The Beastlie Kingdomme Strikes Back (Open to all)

[Kion]

OOC: Hey what do you know, finally got this RP started. Only took what, 7 months? Discussion thread is here: worldsofdisney07.proboards.com/thread/11384/beastlie-kingdomme-strikes-back

BIC: "Hevi kabisa," groaned Kion, slowly getting to his paws before stretching fore and aft. It had been so perfect: the ceremony, which doubled as both his coronation and his wedding to Rani, with all of his friends and family watching him. 

Then a curious drowsiness had overtaken him... Clearly, to judge from the stony path, he hadn't made it back to his lair.

Kion shook his head to clear the grogginess and opened his eyes.

Even with so much he had seen his short two years...nothing prepared him for what he saw. A giant tree, with curious ridges in the bark that almost formed animals...

Strange trees, strange species he couldn't recognize, growing thickly along the path...  

The faint and comforting scent of greater and lesser flamingos, lappet-faced vultures, okapi and kudu.

The stronger and disorienting of creatures he could not identify.

And worse of all, strange creatures like he had never before seen, milling here and there along the path.

Kion shifted his weight nervously, ears flattened and eyes wide. "Hevi kabisa! Right, so I'm lost in a strange place. It can't be too far from the Tree of the Life though... I'm still probably in the Night Pride's territory..."

"Simba?!" cheered a female of those strange creatures, pointing him out to her mate and sons. 

"Oh," said Kion. "No I-- I know I look like him, but I'm his son." Normally it made Kion proud when animals confused him for his sire, but he didn't like the implications: if these strange creature knew Simba, how could they be from the Tree of Life?

"Oh! Kopa or Tanabi?" replied the female.

"No, no Kion..." stammered the former leader of the Guard. "I mean, Kiara always said she wanted to name her first cub Kopa and I...think I've heard of Tanabi, but it's just me and Kiara. Look uh, ma'am, I don't mean to be rude but...where am I?"

"Discovery Island. See that fake tree over there, that the Tree of Life--"

"The Tree of Life?!" cried Kion; he didn't mean to interrupt, but how? How could that fake tree be the Tree of Life? Was is something Makucha and Mama Binturong had done? Or Chuluun and Ora?

The young lion couldn't take it anymore and raced off, following the closest path.

"That's not the right way, that will take you to Pandora!" called the female, but he didn't know what she meant.

Kion weaved through the herd of strange creatures. Even Full, the Former Fastest of the Guard, would have been hard pressed to keep pace.

"Rani!" he called as the land turned stranger and stranger, culminating in rocks that, if he didn't know better, he'd swear were floating.

"Rani!!" he roared. At once the clouds surrounding him changed to those familiar lion heads: King Mufasa, King Mohatu, King Ahadi, and Prince Askari, all roaring along with him.

The Roar of the Elders!

B-but how? Hadn't he lost the Roar, given it Vitani? Had something happened to her? To his home?

To Rani?

Miserable as he was, even Kion couldn't resist a horrified gasp as the floating rocks disappeared, giving way to winding path, splitting left and right. On the left, an charred and dark path; on the right, a cheered and verdant path.

Gone were the herds of strange creatures, replaced by an eerily empty land. One where the scent of strange beasts wafted: like zebras but also scenting of wings, like lions but also scenting of eagles, like zebras and rhinos both, and like the Komodo dragon and flame...

And dancing...ostriches, strange crocodiles, elephants and hippos?

[Sgt. Tibs]

Sgt. Tibs studied the area around him. Since coming to this place, he'd tried very hard to learn the lay of the land, assuming that sooner or later he should be called upon by his superiors to give a report. But, try as he might, there was just too much territory to scout effectively. He was always returning to various places, only to realize he'd gotten the details confused and had to re-learn them.

Or, like today, finding himself in a completely unexplored area. It seemed to come upon the cat rather suddenly, and he wasn't quite sure how he'd ended up here.

With a sigh, Tibs began to prowl, determined to map out this new land. But before he could even begin, he smelt something that made the hackles on the back of his neck stand out. It was the scent of wild.

[Spot]

Spot was on a mission of his own, though if you'd asked him (and if you were an animal he thus had a hope of being understood by) he wouldn't have titled it so grandly. He still had better luck communicating with the animals around here than the humans, except for Mowgli, and yet Rosa Rivera's kindness to him hadn't needed too many words to be understood.

Since he didn't know how to categorize the rest of her bone family he wasn't sure about staying around them, but in paying her back, he was trying out one thing.

Being nice to cats.

Like the one she had that he had started off by chasing.

So when, as he also tried to make sense of the area around him, he saw an orange cat walk by, he decided now was the perfect time to try out his friendliness!

Only, no sooner had he rushed after the cat than he paused and stiffened. Spot paused next, worried he'd startled the cat and before he smelled it too. No, this was a wilder scent...possibly something dangerous and yet...

Intrigued, and without consulting the cat, Spot walked right past him without a word, now tracking this new scent and sure he could handle whatever it was.

[Mowgli]

Mowgli had been going to many different places in the park and meeting and befriending interesting humans and animals he never saw back in the jungle in India, and there was a possibility that he would meet more interesting fresh faces today. As usual, the man-cub was walking around aimlessly through places in the park and crowds of guests there. This went on until he stumbled upon a place that looked like a wild place that he, Tarzan, or Spot could belong in. When the man-cub saw this place, though, he had a feeling that it was not a real one, just like what he found out about the place called Jungle Cruise.

The Indian jungle boy stood where he was and tried giving the place a harder look. When he looked at the place, though, he felt that something was not right about it. There didn’t seem to be anything about that place that would make him feel that he would belong there. There did, however, seem to be someone there that caught his interest. Actually, it wasn’t one being there. It wasn’t two beings there, either. There were three beings there. Those three were two felines and a familiar human. Neither of the felines was a tiger or a panther, that was for sure. However, the loincloth-clad human boy recognized the smaller human as Spot, someone he met at a place where the two were checking out a fake Apatosaurus and where he himself was first told about a food called corn.

When Mowgli saw Spot there, he knew he had to go over to him and see what he was up to for today, so he started walking again, making his way to the younger wild human boy.

[Sgt. Tibs]

The cat hunkered down, making himself as flat to the ground as possible. One had to be on one's guard with wild creatures--you never could tell what they would do, unlike the civilised animals.

Tibs' ears rotated toward a sound behind him. It seemed he was being pursued by a pair of humans! He darted into a nearby bush, for it would not do to be uncautious until he'd reconnoitered the situation. There were those humans who hated cats for some unfathomable reason, throwing shoes and other missiles.

