The trek southwest went smoothly for the three explorers. Rather than finding themselves back in the dry plains, the savannah continued, which meant that they were finally on the right track to the Pride Lands. As they journeyed on, they saw an increasing number of animal herds, such as greater kudu, rhinos, wildebeest, zebras, and all the other creatures that the African animal kingdom had to offer. It was a sight to behold and should have brought joy to all of them, except for one little mystery that had been plaguing them.

It was strange how quickly it had all started. Josh was the first to pick up on it: whispers, and voices, all around them. It started as a distant murmur, but soon enough, the conversations became clearer. It was as if they were in a crowd of people, talking in English. But when Josh looked around, there was no one there. He even tried calling out, just in case, but there was no response. Denzel and Chen soon noticed the voices too, and they were just as bewildered. They couldn't figure out where the voices were coming from. It was like they were being followed by an invisible group of people. And then, they realized that it had to be the potion that Lebo had given them. They decided to ignore it, hoping that it would eventually wear off. But what they didn't realize was that the animals around them were no longer afraid. They were oblivious to the new powers they possessed. It was all so strange and surreal, but they had no choice but to keep moving forward.

It was late afternoon on the second day out. The explorers had stopped to rest on the edge of a watering hole, before making camp for the night. Marigold meanwhile was doing much better, her injured legs healing well, and was now able to help with carrying their equipment, but was still not ready to take on a rider, improving their spirits. After all these days of endless hardships, good fortune was finally back on their side.

Josh went to refill the canteens at the water's edge but was met with a maddening sound of voices coming from the direction of a flock of flamingos out on the water. Frustrated and desperate for the noise to stop, he tried to block it out by covering his ears. The constant ghostly voices were enough to drive any man insane, and Josh felt like he was at his breaking point. But he knew that resorting to violence was not the answer, so he quickly finished his task and returned to camp to help his companions prepare for the night ahead.

As he walked along, he happened to glance at a herd of topis grazing nearby. Suddenly, he stopped dead in his tracks, as he happened to notice something that nearly made his heart jump into his lungs: the animals' lips were moving, and he heard another of those mystery voices again, this time very close.

"…drought's turned the grass stale. I hope the rains come soon…"

"...Guess we'll just have to grin and bear it till that happens…"

Josh didn't even dare consider approaching for a closer look, thinking he was going mad. 'Had those animals been talking?' he thought in disbelief, alarmed by what he had just seen, almost laughing at the absurdity of it all, 'Or has the sun made me flip my marbles? Maybe I'm on the verge of heatstroke and hallucinating it all…' Had he seen what he had seen?

Everywhere he looked, he could see animals… talking! All the familiar animal sounds he had become accustomed to since arriving in Africa were gone and replaced by human speech in perfectly understandable English!

Besides the kudu, he could see a flock of marabou storks flying in the distance, muttering something about how the sandgrouses were hogging pomegranate seeds for their nestlings.

Looking at the ground a few feet away, he saw a savannah mole poke its head out of the earth. It looked up at Josh, who was staring intently at it, hoping it wouldn't speak. But no, it was! Even over the squeaky sounds it made, there were unmistakable words, talking about worms damaging his den walls again.

Josh was absolutely gobsmacked. Were the animals actually talking? Taking a few steps back in surprise, he bumped against something tall and fleshy. A giraffe's rear leg. Josh stared in awe up at the amazing creature. He had never seen a real giraffe up this close before, not even in the touring circus back in Northbrok. The tall creature turned to look at him indignantly.

"Oh!" she said in surprise. "Excuse me, down there!" The giraffe was really talking, thought Josh. A talking giraffe! As the animal walked away, Josh could barely make out as she muttered to herself, "What a strange-looking creature."

Feeling extremely overwhelmed by now and unable to endure this nightmare a moment longer, Josh did the only thing his brain was telling him to do: run. Turning, he fled the scene, heading back towards camp, still trying to process what he had just realized… The mole, the giraffe, all of these animals, talking! Madness or the worst nightmare in his entire life had taken hold of him!

Denzel was just preparing their desert-rat kebab lunch when Josh came stumbling into camp, looking like someone had walloped him over the head. Denzel looked at him strangely. "Whoa, Josh," he said, raising an eyebrow, "Are you okay? You look like you've seen the boogeyman." Frustrated to the verge of insanity by what was going on, and unable to keep it bottled up any longer, Josh rounded on his companion.

