I gaped at the giant rocks that shot hundreds of feet into the sky. I had seen it in the distance, but only now was the scale of it really showing. We were probably half a mile out and the thing was enormous.

"That is Pride Rock. Come on," Nala said, trotting forward lightly. I went to take a step, only to sway on my feet a little. I steadied myself, closing my eyes for a second. I must have made a sound because when I opened my eyes, she was looking over her shoulder.

"Sorry, just give me a minute," I hissed through my teeth. She turned around and weaved behind me, gently brushing against my leg before stopping next to me.

"Come on," She tossed her head towards her back.

"I…"

"Will get on my back before I resort to dragging you on the ground," She stated with a look that said she had no problem following through with those words. I swallowed hard.

"Yeah, okay," I whispered timidly before swinging my leg over her back. I settled right behind her shoulder blades. I could feel Simba's eyes on me. I tried to avoid looking at him.

"I can't carry you if your feet are on the ground." Nala had a knowing smile on her face as she looked back at me.

"Are you sure about this?"

"It's either this, or we get rained on."

"What?" She nodded her head to our left. I saw some gray clouds forming on the horizon. "Oh." I carefully lifted my legs before leaning forward, resting my, thankfully uninjured, elbows against her shoulders. She shot me a bigger smile before beginning to walk with a smooth gait.

I had ridden on Phantom Leone many times before, and Gingka Hagane's Cosmic Pegasus had given me a ride once, but it was still strange to be on the back of an actual, living creature. I could feel corded muscle beneath coarse fur, a testament of the queen's power.

We continued through the savanna, with Pride Rock only growing closer and closer as time went on. I found exhaustion catching up to me. I pressed my face into Nala's fur to try and stave off the hot African sun, but it really didn't do anything. That rain wasn't sounding so bad at the moment.

"Nala, he's not looking very good." I heard Simba say.

"Hm? James?" Nala stopped.

"Too hot," I groaned.

"Let's take him to the water hole," Simba decided quickly. Nala nodded and changed directions. Her pace quickened a bit, making me tighten my hold on her. I hoped I wasn't hurting her but she probably didn't even notice.

A few minutes went by before she stopped and lowered herself to the ground. I slid off her back, flopping to the ground like a sack of potatoes. The harsh sun made me cover my eyes with a limp arm.

"You need to drink," Nala encouraged. I groaned before rolling over. I blinked when the harsh sun reflected off the surface of a crystal clear pond. I scooted forward, pooled some water in my hands and slowly sipped it. It was cool, despite being in the sun all day.

I sat back after a few more handfuls. Simba and Nala were to my left, drinking as well. Nala raised her head when she caught my gaze, swiping her tongue across her jowls.

"Something wrong?" She asked. Simba looked over at the question, but kept his head lowered.

"No. I just…" I looked away, pulling my knees up to my chest.

"Are you in pain?" She took a step closer.

"I…" I closed my eyes and forced myself to take a breath.

If someone needed help, yeah, I'd help. I fought Rago and Nemesis back when I barely had any experience with being a Blader, after all. But, I wasn't alone then. I was running off of adrenaline, anger and desperation, alongside a dozen or so other people, many of them friends. Not to mention I wasn't seriously injured till the end of the fight.

This was different.

I didn't have any friends here. I was supposed to defend these lions from poachers, a "career" that you didn't want to get on the bad side of unless you had serious back up, or equipment. At least from what I'd heard.

I was stuck with Bey I couldn't even launch.

I jumped when I felt something rubbing against my shoulder. Nala's brow furrowed when she saw tears in my eyes.

"You can talk to us, James."

"I, I can't," I looked away.

"I know we just met, but do you have that little trust in us?"

"You haven't eaten me. So, I guess there's that," I muttered as I stared at the leaves on my arms. She huffed before crouching in front of me.

"Well, yes. You can trust us." Her eyes were staring into my soul. Not in any creepy way, mind you, but her care was genuine. And if anything, consoling. I wasn't ready for that.

"Can, can we just go…please?" I whispered. She looked me over for a second longer before sighing.

"Sure, we can do that." She helped me onto her back and we set out once more. My mind spun at the giant task ahead of me.

««{{}}»»

By the time we got to the base of Pride Rock, rain had started to fall. Nala went to climb up but I stopped her by patting her shoulder.

"Wait, I can make it."

"Are you sure?"

"The rocks are wet. I'd rather you not slip with my extra weight." I swung my leg off her back before she could try. I took a second to check my balance before nodding at her. She nodded back, though it was with a lot more hesitation, before leading me up the rocks. Simba had silently gone ahead into a cave. I got the feeling he still didn't appreciate me being there.

'Well, not like I'm jumping for joy either pal...' I mentally grumbled as Nala and I stepped up to the entrance of the cave. Another lioness charged out of the cave, making straight for me.

"Sarabi, no!" Nala nearly knocked me over getting between us. I had no qualms about backing up while keeping my balance. I would, however, never mention or admit to the sound that I made. The other lioness skidded to a halt, slipping a little on the wet rock.

