A/N: Wow, really guys? Not a single review last chapter? :S It's not that hard, is it?

Oh well, whatever. Still, a review this chapter would be nice... *hinthint* ;)

Here's Chapter 14!

Chapter 14: Birds of a Feather

"My goodness… it's… stunning. Absolutely stunning."

Zazu and Zuri sat together on the branch of a large acacia, almost close enough for their wingtips to touch together lightly. The tree itself that they were in was supple and young, filled with delicate green leaves which swayed slightly in the breeze. The trees here, in the Savannah, were clearly not like the old dinosaurs of trees in the Pridelands, most of which were nearly bare and whose bark was stiff and dark with age and abuse. One of the few trees that remained at all, Zazu reflected, was that baobab that the baboon healer, Rafiki, lived in. It must have been hundreds of years old by now.

Zuri had brought him to the tree so that he could admire his lush surroundings, and they really were something to marvel at. Tall, golden grass grew in waves over the gentle hills and slopes towards a setting sun. The sky had turned from a bright, peaceful blue to a fiery red as the large, orange orb set dramatically under the horizon. But what caught his eye the most was to the east. The grass faded away and turned to a sort of bleached sand which continued on down a slope. And at the bottom… water. More than he had ever seen in one place. Blue ripples of it splashed ashore and the surface glimmered like the scales of a particularly shiny fish, bright and dazzling flashes of light which danced around in his field of vision. And it continued on, and on… He couldn't see an end to it; not anywhere.

Zazu was too distracted by this ocean to notice the small group of giraffes, coming to munch on the tender leaves of the acacia that he and Zuri were standing on. Giraffes were now a rare sight in the Pridelands, and these ones happened to be hungry, suddenly shaking the delicate branches that the two resting birds were standing on.

"Hey, hey!" Zazu tried to swat at animals' muzzles, but they hardly noticed him and didn't pay him any mind. Thick, muscular tongues poked out of their lips and began to wrap around the branches, plucking them of their rich, succulent leaves. Several of them unintentionally found Zazu, pulling off several of his feathers and leaving him dripping with saliva.

"Go on, get away!" Zazu finally smacked one of them with his wing in irritation, causing it to look him in the eye for a moment in confusion, before turning around and lazily plodding away. The rest eventually followed halfheartedly, disappearing aimlessly towards the grassland that continued to the west. The hornbill was slightly miffed at being licked and plucked of several feathers, but Zuri only laughed lightly in amusement.

Zazu just stared at her for a moment, rolling his eyes slightly but saying nothing.

"Hey, lighten up a bit," she said with a weak smile.

He tilted his head back at her, and a small smile spread across his face. She patted him on the back reassuringly, and they stood that way, for just a few moments. Zuri shifted her weight on the branch just so, inching just a bit closer…

"How far does it go on like that? The Savannah I mean…"

Zuri looked out at the grass, but there was no end to it in sight. She sighed slightly, honestly not knowing how far it stretched.

"Well, to the west, I really have no idea. And you probably saw the ocean to the east…" she motioned with her head towards the water, "… but I don't know how big that is. I tried to fly across it once, but it's probably a several day journey by flight."

Zazu cocked his head slightly, surprised at the vastness of it all. Nothing in the Pridelands was that big.

"And to the north… jungle. Lots of it. I went near there once, but have never actually been there. Too many animals to eat a small hornbill like me. Supposedly there are gorillas, and monkeys, and hawks, and… cats."

He could see her visibly shudder, and had to wonder slightly at this. Lions were cats, obviously. Were there no lions up here, or did she just not know any?

"Cats… what's wrong with cats?" He thought back to Simba, Sarabi, and Mufasa as he said this. Zazu knew many lions throughout the course of his life, and had practically grown up with them. He had never been particularly afraid of them. But, then again, that was just him; maybe the lions here were different.

"Cats are… never mind. I don't want to talk about it."

She looked off, away from Zazu, and moved away from him slightly. Her wingtips shuffled together anxiously and she turned her head, ducking it under her shoulder, vainly trying to hide the single tear that dripped from her face…

"Hey… what's wrong? Was it something I said?"

The hornbill looked over at her in genuine concern. He hadn't known her for very long, but it had been a long time—too long—since he had met another one of his kind. She just shook her head, sadly.

"No, it's not you… It's just… I don't know. I have to go." She began to take off, but Zazu quickly stopped her.

"Where are you going? Will I see you again?"

She looked at him, this strange hornbill which she had just happened to meet the day before. The words came out before she could really think.

"Yes. Same tree, tomorrow."

"Okay… I'll see you then, I guess."

And then she left, her long, bluish purple tail feathers being the last glimpse of her he saw in the meantime. If there were lions here, then Simba and the pride couldn't come. Probably not without resistance of some kind, although in all truth the land did seem big enough to support all of them. Maybe farther west, there would be open land for them, but he couldn't be sure, and wasn't going to start looking now. It was nightfall, and that would be another, longer journey. He again thought about Simba and the predicament at Pride Rock, and bleakly wondered if there even would be a pride to return to after all of this chaos was over. When he had left, things were becoming more unglued than he had ever seen them. Logic told him that he should return back soon. In fact, he had half a mind to return back at that moment. But something held him there, to that spot, to the acacia.