"Denzel, I know this sounds crazy, but ever since yesterday, I swear I've been hearing all these voices coming from all around me! At first, I thought it was the heat getting to my brain, but then just a while ago, I looked over at some animals and -"

"Their lips were moving?"

"Yeah, I know it sounds insane, but, for the life of me, it's true! I could hear them talkin' about the drought and the dry grass, some birds were talkin' about pomegranates or somethin', and then a giraffe, an honest-to-god GIRAFFE talked to me!"

Surely, the colored zoologist wouldn't know what he was talking about, he thought in self-reassurance. Surely, this was just his head playing tricks on him somehow. To his utmost surprise, however, Denzel looked back at him with wide, surprised eyes.

"So…I'm not the only one then…" he muttered to Josh, as the two men suddenly came to the awful conclusion that they were both suffering from the same mental illness or whatever the hell it was this place was doing to them.

"What the hell is happening to us, Denzel?" asked Josh, trying to come to some logical explanation as to why they could hear human voices in their surroundings, when there was no one there, except for animals, who seemed to be the ones doing all this talking, "How long has this been going on?"

"The potion," replied the New Yorker softly, as it suddenly clicked, "I think it all started kicking in the day after we set off from the Maasai village. Whatever poison the chief made us drink must be causing us some strange side effects."

"Ugh," groaned Josh, taking off his head and rubbing his forehead with his hand, "The last thing I expected to happen to me on this trip was getting drugged!" Letting out a sigh, Josh put his hat back on. "What about Chen, is he hearing voices, too?"

"I don't know, I haven't… Wait, where is he?" Looking around, the pair realized Chen was nowhere to be seen. He must have wandered off while Denzel was cooking without thinking, effectively breaking Josh's golden rule of always sticking together.

Josh cursed. "I told everybody not to wander off like that! Damn fool's bound to get himself into trouble out here!"

"I'm sure he can take care of himself," Denzel replied, "After all, he's not a kung fu master for nothing."

Josh however wasn't all that confident. "Well, a lot of good kung fu will do if he comes across a charging rhino or a pack of hungry lions."

Meanwhile, Chen had found himself a patch of shade under a tree atop the ridge, and sketching the landscape of the savannah in his sketchbook. This place was just so beautiful to behold. This untamed wilderness, untouched by man, had an almost divine look about it. Chen, who had seen the beauty of deep wilderness before during his nomadic wanderings across the Gobi Desert and the mountains of Tibet back in his native China, felt as if Buddha Himself had sent him here to see this pristine land, which was sacred to the Maasai. Reaching into his cloak, he caressed a gold icon of his divine prophet on a chain he always carried with him on his travels, muttering a prayer of praise in Chinese.

Looking off in the distance, he noticed a peculiar rock formation jutting out of the savannah floor, which resembled some sort of majestic beast, like one of those god-protectors of sacred lands where unworthy men could not venture the monks in Tibet used to tell him about when he was a boy. Tall, formidable-looking, with a long rock platform jutting out at its base for some person of authority to survey his kingdom, its reddish sandstone color gave it a most stunning appearance indeed.

'That must be the great stone palace... Pride Rock,' he thought to himself in awe, remembering Lebo mentioning the distinct dwelling of the Pride Landers' king. 'Wait till I tell Denzel and Mr. Cody about this! But first, I must get it down on paper.'

He was busy sketching the rock formation in his book when suddenly, something else caught his eye. From afar, it seemed to be just a boulder lying at the foot of the ridge. But as he looked at it again, he thought he saw it move… Grabbing his binoculars, he realized it wasn't a boulder at all, but a lioness, camouflaged by the brownish grass, noiselessly approaching in his direction. He had walked right into a hunter's game trail!

"āi yā!"

Cursing for his carelessness, he slowly stood up, carefully backing away. He knew there was no point in running; anyone with even the haziest knowledge of predators knew that would only provoke the huntress to give chase and a lion could easily outrun a man in a chase. Maybe, if he played it nice and easy, he could slip away and make a run for the camp…

He hadn't taken more than two steps when… SNAP! In his carelessness, he had accidentally stepped on a dry twig. The lioness, hearing the noise, came springing at him. If someone had been watching this, he would logically think Chen would be dead meat in another instant; but the little acrobat of a Chinaman, with lightning reflexes, made a stupendous leap, sailing over the charging lioness's head as she came at him, dodging the attack. The ferocious beast, suddenly finding herself charging at empty air, instead landed head-first in the grass. With a yowl of pain, the lioness crumpled to the ground in a heap, momentarily dazed. Before the beast could recover, Chen had taken to his heels, making a mad dash for the camp. In his haste, he had unknowingly dropped his precious sketchbook.

