Hmmm what's to say here other than narf and egad. Hmmm I wonder if I should bring out my muse Zorro, nah he's too annoying. Oh yes I know what to say and its kinda sad. Space Spy, I am really glad your grandparents are going to be moving down here and that you might come in January, the sad thing is though, I am leaving on the 3rd of January. That is when my internship is completed and I head back to Colorado. Maybe one day I will work there again though, I will have to see where my mind takes me.
Oh yeah and nothing is more hilarious when a drunk guy whose name is really Simba sings Hakuna Matata for no reason. Okay I better start now.
It had been three weeks since Simba had returned home and the land was slowly returning back to normal. New animals began to arrive everyday and after the first week the pride had their first successful kill of a wildebeest and after gorging happily on it, they all relaxed in the sun until the afternoon rains came to replenish the ground. I could see a few green leaves start to grow on the once dead trees and in some places; the grass was starting to grow. We all knew that in a few months time, the land would be so healthy that you would never know that a tyrant ruler ruled before King Simba.
The land was not the only thing that was recovering nicely. Rafiki returned the next morning after the fiasco at the river bed happy to report that Timon would recover though it would be about a month before he did so. Timon was brought home three days later looking very weak and tired; Rafiki had wrapped his broken arm with tree bark and set it next to his ribs. It was an easier way to keep him from feeling too much pain though I could tell that he still felt pretty bad.
For about a week he barely left the cave and when he did he usually got a ride from Pumbaa so he could go out and get a drink or relieve himself. Sometimes I accompanied them; sometimes they just showed up when I was doing my duties.
I remember one day in particular when I was over at the waterhole which was about half full now thanks to the wonderful rain we had been having. I was watching as a few antelope walked over for a drink but were instantly alert when they saw a lone figure heading toward the waterhole. For a minute they stood still until they realized that it was only Pumbaa and that he was no threat so they continued drinking in peace.
Timon was sitting on top of his head and ready to get off and get a drink. Once Pumbaa was close enough, he lay down and let Timon off. Timon slid off as carefully as he could and walked slowly over to the water for a drink.
I decided to go down there and join them since I had nothing better to do and to check up on Timon.
"Good morning you two, sleep well?" I asked.
"Not really, it's hard to sleep when you can't move your arm, I hope this thing heals fast, I feel so useless sometimes," said Timon who then sat down and put his feet in the water to cool down.
"Yes I hear that takes some getting used to but look on the bright side, you probably only have one or two more weeks left," I said.
Timon gave a deep sigh and then winced; his ribs were still very tender and would often forget that they were until he breathed a little too hard.
"You were right about one thing Zazu, you cannot live a full Hakuna Matata lifestyle, that's impossible," said Timon.
I smiled, I was glad he was talking a little bit of sense; it must have been the herbs Rafiki gave him to keep the pain low.
"Yeah and I know I said this a million times but I was so worried about you," said Pumbaa.
"You really need to stop sounding like my mother Pumbaa," said Timon.
"Sorry," said Pumbaa sheepishly.
"Excuse me," said a voice behind me so low that I was the only one of the three to hear it.
I turned around to find a female hornbill standing there looking very nervous. I did not seem to notice though for at that instant I felt the meaning of the word love at first sight. She was a light blue color with some yellow on the top of her wings. She also had some red on her head, almost the color of Timon's but that was also a little lighter. I stared at her all googlely eyed for quite a while before she finally waved her wing in front of my face.
"Uh you okay?" she asked.
I shook my head to rid the feeling of love and to return to my normal routine of business but I seemed to fail at that instantly.
"Sorry, uh help may I how you. I mean you may I help how. Er what's up?" I asked clearly I was amazed by her beauty.
She giggled slightly before finally answering. "Is this the famous pride lands? Home of King Simba?" she asked.
"Why yes it is, uh what can I do for you?" I asked trying my hardest to sound helpful.
"Well I was wondering if this is a good home for hornbills as well, I hear it's a great place to live," she said.
"Why of course it is, if it was not good for hornbills I would not be here now would I?" I said as a joke but she did not seem to take it as a joke.
"No I guess not. I hope you don't mind if I live here though," she said.
"No not at all, I am the only one at the moment, my sister drops in from time to time to say hi, she did a few days ago so it might be a while before we see her again," I said as I remembered that my sister had come after a long time of not seeing her. She of course was very happy that she was no longer banished.
"Thank you very much then," she said before taking off.
But before she was far off I called back to her as loudly as I could. "Hey I never got your name, just in case I see you again," I yelled.
"It's Binti," she called back.
"Binti," I sighed, it was a lovely name that went with a lovely hornbill as herself. I had to meet her again.
