A Whole New World (Open)

[Kopa]

The Pridelands. It had been ages since Kopa had been here in his future kingdom, not since the accident with Zira. But for some strange reason, for which he didn't understand, he was back home. First thing to do? Find his mother and father. Surely they missed him terribly, as any parent probably would. "Mom! Dad!" he called out as he ran through the high savannah grasses that tickled the sides of his golden pelt as he ran. There it was. Pride Rock. A large smile crossed his maw as it came into view. Maybe Kopa could sneak up on his parents and surprise them.

"Mommy! Daddy!" he called out once more as he stood at the mouth of the pride's den. No answer. Surely they had to be around here somewhere. "Hello? Anybody here?" Still no reply. With a sigh, the young prince padded back outside, his dark rimmed ears drooping against the sides of his head in sadness as he laid down in a heap at the end of Pride Rock's edge.

[Jane Porter]

Where in the blazes was she, and just how on earth did she even get to this....this place. This certainly was not the jungle and there was no signs of any....wait why was the ground trembling below her. The brunette quickly turned her head to see a stampede of animals heading her direction, jumping into some brush to get out of the way. She felt her heart going a mile a minute in her chest. When the stampede had gone by, she quickly stood up and brushed herself off. Never had she seen animals in such a hurry like that, just what was the rush. Pushing her thoughts aside about that right now she glanced around, yes this was not the jungle. It was too vast and wide open to be the jungle, and it felt hotter.....warmer here. Looking around the area she squinted her eyes as her gaze came to rest on a huge rock in the distance. Maybe that would be a place to start her search, but who was she going to find there. As far as she could see, she was the only human here and everywhere she looked there was animals left right and center. The only one who could speak animal was Tarzan, she was still kind of new to it. Well there was always a first for something right, and she needed to find which was the right way back to the jungle. Heading out into the middle of the savannah something hit her, wait....this was Africa right.

Well of course it had to be Africa, that would explain the temperature and all the animals. She hadn't been here since she was a little girl, with her parents. Jane hoped that nothing wanted to eat her as a late lunch or dinner though. Heading off to the rock once more, she suddenly felt something brush pass her and seemed to be heading in that direction as well in quite a hurry. "Hey....wait, excuse me." Oh yes, just peachy she thought to herself. Call out to a small animal and just hope it answers back. Seeing that it didn't stop she quickly ran after the creature, following it all the way up to the rock. Jane only stopped when it went inside the mouth of a den, and even then she felt a little scared. Jane then saw the little creature come back outside, seeing that it was a cub. Just a little lion cub. And he seemed quite disappointed that there didn't seem to be anyone inside the cave.

Jane didn't say anything for the moment, watching the cub walk pass her and to the edge of the rock. Flopping down. Poor little thing, how come his family wasn't around. It even surprised her that there wasn't another lion in sight. Walking over to the cub she kneeled slowly and reached out a hand to pat him. "Hey little guy, what's the matter? Um...my name is Jane, what do you call yourself?" Oh yeah, this felt so awkward, it wasn't like talking to the gorillas back in the jungle. This was a lion, a little lion yes. But Jane had a feeling that the bigger ones could show up at any second, wondering why a human was comforting one of their own.

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[Kopa]

The cub's dark rimmed ears perked up at the sound of a voice, a female voice to be exact, coming from behind him. Turning his head he saw a strange creature that looked to be about as tall as a giraffe yet as pale as a lioness bending down and petting him. "My name's Kopa." he smiled as he turned around and stood up to pay attention to his guest. "Have you seen my Mom and Dad? They should be here." he asked while looking around.

Times had certainly changed since he had passed away. His parents were seemingly away more often and none of the pride was here. ”Everybody must be out hunting..” he said as he rolled onto his back, the sunlight making his golden pelt glimmer. ”I’ve never seen you in the Pridelands before. Which part are you from?” the cub inquired as he tilted his head in confusion. Jumping up Kopa walked around Jane trying to figure out exactly WHAT she was. He’d never seen a human before in all his young life, then again he'd never even heard of them. "What are you? Where's your fur? Did you lose it in a fight? What happened to your tail?" Questions were coming out of the cub's mouth almost as quickly as he could think of them.

[Kovu]

Shaking out his mane, Kovu sighed and stretched his front legs out in front of him. It seemed as though almost everyone had a job to do today, or something that they wanted to do. Kovu himself had already done any hunting required of him - even if, by standards, it was just the lionesses that done the hunting - if only to get an edge off. Something wasn't quite sitting right with him lately, as though...something strange was going on outside of the Pridelands, where they couldn't see. Try as he might, he wasn't able to shake the feeling away, either. It was odd, but he had heard vague mention of strange creatures showing up in the Pridelands all of a sudden, so he was on the look out for any of those now. Kovu was pretty sure that was what Simba would have been doing as well, investigating to see if anything strange and unwelcome was lurking around. The ex-outlander frowned slightly at the thought of something nasty sneaking it's way into their homeland. That was the last thing that they needed, now that there had been peace for the last while.