The presence of an attacking lioness, he knew, meant a territorial threat display. It was only a matter of seconds before every lion in the vicinity was upon their camp in attack. He had to get back to his companions and warn them of the danger!

But it was already too late for running. Chen barely managed to keep himself from running into another lioness that had circled, blocking his way. Looking he saw two more of the killers closing in on him, surrounding him in an ambush. There was nowhere to run.

The lionesses cornering Chen slowly approached. The Chinaman could hear their soft growls, and see their barred teeth, as they locked gazes with him. Wisely, he kept very still. He stared back at one of the lionesses, who had grayish fur, and whose right eye appeared to be narrowed, perhaps from an old injury, with seven small dots lined up beneath it, who seemed to be sizing him out. Her companion, an older lioness with beige fur, nudged him in the side. It was like being nudged by a moving rock. The third lioness, a slender creature with pale tan fur, obviously a swift huntress, was sniffing his trouser leg. Undoubtedly, these creatures didn't often meet humans. Chen could practically feel the lionesses' powerful muscles that could smash a man's bones if provoked. A sticky situation, to say the least. And it only got worse.

Chen felt his blood run cold as he watched a well-built, dark-furred male lion with a black mane, green eyes, and a small scar over his left eye emerge from the grass, apparently alerted by the huntresses' growl, and let out a loud, ferocious roar that seemed to make the surrounding hills shake. 'This is not good', thought Chen, the color vanishing from his face. Male lions were well known for being the ones to defend their turf from intruders, employing deadly violence if provoked.

Back at the camp, Josh and Denzel, still wondering where their wayward friend had wandered off to, were suddenly snapped out of their stupor by a loud, thunderous roar coming from nearby.

"That was definitely a lion!" Denzel said. They were camped smack in the middle of a lion pride's hunting ground! And Chen was still somewhere out there on his own!

Quickly grabbing their weapons, Josh and Denzel ran over to where they'd heard the roar to investigate, hoping Chen wasn't in trouble.

"Just hope Chen's able to hold them off till we get there!"

The three lionesses circled menacingly around this human they'd caught trespassing on their turf as if debating what to do with him. Although they hadn't made chop suey out of him yet, thank the Buddha, Chen could tell by their soft growls that they were not too happy to find him here. He paled; could they be close to their den, or their cubs? He may not be a zoologist like Denzel, but he knew enough about animal behavior to know how fiercely protective they could be if they thought he posed a threat.

While the male lion kept his sharp green eyes trained on Chen, his menacing expression implying instant death if he dared move a muscle, the three lionesses curiously circled him, sniffing him or nudging him.

Just then, to both Chen's surprise and astonishment, one of the lionesses spoke. "So," she said. "This is a human, eh? I've never seen one this close up before."

"I wonder if all humans look like that," said another, specifically the one with the dots under her eye. Although, like her companions, she remained vigilant and cautious, her curiosity overwhelmed her. "Strange. No fangs, no claws. How are they ever able to defend themselves?"

"Never mind that," the male lion said, "Can you find anything on him?"

"Nothing that I can smell," said the dotted-eyed lioness, sniffing Chen down, "He doesn't seem dangerous. Kind of gangly, actually"

Chen was wondering if he was moon-mad or dreaming. There he was, cornered by a bunch of lions that were talking like human beings! What kind of madness was this all about? He wanted to open his mouth and speak, but a survival instinct in the back of his mind kept yelling at him to keep quiet before he did something he regretted.

"Don't be fooled," said the male lion sternly, "You remember what happened the last time we let our curiosity get the better of us around humans?" Whatever he was talking about, it had to be serious, because it instantly turned the lionesses' expressions serious.

"Of course, Kovu," they said.

"Kovu!" shouted a muffled voice.

At that moment, the first lioness that had charged Chen caught up. He was surprised to see she was carrying his sketchbook in her mouth. The lioness placed the sketchbook down on the grass, letting it fall open. The other lionesses turned to look at the beautiful young lioness with a good-natured face.

"Kiara, what have you found there?" asked the male lion.

"The human dropped it after I charged him," said the lioness called Kiara. "Look," she added, staring down at the sketches on the book's pages.

They could see a perfect likeness of their home on the paper. The lionesses tried touching it, only to accidentally flip the pages. They gazed down at another sketch, this time of Mount Kilimanjaro and the grasslands at its base. They flipped the page again to see a sketch of the picturesque African coast, drawn en route to Alexandria.

