Morning arrived and the rising sun brought some very bright and yellow light into Pride Rock's cave where the sleeping lions slept. A few of the lionesses were not ready to get up yet so most moved away from the entrance and hid behind the wall. Mufasa thought about doing this but realized that it was best for him to get up and see how his land had faired through the night.

As the king walked out, he spotted Ban'ai sleeping on a rocky ledge in the same exact spot where Zazu used to sleep. He realized that it was true about cuckoo's, they definitely did not like to build nests.

Mufasa knew the little bird needed to get up and scout the land so he nudged him a little causing Ban'ai to poke his head up.

"Good morning sah, dawn already?" asked Ban'ai.

"Oh my that was fast, when Zazu was around we used to have to shake him a few times just to open his eyes," said Mufasa.

"Oh that's because I'm a light sleeper, all us cuckoos are actually, we need to be on our toes just in case danger is near," said Ban'ai.

"Too bad Zazu was never taught that, any way when your all stretched and everything, meet me outside, I have a job for you," said Mufasa.

Ban'ai smiled; he remembered that it was his first day at his new job. He had not been given the specifics at what he was to do but he was determined to do it well.

Ban'ai quickly stretched his wings a little before flying off the nest and over to Mufasa who was staring out at the pride lands.

"So what is my job today sah?" asked Ban'ai who perched himself on Mufasa's shoulder.

"I just need you to scout the land, listen or find anything odd, and once you are done, report any thing wrong to me. If it is an emergency though report it right away," said Mufasa.

"That's all?" asked Ban'ai.

"That's all," said Mufasa who now sensed that Ban'ai was going to like this.

"Blimey this job was easier than I thought, well I better head on out now, I'll be back before sunset, if not that either means I got stuck in some mud or met a lovely cuckoo, you know you can do that if you end up wandering the savanna all day," said Ban'ai.

"Yes I know now get going, talking wastes time," said Mufasa.

Yes sah, sorry sah, see you later sah," said Ban'ai who then flew off into the savanna.

Mufasa stood there watching him for a moment before deciding on going to a nearby waterhole for a nice refreshing drink.

Ban'ai meanwhile flew on out to the waterhole where Simba sang the song "I just can't wait to be king." He found that most of the animals were either drinking or carrying up a conversation about something. Perhaps some of the animals knew of something odd that he could tell Mufasa, so the little cuckoo flew over to a nearby baobab tree and eavesdropped on two wildebeests and their conversation.

"Remember that stampede we had a few weeks back?" asked the first wildebeest.

"Of course I do, I was the one who started the run after that stupid hyena bit me in the leg," said the other. (A/N: I hope you don't mind if I call these two W1 and W2? Good.)

"You know though I think I lost a lot of weight from that run, and that was a long run," said W1.

"Nah you still look saggy to me," said W2.

"Well that is just rude, how would you like it if I told you your face looked like a monkeys butt?" asked W1.

"That would be terribly unkind," said W2.

"Yes and that was unkind with what you said about me being saggy," said W1

"Sorry……………………………………does my face really look like a monkey's butt, tell me my feelings won't get hurt," said W2.

Ban'ai snickered at their conversation, but before he could eavesdrop any further, he felt something hard hit him in the head.

"Ouch," said Ban'ai who then rubbed his head to find that it was Rafiki who had done it.

"That is what you get for being nosey," said Rafiki.

"But I was only listening for anything odd, I wasn't going to tell anyone about their problems," said Ban'ai.

"But it's still rude, I see you still have a lot to learn about being an advisor," said Rafiki.

"Well then, tell me all I need to learn and I'll keep it all in mind," said Ban'ai.

Rafiki smiled and then jumped off the tree and ran over to a rock where he sat down on it. Ban'ai flew down and stood in front of him, waiting to hear what the old baboon had to say.

"First of all, one of our greatest allies are gophers, they live underground and can tell you loads of information because no one really notices them. Now to summon up a gopher, you tap the ground with your beak four times, give it a try," said Rafiki.

Ban'ai did what he was told and tapped the ground four times and then waited, but nothing happened.

"Uh where's the gopher?" asked Ban'ai.

"Just wait, it will come," said Rafiki.

Ban'ai stood there waiting and waiting until it had been over a minute. He was just about to ask if he could try the beak thing again when Gopher suddenly appeared out of the ground, right underneath Ban'ai. He scared Ban'ai so badly that the little cuckoo jumped in fright and landed flat on his face.

"Who tapped?" asked Gopher. (A/N: I'm assuming this was his name since that's what they called him on the Timon and Pumbaa show.)

"This young man right here did," said Rafiki who was trying to contain his laughter after Ban'ai jumped in the air like that.

"Oh how may I help you sir?" asked Gopher.