Sgt. Tibs remained in the foliage, only the barest bit of his face peering out, in an attempt to identify and assess the situation.

[Spot]

Most to all of Spot's focus was on following the cat, but that didn't mean he was oblivious to his surroundings. Having been on his own so long, and even before that, he had quickly learned that if you didn't pay attention a pterodactyl or something snatched you up! And if you were as small a 'critter' as he was.

So Spot soon smelled Mowgli as well, he just didn't immediately turn. The cat darted into some bushes, and Spot thought it would be safe enough to turn his focus (plus he wasn't sure yet if his plan was to dart in and try to catch the cat exactly. He was just observing at the moment).

So he turned. "Hi Mowgli!" he panted out this greeting.

[Mowgli]

Mowgli didn’t plan to chase after the felines or catch them, not even the brown one. He kept his attention directed at Spot as he kept making his way to him.

“Hi, Spot!” the man-cub said as he reached the smaller human boy, and he now had his mind set on the two felines. “What are they?”

The Indian jungle boy then looked around to see if the felines were still in sight somewhere in the area. After a while, he saw that the brown feline seemed to have disappeared from sight. This disappointed the man-cub, for he would like to know something about the kind of animal that the brown feline was and go with him, Spot, and the other feline together on a day of fun in the place they all just arrived at.

[Kion]

Kion focused on the winding path with ears back and head down, far too miserable to even try to call for Rani, let alone acknowledge what was happening around him.

What was this place, where even now, with the floating rocks gone away and the strange creatures vanished, the humid weather and scent of strange flora remained unchanged? Everything about his new umwelt, his around-world, baffled all attempts to tell where he was.

“Rani?” he tried to call, his roar coming out as a whisper. “Mom? Dad? Anybody?”

“Grandfather Mufasa? Grandfather Kiongozi? Grandmother Sarabi? Grandmother Sarafina? You're still watching us, right?”, he whispered to the sky.

Fighting back tears, the lion cub took a deep breath and closed his eyes as a comforting calmness soothed his soul. “Of course they're still watching us. Okay, enough feeling sorry for myself. Okay, first thing… I need to find out where everyone is and what this place is."

Kion flicked an ear back at the sound someone tallking, turning his head before jumping in panic.

“Hevi basisa!”

Why, there was a whole pride of creatures behind him! Two more of those strange creatures! And there, in the bushes, something rustling!

“What are you creatures? What happened here?” said Kion, ears back and tail thrashing in agitation.

[Sgt. Tibs]

It seemed that Tibs was surrounded! He gulped down his rising fear and waited until the unknowns hove into view. Behind him came two humans, but, he realised with relief, they were only pups, or whatever the humans called their young. True, they were strangely dressed, or more precisely, undressed. But then, the cat thought clothing a rather absurd human invention.

From the opposite direction came a shout:

Hevi basisa!

Sgt. Tibs had forgotten for a moment about the unknown he'd been following, and that mistake caused him to spring straight up with a yowl of surprise.

What are you creatures? What happened here?

Landing upon his feet, Tibs surveyed the speaker. He was a feline, like himself, but distinctly wild. Clearly a mere kitten, yet he was quite as large as the full-grown sergeant.

"Don't be alarmed. No one here means you any harm." To all three he added, "You youngsters shouldn't stray so far on your own."

[Spot]

“Hi, Spot! What are they?”

Spot glanced back to the two cats they were tracking (or that he was tracking and Mowgli was following him, either-way) and then back to Mowgli, "I don't know", he commented in a low tone to Mowgli, and hoping the cats wouldn't pick up on it, and having no problems around animal communication such as with all three present.

"The bigger one looks like some of the others back home and I think they only have the smaller ones here".

He didn't do to good of a job of hiding and whispering, though, because both cats next noticed them. The smaller one's leap up into the air was sort of fun to watch, and Spot chuckled a bit.

“What are you creatures? What happened here?”

"I'm Spot!", Spot greeted. As still a small boy, if a resourceful one, he was still so young that he didn't need a species identification, though he of course recognized he was the same as the other humans who wandered this place, odd as all of them but Mowgli acted.

"Don't be alarmed. No one here means you any harm. You youngsters shouldn't stray so far on your own."

Coming from another of the furrier sorts of Critters it was funnier. While it had been pretty clear from their actions that dinosaurs had lumped all the 'critters' together, for Spot and his family (both), humans fit somewhere in the middle, above the foxes and such but of course still under the influence of how the dinosaurs had ordered the world.

That that seemed to have gone away here, and having not seen a single dinosaur since he arrived, was a fact the boy hadn't fully grasped enough to grasp that humans were now in charge here.

The boy's proud grin was little different than any small boy of any background would get, no doubt. "Oh I've been on my own for...a while", he bragged and reassured to the smaller cat. He wasn't quite clear on how long had elapsed between his first parent's death and when he'd been adopted by his new current family, and even with that last development, still counted himself as independent and especially as he was on his own again.

"And I can kill and find my own food and everything!", Spot sat back on his back feet proudly. Crouching was still the most comfortable position for him, and away from his parent's influence he fluctuated back and forth depending on the company.

[Mowgli]

Mowgli listened to Spot’s response about the two felines, but not before noticing the brown feline rise up so quickly and make such a noise of distress. After all that, he directed his attention to both felines so he could respond to what they said to him and Spot.

“He and I are humans,” the man-cub said to the gold feline, referring to himself and Spot, and he went on to refer to just himself. “I’m Mowgli.”

The Indian jungle boy then turned to the brown feline to respond to what the latter said.

“I know no one does,” he said. “I’ve wandered around on my own many times before.”

Mowgli, however, couldn’t say that he could take care of himself, since he was incapable of doing so, which was proven when he kept finding himself in situations he was in that required someone else to help get him out of said situations. It also didn’t help that he went through different families and different animals who offered to let him stay in the jungle with them during his lifetime; he went from his birth parents to his adoptive wolf family to his adoptive human family, and he went from Baloo to King Louie to Kaa. The same thing had been happening to him in this park, though there were so many individuals he met in the park, and he didn’t officially make his choice on whom he should stick with and depend on the most.

“Though I could use someone I can always be with,” the man-cub said, feeling unsure about himself.

[Kion]

Don’t be alarmed. No one here means you any harm.

The bush-creature was just an African wildcat, though one who lacked any stripes, even the bands on his forelegs. And what he said was true enough— the former Leader of the Guard and current King of the Night Pride should be braver.