"They're just like Rafiki's drawings," Kiara said, "Only not on a tree trunk, and they look so real and beautiful!"

"Oh wow," said the pale tan lioness. "You're right."

"Do you think he drew them?" asked the lioness with the dots under her eye. "Like Rafiki does in his tree?"

"It looks like it."

"Hmm…," said the large male lion doubtfully, taking the sketchbook in his mouth and taking it over to Chen. He set it down in front of him. "Did you do these?"

Chen could only gape like a fish out of water. This crazy situation he'd found himself in had left him completely dumbfounded. This had to be madness or a dream! It couldn't be real!

"Go on, take it." said the lion, his expression softening somewhat.

Chen slowly bent down and picked up his sketchbook, clutching it to his chest as he stared eye to eye with the lion. "Y-y-yes..." Chen said, " I did… Thank you."

The initial shock finally wearing off, Chen was struck with stunned disbelief. Only the great Buddha knew how this was happening, but this was no dream. Somehow, for some reason, he had become, literally, one with nature! And the lions seemed to be thinking along the same lines about him.

"You can talk to us then?" asked one of the lionesses.

"No…" Chen said, shaking his head in amazement. "You can talk to me!"

"Chen!"

Chen was caught completely by surprise as he heard the sound of his companions' voices. Help was here! Josh stood nearby with Denzel, staring wide-eyed at the lions surrounding Chen. Noticing these two other intruders, the lions regrouped and, side by side, went for Josh and Denzel instead.

"Denzel, Mr. Cody!" Chen shouted.

"Damn it, Chen! What did I say about not wandering off on your own?" Josh groaned, he and his companion finding themselves staring face-to-face with a pack of ferocious lions. Josh felt his insides twist in anticipation; he didn't want to have to shoot one of these majestic creatures, but he couldn't just leave Chen at their mercy! But then, the Chinaman spoke up.

"It's all right, I don't think they are going to hurt us! Denzel, Mr. Cody, you're not going to believe this, but these lions…they can talk!" To his utmost surprise, his companions seemed to have been expecting to hear that.

"You're just hearing things, man, that's all," said Denzel, realizing the potion must have affected Chen too.

"No, it's true!" Chen retorted. "They can talk, in English, no less! They even gave me back my sketchbook after I dropped it!"

"The voices are all in your head!" Denzel repeated, refusing to believe this, "It will wear off…!"

Josh, however, was finally convinced that the impossible had become possible. This was no hallucination of delirium. If it was, then the voices Chen claimed to have heard coming from the lions would've been speaking in his native Chinese, rather than in English. "No…," he said. "I don't think that's the way to go about this, fellas."

Only minutes ago, he was being driven to the brink of madness by the apparent realization that he could hear animals talking. If this was really happening, then maybe they could try and talk back. 'Guess this is as good a time as any to test the theory,' Josh thought. Slowly, he approached the lions, much to Denzel's shock. Dipping the tip of his hat, he said, "Eh… Good afternoon."

For a moment, there was only silence as both parties stared at each other. Finally, the male lion spoke, confirming the impossible.

"Good afternoon."

"How do you do?" Josh answered back.

"Very well, thank you," said the young lioness called Kiara, wondering if this was some kind of a human game.

"Are they really doing this?" asked the dotted-eyed lioness to the others.

Clearing his throat, Josh continued addressing the lions. "Well, now that pleasantries are out of the way, my friends and I would like you to know that we mean you no harm. We come in peace." The young lioness, Kiara seemed to realize that, judging by her pleasant expression.

"Yeah," she said, "I kinda figured that with your friend and his collection of pictures."

The dark-maned lion looked to Kiara sternly, before speaking again to Josh, whom he seemed to recognize as the leader of the trio. "Who are you and what are you doing trespassing in our kingdom?" he demanded.

Josh struggled to comprehend this crazy situation in his mind. There they were, chit-chatting with a goddamn lion, who could actually understand every word they were saying! It wasn't the animals who could talk at all; it was they who could understand them, thanks to that strange potion! Lebo's cryptic words suddenly became clear; he had given them the power to communicate with nature by making them drink that stuff. So this was the key!

Meanwhile, the lions weren't off the warpath just yet, as they continued to glare at them suspiciously, almost aggressively. They still had great reservations about finding a trio of humans on their lands. Josh took a moment to get a grip on himself. There was no further doubt that they could understand these lions – perhaps every animal in this land. But that still didn't leave them off the hook for trespassing on their territory. The time had come for Burton's negotiating.