He hadn't seen another hornbill since the death of his mother. That was years ago, he mused sadly. Not a single other hornbill had met him in all that time. Inclination to stay in the acacia over-ruled the weak desire to return to the barren Pridelands. That was all there was to it. Making up his mind firmly, he tucked his bill under his wing, and fell asleep…

Simba coughed again, for what seemed to Nala to be the millionth time. It was nerve-racking, in a way, especially for her. If it wasn't for Rafiki, carefully administering the correct jungle herbs needed for the various ailments found in the Pridelands, then many lions would probably have perished over the last few years. It seemed as though Simba was one of the lions that had caught a recent bug going around, and had had to stay in the cave, lying down as he was forced to drink an herbal concoction every few hours.

Needless to say, it really stuck a wrench in Simba's plans to search the Outlands for his uncle, much to his mate's relief. Simba's mate, mother, and mother-in-law, Sarafina, all stayed by his side, Nala stroking his mane with her gentle paw and licking his hot, sticky forehead with her tongue.

But it didn't change anything. Simba slept most of the day, too tired and drugged to do much else. The lionesses, however, were somewhat worried. The sickness had rendered many of the huntresses too weak to find food. Time was running out, and so were the herds. Something had to be done. Now. They hadn't caught food in several days. Simba, though, was not in the condition to hold a meeting, and probably wouldn't be for several days at least. The lionesses would have to make a decision themselves, and quietly they decided to do so, meeting outside to plan their actions.

The small group of healthy huntresses grouped around the charred, dead remains of an old tree: a stump, jutting out of the ground near Pride Rock, which had been burned by the fire that occurred the night Simba had become king. Sarabi, growing old but still able to hunt, settled down on her paws in a sitting position next to her lifelong friend, Sarafina. Nala sat quietly next to her mother, waiting for Sarabi to begin the meeting, as she was the leader of the huntresses. There were a total of ten lionesses in the Pridelander pride, though only seven were in the condition to make it, and those seven had all settled down respectfully across the stump from the old lioness. Seeing that no one else was coming, the lioness cleared her throat with a rasp and started without any more ado.

"The prey is scarce, as we all know. This comes as a surprise to no one, I can imagine."

Her words were met with terse nods. The group was composed mostly of middle-aged adults, and they had hunted together on many occasions. The direness of the situation was understood by all.

"After Scar took over, it went downhill, true. But now, the drought has made it worse than ever before. We've tried to push past it, but the time has come for us to seek more desperate measures."

There was a silence, but now another lioness spoke up to fill it. Nyota was slightly younger than the others, with light creamy fur and blue eyes which made her look considerably like her friend, Nala.

"I propose that we widen our scope and look farther for food. Zazu is still missing, which means that, as a result, we have no eyes in the sky. We alone will have to look for any new dangers which we may encounter, but I believe we can handle it… The only problem is that, by doing so, we will have to start looking outside the Pridelands… and in the Outlands…"

The old lioness didn't gasp or look frightened, and the others just froze, looking at her incredulously. The Outlands? Was she serious? There were hyenas; there was Scar and his followers, who numbered as much as the Pridelander pride. Who knew what they would find out there? And what prey could they hope to gain by going over there anyways?

"Do we have reason to believe that we could find more prey by doing so? More importantly, is this in the best interest of the pride?"

Several lionesses murmured and nodded their assent, obviously wondering he same things.

"I've found game trails near the border before, though I have to admit that the presence of the Outlander pride does affect things. To my knowledge, they have not come on Pridelander territory and have been hunting only on their own lands. Maybe they are located too deep within the Outlands to have come near the border."

"That could be seen as an act of war, though."

"Well," Nyota continued stoically, "we will have to take that risk. We know that a war with them is virtually inevitable anyways, and I would personally rather fight it than starve. Either we go onto their lands… or they come onto ours."

There was a long pause. They were somewhat shocked by her open declaration, though it was, they now realized, the truth. The huntresses remembered Scar from when he was king, and knew he would want revenge. And Simba only seemed to goad it on instead of looking for peaceful intentions. After all, he had exiled most of the Outlander pride himself.

"…Does anyone have any other suggestions?" the old lioness continued on anyways. There was only a long pause in reply. Though it seemed ill-thought out and a bit of a long shot, none of the lionesses had any better ideas. It was either that they looked farther for food or starved. That was all there was to it.

"Okay, good. Tomorrow we hunt. But we all have to be careful. Everyone understand?"

Murmurs of approval and nods cut through the silence in the air after the lioness had finished speaking. The lionesses were ready. Desperate times call for desperate measures, after all. Sarabi knew the lionesses could handle the higher stakes and the increased pressure not to fail their pride. She was confident in them. And, she thought with a small, proud smile, they were confident in themselves.

Hmm, something tells me that really doesn't seem like a good idea... what do you guys think? XD Review? Pretty please? *puppy dog eyes* :c

Twin out.