(Not mention, even without the Roar, he felt rather confident he take on these juvenile strange creatures and a rather small wildcat).

“Sorry, it’s just— I’ve never seen creatures like these, uh, youngsters. I have seen African wildcats like you though— do you know Chakapu or Kimbura? They’re friends of my Dad.” Kion made himself say in a companionable way.

I'm Spot!

He and I are humans, I’m Mowgli.

As the Spot-Without-a-Spot and Mowgli-fellow spoke, Kion’s ears pricked and his jaw drooped.

The way Mowgli spoke..,

The mane on Spot…

It was all so familiar…

Back when he was still a spotted cub, on those dull restless nights when neither he nor Kiara could sleep, when they pestered all the stories they could out of Nala, Simba would take over. Mostly stories of his adventures as a cub, or when he was growing with Timon and Pumbaa.

Kion and usually Kiara would stay awake through it all, for usually when the moon gleamed high in the sky, the increasingly tired Simba would start telling Kion’s favorite.

Vague. very vague memories, of a time not long before he re-encountered Nala, when a strange darkness shredded the land. How Simba’s heart, refusing to given in, somehow became a gem.

How a strange creature had found him and given him to a wandering youth, who freed him and with whom Simba fought side-by-side. Other creatures too fought with the youth: a spotted antelope-like calf, an elephant with ears like wings, a blue-smoke creature, a tiny sparkling flyer, a smoke-scented little lizard...

Together they travelled strange worlds, with Simba’s courage saving the youth more than once. Together they helped restore the worlds!

When asked whether in the daylight or nighttime, Simba was never very clear on these memories: whether they were true, or just dreams. Whenever Kion asked Nala, she had no idea what Simba was talking about.

(However, she did share another of these faded memories Simba told: how a gray cub had joined in the fight, along with a canid-headed tortoise and a anatid-headed hornbill, to overthrow Scar and his strange ally, a fat lion with the head of an African wildcat. Nala was quick to explain it must have been a dream, since she and Simba had much stronger memories of confronting Scar without any of those strange creatures).

Regardless Simba was sure that this strange creature, who sounded just like Mowgli did now, whose mane bristled just like Spot, was something called a boy.

Yes, yes, Kion remembered now! Timon and Pumbaa’s (rather confusing) tales of various humans, including a something-or-other Quint too: these must be the strange creatures: men, women, boys, girls...all humans.

Just like Mowgli had said!

Kion was about to ask the creatures how and where they lived when he remembered the most important thing the human had told Simba: the vital importance of maintaining world order.

Which…meant not acknowledging that he knew about other worlds, let alone that travel between those worlds (and, to judge from Simba’s more recent tales, time too), though this travel was not recommended.

Rats.

Clearing his throat, Kion smiled at the creatures and took a step forwards. “Greetings, my name is Kion, King of the the Night Pride and Former Leader of the Lion Guard. I’m originally from Pride Rock. Perhaps you’ve heard of my parents, King Simba and Queen Nala?”

Hmm, maybe he shouldn’t have given so much info…

[Deleted]

It was good not to be the prince! Life was good, food was tasty and shade was plenty. A couple of days ago he had left his usual grounds in the jungle chasing a butterfly and... had not found his way back yet. For some it could be a big problem but... Why should Simba worry? Worrying sounded too much like work. And we all know how horrible that must be.

This new land was also full of those... what were they called? Humans, yeah. Funny jungle-dwelling creatures they were. Quite tall, no fur anywhere but a mane. And it was the females who usually had the bigger mane? Uncommon to say the least! The golden lion was enjoying his time in the shade, sprawling on top of one of the empty benches in the corridor surrounded by the tropical-esque vegetation, when he heard...

-Simba!

Cheered one of the humans. The lion cub shivered, what got all of his fur up! His nap was ruined! He had also not spoken with any of the lions so far, how did they know his name?! No, enough of that, He lept out of the bench and made his way under the fence and into the unpaved grounds. The touch of dirt under his mittens was more desirable than the cold rock the humans liked to step on, anyways.

Now, he was out of benches... And what did one do when out of benches? They looked for branches, of course. All Simba had to do was find a good tree to climb. Couldn't be too small or he might not get enough sun. Couldn't too tall either or it would be hard to climb. Not like he couldn't do it, of course, "Because I can!". Why bother with work?

He was in his way climbing the tree when the flocked out of the woods and into the sky; a mighty, loud roar from many lions filling the air. It would be weird to hear more than one lion roaring at the same time, yeah. And those were clearly lions! That was not what bothered him, as he froze and just slid down, leaving claw marks all over the tree. He heard something in that roar, someone, someone familiar. "T-This can't be him..."

Simba could not let it go, he simply could not! Was it work, kinda, but he was acting in impulse. Carrying his heart between his teeth, he quietly made his way to the origin of the roar, where he would watch curiously two of those humans-cubs, as well as two other felines. One of which was a slightly older lion. No way he was the one who roared like the Great King Simba was sure he had heard!!!

The lion was now the second feline to burst out of the bushes. He took his time, silently looking at all the present and definitely judging them. He had one... rather small wild-cat, for sure. With a rather different fur pattern, for sure. But a wild cat nonetheless. A wild cat and two... What were they called again? Simba had heard it already in the time he spent in this weird land. Large, large baboons with two strong legs and almost no fur. "Humans!" Simba almost forgot it. Lucky for him, the two bipedal literally said it out loud. A wild cat, two humans and a lion! With a great colour for a mane, indeed!

-Hey, sorry for the interruption, but have you- Simba was the one interrupted by the lion who decided to tell the cub his whole life story and... wait. Names, very familiar names.

Nala? Simba? He knew them yeah, one of them quite personally. But what he was saying was nonsense. Simba as King? That, for one, was not happening. "And Nala as queen?!" Even less probably, unless it was a story written by Zazu or something! Those names could only mean one thing: There was more than one Priderock. Or the lion was extremally confused and was at a loss for cohesion. Maybe he only ever heard of the Pridelands and was trying to sound important. Wouldn't be the fist. He was even talking about that Lion Guard stuff! From the fictional stories, his uncle used to tell!

If he knew the Pridelands, Simba could not afford to be discovered.

-Y-Yeah, I am umm...- He had to think of a name, fast! Simba... And the other was... Kion? Think Simba, think! -K....imba. Kimba. I'm Kimba, nice to meet you guys!

That was so close! He better go back to his question:

-Have any of you seen like a... really big lion around here? Like, this tall- And he lifted his paw as high as he could but certainly not tall enough -With a great mane, like this guy's colour. Yeah, Tall, strong, wise face?-Simba's eyes filled with hope as while the words left his lips.