"We don't mean to intrude on your land, we only came to seek an audience with King Simba…"

Kiara's eyes widened. "What do you want with my father?"

The explorers looked at each other; so this King Simba Lebo had been telling them all about was no tribal leader, after all, he was a lion! The king of a pride! The Pride Lands didn't belong to Man at all!

"Your…father?" Josh asked, still bewildered, unsure of how to take it from here. They were no longer dealing with human beings, which complicated their mission. Did these lions know anything about diplomacy or emissaries? How were they supposed to proceed from here?

"Yes, my father. I'm Princess Kiara of the Pride Lands," she said proudly before gesturing to the dark-maned lion. "This is my mate, Kovu."

"So…there are no other humans around? No tribes, no villages?" The lions all shook their heads. Until fairly recently, the sighting of humans in the Pride Lands was so rare, that several generations of lions could come and go without seeing a single one.

"Burton never thought to mention that when he recruited us, now did he?" Denzel whispered to Chen.

"Do you think he even knows?" Chen asked quietly.

Denzel shook his head. He was willing to bet his favorite bowler hat that Burton hadn't the foggiest idea that these lands were ruled by lions, any more than he would expect a few days ago to find himself in a position where he could actually talk to them.

"My friends and I are explorers, sent by a faraway empire called England," explained Josh, or trying his best anyway. The lions only stared blankly back at him; England was completely unheard of in these parts. "The people who sent us here have heard of your kingdom and wish to make a peaceful diplomacy, with us as representatives."

The young lion surveyed him for a few minutes; obviously, he could tell this strange human was withholding something from them. Finally, he nodded, "Very well, we'll take you to see him and hear what he has to say. Follow us."

"Would you mind if I grabbed my horse first?" asked Josh, remembering Marigold still grazing back at camp and completely defenseless because of her lame leg should something nasty show up while they were gone.

"Horse?" Kovu asked, raising an eyebrow. The unknown kept piling upon the unknown today, he thought with a slight hint of irritation.

Once Josh had recovered Marigold, gingerly leading her along, they followed the lions toward the L-shaped rock in the distance. All three of them were still struggling to come to terms with the insanity of what had happened to them.

"Looks like those voices weren't all just in our heads, huh, fellas?" Josh asked, looking at his companions with an ear-splitting grin. Now that the initial surprise had passed, he was beginning to like this, a lot.

"You will have no trouble speaking the tongue of the Great King Simba and his people…" Denzel said, finally making sense of the old Maasai king's words. It all finally made perfect sense.

"So that's what Lebo meant," said Chen, as he quietly exclaimed, "zhēn méi xiǎng dào!" It was obvious. Out here, any normal man trespassing would be killed on sight; but because now they could communicate with each other freely, these lions had spared them…at least for the moment.

"Hang on, I don't recall you hearing all these strange voices since we arrived here," Denzel pointed out to Chen, still finding it hard to believe, "How come we could hear them and you couldn't…?"

The Chinaman shrugged his shoulders. "Well, maybe it's because I had stuffed cotton balls with crushed herb juices in my ears to repel insects," he said, pulling the pieces of cotton from his ears, "They muffle out any soft, distant sounds, like mosquito buzzing, or the soft padding of a stalking lioness…"

Denzel rolled his eyes; this day was getting better and better.

As they came to the base of the majestic rock formation, another group of lions emerged from a cave opening on the edge of the platform to greet the returning hunting party. Leading the group was another male lion. In contrast to Kovu, this one was older, with golden-colored fur and a flaming red mane, slowly fading with age, but also much larger and stronger. This had to be King Simba, Josh figured. The lion froze in his tracks at the sight of them, his face curling into a frown. He didn't seem very pleased to find humans on his doorstep. He turned to Kovu.

"Kovu, what do you mean by bringing humans here, when I explicitly ordered that they not be approached?"

"Simba, we found them down by the waterhole," explained the younger lion, his tone resembling that of a stern lawman having caught a band of highwaymen red-handed, "They say they came to the Pride Lands looking for you…"

Simba rounded on the three humans, fixing them with his red-as-burning-coals eyes, his distrust apparent, but at the same time, utterly surprised by what he had just heard. "They…said?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, they can speak our language," said Kovu, realizing how crazy he must sound. Every lion with an ounce of common sense knew humans were separate from the Circle of Life and therefore unable to speak with lions or any other creature. "I'm not sure how, but they can, and they've come seeking you, by name. However, if you ask me, I think you should make an exception. We shouldn't take any chances again." Josh had the distinct impression that this lion Kovu wasn't happy to have humans around and was eager to see them run out, or even killed, making him doubt Lebo's reassurance.

