Authors Note: Sorry this one took awhile to finish, had some writers block.
Tarzan's Treehouse, before dusk
"So these 'poachers' are associates of that man Clayton, but their leader Hatton says he's not here for revenge. Do you really think he's telling the truth?" Simba asks.
Everyone is gathered around a fire beneath the treehouse, and Tarzan and his family have just finished telling him about their history as a show of trust, just as Simba had asked. They even informed him of the other humans in the area, including Mr. Dumont and Quinton Knox. They agree though that they'll keep his presence here secret from the other humans for his sake.
"I don't know, William had the chance to kill me when I met him but didn't, but that doesn't mean I or anyone else are safe." Tarzan said in answer.
Simba takes a minute to process what he been told before he speaks again "Thank you for telling me all this, at least now I know what we're up against. Well, I guess it's my turn now." he took a deep breath. Although he'd already decided to be completely open with Tarzan, part of him was still hesitant, but he continued anyway. "As I said before, my name is Simba, but I'm not just leader of my pride, but I am King of the Pride Lands. I rule the entire grasslands that lies beyond your rainforest."
"Your a king?" Jane said with bit shock.
"Sure you are, and I'm queen of Atlantis." Terk sarcastically laughs.
Kala on the other hand says "Actually Terk, I believe he's telling telling the truth. I've heard of the royal lion family before, they rule over all the animals of the savanna."
"Extraordinary! An interspecies monarchical society is such an unprecedented occurrence. Oh my, I have so many questions!" The Professor excitedly says, eager to investigate these new discovery.
"What are ya talkin' about, Tarzan's king of the jungle!" Terk jumps in...again.
Tarzan was a bit confused by this however, "What you mean? I'm only head of our family, I'm not a king."
Terk rolls her eyes "Tarzan when anyone in the jungle has a big problem, who do they go to?"
"Uh, well..."
Terk continues her rant "You. I know because I always gotta help. Whenever someone or something is causing problems, even if it's got nothin' ta do with you or the gorillas, you jump in and set'em straight. Tublat, that Colonial that chased Hugo and Hooft, and currently these new poachers, just ta name a few."
The Professor then adds "She has a point my boy, you're essentially the protector of the entire jungle. A defender of the innocent, a guardian of... uh, well, I think you get the point, haha."
"Sounds like a king to me." Simba chuckles.
Jane, realizing they have gone off track says "I'm sorry your majesty, it seems we got a bit distracted."
"It's okay." He says, "Well, where do I start?" He begins with explaining that Kovu came from the exiled Outsiders and then how they ended up rejoining his pride, with him marrying Kiara. Then he moved on to how Kovu was taken, and that he wasn't alone when he left on his rescue mission, taking Vitani, Timon and Pumbaa.
"Oh dear, if your friends are still out there we should find them. They must be worried sick about him." Jane then turns her gaze to Tarzan. "We should help."
"I'll look for them first thing in the morning. But I had agreed to be a guide for Quinton and his group tomorrow at noon, it was part of our deal for their help." Tarzan reminded her.
"Not to worry Tarzan, we're no slouches, we'll form our own search party to aid in this endeavor." the Professor says, to which Tarzan nods in agreement.
"Well for tonight, we should get some rest, there's a lot to do tomorrow." Tarzan says.
However, Simba speaks up "Actually there is something I think we'd should talk about first." he thinks about how to tactfully phrase it before he says anything, "While I'm here, what will be my... 'eating arrangements'?" Despite his attempt, the question still gives some of them a small chill, except Tantor who was completely frozen with fear.
"We can take him to the termite mounds." Terk jokes.
Kala was quick to scold her "Terk, stop being rude."
Before Simba was able to say he had no issue with eating bug, having grow up on them, Tarzan makes an offer "Tomorrow I can go to the river and catch some fish if you'd like?"
"That's perfect. Thank you, 'your majesty'." Simba says with a teasing smile.
He gives a small laugh and says "Have a good night, and see you tomorrow."
Close to the border, moments after Simba fell into the river.
The rain continued to pour as Vitani, Timon and Pumbaa run to follow after Simba in vain. The river was too fast to keep up, and the rain too heavy to keep him in sight. It seemed hopeless.
Timon, who is riding on Pumbaa, yells out to Vitani, barely being heard over the sound of the river and rain. "Kid! Hey kid, hold it! We ain't gonna be able to keep up!"
Vitani stops, breathless but determined to keep going, "We can't stop! We need to save him!"
Timon tries to reason with her "Calm down kid, we'll catch him. But if we keep running like this we'll be jumping in water with him."
Pumbaa then try's to calm her down "Don't worry, Simba and us went swimming all the time when he was growing up. I'm sure he'll pull himself out and meet up with us soon."
She takes a deep breath and pulls herself together "Maybe, but either way we can't stay here. If we cut through the forest we might catch up to him. Come on!"
They go deeper into the forest in hopes of finding him, but hour after hour of not finding him, their hearts sink lower and lower. At night fall, they're exhausted and begrudgingly stop to rest in a small cave.
Pumbaa, the optimist of the three, suggests "Maybe he kept looking for the boat. I'll bet he's the one worried for us."
"I hope your right." Vitani says. "Tomorrow we'll look for the humans to, and hopefully they'll lead us to Simba. Now let's get some sleep."
Timon, in his usual self absorbed style, says "Hold on a sec. Why exactly are you in charge? I mean we..." Vitani's deep growls and intense eyes say enough to shut him up and have him hide behind Pumbaa. With a nervous grin he says "Haha, I mean we are happy to listen to you. Doing a fabulous job, heheh."