"Hey Zazu, you okay?" asked Timon after I had been standing there for at least a minute.
I turned around and looked over at Timon and Pumbaa who both looked at me suspiciously. "Yes I am fine, it's just that I have never seen a creature more beautiful in all my life," I said.
Timon stared at me for one more second before bursting out laughing but had to quickly stop because of his injured ribs. Instead he just gave a quick chuckle.
"What I bet you have never been in love before," I said.
"As a matter of fact I have and that was why I was banished," said Timon who then climbed back up on Pumbaa and gave a quick tug of his ear. (A/N: Yes in case you were all wondering, I am using his banishment from the Timon and Pumbaa series. I'm not counting The Lion King 11/2 only because they changed the fight scene so much. I still love that movie though.)
"What did you do any way?" I asked as I flew with them back to Pride Rock.
"Well I fell in love with the king's daughter and wanted her to go out with me, so I abandoned my post and went to buy her gifts and to make myself look nice for her. When I began to head toward her home, all the meerkats were staring at me. I asked what was wrong and they told me what had happened. A snake had snuck into the back entrance and killed the king's daughter. I was banished instantly and left to live alone. Luckily I met Pumbaa and we have been friends ever since," said Timon.
"He did get accepted back into the colony after he found that the king's daughter was still alive and saved her life but he decided to stay with me," said Pumbaa.
"Hey I learned to live Hakuna Matata with you who could pass up a chance for a life like that, besides Tatiana did not really like me that much," said Timon.
I thought for a moment, it would be wonderful to get to know Binti more, where she came from, what she liked. Of course she would probably never like me and try to find someone else to fall in love with, I was fine with that but after years of being a bachelor the thought of having a mate was sounding quite nice.
I was so into my thoughts that I was back at Pride Rock in no time with no morning report and of course Simba was waiting for one. I practically flew by him still thinking about Binti when he called to me.
"Hey Zazu, any news?" he called out.
I turned around and stared at Simba who was looking at me worriedly. I quickly flew back and stood on his shoulder.
"Well anything I need to know about?" asked Simba.
"Uh truthfully sire I forgot about the morning report, I was kind of distracted," I said.
"Oh what happened?" asked Simba.
"I met another hornbill," I said sheepishly, my cheeks glowing with embarrassment.
"Oh a female?" asked Simba who was raising his eyebrows.
I nodded but said nothing; I really did have nothing to say. I was in love and Simba knew it.
"What's her name?" he asked.
"Binti," I replied.
"Does she like you?" asked Simba.
"She barely even knows I exist, she only wanted to ask me a question, I'm probably out of her life now," I said.
"Maybe you should go talk to her, get to know her more," said Simba.
"I want to but the last time I tired to talk I kept slurring my words, she was just so pretty," I said.
Simba gave a smirk and then patted my head. "Oh I bet you will see her again and then you will want to know all about her just like I did when I saw Nala again for the first time," he said.
"Well I hope so and I better get back to work, a king needs to know what's going on in his land," I said.
"You do that then, maybe you will also see her again," said Simba.
I said nothing but flew away from Pride Rock and through the pride lands hoping I would see her again but hoping that she wouldn't.
I did not see Binti again that day and on that same night I could not sleep, I kept tossing and turning and seeing her in my thoughts. Finally I just lay there and looked up at the ceiling of the den. I could hear the lion's soft breathing and Pumbaa moaning about grubs in his sleep. Timon looked like he finally found a comfortable position for him to sleep in as well and was quietly whimpering along with Pumbaa's moaning. The sounds of the cave were quite soothing and after a few hours of listening to the noises I finally drifted off to sleep.
Morning seemed to arrive fast though; I was quickly awakened by Simba who wanted me to go out on an early morning run to check on the situation of the land. It was better to do it early in the morning when all the animals were out, by the middle of the day, most would be in the shade resting and waiting for the evening sun to arrive.
I flew slowly through the land watching all the animals march to the spot they wanted to visit for the morning, everything seemed fine, the grass was getting slightly greener and new trees were springing up. In a year or two they would be large enough to create shade for other animals. It would be a wonderful thing to see.
I practically flew into her when I was watching a young giraffe play with its mother. She gasped with shock while I merely stared at her in shock.
"Oh dear I am so sorry," she said.
"No it's quite alright, I was not paying much attention to where I was going," I said.
We both hovered in midair for a moment, it felt quite awkward but I knew I had to make sure she was doing okay.
"So you like it here so far?" I asked after quite a long silence.
"Oh yes very much thank you, it's so peaceful," she said.