Simba turned to face his visitors. "Who are you and what are you doing here?" he demanded with a growl.

Josh, still holding a fretting Marigold by her reins, his legs twitching bars of jelly, realizing they were only about a minute away from being ripped to pieces if he fouled this up, cleared his throat to speak. "Begging your pardon, Your Majesty…but would you mind not speaking so aggressively? You're spooking my horse, and she's injured enough as is."

Although Simba lowered his voice somewhat, it didn't change his angry demeanor in the slightest, "My apologies, I didn't mean to cause your…horse any further pain. But I ask you again: who are you and why have you come to the Pride Lands?"

"Your Majesty, we can assure you that we mean no harm…" Chen tried putting in, but that didn't cut it as far as Simba was concerned, for he continued to stare back at the humans with distrust.

"And what proof do I have that you are indeed telling the truth?" But this time, Kiara came to his rescue.

"Daddy, this one has drawings with him," she spoke. "Drawings of our home and the animals, just like Rafiki does! I saw them, myself."

Kovu looked at his mate sternly. "That is hardly proof that they are harmless, Kiara, and you know it!" He said, "You remember what happened to Vitani…"

"Kovu, please!" Simba said sternly to the dark-maned lion, although Josh didn't fail to notice that the mention of this Vitani, whoever that was, has stirred up some angry muttering all around. "However, he does have a point, Kiara. I'm afraid that isn't enough to prove their claims." He continued to glare at the three humans as if suddenly having second thoughts about letting them live. Josh felt the color drain from his face.

"King Lebo said that you owed him a favor after saving your life," Denzel managed to blurt out, suddenly remembering Lebo's advice if they weren't welcomed here. And to Josh's utmost amazement, those gleaming orange eyes, each of which seemed to reflect his scared face in the form of a skull and crossbones, suddenly seemed to soften at the mention of Lebo's name… At the utmost amazement of everyone present, the lion king suddenly eased up.

"Lebo sent you?"

Josh nodded, relieved that, for the moment, they had pulled the fuse out of this walking crate of dynamite before them. The other lions, he noticed, which, a second ago, had also been on edge, were calming their nerves, whispering to each other. No doubt Lebo had some important connection with them, "He was the one who gave us the ability to communicate with you…"

Simba was thinking hard. He didn't know much about humans; but from what little he did know, how they killed lions for their skins or captured them for sport, he was all but keen to let these humans anywhere near his pride, let alone welcome them into his home. On the other hand, he knew that the leader of this strange trio was telling the truth – at least about Lebo that is. Before he could decide whether or not to send them away, however, they were interrupted by another lioness that had emerged from the den to see what the commotion was all about.

"Simba?"

This lioness had light-tanned fur, slightly pale from age, and soft features, with deep green eyes, expressing love and kindness. Josh realized this had to be Simba's mate and the mother of Kiara.

"What's all the commotion here, and who are they?" the older lioness inquired, gazing peculiarly down at the three explorers, looking more curious than afraid, yet Josh was relieved to see that at least she wasn't baring her teeth at them.

"Nala," said Simba, acknowledging the lioness, "It appears we have some…visitors," he said, stressing the word visitors, implying that any extension of welcome was still to be seen. "It would seem they can also speak our tongue." The other lions continued to stare at them, unsure of what to make of all this. Finally, Simba spoke again.

"I know Lebo wouldn't have sent you here without good reason," he said, talking to Josh, who nodded, "You say you wanted to meet me. What for? And who are you?"

"Your Majesty, my name is Josh Cody, and these are my friends, Denzel Baker and Chen Ling," said Josh, introducing his two friends, who nodded curtly at Simba, who simply ignored them, instead focusing entirely on Josh, "We were sent here by the Crown of England to…as representatives for an alliance between your kingdom and theirs," he stammered, deliberately sugar-coating his story somewhat, despite himself, knowing all too well if he spoke plain, the phrase 'to find your land and claim it for the British' would mean their death warrant on principle. Better humor him for the moment and get into his bad books later.

"So this…Eng-land of yours sent you here to start diplomacy with us?" asked Simba.

"Oh, we are not from England, Sire," Chen interrupted. "We were just sent here on their behalf. I come from China."

