Bongo, Bongo, Bongo (pre-return)

[simba]

The sun has just begun to set over the jungle, a few night birds had woken and taken wing to begin their nightly hunt. All around the sounds of night and day colliding echoed through the branches and undergrowth. Simba strolled gently and carelessly through it out, whistling a song as he pushed away banana leafs and a few ferns before finding what he had been looking for.

An ant trail.

Licking his maw he padded along it, lapping at the tiny creatures as he followed the trail away from the ant hill (they may have been tiny, but boy could a bunch of them hurt!). He heard an odd noise deeper in the jungle and looked up lazily, lapping at a few ants that had tried to escape on his whiskers.

[louie]

The odd noise could eventually be recognized as the rustling of leaves, and the bending of branches from the trees. The amount of noise indicated that there was more than just one stranger nearby, but who or what they were was currently unknown. That is because they were well hidden in the night.

[Bagheera]

(OOC: Might as well ask this here, Moony; what's the situation with Mowgli in FK? Is he still living with the wolf pack? This is pretty relevant to Bagheera so I'm just a little curious.)

As the sun set for the day and dusk began to cover the jungle, now was the time that the black panther, Bagheera, became active, and began his survey of the forest. The ebony-colored feline, now camouflaged most effectively in the darkened forest, made his way through the canopy, leaping from branch to branch and silently padding across the larger, thicker branches.

Today, he had found himself in a somewhat unfamiliar part of the jungle. Taking in the new surroundings, the black leopard smoothly cruised along through the treetops, ears perked outwards to pick up any sounds from below. Soon enough, he heard the sound of a large animal making its way through the brush; curious, Bagheera stopped and looked down below. It could very well be a potential meal; either way, he wanted to examine it.

To his surprise, a rusty-maned lion, of all things, emerged from the bushes. Bagheera knew very well that lions frequented the open savannas, almost never making their way into the thick forests and jungles; even he had scarcely ever seen these big cats before. Greatly intrigued, he quietly observed the lion, watching as things just got even stranger; the lion was following a trail of ants, and eating them. Bagheera watched with an expression of surprise and sheer perplexion on his face.

Just then, though, he heard the same rustling that the lion did, and turned his head towards the direction of the noise. He didn't pay much mind to it now, however, it was probably just some birds; the jungle-dwelling, insect-eating lion below had captured his attention too much.

[Timon]

((OOC = Hope ya don't mind, I've not used little Timon in ages. XD))

*Suddenly, there was a rustling in the bushes behind the lion. After a few minutes of this, a tiny meerkat with fire red hair leaps out of them, yelping loudly.*

Ow! Pincher beetles...ya gotta nip them before they nip back. Am I right?

*He rubbed his tail in pain, giving a weak chuckle. He then glances at where Simba is going. Curious, he scampers after the crimson maned lion.*

Hey, kid...ya alright? Ya been takin' off a lot lately, what gives?

[simba]

The sounds were increasing and it put the lion on edge, so when his adoptive father came out of the bushes he actually walked closer to the smaller mammal. There were way too many predators in this part of the jungle.

Of course he couldn't help chuckling at Timon, "Heh, what's wrong pop? Ants getting the best of you?" He blinked at the question, glancing back towards the noise before settling down on the ground, for comfort and in case Timon needed to hop on his back while they rushed off.

"I dunno..." He paused, what was bothering him? "Nothing, pop. I'm fine." He gestured with his head towards the tree tops. "I think something's coming."

[Bagheera]

As Bagheera continued to observe the lion, he noticed a smaller, much noisier animal leap out of the bushes; looked like some sort of mongoose. For such a diminutive creature, it had a voice that couldn't help but make the panther cringe a little.

Wondering what the lion's reaction would be, Bagheera was quite surprised to see that the two very clearly knew each other... why, the lion was calling the smaller animal "pop"! Things were getting stranger by the minute.

While Bagheera knew that eavesdropping wasn't generally a very polite thing to do, he was all too curious about the truly bizarre goings-on below. Still, the panther was preparing himself to leave; he couldn't very well stay and watch these two all day.

