"I am a genius!" Lana declared as soon as she had caught both David and Julia, this time in less than 30 seconds. She got off of both of them, and continued gloating. "Call me the Princess of the Jungle and the hunt." She said as she chuckled. David rolled his eyes. "Is this all you brought us out here for? Cause if I wanted to hear someone brag about how good they are at pouncing and pinning, I would have stayed behind with Masika." He said, getting irritated that he and Julia were likely going to get in trouble with their mother, especially considering that they were near the hyena caves. Lana simply giggled. "Oh you'll see… right now." And as she said that, a pungent smell emanated from out of sight, and it wasn't coming from any hyena, or any mustelid for that matter. In fact the smell was distinctly… canine in origin. David and Julia's noses did not deceive them, as a puppy no older than either of them made his appearance. And it was quite an appearance, as his fluffy coat was nice shade of tawny brown that David admitted would look nice on a lion, especially since it seemed to glisten in the sun.
"Hi, Lana." The pup said as they embraced. David never thought he'd ever see a lion and a wild dog hug and laugh together, but there it was. Now all we need is a hyena, and there would stand the top predators of the African biomes. David thought as he stifled a laugh to speak. "So, this is-" The pup finished his sentence for him. "Magnus, please to make your acquaintance." Julia and David looked at each other, then to Lana. "So, does Icarus and Nyota know about you?" Julia tested, and Lana and Magnus both nearly laugh. "Of course he does. He also knows about Othello and Malka." David and Julia's blank faces said it all. "Well, clearly, we need to get them caught up with our list of friends." Magnus half-joked. "Follow me." He said, and Lana bounded off after him. David and Julia took that as their cue to run after their friend, and the young animals didn't stop running until the twins noticed that the scenery changed. They looked around, and the golden yellow grasses told them that they were no longer in the Jungle.
"Where… are we?" Julia asked, in awe of how beautiful the golden yellow grasses were in the high sun. Magnus was the one to answer. "Welcome to the Goldlands, how you like it?" Magnus was quite proud to live here, and David and Julia could tell. "It's beautiful. You live here?" David asked, not quite believing that lions didn't live here. And he wouldn't be wrong in thinking that. "Well, the King here allows us to live, so long as we follow his laws. I'll tell you (and Lana can back me up on this), he's a definite improvement over Blood." David and Julia's confused faces said it all. "He was the King of these lands before Sefu and Khari's dad took over." Now, those two David knew. Mostly because he thought Khari was rather nice-looking. "Oh, so you mean that before him was-" And then they were interrupted by a voice from a cub that wasn't previously present.
"My Dad, yes." The others looked around, but Magnus's canine hearing allowed him to pinpoint exactly where the voice came from, and it was from a ledge just above them. And standing on that ledge were two other cubs, both of whom were bright yellow although one was a creamier shade than the other. The male cub was the one who had spoken, and while the female cub seemed disinterested in… well pretty much everything. "Hi Othello. Hi Jezebel." Lana called out, and hugged both of them. Othello still wasn't quite comfortable with her doing that, but Jezebel accepted it so he didn't see why he shouldn't. "So, how's it hanging-" Othello appeared to cringe as he said that, and then switched greetings. "I mean, who you doing-" That was an even worse choice of words, so he gave up. "I mean, it's good to see you again." Julia, Lana and even Jezebel were laughing at Othello's constant screw-ups, while David just shook his head. "You and me both. You and me both." David understood, mostly because he at first couldn't tell what gender Lana was, but simply rolled with it once he heard all of the adults in the Pride refer to her in the feminine tense. And yes, the other cubs in the Jungle Pride joke about her scruffy, androgynous looks. Maybe that was why Lana acts the way she does, David thought as he watched her affectionately rub against Othello, who was seemed to hate every moment of it.
"So, if you guys are out and about, that must mean…" Lana lead, and Jezebel followed. "Malka, Khari and Sefu are both out, too. And thankfully, Iago is sleeping in today." Her brother's name seemed to leave a bad taste in her mouth, and that wasn't lost on Julia and David. However, neither one spent too much time thinking about it, as their interest was piqued about having other playmates besides the cubs of the Pride that their mother allowed them to play with. That is, only Lana.
As the cubs made their way to Ivory Tower, two other animals noted that 5 lion cubs and a puppy were walking and talking as though that were the most normal thing around. And of the two animals, only the martial eagle was a benevolent presence.