"And Denzel and I are from America," said Josh. He could tell from the looks on the lions' faces that even countries were completely unheard of among them. "But yes, that is the gist of it. However, we were under the impression that you and your subjects would be…well, human." He noticed Simba suppress a smile of amusement. Lebo really knew how to savor surprising someone, he thought.

"Never expected me to be a lion, did you?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No, sir," Josh answered, shaking his head, "Can't say that I did. Never thought I'd be talkin' to one either, but here we are."

"Well, I talk to lions all the time where I'm from," said Denzel, carefully avoiding mentioning the fact that those were all menagerie lions, permanently deprived of their freedom for man's entertainment, "I just…never expected them to talk back."

"Maybe they just don't understand you?" suggested Kiara.

"That's probably why."

At that moment, an aging blue hornbill bird came flying over and landed on Simba's shoulder. Although not a lion, he obviously had strong ties with the royal family, probably a close advisor or messenger.

"Sire, there has been an urgent sighting of three strange humans trespassing in the Pride Lands, not too far from Pride Rock… Them!" he cried, suddenly noticing Josh, Denzel, and Chen. His expression grew furious as he flew off Simba's shoulder and started flying in circles around the humans' heads as if trying to peck their eyes out. "How dare you riff-raff humans trespass in the sacred home of the King and his family?! Shoo! Away with you!"

"Excuse me, we are not riff-raff, thank you!" said Denzel reproachfully. Hearing him talk in his own tongue, the hornbill's eyes widened in shock.

"You… you can talk?" gasped the hornbill, suddenly struck dumb.

"It's alright, Zazu," Simba said to the agitated hornbill. "I don't believe they mean any harm. However, I do believe there's been a misunderstanding from their superiors." Noticing his major-domo's blank expression, he explained, "Apparently, they are delegates from another kingdom, here on a diplomatic mission."

"Them, delegates, Sire?" asked Zazu, his doubts apparent. "How are you certain that this isn't some sort of ploy, to gain our trust and then turn on us?" A confrontation seemed imminent when suddenly a new voice spoke up. Marigold!

"Oh, I assure you, it is the honest truth, Mr.… Zazu, was it? Anyway, these three humans and I were sent here on behalf of Queen Victoria of England, God save her. However, we were unfortunate enough to lose two other members of our party to a pack of snarling…hyenas, I believe they were called. Fellow horses, they were. That is how I was injured. Fortunately, these three were kind enough to care for me and bandage my wounds, so I can assure you that they would never even think of harming a single hair on you or any of your family, Sire."

The humans were completely flabbergasted at hearing Marigold talk. Until now, it hadn't occurred to any of them that communication with all animals, from everywhere in the world, was now open to them. Marigold's voice, unlike the lions', was more that of a proper, polite English lady and a proud citizen of the British Empire.

Although that seemed to gain Simba's sympathy somewhat, he still had his position as king to consider. He looked at Marigold. "Well, I am glad to hear you are so openly willing to attest to your friends' trustworthiness, Miss…?"

"Marigold, Your Majesty. Marigold Bay, from the Royal Suffolk Riding Club, eldest daughter of Sampson and Eleanor, both Royal Infantry horses, at your service. Many of my siblings also serve in Her Majesty's royal brigades."

"My, that certainly is quite the pedigree," said Zazu, always liking to make a good impression on a visiting lady.

"However, as Mr. Cody stated earlier, we were all under the impression that you and your subjects were human, so I'm not exactly sure how, ahem, delegations between our two kingdoms are going to be possible."

"Well, I'm sorry you came all this way for nothing then," Kovu interrupted, secretly eager to see the humans go. If they chose to leave in peace, it was perfectly fine with him, as long as it got them out of the Pride Lands and away from his family.

"Kovu!" Kiara chastised her mate in an annoyed tone. "Don't be so rude!"

Simba considered it hard. After all, this wasn't the first time in his life when he had to make some tough decisions. And his past experiences had taught him some valuable lessons, one of them being that making enemies out of your neighbors, when you had a chance for the opposite, wasn't a wise choice at all. Then again, did these humans think along the same lines? The lionesses seemed to think so at least, as Kiara spoke up again.

"Daddy, I think we should let them stay," she said sympathetically, "At least for a little while. Besides, I don't think it would be right if we just turned them away now after what they had to go through just to get here, even if it was a misunderstanding."

Simba stared thoughtfully at his headstrong daughter, not liking the idea of taking this matter so lightly. Finally, the lion king turned back to the three explorers. "If Lebo trusts you, then I must trust you as well. However, before I make my decision, I must know if either of you has any weapons on you, ones that could pose a threat to my family or my Pride?"