"I'm glad you like it, it will become even more beautiful than it is as time goes on, we were in a bad drought for quite a while because of a bad hyena infestation but everything is fine now," I said hoping to sound as welcoming as possible.
"Yes I heard about that," she said in a nervous voice, for some reason I could tell that she was really shy so I had to be helpful. Realizing that it was still early she probably had not had breakfast and it would be perfect to show her all the best places to eat.
"So have you had any breakfast this morning?" I asked.
"No, not yet I'm still looking for a good place to have breakfast or any type of meal, yesterday I had a really boring dinner of ants," said Binti.
"Then follow me, I will take you to one of my favorite places to eat in the morning, I bet it is full of food now that things are back to normal, it always has a nice selection after a rainy week," I said with enthusiasm in my voice hoping that she would join me.
"Sure why not, I am a little hungry," said Binti.
I knew the perfect place to take her. It was a hilly place near the waterhole, it was mainly worms but sometimes you could find a delicious beetle or two. I always liked it because it had a nice view of the waterhole while you ate and if you were early enough, you could watch the sun rise, we were too late for that.
We soon landed for the early morning breakfast where we quickly found that many others also had the same idea. I did not mind though, it was not too crowded and after a few minutes, we found the perfect spot that was far enough away so I could chat in private.
"Well here we are, take whatever you want, no limits," I said.
Binti said nothing and quickly grabbed a worm that was sticking out of the ground and ate it with great care. I could tell she was a slow eater, she did not like to scarf it down like I sometimes did, she must have come from a royal family or at least some sort like that.
"So where are you from?" I asked after I swallowed a worm down my throat.
"Oh many miles south of here," she said as she swallowed what was left of her worm and then grabbed another.
"What made you come out here?" I asked.
"I just needed to get away," she said.
"Away from what?" I asked.
"Oh complicated matters that someone I don't know really well should hear," she said in a polite voice but I could tell that question annoyed her. I think she had a secret and was too afraid to tell it yet, understandable.
"Sorry," I said rather sheepishly.
"No I should be sorry, I shouldn't sound so rude like that," she said.
"No your fine, I dove into a personal question too fast and I barely even know you, that kind of stuff should be told later when you know someone more," I said.
Binti just nodded and me and looked down at her claws. She seemed extremely shy and I knew I had to break the ice again.
"Oh I don't think I ever gave you my name did I?" I asked finally.
"No I don't think you did," said Binti.
"It's Zazu," I said.
"Well Zazu I must say that it has been a pleasure meeting you and I must say that this has been a very good breakfast, I haven't had a very good one in a while," she said.
"I'm glad you like it then, and I hope you like it here in the pride lands as well," I said.
"Me too," she said.
"Is there anything you would like to know at all?" I asked.
Binti stood there for a moment, holding a beetle that wiggled in her wing before she finally took a quick bite out of his head and then got an idea.
"Where is the best place to sleep, last night I slept in this one bush and it was not very comfortable and I heard too many noises," she said.
"Well the acacia trees are usually the best bet; most of them have old homes in them that no one lives in any more. You can build a nest inside of them and you will feel perfectly safe. I had a home like that once but it was destroyed by the fire so I had to move in with the lions," I said. As soon as I said lions though I remembered Simba.
"Oh dear, I forgot about Simba, I was supposed to report to him about how the land was, you want to come with me and meet him?" I asked.
"Oh no thanks, I would rather go find a home like you said, I bet there are tons out there and I like to make it nice before I go to bed at night," said Binti.
"Alright then, some other time perhaps?' I asked.
"If that's okay with you," said Binti.
"That is perfectly fine," I said.
"Well I guess I will see you later then," said Binti.
"And I you," I said.
In an instant, Binti flew away toward some distant trees; I stood there watching her wondering why she was so shy for someone so pretty as her. Hopefully I would find out one day and maybe she could warm up enough to actually like me. But that was too far ahead, I had to gain her trust first. I then began my flight back to Pride Rock, still thinking about Binti and hoping that I would see her again.
A/N: I have a million reasons why this chapter took so long to be updated. One of them is because I went to about three parties this week. I don't think I am cut out for parties especially when there is dirty dancing involved, oh no. Then I spent the weekend with my grandmother, her bed was so nice that I just went to bed and slept until I felt like getting up, plus I had some homework that needed to be done. So yeah those are my top excuses. Any questions? LOL Any way, I hope you all like Binti. That was her original name for Simba's Pride, but I don't know what she originally looked like so I borrowed the colors off of that really pretty costume they use for that one girl who pretends to be a bird in that Can You Feel the Love Tonight sequence at The Festival of the Lion King in Animal Kingdom. Any way please review and I will see you all when update again, not sure when that will happen hopefully by Monday though. See ya.