[Sgt. Tibs]

Although the youngsters each proclaimed their prowess at living on their own, Tibs still felt uneasy on their behalf. He knew from experience that the world was a wide and hostile place, especially so for a kit, or cub, or whatever these creatures named their young.

He was about to voice that opinion when one of the humans said:

And I can kill and find my own food and everything!

And he looked fierce enough to do it. Sgt. Tibs took a careful step backward. Until he knew precisely what that one killed and ate, it would be just as well to be safe than sorry.

I have seen African wildcats like you though

"I am not wild," replied Tibs. Stray, perhaps, but certainly not wild. "My name is Tibs, Sergeant, 1st Class." No need to salute a flock of youths. Then the wild feline proclaimed his parents to be king and queen. Now, Tibs knew that, as a loyal officer he served the Queen, and presumably the King as well, though he'd never heard that personage mentioned. The precise identity of Her Majesty was rather vague in his mind, however. Was this kitten Her Majesty's offspring?

Before he could inquire further along those lines, another wild kit joined them.

Hey, sorry for the interruption, but have you-

[Spot]

"I am not wild, My name is Tibs, Sergeant, 1st Class."

Spot tilted his head, none of those words made sense. Of all of them, other than the name, Tibs, 1st was all he could make sense of. "You're...the Alpha?". Though back home humans would group like wolves, they usually weren't so big but the word still worked for what was the father of a group or oldest uncle perhaps, if he was hanging around.

He noticed Tibbs take a step back as he mentioned killing his own food and laughed at the notion that he might be afraid he meant him. "Oh not other furry things", Critters as the dinosaurs called them, Spot made a face of disgust at the idea,"Prey animals. You know, bugs, fish, lizards".

“— do you know Chakapu or Kimbura? They’re friends of my Dad.”

Though the question was directed at the small cat, Spot pondered it. Neither name sounded familiar to him. Just in case the bigger cat had been asking, the boy shook his head.

“He and I are humans,”

Spot had at least this much self identity figured out, and nodded. He was proud of his species, though they weren't as high up as they maybe should have been. But he didn't know different, the other humans here still being too foreign.

“Though I could use someone I can always be with,”

If Spot were honest...he felt the same. He supposed he and Mowgli could stick together but even that was just two kids of similar circumstances taking comfort in each-other. There were no adults to care for them it seemed.

"And I noticed the other humans don't talk as well as we do". Spot of course equated communicating as the animals did as higher a skill than the way the other humans here did, sounding like the dinosaurs back home.

“Greetings, my name is Kion, King of the the Night Pride and Former Leader of the Lion Guard. I’m originally from Pride Rock. Perhaps you’ve heard of my parents, King Simba and Queen Nala?”

Spot prepared to reply in the negative again, when another young cat approached. The boy wheeled around, just keeping aware of his surroundings and with this many cats around who could still decide they wanted to attack him...though they didn't seem like it.

-Y-Yeah, I am umm...--K....imba. Kimba. I'm Kimba, nice to meet you guys!

"I'm Spot", Spot didn't mind saying again and nodded. All the better to keep on the good side of all these cats that had him and Mowgli outnumbered now, though the little one didn't look like a challenge even for being the one adult of their group.

[Mowgli]

When Mowgli heard the gold feline, Kion, reveal himself to be a king, the man-cub immediately thought of King Louie, the orangutan who had him brought to him so he could get out of him the secret of “man’s red flower”, also known as fire, in order for the jungle boy to be allowed to stay in the jungle. Maybe Kion knew King Louie, but whether that was the case or not, Mowgli decided not to ask the gold feline about that. Instead, he kept his focus on Kion’s question about whether or not he or Spot had heard of the gold feline’s parents, who were named King Simba and Queen Nala. The Indian jungle boy never met anyone by those names. He never even heard of those names.

“I never heard of your parents,” Mowgli said to Kion, and he saw another gold feline come into the area.

This other gold feline was someone the man-cub once saw at the top of the pyramid-like structure, but he never knew who he was. Now, the Indian jungle boy got a chance to get to know this other gold feline, especially since the latter introduced himself as Kimba.

“Hello, Kimba,” the loincloth-clad human child said to Kimba. “I’m Mowgli.”

Mowgli then watched Kimba describe someone and ask if he or anyone else in the group saw someone like that. The man-cub wasn’t familiar with anyone who fitted that description.

“I haven’t seen anyone like that,” the ten-year-old wild child said as he shook his head.

As the conversation among everyone in the group went on, Mowgli took in what Spot just said about the other humans in question and watched out for any of them out there to see if any more of them would be coming to join the group.

“I met a couple of them who do,” Mowgli said, referring to Tarzan and Nakoma. “Maybe they will come and meet us here today.”

[Deleted]

Feeling hungry Janja was in search for his next meal. Ever since he landed in the parks all alone without his clan he had been struggling more than ever before to catch his food. Hunting had admittedly quadrupled in difficulty since it was only him doing all of the hunting without any kind of help. He only had himself to rely on in these uncertain times; which was why he was considering recruiting fellow predators to form a new clan, so he'd have not only have some help with hunting, but some company as well. He really hated to admit it, but he was feeling pretty lonely especially when he slept. Back home in the Outlands he always had someone to hang out with, but not anymore, not out here in the middle of who knows where. Luckily, whenever he failed to catch something; which sadly was most of the time, he usually was able to find something to eat; usually in trash cans and dumpsters. The hyena didn't want to brag, but lately he had been getting pretty good at scrounging for food. It wasn't so hard to do. One only needed to know where to look. The humans tended to throw out some pretty good stuff too.

But today, the hyena was after more...livelier prey. Yes, he was in the mood to try it again. For the past few minutes, Janja had been stalking a zebra. He had no idea how it ended up in the middle of this brightly colored, strange looking...jungle, but he wasn't about to complain. Rather he was only all too grateful for its timely presence. Now if only he could catch it. Keeping his body low to the ground and making as little noise as possible the hyena closed in on his prey using stealth tactics. Unfortunately for Janja just before he could pounce, the zebra having sensed him somehow took off running at full speed. Not wanting to give up so easily, Janja took off after it running as fast as he could after the evasive creature. Throughout the chase, Janja would try biting at the zebra's back legs at every opportunity in typical predator fashion. Few knew it, but predators always aimed for the prey's back legs to prevent them from running away.

