Lost Royalty [Briar Rose ONLY]

[Simba]

As always, the woodlands surrounding the outskirts of Stefan's kingdom were the very image of tranquility. The only audible noises were the melodious songs of the birds in the trees, and the rich, life-giving warmth of the sun brilliantly illuminated the forest below through the treetops, creating a display of dappled spotlights throughout. Although nobility had rights to hunting grounds in other parts of the forest, this particular glen was far-removed from civilization, the only sign of human life being a mysterious cottage hidden away in the trees. It was still largely untouched by man, and the mighty gray oaks were permitted to grow rich and statuesque in their age.

Underneath these oaks, however, a stranger to the forest wandered. The chorus of birds momentarily ceased their singing at the presence of this newcomer, and they curiously (and cautiously) observed the creature from the safety of the treetops. Striding along on four powerful legs was a golden-brown lion with a rusty red mane - he was obviously quite far from home. Yet... the lion was not entirely sure he still even had a place he could call his home.

Simba had, indeed, traveled quite a distance from the jungle paradise he shared with his adoptive family, Timon and Pumbaa. His mind plagued with troubled thoughts and pained memories, he only wished to be alone for a while to calm his head. Timon and Pumbaa were naturally confused, but reluctantly understood their friend's desire for privacy - Simba, himself, was unsure what had come over him. Ever since that night they spent gazing at the stars, when Simba suddenly recalled the stories his father told him of the Great Kings of the past... memories he had managed to suppress for so long suddenly returned once more to haunt him.

In his mental haze, Simba hadn't realized just how far away he had traveled, by now. It was already the dawn of the next day, and he was now far from the tropical climate he was used to... the humidity of the jungle was replaced with a cool calmness in the air, the calls of the birds were markedly different and quieter than he was used to, and the trees all around him were... strange, to say the least. But too much was on the young lion's mind for him to even pay much notice to all of these details.

His head downcast as he thought to himself, he simply loped along at a slow pace, until he came upon a babbling creek winding through the woods, shimmering with crystal clear waters. Needless to say, after trekking for so many miles, he was fairly parched, and hunkered down in front of the stream to lap up the refreshing water with his tongue. After his thirst was quenched, the water quelled to reveal the lion's own face in its waters - his reflection. Not the first thing he wanted to see, at the moment.

With a silent sigh, however, he continued to stare into it despondently, eventually allowing his weary muscles to rest as he sprawled himself down along the bank of the river. He lowered his head down in between his aching paws, and lay there silently, until he felt the urge to fall asleep.

[Briar Rose]

Sometime later, Briar Rose carried a woven basket under her right arm. Neatly folded in the basket was a stack of fabrics and clothes. Even when in a humble peasant dress, the maiden was a remarkably beautiful human. Innocent and pure as ever, she hummed loudly to herself. She actually improvised the melody she hummed, but even improvisation was a masterpiece with her vocal chords.

The teenager approached the creek. A large tree obscured the sleeping lion from her viewpoint, and so she wasn't aware of any stranger's presence. She began to delicately wash the clothes, humming blissfully as she tended to her chores. She never complained once, and almost seemed eager to complete tasks many would find unbearably mundane.

[Simba]

Simba felt his ear twitch, as a noise - a voice, actually - that wasn't there before woke him from his slumber. Slowly, his eyes heaved open, as he began to register the surprisingly close voice. It was singing... humming, rather. Simba had to admit... it sounded beautiful. Soothing, even. It almost tempted him to go back to sleep.

But, the young lion's curiosity was piqued far too much for that to happen. He wanted to at least see for himself what kind of animal it was that was humming to itself, just several feet away - he was in an environment much different than he was used to, after all, and had no idea what sorts of creatures hung around these parts. Couldn't be all that vicious if it was humming so peacefully to itself, at any rate...

Lifting himself up and silently creeping closer to the source of the voice, he peered around a tree that was obscuring his view... and then, he saw it. One of the strangest animals he'd ever seen. The closest thing Simba could liken it to was... a monkey, or an ape. It had ape-like paws, with which it could grasp onto things easier than a lion could, but... it was entirely hairless, save for a flowing golden mane atop its head. It seemed to make up for this by wearing an extra layer of skin... weird. All the same, the animal had a certain beauty to it that Simba couldn't quite pin down... it was elegant, in a way.

