THE LION KING: THE HEART OF ZION

CHAPTER 2

3 MONTHS LATER - APRIL 1942

"Keep up, Sam! Last one to Pride Rock is a rotten egg! I got that right, right!?"

Sam bit back laughter at his friend.

In spite of his initial misgivings, Simba had made good on his promise. Once Sam had fully recovered, the lion pride had decided his best place was with them for now. They'd had Rafiki make him some clothes from animal furs, and immediately begun teaching him their ways. As... Unusual as he found it.

Of course, they'd continued to try l to find his kind. Or some way back to where he came from. But wherever the Pridelands were, they were far from civilized Africa, which meant for the moment Sam had to accept this was his life now.

Luckily, most kids of any species didn't judge. Kiara and Kovu's young son, Bakari had immediately swooped in to make Sam one of his friends. The young dark fur cub was full of energy, even for his age, and was quite the kid to keep up with. But Sam genuinely didn't mind, he hadn't had many friends back home - so he'd take it.

Of course, as a lion cub the kid was way faster than him, but he'd never actually tell him that as they climbed the base of their "home". "Ha! Beat you! Again!" Bakari announced triumphantly.

"Yeah; you're pretty dang fast."

Of course, Simba had waited for them - always the last two to make it back to the cave. Without a proper guardian yet, Sam especially ended up his responsibility most of the time. And while Sam did feel bad worrying him, who could blame him!? He was a teenager with virtually no supervision in a world of talking animals. Exploring and learning new things was a no-brainer.

"Another late excursion?" Simba asked in a light-hearted manner. "Nothing I'm going to hear about, I hope..."

"Aw, come on grandpa, we would never!" Bakari held his paw up impishly. "You know me, I'm just making sure Sam gets acquainted."

"Like how you got him "acquainted" with the hippos last week?"

"How was I supposed to know Mrs. Kipp wasn't actually pregnant?"

Sam laughed, enjoying the banter as usual. If there was one thing he liked here it was the feeling of community - something he'd lacked in the human world. Especially given he'd spent most of his time on the streets. "He's fine your majesty. We were having fun," He explained. "Sorry for being late again."

Bakari rolled his eyes. "You know, mom says you don't have to call him "your majesty". You practically live in our side of the den anyway," He pointed out. "Your majesty sounds so weird anyway. "Your majesty", come up with a cooler title!"

Sam and Simba both shared a chuckle - but Sam still felt compelled to call Simba by his honorific. He was, after all, just a guest of the Pride as of right now and as such calling him by his name would feel wrong. The Lion was a king, whether he was an animal or not.

"I might roll with you guys normally but I'm still just a guest," Sam insisted to the cub, who made a sort of confused face. "So, he's going to stay "your majesty"."

Bakari gave a look again, then seemed to change his expression to a surprised one. He turned to look at his grandfather, and with all the subtlety of a laughing hyena added... "Oh, you haven't asked him yet, have you?"

Whatever Simba was supposed to ask, he gave Bakari a stern look. "Go find your mother, Bakari. She wanted to give you a bath."

"Aw man, not again!" The cub whined before he turned to look at Sam sheepishly. "See you at dinner, Sam."

Sam chuckled again, straightening himself to look at Simba. What had Bakari meant anyway? The boy stretched slightly as he began to ask. "Uhhhh should I ask what Bakari meant?" he questioned. "You're not finally having me for dinner are you?"