They were up early the next morning.

Not so much by choice or because they were too excited to sleep; all the visitors had slept soundly and all of them had needed an extra nudge when it came to waking them the next morning. It was one of the palace servants who had woken them, urging them to come eat as soon as they could since the sled that would take them to their rendezvous with their guides was already packed with their main bags and all of the supplies they needed and was ready to go. And they still needed to eat breakfast.

"Is Shuri awake?" Ned had asked, sleepily, as he sat up and yawned, looking at his watch, automatically, to check the time.

"She is awake and also waiting for you," had been the response.

"Can't make a princess wait," MJ said, coming out of her room, looking only slightly less rumpled than Ned. "It's bad form, right?"

"True." Ned looked over toward Peter's door, but it was open, as well, and they could see him moving around, even though he hadn't made an appearance. "Tell Shuri we'll be right there, please."

"I will." The servant was joined by the one who had woken Peter. "We will return to take your things to the sled once you have eaten."

"Thanks."

They already had their basics; the majority of their clothes and the like, in their main bag, but each had their jackets, their electronics, and their toiletries with them, still, to be taken with them in backpacks since they would need or want them to be handy.

MJ had vanished back into her room to change, and Ned had gone into the bathroom for the same reason. When Peter had joined them, they were all ready to begin their day and they headed for breakfast. A very informal one since T'Challa wasn't there to eat with them.

"He is still asleep," Shuri had told them, looking amused and also pleased that there wasn't going to be any last minute lectures about safety. The young king had made sure the evening before that everyone knew what was expected of them, and now he was proving that he trusted them enough to do as they were supposed to do. Tony hadn't called, either, Peter noticed, feeling pleased, too. It was all well and good for him to make sure Peter understood how much he meant to the billionaire, but this was a time when the boy wanted to be a little more independent. "He will maintain contact with the guides – and with us if anything presents as an emergency here at the palace – but otherwise, he said that he has many other things to worry about, and us running amok in the countryside is not one of them."

"Is his girlfriend back, yet?" Ned asked, slyly – and softly enough that no one else could hear the question.

Shuri had smirked.

"Not yet."

After they'd had a hearty breakfast Shuri had left them to go finish her own packing, telling them that she'd see them at the sled bay in twenty minutes. A quick wash up, teeth brushed and hurried packing of their backpacks and they were out the door pulling their jackets on as they did. It was warm enough in the palace, but Peter knew from experience that it would be chilly in the morning and he'd made sure Ned and MJ were both dressed warmly in case the sleds didn't have the forcefield shielding to keep the warm inside.

The forcefields were up, but the morning was just as chilly as they'd expected, and Peter hopped into the sled to help load their backpacks with the pair of men who were going to be their drivers. Not during the safari, but while they were going to meet up with the guides and the supplies. The small security force arrived; three women who were all members of the Dora Milag and well known to Peter from his many visits by then. Besides, they'd been introduced to the trio the evening before at dinner. The women were also wearing warmer clothing than just the traditional outfit they were usually known for, and they nodded thank yous to the boy when he took the bags they offered up to him.

"Are we all ready to go?" Shuri asked, cheerfully when she'd been helped up into the sled by one of the drivers.

"We are," Peter assured her.

There were agreements all around and the forcefield came up as the engine for the sled turned on. It was a quiet noise, but Peter could feel the power of the engine, easily, and they could all hear the hum that it made. Ned made an approving noise and held his hand against the forcefield as they started out a pair of impressive bay doors and found themselves on the back end of the palace and heading through an area that had far less markets and people – even at the early hour.

"This is cool…"

"Right?"

"It's like the one that defends Wakanda?" he asked, running his hand along it and then daring to touch it, since he figured that he'd have been warned ahead of time if the thing had the potential to shock him, or something.

"It is similar," Shuri concurred. She pressed her hand against it, pleased at how interested he was in the technology – although not surprised, of course. Ned was a nerd. "This is a much smaller scale; a trickle of a rain drop compared to the wildness of a thunderstorm."

"Neat."

That set him – and MJ – off on a tangent of questions about the technology behind it, and Peter moved toward the front of the sled. Not that he wasn't interested, of course, but he already knew the basics about the tech (he'd learned on the fly while they'd been preparing for Thanos, after all) and he didn't need to help Shuri with her explanation. Instead he went to sit near the drivers, knowing that the security people wouldn't want to engage in banal conversation with one of their charges.

Ever willing to make a friend if he could, he introduced himself unnecessarily and waited for them to give him their names before he started peppering them with questions about themselves. Nothing too personal, but which tribe they were with and what they normally did when they weren't ferrying princesses to safaris. That kind of thing.

Luckily they were both good-natured, and well aware that they were hosts to Peter's guest, and as such even if they hadn't wanted to hold a conversation with him as they made their way through the city, first, and then out into the countryside, they still would have.

It just wouldn't have been quite as friendly.

OOOOOOOOO

"Are we there, yet?"

Peter turned his head, grinning at his friend.

"Seriously?"

"It's been hours," Ned pointed out. "We haven't seen any towns in forever – and we just saw some elephants at the river we crossed. "We must be in the middle of nowhere by now."

Even though the forcefield was down now that the sun was up and the weather was warmer, conversation was easy since there was still a windscreen at the front of the sled where the kids had all migrated toward during the hours they'd been traveling.

It was Shuri's turn to smile – and one of the drivers, as well.

"The animals that we seek are not, necessarily, in the middle of nowhere," she pointed out. "They have migration routes and feeding patterns, and the drivers are taking us to the guides who have the experience to know where these animals will be this time of year. We could go to the middle of nowhere, as you put it, and spend hours hoping to find a stray giraffe, or spend the time to get where we want to go and see many of them – as well as the other animals that travel with them."

Ned shrugged, his smile proving he wasn't chastised.

"Are we there, then?"

The driver snorted, amused, and looked up at the sun.

"We will be there in less than an hour…"

Ned looked impressed.

"You know from looking at the sun?"

The man pointed, drawing their attention to a heads up display – which showed their direction, and speed, and also the time.

"Of course."

MJ chuckled and leaned back in her seat. She was eager to see all the animals and everything, too, of course, but the trip itself was fun, already.