Simba's curiosity couldn't be stopped, now - he just kept gawking at this bizarre animal from behind the tree, until his eyes drifted over to whatever it was she was tinkering with with her paws. More of those extra skins...? I guess this is how they cleaned themselves, rather than just using their tongue. Huh. Simba cocked his head in an innocent, cub-like manner as he observed this action.

He looked back up to the animal, itself. He wanted to know more about it... maybe an introduction wouldn't hurt. After all, it seemed friendly.

Cautiously padding around the tree and closer to the creature, while keeping his distance - Timon taught him well that not everybody was willing to talk to a lion - Simba cleared his throat. "Um... hello, there." He tried his best to shine a friendly grin - which probably wasn't the best idea, as it revealed his rows upon rows of sharp, predatory teeth. "You, uh... you live here?"

[Briar Rose]

Briar Rose was startled from the beginning. She had heard something she truly did not expect--a male tenor, soft and timid, and a little hesitant. But when her eyes darted to the stranger, her surprise turned into genuine shock. She had never seen a lion before, but she had recognized it from illustrations in fairytale stories that her aunts had read to her when she was very young. But she didn't recall reading any tales about lions who could talk. She wanted to get up and run, but her legs didn't respond. The most she could do was fall back, but she caught herself and scooted away from the lion, fright in her eyes.

Having scooted away from the lion, she stared at the curious beast, waiting a few seconds to decide whether or not to scream or to run, but she did neither. She just stared at the lion's eyes, and quickly realized that if he truly wanted to kill her and eat her, he would have done it by now. Not to mention, the voice she heard was very polite, if a little awkward. She had trembled but calmed herself. The hand that was on her chest was balled into a fist out of fear, but she visible relaxed and spoke, nervous yet polite.

"I... I--I'm sorry. But... did you just speak?" She remained still, waiting for him to respond.

[Simba]

Simba, himself, flinched in response to the frightened reaction he got out of the strange animal. Great - right off the bat, it was terrified of him. Smooth, Simba. The lion grimaced apologetically, taking a single step further away from the stranger to ensure it he meant no harm. The animal just... stared at him, frozen with fear. Whatever it was, it had very striking eyes. It seemed to loosen up after a few seconds, however.

"Uh... sorry," Simba attempted to calm the stranger's nerves, uttering a gentle awkward laugh. "Don't worrry, I won't eat you, I promise. I don't really have much of a taste for... um... whatever you are." Then, however, the creature, itself, spoke. Simba had a hunch it was a female of whatever it was, and this seemed to be confirmed by its voice, singing aside. She sounded as timid as a baby gazelle, with a soft, almost cooing voice. Her voice wasn't what really grabbed Simba's attention, however - it was the downright weird question she asked him.

"Uh..." Simba lowered one eyebrow and raised the other incredulously. "... Yeah. What's so weird about that...?" He could only wonder why on earth this animal didn't expect lions to speak. All animals, maybe bugs aside, could speak, right?

[Briar Rose]

The lion apologized. He was awkward, affable, and sincere--despite his many sharp teeth and predatory build, he seemed very gentle and even a little unassuming. The lion promised not to eat her, which brought her some relief. He kept his distance and spoke gently. She couldn't be fully convinced, and was ready to run away if she was endangered, but she started to trust him.

The teenage girl frowned in embarrassment and shame when the lion seemed to have been bothered by her question. She blushed slightly and tightened her muscles in reflex. "Oh, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean... I--it's just that I never met a... a, uh, a talking lion before." She paused then smiled, though her brows remained furrowed in embarrassment. "But I never met any lion before, so... I guess I shouldn't be surprised."

After a short moment, she visibly relaxed and continued speaking. "All of the other animals here can't talk to me. But they can listen." She stared at the lion in interest, but not condescendingly so; she looked at him with respectful interest, more than as if he were a freak. "Y-yes. Yes, I live here." She brushed a golden lock from her cheek, which had dangled and brushed against her skin, from where she continued to sit.

[Simba]

The golden-maned animal seemed awfully apologetic about something, and admitted to having never seen a talking lion. Weird. And then said something about other animals being unable to talk to her. Weirder. Just what was this strange creature?