Unfortunately, Janja was so hyperfocused on catching his prey that he failed to pay attention to his surroundings. But they were running through the strange, brightly colored jungle. The two were maneuvering effortlessly through the trees and bushes. Closing in on the zebra and thinking this was it; his big chance, Janja leaped through the air only to run smack into something else entirely knocking them both to the ground in the process. Dazed and confused, Janja glanced up in time to see his lunch escaping. The zebra ran right past a group of congregating creatures. Janja mentally cursed. He couldn't believe it! He was so close that time and yet his prey still managed to slip through his paws.

Groaning in pain, Janja climbed back to his feet. Shaking himself off he glanced down to see what he had ran into. "Wha...what happened? Well at least i ran into something soft. Oh what do you know this bush looks kind of like Kion." It did not take the hyena long to realize his mistake. Realizing that was no bush, but the real Kion, Janja quickly jumped off the cub and grinned sheepishly at him. "Oh wow Kion is it really you? What uh what are you doing way out here in the middle of...whatever this place is?" To say he was embarrassed would be an understatement. Although, Janja did not expect to run into Kion of all people way out here in this unknown environment, the hyena king was sure glad to see him even if their unexpected encounter did just cost him his lunch. "Um, sorry about running into you like that! I was just sort of in the middle of um...hunting and I didn't exactly see you there," the hyena apologized, still clearly embarrassed by his rather clumsy mistake. Yeah, okay, so this was really weird since well not so long ago he and Kion would be fighting each other. The hyena wondered if Kion felt the same way.

Looking around he saw to his annoyance that they weren't alone. There were many other creatures there and two of which were a pair of human children. The hyena didn't exactly trust humans, so he kept a close eye on the two. He would attack them if either of them tried anything.

Strangely, one of the other creatures was a golden colored lion cub that he did not recognize and he couldn't smell him from the distance and given all of the other creatures there, the golden cub's scent remained masked for now at least. "Uh Kion don't look now, but I think we're surrounded," the hyena whispered. His mind raced. Already strategic defensive maneuvers were running through his cunning mind. "Okay, Kion here's how we'll play it. You can take out the guys on the left and I'll handle the ones on the right," Janja suggested in a low whisper with the hopes none of the other creatures could hear him. The hyena may have misconstrued the situation entirely, but at least he was smart enough to keep Kion's magical roar under wraps. And besides, it wasn't his secret to give. However, if Kion wanted to tell the whole world about his magical powers than that was his business. 

Looking at the surrounding creatures, Janja cleared his throat. "Hey everyone! We're just a lion cub and a hyena having a completely normal conversation. Really, nothing all that unusual to see here. Just uh please go back to your business," he assured the group with a sheepish smile. All the while the hyena kept his guard up as he kept a close eye on all of them. He mentally prepared to defend himself and Kion should the need arise.

[Kion]

"I am not wild," replied Tibs. Stray, perhaps, but certainly not wild. "My name is Tibs, Sergeant, 1st Class."

Kion…wasn’t sure what Tibs’s objection was. Oh, the Cape African wild hunting dogs did prefer to be called painted wolves, especially when introduced to a newcomer, but that was a canid thing, Kion figured. In fact, every African wildcat Kion encountered liked to stress that wild part of their name, something to do with minimizing confusion with feral domesticated cats, whatever those were.

…Perhaps it wasn’t just a canid thing?

Moreover, even friendly Chakapu and Kimbura were quick to point that unlike lions, wildcats lived solitary lives. No giant prides, and especially not unrelated individuals. So…how could there be a sergeant? “Oh, uhm.. under what army would that be, Tibs?"

Looked like neither of these boys recognized of the names mentioned, not even his parents. Did that mean they were from a different land, or a different world? If only Kion could ask them!

Kion’s ears pricked at the new cub. Granted, all cubs looked similar (Nala told him that his ‘uncles’— really family friends— Tojo, Chumvi, Malta, and especially Ni all could have passed as Simba when they were younger) but this one…why, it was like looking at his reflection! Kion sniffed the air quickly and, in what he hoped was, a casual manner, desperate to get the newcomer’s scent. If only the wind wasn’t against him!

-Y-Yeah, I am umm...- He had to think of a name, fast! Simba... And the other was... Kion? Think Simba, think! -K....imba. Kimba. I'm Kimba, nice to meet you guys!

Nala would have proud of him: Kion managed—just barely— to not giggle at the name. (“Kimba,” in Swahili, translated to…well, nothing flattering. It was right up there with “Nuka," as in who would name their cubs that?!)

-Have any of you seen like a... really big lion around here? Like, this tall- And he lifted his paw as high as he could but certainly not tall enough -With a great mane, like this guy's colour. Yeah, Tall, strong, wise face?-Simba's eyes filled with hope as while the words left his lips.

Hmm, Simba was currently the only male of the Royal Pride, although of course there were neighboring small prides, ruled by the barons and baroness who recognized Pride Rock as their leaders. Most of the males had reddish manes, although both Tiifu’s sire Tojo and Zuri’s sire Chumvi, both the mates of Baroness sisters Tama and Kula (respectively), had darker coloring.

“No, not around here,” answered Kion truthfully. “You’re the only other lion I’ve seen so far.”

"And I noticed the other humans don't talk as well as we do". Spot of course equated communicating as the animals did as higher a skill than the way the other humans here did, sounding like the dinosaurs back home.

“I met a couple of them who do,” Mowgli said, referring to Tarzan and Nakoma. “Maybe they will come and meet us here today.”

Interesting…from the Simba’s stories, the boy couldn’t speak the animal language, even though Simba was able to understand most of what the boy said. On the other paw, Timon and Pumbaa seemed to be able to freely talk with Quint and most of the humans.

Perhaps there were different humans, those who could speak— which Timon, Pumbaa and Mowgli had encountered— and those who couldn’t, like the boy from Simba’s stories. If only Kion could clarify!

This maintaining the world order stuff was tough!

Kion looked again at the winding paths with such different destinations. “What is this place? Where does this path go?” Kion hesitated before a few seconds before continuing. “And where did those the floaty boulders go? I, uh, think I might have broken them, so I need to fix them.”

For a few baffled when the gray something crashed into his brisket, knocking the wind out of his lungs and his paws off the ground, Kion thought it might be one of those floaty boulders.

"Wha...what happened? Well at least i ran into something soft. Oh what do you know this bush looks kind of like Kion. Oh wow Kion is it really you? What uh what are you doing way out here in the middle of...whatever this place is?”

“Janja!” he cried It was also Kion could do to not bunt his head and neck against Janja’s, the traditional feline greeting between friends.

