Days went by as I slowly healed. Rafiki told me all about the lion pride's home, Pride Rock. He got a real good laugh when I asked which kind of pride it was named after, the lion kind, or the ego kind.

For as strange of a mandrill as he was, we got along well.

"I'm not eating that."

"It will help you heal."

"I saw those dung beetles you put in there!"

"Yes! Good source of strength!"

"It's disgusting, that's what it is!"

Yeah.

Pretty well.

Despite the moments of arguing, he soon deemed me well enough to travel.

"Tomorrow, we will go to Pride Rock. There, you will meet the…" He trailed off, tilting his head to the side. "Ah…no. Not tomorrow."

"What? But…"

"Not tomorrow. I must gather more supplies. Rest." He turned and leaped into the branches before I could respond. I grumbled, wondering why he suddenly changed his mind. A minute later, a single leaf landed in my lap. I scowled, though there wasn't much heat to it.

"You told him to wait longer, didn't you, Mufasa?"

"How do you know that name?!" I spun around to see a near carbon copy of the aforementioned lion.

An angry carbon copy.

"AH!" I flailed backwards, my instincts driving me away from the snarl.

"How do you know that name?!" The lion repeated, stepping closer. My foot slipped on a leaf, nearly sending me onto my back.

"Simba!" A female voice came from behind him. "Stop it, you're scaring him!" A lioness hopped lightly into the tree behind him. I gasped when blue eyes met my gaze.

"You…?" I breathed. I couldn't be sure, of course, but those eyes were familiar, even for the short moments they had met mine.

"I see you're up and about." She stepped up next to the male, brushing shoulders with him while blinking calmly. "How do you feel?"

Where to start?

One, a pair of lions was far more intimidating than a crazed mandrill.

Two, my arms were still mostly disabled, despite Rafiki's amazing healing talents. I was completely defenseless.

Three, I couldn't do anything except flap my mouth like a fish.

The lioness clicked her tongue before shooting a look at the male. "Simba, next time you want to question someone, don't scare the skin off of them." He snorted without shifting his gaze from me.

"I'm not leaving until I get an answer."

"Then let me do the talking?" She took another step forward and it was all I could do not to faint. I kept backing up, wanting to reach for my Beyblade, but knowing I couldn't launch in my condition. Her eyes locked onto the leaves that were wrapped around my limbs. She stopped a few feet from me, her tail flicking a little behind her.

"You poor thing. Those dogs really hurt you didn't they?" I couldn't answer. She took another step, but I could only feel the glare from Simba.

"N-no, please," I stammered as I shied away.

"Now who's scaring him?" Came the sarcastic words from the male.

"I will knock you out of this tree," Her retort shot over her shoulder. I fully believed she would too. She turned back to me with a smile. "It's okay. We're not going to hurt you. Simba's just bad at talking to new people."

"I am not!"

"I'd think moments ago would prove otherwise." Her eyes didn't leave me as she tossed the comment over her shoulder at the indignant male.

"He knows my father's name! Am I just supposed to ignore that?" Oh. That explains the reaction. That means, this must be the king and queen.

"No, but you could have been less hostile about it."

"I wasn't hostile!"

"Your claws were out." Said claws had been slowly sliding out again during their exchange. I was truly wondering if they were going to see some use.

"I just climbed the tree!" They stopped and looked at me when they heard a whimper slip out. The lioness lowered her head a little.

"I'm sorry, we get this way sometimes." She dipped her head towards me.

"I did start this off badly," The lion noted to himself. He took a step forward, raising his head. "I am Simba, king of the Pridelands. This is my mate and queen, Nala."

"…I'm James," I said haltingly. Nala, with a smile on her face, looked at Simba.

"Are you still nervous about him being a danger?" The look Simba gave me was a little more offensive than I would have liked.

"Pardon me for being a little apprehensive," My voice shook as I cut in. Nala glanced between both of us before laughing softly. There was a silence I was unwilling to break, and they apparently used the time to think of something to say. The king spoke first.

"So, how do you know my father's name?" Simba's gaze was once again intense. There was a sigh of exasperation from the queen.

"Simba, really, is it that important that it can't wait?" She asked.

"My father never once mentioned knowing man." His eyes narrowed. "I can't imagine how you know of him." I stared, trying to gauge him and his potential reaction.

It didn't look good.

"I will tell you," I started after a minute, "But you have to promise that even if you don't believe me, you won't hurt me." Nala looked me over in concerned surprise.

"Neither of us are even thinking about hurting you." She took a step forward. I immediately matched it.

"I don't trust that easily and that's when I'm dealing with my own kind. Right now, I'm in strange lands, speaking to animals I shouldn't be able to, and I'm barely off of my death bed." She frowned, sitting down where she was.

"What do you mean, you shouldn't be able to talk to us?" My lips pressed into a thin line, wondering if I had spilled too much too soon.

"I…humans can't understand animals. But I hear you like I hear anyone speaking my language." Rafiki and I had conversed about that, and had come to the conclusion Mufasa had done it right before the vision/dream/premonition/whatever it was ended. How it worked gave both of us nothing short of a headache.