"Nala, what is this?!" She demanded.

"His name is James. Some wild dogs attacked him. We're letting him stay here while he heals." The new lioness looked at me, most of her hostility gone. Replaced by wariness, which probably matched my own expression.

"And Simba is okay with this, man, staying here?" She asked Nala while looking at me.

"Rafiki told us it was important." It was my turn to raise a brow.

"When did he say that?" I asked.

"When we first brought you to him."

"Right." Sarabi's eyes widened.

"He can understand us?!"

"Most humans can't," I offered, "I'm a…special case."

"And how is that?" I glanced between her and Nala, then noticed more lionesses coming out of the cave. Each one stopped when they saw me. One gasped and ran back inside. I shook myself back to the current conversation.

"I'd, rather not talk about it." I dodged the question lamely. She watched me for a moment before turning back to Nala.

"You should announce this to the Pride, we don't want them panicking."

"Think you're a little late for that." They both followed my gaze when they saw my pale face. There were two lionesses approaching us, nearly crawling as their claws scraped stone. One's eyes were a piercing red.

"Zira, Sarafina, stand down," Sarabi said. The red eyed lioness' head shot up.

"But, Sarabi, it is man!"

"Yes. And I'm sure Simba will inform us of why he is here. Until then, stand down." The last two words had more force behind them, and the other lionesses did so. I carefully watched the one named Zira. I felt Leone nudge me in the back of my mind.

"It's alright James, no one is going to hurt you," Nala said.

"…Please don't take this wrong. But, I don't trust her," I stated under my breath, hoping she had slunk out of hearing range.

"You don't trust us," Nala pointed out.

"Simba scared me, practically cornered me while I'm injured. I can't explain it, but she's different. She feels like a threat." Nala looked at the cave for a moment.

"She was ready to attack you as well." I shook my head. Leone and I could read that lioness like a book. She wasn't fooling us. But it wasn't my place to stress anyone else about it.

"Forget it." Nala leaned forward, raising a paw.

"Alright…Come on, Simba is about to announce that you're staying here." She led me inside the cave. Lionesses were filling the floor. Simba was standing on a raised part of the cave, his feet about head level with the rest of the lions. My bag was leaning against the rock near his feet. He spotted us and nodded. Nala led me over to him. I tried to ignore the sounds of shock or anger.

"Simba, what is this?!"

"What is man doing here?!"

"Come here my cub, don't go near it."

"How could you let that thing into our home?" I winced at that one. They had no idea I was even more scared and defenseless than them. Simba let out a roar that silenced everyone. My jaw tightened as I hid a shiver.

"Let me explain before you all jump to conclusions," He said, standing tall. "Yes, this is a man. Yes, he is staying here for a while. But he was brought here for a reason."

"What reason could possibly explain man in our home?!"

"My father called him here." The roars of disbelief echoed in the cave, making me cover my ears. Nala pressed her shoulder into my leg as she looked to Simba.

"Quiet!" Simba roared again. "I know how scary this is, but my father never told me that he had met man before, yet James here knew his name before we even met today." There was a gasp from Sarabi, who was sitting on the opposite side of Simba from Nala and I. Her eyes locked with mine. There was an unreadable look on her face.

'She was really close to Mufasa somehow…' My brow pinched together for a second, but I focused back on the conversation.

"How?" Another lioness asked.

"James?" I looked at Simba. "Would you explain what you saw?" I swallowed hard before turning to the pride.

"I-." My tongue tied itself for a moment, but I pressed on. I had gone one-on-one with the Black Sun itself. A pride of lions couldn't cover the world in darkness. "Mufasa came to me in a dream, after Nala and Simba saved my life." There were murmurs through the cave. "He told me there is a group of poachers that will threaten your pride in the future and that…I'm needed."

"How are we supposed to believe that?" One lioness asked.

"I understand you, don't I?"

"What do you mean?" The same lioness asked cautiously.

"No human understands animals. We can guess through body language and expressions, but I hear you like I hear any human that speaks my language."

"But how?"

"Mufasa touched my forehead with his nose." I shrugged. "I guess it was some sort of gift or blessing? He didn't stick around to explain." More whispers broke out, some of which I caught. I felt my face twist in annoyance.

"Look," I said louder, drawing whatever attention I didn't have before. I sucked in a breath to steady myself. "I didn't ask for any of this. Right now, I'm almost completely useless because some mangy mutts wanted fresh meat." I held up my right arm, showing the wraps. I got looks of sympathy from some of them.

"I'm more scared than I've probably ever been in my life, so don't get it into your heads I'm here to hurt any of you." I lowered my gaze to the floor. "At this point I just want to figure this out and go home." Silence once again filled the cave and I found myself shifting uncomfortably. I turned to Simba, who's gaze had softened a little.

"May I step out, your Majesty? I need some fresh air…" He nodded silently. I bowed my head to him before stepping away.