"... Huh..." Simba mused to himself, his reddish eyes drifting away for a moment in contemplation and confusion. Quickly, however, he awkwardly cleared his throat and gave the stranger another reassuring smile. "Well, hey, don't worry about it. I guess we're both completely new animals to each other." Although, it seems she'd at least knew what a lion was, and that he was one. Little details like this only further ignited the young lion's already strong curiosity. His earlier moodiness seemed to have dissipated, for the most part, after encountering this fascinating creature - his eyes were bright with cublike interest.

Simba decided to sit himself down, in an effort to make both himself and the new animal feel more comfortable - she was obviously a little skittish talking to a lion. Simba felt half-pressed to just leave her alone... but was just too curious about her. That aside... he was a little lonely, after spending days out on his own. Hopefully the stranger wouldn't mind sharing his company for a little while. After sprawling himself across the soft green grass that blanketed the earth surrounding them, Simba gave the animal a smile much friendlier and more relaxed than his others, thus far.

"My name's Simba. I come from..." Simba seemed to suddenly stop himself for a moment, looking away as he reconsidered his choice of words. "... from the jungles, down south." The rusty-maned lion then turned his attention towards the glen that surrounded the two of them. This really was a beautiful jungle... although markedly different from the sort of jungle he was used to. "This place is beautiful... although, uh, pretty new, to me," he added, with another awkward chuckle. "I've never seen trees quite like those..." They certainly were unique-looking.

[Briar Rose]

The lion was adorable in his awkwardness, and it was obvious that he intended to be friendly. He pointed out that, despite being a difference species, he was in the exact same position she was in, having never met a human being. This was almost enough to eradicate any fear the maiden had, but she grew calmer by the minute. He introduced himself, and his name was lovely and exotic--she had never heard a name of its ilk. She almost said it aloud just because it was such a pleasantly unique name. Simba.

The lion hesitated while explaining where he came from, but Briar Rose didn't think too much of it. She was the same: she would clam up every time she met a stranger, and be very hesitant to explain herself. This was yet another mutual similarity; this lion was amazingly human, in a way.

Briar Rose smiled tenderly, as she scooted closer to the now resting lion, clearly opening up to him. "... It's a pleasure meeting you, Simba." She stared into his soft, expression-laden eyes. "I've never been to a jungle, but I've read about them." Her eyelids half closed and her smile increased. "I've also read about lions. I... I never thought I'd ever see one."

She had a quick dilemma. Should she reveal her name, or not? She found a quick loophole in her aunts' demand. They said never talk to different people, strangers. But they never said anything about critters and animals (well, humans are animals, too, but that's beside the point). Her aunts had seen her with her forest-dwelling friends before, and they raised no objection. This one just happened to talk, but he shouldn't be discriminated.

After a pause, she spoke affably. "My name is Briar Rose. But please don't tell anyone, all right?"

[Simba]

Simba could only blink in confusion, lifting a single eyebrow as the golden-maned animal mentioned having never even seen a jungle, before - weren't they in one? It looked a lot different than any jungle he'd seen, yeah, but... Wait, read about lions? What did that mean? Simba could only assume it was how these animals told each other about things they've seen... the young lion's curiosity towards this strange yet fascinating animal only grew stronger by the minute. She was strange, alright, but... Simba liked her. She was friendly, and unafraid of him. If he had ever tried to socialize with anybody that wasn't a lion, back when he lived in the Pride Lands, they would have treated him too much like... well, royalty...

Simba gently shook his head to quickly stop himself from reminiscing, again. He then shined a charmed, lopsided grin towards the animal. "Heh, well, I'm proud to be the first!" he responded, only partially joking. It did make him feel a little special. The lion cocked his head slightly, as he suddenly noticed the stranger take on a more reserved demeanor, as if she was contemplating something. Then, however, she smiled once more, and gave her own name.

The lion lifted his eyebrows at the unique-sounding name - it sounded almost like two names in one, and instantly conjured up the image of a bright flower sprouting within a thorn bush. Somehow, that image sort of did remind Simba of this timid yet beautiful animal. He was a little confused as to why she wanted to keep it a secret, but... somehow, he could relate to that desire. He decided not to question it, and smiled breezily, laughing a little. "Hakuna Matata. Your secret's safe with me."