"Simba trusted me as the leader of the guard, and before that I was one of mothers second in command. I know what I'm doing." that's what she said, but in reality she was second guessing everything she did.
In rare moment of sincerity, Timon replied "Hey don't worry, we trust ya kid."
"Yeah, we're here you." Pumbaa adds.
Comforted by their words she smiles "Thanks guys." After that they fall asleep.
Tarzan's treehouse.
Early next morning, after he took Simba some breakfast, Tarzan left to search for Simbas group. Meanwhile, the others take him to a spot to stay hidden from Quinton and his group when they come to meet up with Tarzan. They arrive at a small lake, the same one Tarzan first met Tantor. Jane and Simba lay on the beach and enjoy the cool breeze coming off the water and talk, while Tantor and the Professor gather medical plants for Simbas injuries. Terk was supposed to help with the medicine, but spent most of the time looking for her lunch.
After talking for awhile, Jane asks Simba "I've been wanting to ask you, you talked about your daughter Kiara, but is she your only child?"
"No, I have two sons. My son Kion is the youngest, and after he married his mate Jasiri, they and her family moved to the Backlands, south of the Pridelands. Kopa is the oldest, and normally the throne would've gone to him." he pauses for a second before he continues, "But... he left, made himself a rogue. He told me that he didn't think he could handle the pressures of being king." what he didn't say was that he blamed himself for Kopa leaving. Simba believed that he talked too much, pushed to hard about the responsibility of the king while he was still too young, and that it was his fault for scaring Kopa away.
Seeing the emotional hurt, she places her hand gently on his paw "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry into something delicate."
"No, it's okay, and it's not exactly a secret."
"Well thank you for telling me" Then to try to brighten the mood he asks her about her home, England. They continue talking, with the others eventually joining them, enjoying the peace of jungle.
When it neared time for Tarzan's meeting with Quinton, Jane and the others head back to the house, leaving Simba at the lake. Not long after they returned home, Quinton and his group arrive.
Quinton, in his usual charming attitude, greets them. "Ah, Mrs. Tarzan, just as lovely as last time we met, and Professor Porter, a pleasure to see you again." when he sees Tantor and Terk, he's taken by surprise, "Well I'll be! I'd heard Tarzan spent time with the local critters, but never figured they'd hang 'round his house like my daddy's hound dogs. These fellas got names?"
Jane waves the two over and introduces them "This is Tantor and this is Terk" then, speaking in gorilla, she tells the two "Why don't you two shake their hands, I think they'll love that."
Terk rolls her eyes, but plays along. The two shake the men's hands, which puts big smiles on their faces.
"So it's true, you can speak to the animals! That's amazing!" Oliver, the youngest of the group says. "Could you teach us?"
"Hehe, well maybe I could show you a few basics while you wait for Tarzan to get back." Jane happily agrees.
Tarzan arrives not long after that, and Jane asks when he walks up "Did you find what you where looking for?" Subtly referring to Simba's friends.
He shakes his head "No, not even a trace."
Quinton quickly offers "What're y'all looking for? If you need help finding something, you need only ask. We'd be happy to help again since you agreed to be our guide."
Although they admitted they could use the help, they had promised Simba that they would keep his presence here secret. In any case, since Vitani has no idea that any of them are on their side, she could be dangerous to the humans, even for Tarzan.
The Professor politely turns down their offer "No, there's no need to trouble yourselves, after all you boys have your own mission to tend to."
Aadesh complies "As you wish. Still, it hardly seems like a fair trade, we did so little, yet you are doing so much. "
Tarzan replies "You did plenty to help. Anyway, we should talk about where we are going today."
Quinton makes a suggestion "Well one creature that's high on our wish list is somethin' called an okapi, it was discovered only a few years ago. I don't know what y'all call it round here but it's got brown fur, kinda looks like a cross between a giraffe and a zebra."
"I know what your talking about, and I know where one should be today." Tarzan says. Afterward they head straight east toward the okapi.
During their trek, Aadesh makes notes to use for updating his maps, Quinton asks about the animals and their behaviors, Oliver complains about carrying all the equipment, and Jacob, the botanist, simply enjoys the jungle view. Once they find the okapi, everyone gets to work, Aadesh notes where they found the creature, Quinton and Jacob observe the creature and what it eats, and Oliver sets up a camera. They all ask Tarzan all sorts of questions, which he was happy to share his knowledge with ones who loved nature as he did. On their way back however, Tarzan notices something.
"Wait a moment." he crouches low, staring at a print in the mud, "I found some boot prints."
Quinton replies "Could be one of ours."
"No, they're going the wrong way, off the trail deeper in the forest. Please stay here." Tarzan orders as he follows the trail. After having caught up to the owner of the prints, he sees three poachers, along with a few dogs, setting up traps. Tarzan quickly runs back and tells the others, "There's three poachers setting traps, if you follow this trail it'll lead you to the treehouse. I'm sorry but I need to handle this."
"You go on now and handle your business, don't mind us none." Quinton assures him.
After Tarzan runs off, Aadesh quietly asks Quinton, "What do want to do? We could go after him."
"No, let him go. The situation's small, so I don't think anything serious'll happen." Quinton says, after which they leave.
Tarzan, meanwhile, closes in on the poachers as they get back into a truck. Little did he know, he wasn't the only one watching the men.
Authors Note: Yes, I put Kion with Jasiri. I got two reasons: one, I just like them together. Two, something to do with a future plot line.