Ban'ai lifted himself off the ground and then shook himself before saying anything. "Well me names Ban'ai. I am Mufasa's new advisor and according to Rafiki he says you might have news for me," he said.

"Oh your Zazu's replacement, very tragic what happened. Any way nothing seems to be wrong at the moment but if I hear of anything I will let you know sir," said Gopher who then jumped back down into the hole and disappeared.

"Uh thanks," said Ban'ai as he stuck his head in the hole and then came up sneezing after getting some dirt up his nose.

"As you can see he does not talk much, but he will give valuable information. Also another way of finding something odd out here is seeing it for yourself; say a hyena or a rogue lion especially one that goes by the name of Scar. That is when you tell Mufasa immediately," said Rafiki.

"And this Scar, how do I tell it is him?" asked Ban'ai.

"He has a black mane, like his soul. He is quite skinny with lovely green eyes that only show hate and a large scar running down his left eye," said Rafiki.

"Ew I would not want to meet him," said Ban'ai.

"I would not blame you, another way of finding anything odd is when you see an injured animal out on the savanna, something bad might have happened to them and it is important to find out what," said Rafiki.

"Now I understand this advisor business, I think I'm ready now," said Ban'ai.

"Good, now I will leave you to your job, see you later," said Rafiki who was then gone in a flash.

Ban'ai then took to the air and looked around the savanna. He quickly discovered that Gopher was right; everything seemed to be in order.

It was not until about an hour later when Ban'ai arrived at a familiar part of the savanna, a place he had not been too in a while. It was an area where he was born, a place with good food, and a friend that he had not seen since he left.

Ban'ai had not eaten since yesterday and decided to take a lunch break and munched on a few bugs that were hanging out near a log. Once the little birds hunger was satisfied he decided to find that old friend of his.

His old friend lived in a colony and was known to be a little lazy. Ban'ai knew that ever since he met him a year ago sleeping on the job.

As the cuckoo flew closer, he heard the familiar sound of one of the old members of the colony going through one of his many spasms of nervousness. Ban'ai soon saw the old meerkat on a rock along with his sister who was trying to calm him down. Ban'ai smiled and flew down to them.

"'Ello Ma, is Timon here today?" asked Ban'ai.

Ma was kind of a pudgy meerkat not at all like her son Timon who was skinny, but her wideness never seemed to bother her and made a big smile at Ban'ai.

"Ban'ai, it's been so long since we've seen you, how are you doing?" asked Ma.

"I'm alright, I'm now an advisor to Mufasa of Pride Rock," said Ban'ai.

"Oh how wonderful, how long have you been doing it?" asked Ma.

"It's me first day and I love it so far, now where is Timon I would like to say 'ello to him," said Ban'ai.

Ma gave a sad sigh and looked over at Uncle Max who seemed to be quite happy about the thought of Timon being gone.

"I'm sorry Ban'ai, he left the colony to find a better place for himself, I don't know how he is, where he is, or if he fell in love or not," said Ma.

"And good riddance too, I've gotten more gray hairs because of him and I've been more nervous than usual," said Uncle Max who suddenly went stiff and shifted his eyes to see if any danger was near him.

"Oh I'm sorry to hear that, I do remember him telling me once that he felt that working at a colony was boring and that he liked the jolly relaxation life or something like that," said Ban'ai.

"Sounds like Timon," said Ma.

"Timon! Where! There must be hyenas about, run for cover!" said Uncle Max who then dived into some nearby grass and caused it to shake like a rattlesnake tail.

Ma just rolled her eyes while Ban'ai gave a small chuckle. That Uncle Max needed to visit a mental institution soon before he exploded.

"Well I better get going before Uncle Max acts any weirder and if I ever see Timon again I will let you know," said Ban'ai.

"Thank you, I hope you do find him too," said Ma.

Ban'ai just waved his wing good bye and flew back down the savanna where he decided to make one more round for the day.

While flying around the savanna, the young cuckoo spotted an area he had not been to yet, it was a dark area and looked dangerous. Ban'ai of course thought this was part of the pride lands, so he went in to inspect the place.

As soon as he arrived, Ban'ai noticed that it was definitely not at all like the pride lands. Bones lay scattered everywhere and their seemed to be no sign of life, until he heard voices. He soon found where they were coming from, it was three hyenas and a lion that Ban'ai quickly figured out had to be Scar. Ban'ai then decided to see what they were up too and stood at the top of a rock listening to their conversation.

"You won't believe what Ed found boss," said Banzai.

"Oh what did he find?" asked Scar who sounded a little annoyed.

"Last night we decided to find out what happened to Slasher right, well we sent Ed out to Pride Rock to see if he was any where near and trying to think of any plans. Ed came back looking horrified. He said he found the jackals remains in some rocks and that his throat was ripped open," said Shenzi.

"What! You mean to say that that plan was ruined?" asked Scar who seemed to have been having a bad day.