[simba]

Simba continued to look into the darkening shadows of the jungle. Most lions were not made for the jungle, but he'd been raised here. He knew what an empty tree looked and moved like. The one he was staring at looked nothing like that.

He smirked, it had been a while since he'd teased the panthers. The last time had been before the rainy season.

"Actually, I don't think we have to worry. It's just an old panther." To prove his ease, he rolled over on his back, stretching languidly- eyes still glued to the area Bagheera was hiding in.

[Bagheera]

"I beg your pardon?"

With that, Bagheera revealed himself to the two, leaping down from the treetops above and making a graceful landing on the ground by the tree's trunk. He refrained from approaching the lion just yet, he knew much better than that. Still, he couldn't just sit by and allow this cocky young lion to taunt him like that. The panther glared disapprovingly at the larger cat, waiting for a response.

[simba]

Oh...so it wasn't one of the jungle panthers. Simba had no idea who this cat was, not that it would change his opinion much. He'd met too many panthers to let his guard down for a stranger.

"Well...I guess you aren't that old." He didn't remove his gaze, and only shifted his position enough to block Timon from the panther. The disapproving glare only made the exiled prince's smile widen.

"Who are you?"

[Bagheera]

Bagheera only lifted an eyebrow at Simba's comment, still clearly rather offended. The pompous panther softened his gaze a little, however, seeing the young lion begin to act so friendly and at ease. Might as well introduce himself, it was only proper manners. Perhaps he could find out a bit more about this strange lion, too.

"... I am Bagheera," he began, his speech still somewhat flustered. "I come from the northern part of the jungle. And, er, I should like to ask the same from you," he continued, hints of both suspicion and curiosity in his yellow eyes. "I don't believe I've ever seen a lion in the jungle before."

[Timon]

*The meerkat brushes his arm off a bit.*

Nah, was a big pincher beetle, not an ant. I--

*He stopped mid-sentence as the panther appears. Being generally protective of Simba as well, Timon climbed upon to the lion's back, watching as the conversed. When the panther questioned the appearance of lions in the jungle, he scoffed a bit.*

What's more unbelievable? A lion in the jungle, or a human raised by a pack of hyenas? Besides the kid's with me, I raised him!

[simba]

"Bagheera?" That was a name he'd never heard in this part of the jungle, maybe the panther was telling the truth. If that was so, then he had nothing to worry about, which showed rather obviously as he relaxed his posture. Sitting more like a cub then the way a grown lion would sit. He glanced back at Timon with a cocky grin before turning back to Bagheera.

"I'm Simba," He gestures back to Timon, "And he's right. This is my pop, Timon." Wait...the curiosity of the new cat in the jungle had distracted Simba a bit, but Timon mentioning the pincer beetle...

"Where's the beetle."

[Bagheera]

Bagheera raised an eyebrow at the smaller mammal's boldness, and couldn't help but smirk at the analogy it had made. He might have been a bit off with hyenas, perhaps, but the little meerkat would probably be quite surprised at what Bagheera had dealt with.

Quickly his expression turned to mild surprise, when it was revealed that the mongoose was in fact the lion's surrogate father. Oddity of oddities... although, probably not too much stranger than a mancub being raised by wolves. "Well... I suppose I can believe that," the panther remarked wryly, with a knowing grin.

Bagheera's face became rather puzzled as the lion eagerly asked of the whereabouts of the beetle earlier mentioned. He couldn't be intent on eating it, could he?

[louie]

A music not far away (within the trees, in fact) incrementally filled the air. It started soft, but eventually became louder and louder. Finally, the music was loud and blaring, with a infectious, jazzy beat. What sounded like voice scat singing was audible, and the chattering of monkeys followed in rhythm. It was music and noises that would have been foreign to Simba and Timon, but all too familiar with Bagheera.

"Scabadahebedoobahshoodiddlydoodemoin!" the scatting voice sang.

The sources of the noises were still well hidden, thanks to the trees.