"Um, sorry about running into you like that! I was just sort of in the middle of um...hunting and I didn't exactly see you there,” the hyena apologized, still clearly embarrassed by his rather clumsy mistake.

“Oh no, no it’s no problem, hakuna matata,” replied Kion. Frankly, Kion was so happy to see a familiar face and scent a familiar scent that he could have forgiven much worse.

"Uh Kion don't look now, but I think we're surrounded," the hyena whispered. His mind raced. Already strategic defensive maneuvers were running through his cunning mind. "Okay, Kion here's how we'll play it. You can take out the guys on the left and I'll handle the ones on the right.”

Even in the middle of this cathartic reunion, Kion could resist a pitying glance. Was this how Janja gave battle directions? Not only was it not the best instruction (‘take out’ how exactly? Pounce, tackle, roar, snap, bite, claw, bluff, maim?), it apparently didn’t occur to Janja that since they were facing each other, Janja’s left and right were different than his. No wonder it usually wasn’t too difficult to counter Janja’s attacks until Scar took over…

”Hey everyone! We're just a lion cub and a hyena having a completely normal conversation. Really, nothing all that unusual to see here. Just uh please go back to your business," he assured the group with a sheepish smile. All the while the hyena kept his guard up as he kept a close eye on all of them. He mentally prepared to defend himself and Kion should the need arise.

Uh-oh, Kion decided he’d better stop this before it went any further. “No, it’s okay Janja, they’re friends. This little uh, cat is Sergeant Tibs, the smaller boy is Spot, and the larger boy is Mowgli.” Kion was usually got with names, although it occurred to him too late that he shouldn’t have used the word ‘boy’. Hopefully no one would question how a creature who couldn’t recognize humans at glance would know the word boy, let alone use it correctly— not until he figured out if he was in a different world, at least.

[Deleted]

I'm Spot;
I’m Mowgli.

Simba gave both humans a nod. He was being polite. He even gave a trademarked royal smile... Or, for someone who was not royal like Kimba totally wasn't, a simple polite bright and clear smile. "It is different!" No, Not it was the same. Simba might be impersonating someone else if a lioness could even be evil enough to name their cub Kimba. His mom definitely wouldn't, and his dad certainly would prohibit it because it was too similar to the prince heir's name. Or that's what Simba's ego dictated. In reality, he was faking being someone else and this was no excuse to be indelicate, no. He wasn't even planning a prank! The only one who was still to present themselves was the third, the non-lionine cat.

Apparently, Kion was the one who presented the cat to him. Simbaá attention went to Tibs, a sar...ge...an...thgh? "What?" That sounded like one of those old titles the kingdom didn't use anymore because they simply had not enough lions to spend titles on. He had something horrible happened to most of the male lions, even heard his Uncle was involved! But that ought to be fake. His uncle was a softie! He couldn't hurt a mouse if he wasn't hungry!

-Ahhw... I was sure I... heard him somewhere in this direction...

The lion lowered his ears a bit, looking rather disappointed. He was quite literally chasing a ghost. But he was sure he heard his dad roaring there, he was sure of it. And Simba was not wrong, he really did, but there was no way he was getting that high in the sky until his part in the circle of life was concluded.

Perhaps... It was possible that the sound was further into the flying-rocks territory. Was the prospect of being smacked by floating mountains scary? Yes! But why worry? He could catalogue them, measure, write down his findings and share them with a network of equal min- "Or I can just not care" And that was a very valid reason. Not caring is known for saving cats from lots of work since 1994. But perhaps that's where the sound came. Maybe his deceased father, who he basically murdered with his own bare paws, was, in fact, alive and well, lost in the maze of floating rocks that was the sky of the next area. And Simabw as about to gesture the group to follow him deeper into his weird forest until-

"HAPANA!" His fur went up like he had stuck a tow into the electric outlet. Claws out and everything! In front of him, in a collision course with the large lion was a-

-H-HYENA!- The lion tried to warn his kin.

If only the lion let me tell the story, I wouldn't have to use the first person for the first time in years. YEARS! He would have no idea how much work one must put to forgo the first person instincts when writing in this beautiful language. Bloody lion! "Sorry... But tell me the rest, please!!"

After the collision, they had a hyena, grey, spotted and the two most important qualities that Simba could, surely, see with his own red eyes, hungry and evil. He did not warn the other fast enough! At this point, it might be too late. Another lion, who Simba could not save! The prince-heir was frozen in such an over-the-top fashion that it would likely for any of the present not to notice.

"KION!" It sounded familiar to the other lion, most likely, as someone else who was used to scream his name... Even if this time was it was in a much higher-pitched voice and wasn't in a scolding tone. But Simba's expression was- Wait, where did he go?!

The small golden lion found himself already in a face place, that being literally on Spot's back after climbing there. He was heavy, but surely not too heavy for the boy.

-G-Get away from the hyena, everybody! He and his buddies tried to eat me once!

The question was... did he really? Or, for his judging eyes, all hyenas looked the same? Regardless, his words were roared with the ferocity of a leader who, even without control over his own legs, had to draw attention to himself to protect his pride. It was in his blood!

But the lion was... handling it like a pro. Almost like he was a royal himsel- Oh, right! He was. That was explained, he was surely gonna be a great king if he could handle a hyena attack with such grace! Even if his slow reactions and lack of fierceness likely meant a very short reign. But Kion... named the hyena? was this even legal? It almost sounded like they "Were friends..?" Preposterous! Hyenas could not have friends, they were spotter fur-brains fueled by evil and hunger.

-Keep your guard up!-Commanded the smallest of cubs to everyone around him... who were all considerably stronger than him.

Simba had not been introduced to the hyena, his name was not spoken! Not even his fake name. And with how, he was sure to keep himself counter-wind to the fierce eating-machine he saw in Janja, it didn't sound like he was gonna introduce himself to the newcomer anytime soon.

[Sgt. Tibs]

Tibs was not really comfortable with all these wild creatures surrounding him. And more were appearing each minute, it seemed. Even the human children seemed somewhat wild. Fortunately, all were cubs, and the young of a species were less dangerous than the adults.

under what army would that be, Tibs?

"Why, ah..." He was rather taken aback by the question. Tibs's understanding of his position in the military was somewhat nebulous, as he had been trained in all things martial by the Colonel, in himself somewhat nebulous, as well. "Why, Her Majesty's army."

The cat decided he had better take charge of these youngsters. It was his duty to see them safely returned to wherever they belonged. But the arrival of another cub, this time more canine than feline, threw that young Kimba into a panic.