"Yeah he was kaput, a goner, I don't know if he was even successful in trying to kill Zazu or Simba," said Banzai.

"No matter, I will find someone else," said Scar.

Ban'ai could not believe what he was hearing and let out a gasp when he realized he had been replaced after the first advisor had been ripped to shreds. Mufasa had never told him what happened; he only thought Zazu had died of old age.

Ban'ai did not notice it either, but Shenzi had heard him and was now sneaking up on him from behind. While he was still listening, he felt something hit him in the back sending him flying down the rocks and right in front of Scar and the other two hyenas. He thought about flying off until Shenzi landed on top of him.

"I found an eavesdropper boss, what should we do to him?" asked Shenzi.

"Oh I feel like chicken tonight," said Banzai.

"No how about fried bird," said Shenzi.

Ed just laughed while Ban'ai looked up at them nervously.

"Please don't kill me, I did not know this was not Mufasa's land or I would have never ended up in this bloody place," said Ban'ai.

"Oh a British bird aye how about meat scones," said Shenzi who was then about to bite Ban'ai on the neck when Scar let out a big roar.

"No one is eating him until I have questions to ask him," said Scar.

The three hyenas then let out a pout as Scar grabbed Ban'ai and held him in his claws. Ban'ai shook in his paw wondering what was going to happen to him. He did not want to retire on his first day as advisor.

"Tell me, do you know if Zazu is still alive?" asked Scar.

"N-No sah, he was killed by that jackal, I'm his replacement," said Ban'ai.

"Ah and how many days have you been working for Mufasa?" asked Scar.

"T-This is my f-f-first day s-s-sah," said Ban'ai.

"Hmm I think it's too early to kill you then," said Scar.

When the hyenas heard this they began to whine until Scar shut them up.

"Instead I will let you go back to Pride Rock. Tell my brother that it's not over yet, and that he better watch his back," said Scar who then threw Ban'ai out of his claws and threw him down on the ground. Poor Ban'ai landed into a pile of mud, causing the hyenas to laugh at him.

Ban'ai glared at them angrily before getting up and flying out of the outlands and to tell Mufasa what he had heard.

It had started to rain heavily as Ban'ai was returning to Pride Rock and Mufasa was pacing the cave wondering where the little bird was. It was quite late now too, usually his advisors came back a few hours after lunch.

"Hmm perhaps I should go out and look for him," said Mufasa.

"Don't worry, it's his first day, he probably went too far out in the pride lands," said Sarabi.

"I sure hope so," said Mufasa.

A few minutes later, Mufasa no longer had to worry because in came Ban'ai all wet and soggy from the pouring rain outside.

"Sorry sah, that rain made me gain a few pounds," said Ban'ai.

"Its quite alright, I'm just glad you are still alive," said Mufasa.

"I wish you would have told me that the dark place was not part of your land or I would have not met your brother and found out what happened to Zazu," said Ban'ai.

"Oh dear, you actually met him?" asked Mufasa.

"Yes and he told me to tell you that its not over yet, and that you better watch your back," said Ban'ai.

Mufasa looked at him worriedly; he did not like the sound of that.

"Then you better keep your eyes peeled for anything strange going on out there and make sure Simba is safe at all times, got that?" asked Mufasa.

"Yes sah," said Ban'ai.

"Oh and one more thing, you don't have to be out there all day, you can come in and stay with Simba or just relax," said Mufasa.

"Oh I did not know that, well I will see how it goes tomorrow then and I would love to baby-sit Simba for you," said Ban'ai.

"That would be nice," said Mufasa.

Ban'ai then let out a big yawn and Mufasa knew that he had a long day.

"Well I will let you get some rest but be ready in the morning," said Mufasa.

"Yes sah I will be ready as soon as you wake me," said Ban'ai who flew to his nest and immediately snuggled in and fell asleep.

Mufasa smiled at him and then turned to Sarabi and Simba who was already sound asleep after a big day of chasing Nala. Mufasa soon joined the two and soon all the lions were asleep in the warm cave while the rain poured down outside.

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A/N: Wow sixteen pages. I hope you liked this chapter, I had fun with it. Well chapter seven will be up sometime next week hopefully, next week is my last week of college for this semester, halleluiah, I hate my math teacher. Any way a few people asked me some questions and for some reason the reviews don't show up in the review section of this story and I deleated the reviews thinking that I could see them on the review thing. I do remember one though which was when Timon and Pumbaa will come on. I think they will be here in the tenth chapter but I'm not sure yet. Oh and Everlasting Oranges I love yourpen name it's so cool and I did read your stories. I will try to read everyone elses stories as well.Also if you want to know what the basic plot might be for the next chapter, just check out my bio and it will tell you what I plan on doing next, it's listed under the name of the story. Well I better stop rambling and let you all go, have a great weekend.