Chapter 3: The origin of life

The group, eager to hear Ismena's story, nodded and, bidding farewell to Arbor, returned to the sandy shore, hopping from stone to stone just as they had come. When everyone could sit on the soft sand, the big turtle came out of the water a little and climbed onto the shore.

"Well…" she said when everyone was ready, "We can say that life on Earth began almost 3 billion years ago, when the Earth was a layer of gases. There was great chaos with meteors falling to earth and volcanoes erupting... but even in the face of such adversity, the first molecules of life appeared..."

"What are molecules?" Amira asked.

"They are small particles... we could call them the seeds of life, and they contain the substances that make up the cells of every living being"

"How do you know that this is how life originates?" asked Ono, who was immersed in curiosity, "None of the animals I have ever met have been able to tell me that before."

"In a few amphibians, like me, the knowledge of origin is in our genetics"

"Oh, I understand. Please, continue"

"With great pleasure. Well... after that, about a billion years ago, the molecules transformed little by little and became beautiful jellyfish and other marine creatures, because our entire planet was covered in water."

"Woah ...was it all water?" Sam asked, very interested.

"Yes, the entire land was submerged. Then, for a very long time nothing seemed to change... until about 200 million years ago, when the planet began to cool and the ocean water to shrink. When it finally warmed up, the marine beings changed and began to come out to land. Since then, those were the first amphibians."

"Wow, there must had been a lot of giant turtles then…" Nabil commented.

"Not quite. There were great amphibians, very different from me... but then for the next 70 million years the amphibians ruled the land it became desert stone and sand this was a very difficult time and many creatures did not survive the cold climate. When things warmed up, the amphibians that survived evolved again, into large reptiles that became accustomed to living on land and began to walk on it, it became known as the land before time, the land of the great reptiles, the land before our time: the land of the dinosaurs"

"Dinosaurs?" Simba asked curiously.

"Yes, little cub"

"And what were they like?" Maya asked.

"Well, there were all kinds: swimmers, flyers, with horns, with long necks, some even had spiked tails; and of course, like today, there were carnivores and herbivores"

"They look like a few of the ones we have in the Pride Lands…" Ono questioned, "Except the ones with spiked tails and the ones with three horns."

"Woah, I would like to see one of those…" Simba commented.

"I know anyone would want it, but they are not at this time…" Ismena began to say, but then stopped when she heard someone's voice.

"Simba! Amira!" Shany's voice was heard, "Ono! Children! Time to leave!"

Immediately afterwards, the lioness appeared from the trees, reuniting with that magical place she had visited in the past. For a minute, she seemed surprised to see the giant turtle.

"Wow... how...?" she asked, amazed.

"Your Majesty, this is Lady Ismena," Ono introduced, "Lady Ismena, meet the Queen of the Pride lands, Shany"

"Very nice to meet you, Your Majesty," Ismena greeted him, "You have very lovely children."

"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Ismena... and thank you very much too," Shany responded, "Ono, I don't know if you noticed, but you've been away for hours and we've finished our meeting."

"Hours?" Simba asked, "I thought it was only minutes!"

"When you talk about the past, the present passes so quickly that you lose track of time," Arbor explained. Then, she turned to the lioness, "It's been a long time, Shany... how does it feel to be queen?"

"Arbor!" said Shany, "Well, I owe it to you for showing me that fragment of my future."

"You must go now, wonderful young ones," Ismena said to the cubs, "Evening is falling and soon the day will be over. But there is always another day, other dreams, other laughs, other stories and many more things."

With this last phrase, the young lion cubs, the little dog and the advisor Ono, said goodbye to Ismena and Arbor, who promised to see each other soon. When they reunited with Dan and Bambi, the little ones and Shany told him about Ismena.

"A giant swimming turtle…" he muttered, "Woah, they are very rare nowadays, even hunters have never managed to see them. I'm glad they still exist and that you've made friends with them. Well, we have something to tell you"

"What thing?" Amira asked.

"Bambi, Hanna... in a week, we will be the ones who will visit the Pride Lands," Geno announced, "Dan has provided us with a safe way to get there without running into possible predators"

It did not end well when the young fawns began to celebrate with the excitement of visiting the home of their lion friends (so far, they have only managed to find each other in the Theluji Mountains). For their part, the lion cubs and the little dog were quite excited to welcome their friends and tell the others about the arrival of Bambi and Hanna.

(Hours later ...)

"And then, the shell that we thought was rock started moving with us on top!" Simba said.

"Woah, I didn't think there was a turtle that big," Haki responded, "It's a shame we couldn't go."

It was night and the cubs had gathered with the rest (Haki, Salma, Dalila and Milo) at the back of the Pride Rock, to tell them everything they had seen and heard on their visit to the forest. When they had reached the heart of the forest, those who had not gone were amazed; and when they told them about Arbor and Ismena, they were ecstatic to learn about an old tree that moved and a turtle larger than the ones they already knew.

"How was the weather in the mud pits, girls?" Nabil asked.

"Oh, it was relaxing…" Dalia replied, stretching and touching her fur, "I never thought there was such a spa in the Pride Lands, we had a great time, didn't we, Salma?"

"Yes... the heat was perfect and our fur is soft and shiny," added the cub.

"And how did it go for you, Haki?" Amira asked, "Do you know how to roar?"

"Yes, show us a good roar!" Sam exclaimed.

Haki felt trapped, because despite his training, he had not been able to find that power in him. Although he wanted and could be the next successor to the roar, he had not shown himself to possess it or at least a spark of it... Anyway, he cleared his throat to roar, but instead of a strong blizzard, something similar was heard to the meow of a domestic cat.

Immediately, everyone started laughing out loud at such a ridiculous sound, which left the lion cub quite embarrassed. However, Simba (who hadn't laughed as hard as the others) put a paw on his shoulder.

"You just need to practice a little more," he told her with a smile. It wasn't mockery or laughter; it was total support.

"Thank you, Simba," he said.

"What about you, Milo?" Maya asked, "How did your lesson go?"

"Well… well, although it's hard for me to move a little…" he replied, "You know, now I'm a mandrill and I'm training to be Mjuzi. But I don't know if I'm that good..."

"Ha, ha, ha. You're very modest, Milo," Dan surprised them by suddenly appearing, "According to Rahisi, you do very well for your age. Surely soon you will have your own staff"

"Do you really think so, your Majesty?" he asked, excited.

"Without a doubt," Dan responded, looking at everyone, "Each of you has something that makes you unique, you just have to trust in yourselves. Okay, enough lessons: time to sleep"

"But dad…" Amira tried to say, but her tiredness made her yawn, "…we're not sleepy"

As is known, yawning is contagious, and the others yawned too.

"Well, it seems like the opposite to me," Dan laughed (after also yawning), "Come on, it's time to sleep. Tomorrow you will be able to talk or play as much as they want. Of course, without getting into trouble"

At Dan's command, the cubs and the little dog surrendered and accompanied him inside the cave to rest, while Milo returned with Rahisi to the Mjuzi tree. As soon as they arrived and lay down, each member of the pride fell asleep. However, Simba did not do it immediately like all his friends, but rather he thought a little more about Ismena's story, wondering if it was true about those dinosaurs. When he turned to see his parents, he was surprised by a big yawn from the king, who was clearly tired from that day. Because of the yawn, sleep finally took effect on him and he fell asleep.

Author's Notes: If you really like this fanfic, I ask you to tell me in the reviews. This is the last Lion King fanfic I have made, bringing together the universes of Bambi (in the previous one) and Littlefoot (in this one). I don't have an idea for a new one yet, but if you have ideas, I'd be willing to listen to them.