down,
Falling down, Falling down.
London Bridge is falling down,
My fair lady.
"All in good fun, sire."
Simba nodded carefully. "So I see," he said with a small smile. "We lions don't sing so much with words as we do with our voices alone... we'd give a demonstration, but I think it'd be a little hard on the ears in this small space."
Rogers nodded. "I see."
The last picture Rogers showed them was that of a middle aged woman in royal robes. "This is Queen Victoria, ruler of England."
Rosa ohhh'd at the voluminous robes. "She looks so... like Grandma!" she said, turning back to Nala, who smiled graciously.
"Rosa, now, it's not nice to compare us."
"You're both queens though... she's a queen. I know what queens look like!" the cub said happily. Nala only nodded.
Rogers burst out with laughter. "Oh Rosa, you're too much!"
Simba put a paw around Rosa and drew her closer to him. "Let Rogers speak," he said quietly.
Rogers waved his hand. "It's alright, Sire. I'm finished." He then blew out the candle and the picture vanished from the wall. "So, what did you all think?"
The others all began talking at once, until Simba silenced them with a look. "It was intriguing," he said slowly. "But I'm afraid some of us are going to need time to let this all sink in... you must understand, until recently we still believed this was the only world we'd ever see."
Rogers nodded. "I understand, Sire. Four hundred years ago, Europeans thought the world was flat."
Simba seemed confused. "Flat? What shape is it, then?" he wondered aloud.
"Round."
The other lions seemed perplexed and talked to each other for a while. It seemed they couldn't comprehend the entire "world" as it were, after only seeing only flat grassland all around for the entirety of their lives.
"Like you said, Sire, You'll get used to it. So, no more questions?"
The lions looked around at each other, and each of them shook their heads slowly, most looking just confused at all the new information.
Rogers then took his belongings and bowed. "Then I bid you good day sir. If you need me, I shall be in my tent." He then walked out of the den.
When Rogers had made his way out of the den, there came the sound of small paws behind him. "Hey mista Rogers!" Rosa called out as she approached him. "Wait up!"
Rogers turned to see the young lioness cub run up to him. "Yes?" he asked, bending down.
Rosa came up in front of him and cleared her throat. "Umm... I wanted to ask about the queen back in... Ing-land," she said slowly. "What's she like? Didja ever meet her? Is she really like grandma?"
"Why yes, I did meet her. She's very kind and gentle, and she loves all of her subjects."
Rosa nodded confidently. "Yup. That's grandma!" she said happily. "What's your favorite thing about England?" she asked immediately after.
Rogers smiled and sighed. "I love the seaside. Waves lapping against the shore, seagulls chirping in the breeze. The white cliffs of dover... all so beautiful."
Rosa tilted her head inquisitively. "What's a seagull?"
"A white bird that flies over the water."
Rogers then raised an eyebrow. "You certainly ask a lot of questions."
Rosa nodded again, looking happy with Rogers' conclusion. "Mom says I do too, but she likes it! She tells Dad all the time, 'how's she going to learn answers if she doesn't ask questions?'"
"I agree. Well, good day princess." He then bowed and entered his tent.