...but was anyone still back at Pride Rock?

If not, then their home could easily be snuck into. Deciding to check, since it was better to be safe than be sorry, Kovu headed back towards Pride Rock, hoping to catch a glimpse of Kiara, Nala, Simba or Vitani on the way back. Unfortunately, it didn't look like they were anywhere nearby right now. A slight frown still on his face, Kovu kept walking, his sharp green eyes watching for any signs of movement. But all he caught glimpses of were other animals, like birds, elephants and zebras. They seemed to be the only signs of life, and certainly weren't anything out of the ordinary. As he was getting closer to Pride Rock, however, he noticed two things. One, the scent of an unfamiliar lion cub, and two, the scent of...something else, that he didn't know. Eventually, his ears also picked up two voices that he didn't recognise, and he sped his pace up slightly, although sticking to laying low, moving silently towards the large rock that had become his home. As things came into sight, however, Kovu wasn't sure what to make of it all. Straightening up as he reached the same level they were on, he paused in his movements for a second.

“Hey, kid. Who are you?” he asked, before out of instinct, he pushed the cub back out of the way gently with his paw, before stepping in front of him slightly, the cub ending up behind his front legs. Even if he didn't know the kid, he was still a lion cub, and this stranger...he had no idea who they were or what they wanted here. So this was one of the strange creatures that had been showing up? Kovu wasn't entirely sure that he liked this. “And who are you?” Green eyes firmly fixed on the stranger, he wasn't sure exactly what she was. He had never seen anything like her before, and the only way he had been able to tell she was female, was because of her voice and her scent. That time as he had spoken, his voice had came out more harsh than when he had spoken to the cub. This creature, whatever she was, was definitely no lion, and he had to wonder what she was doing here. So, he held his stance and didn't move from standing in front of the cub just yet. He hoped that the little guy would have enough sense to stay there and not run out until they knew what this creature was and what she wanted. Only then would Kovu even begin to think about trusting her.

Words: 653
Post status: finished
Tagged: Kopa, Jane
Notes: hope this was alright (: failed to think of anything else to do XD
Credit: text banner by <33 @ caution 2.0
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[Jane Porter]

Jane felt sorry for this little cub, since it seemed he was the only one here. But that made no sense. Lions usually traveled in families didn't they, protecting one another from dangers and hunting together. They especially took extra care of the little ones. Making sure no harm came to them, so why was this little guy the only one on this rock here. When the little cub turned to look at her and answered her with his name, she gave a light smile. "It's very nice to meet you Kopa". Oh if her daddy was here he would be just as excited as she was, always wanting to get so close to the wildlife and learn more about them. Though when the cub asked if she had seen his parents, she simply shook her head back and forth. "No I haven't, but i'm sure they'll come back for you. Don't all lions come back for their young?"

At least that is what she researched in the past coming to Africa, she had always seen the young with their parents. Never wandering too far or alone. Unless this cub was an outcast from his pride, but that made no sense either since he just asked if she had seen his parents. Oh dear, this was getting to be too much to take in. And all she needed was the bigger lions to come back. Just as she thought that to herself, she saw a much bigger lion walk pass her and to the cub. Asking him who he was. Then pushing the cub aside and standing in front of him, Jane instantly felt fear creeping up her back. "Oh dear, um......oh my. I didn't mean any harm, really he's fine." This was going to be a problem, a very big problem. Jane wasn't used to big lions asking who she was.

"Jane. My name is Jane, and who are you? Big lion." Jane stood up very slowly, not wanting to make the big lion feel threatened or give him a reason to attack her. She was just lost and and wanted to find her way back to the jungle, that's it. "I got lost, I come from a jungle. You know a jungle, a huge place with trees and monkeys and gorillas."

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[Kopa]

As soon as he spoke, a dark lion came out from nowhere asking who Kopa was. Who wouldn't know who he was anyway? He was the prince of the Pridelands for goodness sake. As the two adults spoke to one another, Kopa stepped out from behind the male’s foreleg and stared up at him. “Have you seen my Mom and Dad, or maybe my little sister?” He of course couldn’t forget about Kiara. She had only been an infant when the tragedy occurred, but at least Kopa was old enough to remember her. “She’s about this big.” He told them indicating the height with a paw, then again time had passed since the accident so he figured he should hold his paw just a little higher. “Ok. Maybe this big.” He didn't exactly know how big she would be now anyway.

Peering up at the large male, the golden cub tilted his small head to one side. "Who are you anyway?" He certainly didn't smell like he was from around here. Kopa was about to ask another question when he heard Jane's response. "Wow! The jungle? My Dad told me he lived there once. He said he had to eat bugs and gross stuff like that. Do you have to eat bugs at all?" Certainly this, Jane, had to survive somehow in her part of the world. She didn't look like that much of a meat eater to be honest, but then again looks can be deceiving.