He and his buddies tried to eat me once!

Tibs swallowed hard. How could he fight off this predator? It seemed impossible on the surface, but he must do his duty.

"For Queen and country," he whispered to himself before planting himself between the canine and the children. All his hair stood on end as he faced down the strange dog-like animal. "Stand down," he commanded, though with a quaver in his voice. "Leave these youngsters alone."

[Spot]

Spot was also assessing the numbers as they grew, but he wasn't exactly worried just yet. Childish pride in his own survival skills, and none seemed outwardly hostile. He nodded a greeting to Kimba as well.

He turned to Mowgli as he said he'd met other humans better able to communicate. So there was hope for some of them! That was good. "Do you know where they live?", he asked. Spot wouldn't directly go bother them, but he would keep an eye out for them, maybe in the places they frequented.

The boy had never seen a creature like the next one to arrive! He tilted his head and studied him. The creature knew Kion. Once he noticed the rest of them he tensed, and even if he directed his comments lowly to Kion, Spot could read a lot off of his body language even without the words/sounds.

He tensed as well, standing straight on all fours, just in case the odd wolf decided Attack First was the best option.

"Hey everyone! We're just a lion cub and a hyena having a completely normal conversation. Really, nothing all that unusual to see here. Just uh please go back to your business,"

Spot scowled, but didn't start to growl just yet, understanding about not escalating the issue. "Nuh-uh!", he challenged, "Or you wouldn't be whispering".

Thankfully Kion soothed the tension, by stating they were friends. Still tensed in case Janja tried something, Spot nodded as his name was given.

Kimba and Tibbs seemed more afraid of Janja. Hyena. Spot filed the name of what Janja was away. The tiny cat was no match of any of them, probably not even Spot himself had it come to that, so Spot's respect for Tibbs went up tremendously as the cat got in front of him and Mowgli. It only remained now to see if the hyena would listen.

[Mowgli]

While having a peaceful moment to think about humans in general, Mowgli responded to Spot about Tarzan and Nakoma.

“They said that they were from Africa and America,” he said to the smaller human boy, now directing his attention away from the park guests passing by. “But where they’re living, right now, those places could be anywhere around here.”

During this moment, the man-cub listened to the talk that the red-haired gold feline and the brown feline were having. In that conversation, there was mention of terms that an elephant from the jungle in India named Colonel Hathi and his herd would understand. If Colonel Hathi was present in this area in the park at this time, he probably would want to join in the conversation with those two felines.

Things started to get intense when a strange gray animal he never saw before entered the area. When he saw this animal come into the area the way it did, he backed away from it, not knowing what an animal like this was or what it would usually do. It was a convenience, though, that what animal it was and what its name was was just mentioned, or the man-cub would’ve mistaken that animal for a wolf like he did with Lucky when he first met that Dalmatian. This animal that just arrived in the area was a hyena, and from the way it was acting and how the others in the group reacted to it, it seemed to be a dangerous animal, though not as dangerous as Shere Khan. Still, there was no telling what the hyena would do, right now. He was shocked, though, to hear from Kimba something about what the hyena and others like it once tried to do to the lion cub.

“He did?” Mowgli said as he stood still and kept his eyes on the hyena, and then, he looked over to Kion in shock when he heard the lion cub mention the hyena’s name. “You know this...this hyena, too?”

(@janja: I have Mowgli never knowing Janja or what a hyena is in this rp, since Mowgli came here in this rp before he came to Main Street, USA in the “Freedom Without A License” rp.)

[Deleted]

“Oh no, no it’s no problem, hakuna matata,”

Janja smiled, reassured that Kion wasn't even mad at him for accidentally running into him like that. So much so that he visibly relaxed by sitting down and he sighed in relief. "Asante. Thank you Kion for uh your understanding," he told the cub wagging his tail a bit.

Following his suggestion to Kion that they should attack before they get attacked, Janja noticed Kion giving him a pitying look. Janja got the feeling that Kion felt sorry for him, but for what reason he was not completely sure. He did manage to stop and think that he probably didn't give the best battle plan just now and that alone may have been why the lion cub was giving him that look. The hyena knew that look only all too well. It was the same look that his own mother sometimes gave him while growing up before she was so cruelly taken from him. But he couldn't think about that right now. After all, such sentiments were a weakness, right? And the very last thing he needed right now was being vulnerable to enemy attacks.

Blushing at Kion, Janja sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. "Okay, yeah, so maybe that wasn't exactly my best plan for sure! But that was only because I didn't know for sure if we were going to fight them or not. If we do fight then I would of course get into specifics. Trust me Kion, I know what I'm doing," he reassured the cub in a hushed whisper since he did not want the other creatures there listening in. Obviously, if they heard him then they would realize for sure that Janja was at least thinking about attacking them. Then again only old Janja would attack them on sight whereas now he would only do so if he had no other choice. Not that these creatures would understand. And how could they? They weren't mindreaders...hopefully.

“No, it’s okay Janja, they’re friends. This little uh, cat is Sergeant Tibs, the smaller boy is Spot, and the larger boy is Mowgli.”

Luckily for Janja and everybody else, Kion was able to help rectify the situation by informing the hyena that the various strange creatures supposedly meant them no harm. Still, Janja couldn't help looking at the lion cub in utter disbelief since two of the creatures were humans and it hardly mattered to the hyena that they were mere children. Janja remembered hearing all sorts of crazy stories about humans from his parents and none of them were good. The hyena knew that human hunters carried fearsome weapons that shot fire and were as loud as thunder. Just the thought of seeing such a weapon scared him. And even though these humans looked much too young to wield such the hyena wasn't going to take any chances not where humans are concerned.

Janja raised a confused brow. "Are you sure? The other lion cub and the small cat I totally get, but the other two...boys as you call them are humans," Janja questioned Kion with a slight shiver still whispering to him. The hyena didn't think it too weird that Kion knew the term, 'boy,' since he himself had learned some interesting new terms since his arrival at the parks. Shaking his head he added, "weren't you ever warned about humans? I've been told countless times how dangerous and untrustworthy they can be. But...I trust you Kion. You're a great leader and if you say these other animals check out even the humans then I trust your judgment and will follow your lead. Lead on Kion!" Now as for that other lion cub he did not recognize, Janja wondered if Kion perhaps knew him from somewhere.

Turning back to Kion he whispered, "and speaking of that other lion cub, do you...do you by chance know him? And while he does look sorta familiar to me I really don't remember him. Been trying to get his scent though, but between all of these other animals and the wind there is just way too much interference for him to get a scent. Perhaps if I could get close enough I could get it..."