"That is certainly strange…But I see this as a blessing. How much more scared would you be if you couldn't understand us?"

"…I'm not answering that." She smiled again, a glint of humor in her eyes.

"Well, back to your request, we won't hurt you," She said resolutely. I looked to Simba, who's gaze hadn't shifted from me for a second.

"I want to hear you say it," I said. He blinked.

"What?"

"I want you to promise that no matter what I say, you won't hurt me." There was no conviction in my voice, and he could very easily lie to me. But I needed to hear it.

"…I promise," He finally said. I gave a shaky nod before leaning against the base of a tree branch behind me.

"Rafiki had force fed me something right after I had woken up. Next thing I know, I'm falling asleep again before finding myself in a void. There was a lion there. He said he was the former king of the Pridelands and that his pride needed help." Simba's eyes widened a little.

"Father came to you?" I nodded once. "But why?"

"He said that other humans will become a threat to your pride." They glanced at each other.

"But why a human? We've fended off many threats before." He sounded offended.

"Have you faced humans?" I asked in honest curiosity. He looked at the ground in thought.

"I don't know of any recent time man has attacked us," He muttered, "Father told me his own father had to fend some off. But I've never even met any. Until you, of course."

"I have knowledge about my own kind that might be able to help you. But," I looked at my arms, "I'm not going to be much use physically."

"Anything helps," Nala said.

"Mufasa said there were over a dozen poachers." At this point, the leaves above us rustled. My eyes immediately locked onto Rafiki's form hidden in the branches. I raised my better arm and shook my fist at him.

"Get down here!" The monkey soon followed a cackling laugh. He scrambled down the branches, holding an armful of various things. "Leave me alone just in time for these two to pop up and scare me half to death? I outta punt you out of your own tree!" I spat. Nala giggled. Embarrassment heated my face when our eyes met. She seemed about as harmless as a lioness could. Maybe…she didn't want to hurt me. She was the reason I was at Rafiki's in the first place…

Rafiki hummed to himself as he expertly put the items he had gathered in their rightful places. I shook my head.

"Crazy monkey."

"He is. But he's also the reason you're alive right now," Nala said.

"I know." I shot the mandrill a look, not forgetting how he had tried to chew a salve and spit it on my arms. Only saying I'd do it myself convinced him to stop.

I still couldn't get the bitter taste out of my mouth.

"Rafiki thinks you are good to travel," The mandrill said over his shoulder.

"Wait, wasn't my whole purpose in going to Pride Rock to meet the king and queen?" I gestured to said lions.

"Yes, but you cannot stay here! Rafiki will have some work to do soon." He walked towards us, waving his arms in the air. "You are healed enough to make the journey. Now shoo! Shoo shoo!" Later on I would think back and laugh at how ridiculous he looked, waddling towards us on his hind legs.

"I…"

"No one is going to hurt you, James," Simba said, "That is my promise as king." Sounded like my tale of his father warmed him up to me. But the apprehension in his eyes told me it wasn't much.

"And mine as queen." Nala looked insistent. I was going to Pride Rock whether I wanted to or not.

"Okay, okay." I grabbed my bag and went to sling it over my shoulder, only to drop it. My arm felt like it was being torched. "Ah!" I tucked it into my stomach, trying not to aggravate the injuries anymore.

"Are you okay?" Nala asked, stepping closer.

"It, it hurts, that's for sure!" I hissed through my teeth. She looked at Rafiki and Simba.

"What do we do?"

"Young James will still need time for his wounds to heal," Rafiki said, carefully checking under the wrappings. I hadn't bled any more, given my wounds had fully scabbed over, but that didn't mean I wasn't in a load of pain. "He is strong enough to travel, but not back to full health yet." Nala's brow furrowed but she nodded.

"Simba, can you carry that again?" She asked, nodding towards my bag. Simba nodded and went to pick it up.

"Hold on," I stopped him, "If you can get it on your back, your mouth will be free." He raised a brow, but with Nala helping him, and me giving instructions, we got it strapped around his back.

"It's not too heavy, is it?" I didn't believe it would be, but I was still nervous about a king carrying my stuff and it was the only excuse I could think of.

"I've carried kills much bigger than this. I will be okay." Well, that didn't work. He gave me a once over. "It's you that I am concerned about." His expression reflected as much. I sighed through my nose.

"Yes, well, I've not got much of a choice now." I glanced at Rafiki, who was doing his own thing.

"I can carry you," Nala offered.

"I…that wouldn't feel right."

"Why not? I'm the one who carried you here after we found you." Crap, another stubborn lion.

"But, you're a queen, I-."

"Oh please!" She cut me off, her eyes rolling just a little. "Let me help you," She insisted. I was still reluctant, but apparently these royals didn't strut about.

"…Okay." She tilted her head towards the way her and Simba had come.

"If it makes you feel better, you can walk as long as you can."

"Al-alright."