These lions had obviously never seen Western weaponry or its destructive power, thought Josh. He still carried his trusty Colts on him and he sincerely hoped he wouldn't be made to hand them in. He pulled open his coat, drew them from their holsters, and showed them to Simba. The lions stared curiously at them, taking in the unfamiliar scents of steel and used gunpowder.

"I only use these here for defense, not sport, Your Majesty," He said. "You've got nothin' to fear from me."

Simba stared at Josh's guns for a few minutes, deep in thought. He had never seen such weapons before. He knew a few things about spears and arrows from Lebo, but nothing like these. What if they had some lethal power that could kill a full-grown lion in a heartbeat? How many of them did they have? "And the others?" he asked, gesturing at Josh's two companions.

"My only weapons are my hands, Your Majesty," replied Chen with a knowing smile, "They can be either gentle or rough when need be."

"I've never used a gun in my life," came Denzel's reply, "not even for defense. Too many members of my family were shot and killed for no reason. I just couldn't bear to touch one."

Although some of the lions, particularly Kovu, still had doubts, Simba was more-or-less satisfied. However, he did make a mental note in the back of his mind that, for his family's sake, he would be keeping a close eye on them.

"In that case, you may stay in the vicinity of Pride Rock," he finally said, "The lionesses will show you some of the best hunting grounds in the morning, where you'll be allowed to hunt for your food. Provided you do so in a way that does not…make too much noise."

Knowing Simba was probably referring to the disturbing sound of a hunter's gunshot, Josh tried to put his host's mind at ease, "Well, we will certainly make sure not to be a nuisance in any way," he said. "You have my word on that, Your Majesty."

'How long will we be allowed to stay?" Denzel asked.

"As long as you like, of course," interrupted Kiara. "Won't they, Daddy?"

Simba nodded, albeit half-heartedly, much to Kovu's annoyance. He, in particular, would be keeping a very, very close eye on these strangers. And, at the first sign of hostile behavior, they would have to go, even if he had to drive them out himself.

"Lebo was kind to me in my time of need," he said, "I intend to follow his example."

Denzel nodded, "Thank you, Your Majesty. Eh, would it be alright if we could go back and fetch our supplies? They're just near the place where your lionesses found us."

Simba nodded, "Very well, I shall have them accompany you, along with Zazu, my daughter, and Kovu."

"Absolutely-" Kovu was about to say but stopped mid-sentence as Simba shot him a glance. Begrudgingly, he hung his head and sighed, "Very well, Simba."

"Just a precaution," Simba added to the humans, "I hope you understand."

"We do," said Josh with a bow. "Thank you, kindly, Your Majesty."

They set off back across the savannah towards their camp, with Marigold in tow and some of Simba's lionesses, along with Kovu and Kiara surrounding them like bodyguards, or perhaps prison escorts, while Zazu flew overhead. As they walked along, Josh whispered to his companions. "I'm just awfully glad we ain't gonna be their next meal. Looks like having the power to speak to animals can save your bacon when you're least expecting."

"But what are we going to do now?" asked Chen, "I mean, how are we going to explain all of this to Burton and the Crown? They're going to be expecting a report from us about this place."

"Yeah," added Denzel, "I can just imagine it… Magical potions, talking lions… They'll think we're bonkers."

Josh shrugged his shoulders. "I don't rightly know, fellas," he said, "I'm just your bodyguard, after all. But whatever we do say, we'll have to consider every word very carefully, or we'll end up doing more harm than good."

Chen and Denzel nodded. "Speaking of," Josh said, turning his attention to Marigold, "How come you only waited till now before you said anything?"

"I didn't think it was all that important," said the horse. "After all, I could understand what you were saying long before we stopped off at the Maasai village. It's just that I didn't realize you could talk back until those lions answered you. Then, when they started threatening you, I sort of… blurted it out."

Josh smiled and patted Marigold's neck, "Well, we're all mighty grateful to you for helpin' us like that, girl."

The horse responded by playfully taking a nip at his ear. "Think nothing of it, Mr. Cody. I was just repaying the kindness you three showed to me after my injury. After all, I do consider myself a proper English lady, even if I am of the equine persuasion."

Such a pity, Marigold's code of honor didn't match Burton's, thought Josh. The man was an opportunist, a businessman out hunting for profit and glory. He sincerely hoped Queen Victoria could reign him in, should things get out of hand once news of their discovery reached England.