And speaking of which, the other lion cub was really scared of him even going so far as to warn the others to get away from him. The cub even accused him and his friends of trying to eat him once. Interesting... Hoping to get closer, Janja just stared at his accuser and looked him over. The cub was golden furred much like Kion and his father, King Simba only unlike either of them this cub didn't have much of a mane. Just a few scraggly strands from the looks of it. Yeah, he really didn't recognize him from anywhere. In fact the only lions Janja knew of were the royal family and the outsiders who ended up joining the pridelanders and this cub didn't look like any of them. So because he didn't recognize this cub he really didn't think it was him and his friends that tried to eat him. It was much more likely that this cub had mistaken him and his friends for other hyenas. And besides all that, Janja was confident in that had he and his buddies attempted to eat this cub then they would have surely succeeded! After all, this cub unlike Kion didn't have the magical roar to save him. So really now what kind of weak hyena would you have to be to lose a fight against such a weak little lion cub?

Janja couldn't help laughing as the cub's fur bristled up looking as though he got hit by an electrical current. Not only that but the cub although afraid looked ready to fight him; which only made the hyena laugh even more. Surely this brave cub was kidding! Did he seriously think he had a chance against him in a fight? The cub didn't even have the power of the roar to help back him up since he knew perfectly well only Kion had it. Luckily for this lion cub, Janja was one of the good guys now and so wasn't going to attack unless attacked first. But really now who would be so foolish as to attack a nearly full grown hyena especially one with his reputation?

In between his hysterical hyena laughter, Janja raised a confused brow at the unknown lion cub. "No, I didn't! Surely you are mistaken me for some other hyenas! Ones who were clearly too weak to have eaten you! Trust me little cub when I say if I had truly tried to eat you you'd be eaten!" Janja informed him with a smirk. Course he realized that didn't exactly sound like something a good guy would say and Kion was standing right there! 'Janja, you fur brain! You're one of the good guys now, so start acting like it,' the hyena scolded himself. Looking back towards the unknown lion cub, Janja forced a smile. "That is to say, I don't believe we've met before and I don't remember you! So I'm fairly certain you have me confused for some other hyena. And uh you can relax now because I'm not exactly one of the bad guys anymore, so yeah I'm not going to eat you or anything," Janja quickly added in an attempt to salvage the conversation. "Sooooo um who are you anyway and how come I've never seen you before?" Janja asked the lion cub out of curiosity as he began to give his ear a scratch using his back leg.

Then as though on cue the others all seemed to gain up on him as well forcing Janja into a more defensive position. Truthfully though none of these other creatures stood a chance against him, so if this all somehow ended up in a fight the hyena was more than confident he and Kion would definitely win. Yeah, he fully expected the lion guard's leader to be on his side should a fight occur. After all, they were friends now, right? And as far as the hyena knew friends helps each other out and stand up for one another.

This time it was Janja's fur that began to bristle up as a low warning growl escaped him. "Hey, Kion, what gives? I thought you told me these guys were on your side and therefore could be trusted? Why do they all look like they want to attack me?" Janja asked his friend clearly annoyed by all of this. "Quickly Kion tell your new friends I'm not a threat and that we are friends. I'd do it but they probably wouldn't believe me."

Unable to take much more of this, the hyena decided it was high time he took a stand and prove that he could be a good leader when he wanted to be. Clearing his throat he addressed the other creatures as a whole. "Everybody, please listen to me and settle down. I'm not the enemy here! It's a long story and I'd rather not bore you all with the details, but Kion and I are friends now. And he tells me that all of you can be trusted and I trust his judgment. I just want you all to know that you can also trust me. I'm not going to attack any of you so long as none of you try anything against me. I am still fully within my rights to defend myself and my friend here should the need to do so ever arise," the hyena reassured the group. He then scanned them all for any signs of further aggression. Looking specifically at Mowgli, Janja laughed. "No I didn't! I don't even know this cub! Doubtless he thinks all of us hyenas look the same even though we don't," the hyena informed the older boy with a reassuring smile. Little did the hyena realize that his razor sharp hyena teeth weren't going to help him win any popularity points anytime soon.



ooc: Okay, thanks for letting me know since I was wondering which thread they should know each other in. Time stuffs are very confusing to me. How should we explain why they didn't recognize one another in Freedom Without a License? Also confusingly Freedom Without a License was the thread Janja first enters the theme park in. But anyway I went ahead and edited my previous post to have Janja not recognize Mowgli.

[Sgt. Tibs]

Sgt. Tibs held his breath and waited, desperately trying to think of some strategy that might allow him to live through this. But then the wild thing spoke up:

I'm not going to attack any of you so long as none of you try anything against me.

Whew, that was a near thing. As long as the disparate species could have a truce, his services would not be needed for combat. The cat relaxed then, though it would take a minute or so for his fur to flatten itself.

"Well, then," continued Tibs, "Are any of you youngsters lost? Do you need a guide back to your homes?" As Tibs glanced round, he recalled that this was unfamiliar territory to him. Could he even find his own way back? Not that he had any home to return to. "I've never been to this sector before." It smelt of strange, unidentifiable animals.

[Spot]

Africa and America...

Spot wasn't immediately aware of where those places were, but now he had names to go off of if he did hear them or just wanted to meet these two humans. As the tensions eased with Kion at least knowing the hyena, Janja, he wagged his tail, a clear sign of friendliness! Spot eased up as well and sat back. Despite the two clearly having a secret conversation, Spot inclined his head, trying to hear, and slowly approached, pausing and thankfully still far enough away to act innocent as the hyena glanced around, though his words showed he wasn't fooled, but it was a small matter and as long as he didn't attack he could keep his secrets.

Or Spot would find them out anyway

After his whispering he gave a long speech about how he was on the good side now. If Kion backed it up, then Spot decided he believed it, plus the hyena could have done something by now if he really wanted to. "You were whispering", Spot shrugged, "I had to make sure it wasn't nothin' bad".

Spot turned back to the cat as he asked if they were lost. Again, the issue of his home was tricky since...he was sort of used to being on his own by now, but losing his newest family, of siblings even, right after his birth family made this time a little harder, but...no the humans around here couldn't help him. "I don't have a home, but I'm ok", he stated again, and as if to prove his point and how he even knew how to find safe spaces, quickly climbed up one of the nearby trees, looking down at them from the branches, "See, I'll just sleep here". He was unaware it sounded really sad.