When I awoke, we were the only two remaining in the cave, and Nala was lying on her side, staring at me, her striking green eyes filled with a soft love.
"Should we be getting up now?" I asked her, thinking the other lionesses would probably not be too pleased if I was lazing about while they were about working.
Nala laughed and said "You worry too much!".
It was true, I did. But who could blame me for being neurotic after what I'd dealt with? With a long stretch and a yawn, I rose and walked out into the bright sunlight. Zazu flew from above down to meet me. "Good morning sire, ready for the morning report?"
Of all things, this was one thing I was certainly not ready for. It had certain connotations of Zazu droning on and on, whilst I found entertainment in other ways, usually involving pouncing games. Even my father had told me he couldn't stand Zazu's morning report when he got going!
"Erm, yes – Zazu, just give me a minute."
Nala appeared from the mouth of the cave, and gave me a knowing wink. It was alright for her, she could get away without listening!
"Why don't you patrol the Pridelands, Simba? Then Zazu can give you the report whilst your on patrol," she said. I could have kissed her, now I had something to take my mind off Zazu and his voice!
Minutes later, and Zazu and I were off, heading for the eastern border. The morning air rippled my mane and I enjoyed the feeling as I headed across the savannah to the border. Zazu's constant drone fleeted in and out of my consciousness…
"…herd of zebra…rains on their way…herds coming back to the Pridelands."
From what I gathered, things were looking up, and my reign as King was seemingly going fine. As I reached the border however, and looked across, my eye caught a small pride of lions sunbathing under a tree. Something about their manner gave me the impression they meant trouble.
Zazu, however, didn't seem to notice. Even when the male lion in their group clouted one of the lionesses round the ears with a sweep of his paw, he ploughed on regardless. I felt compelled to rush across and defend her, but thought better of it. Lions don't take kindly to invasions from other lands, and getting involved in matters of another pride didn't seem a wise move at the present time. Suddenly, I became acutely aware that the lioness who had been hit round the head was staring past the male and straight at me. I couldn't tell if her look was one of deepest loathing, or pleading. At any rate, I decided it a wise move to carry on round the border and ignore what I'd seen. But somehow I didn't think I'd seen the last of this lioness.
I voiced my concerns from Zazu in one of his rare breaks from speaking, yet he seemed strangely unbothered, "Oh, I shouldn't worry sire, the River Pride are always having inward scuffles. The Pridelanders very rarely trouble themselves with those lot. We have an image to keep up, you know!" I couldn't help but smile. I could also see why Zazu had been my father's most trusted advisor – something about the way he said things made you believe it without question. Now that was something I'd never appreciated as a cub!
As we carried on the patrol round to the Southern border, with me entertaining Zazu with a story of my time in the jungle, I began to notice and recognise places and objects from my childhood. Seeing them again made me feel young and exciteable again, and I began to wistfully wish for Nala to be here with me so we could continue some of our old games. Slowly, yet surely we came to an overhanging rock.
"Ah, er, sire, I'm, er – not sure we should be h…" began Zazu.
"Shh Zazu," I replied. I knew we were just within the boundaries of the Pridelands, and what I was seeing was stirring up more than just a giddy cubbish memory. As I reached the edge of the overhang, I understood. Far below me, was a gorge. That gorge.