[Random Melody]

Kion's eyebrows pinched together, eyes narrowing faintly down at the lioness cub. She's got snark. He thought, watching carefully, seeing the annoyance flare up in Atazi's eyes. Her first words made his ears flick, but his gaze didn't waver. "Don't call me--" He started to speak, but cut off when he heard Atazi's next words, eyes narrowing faintly. He didn't say anything, but raised one eyebrow when Atazi introduced herself, and he grimaced when she called him "your highness". "Don't call me that." He muttered, staring down at her almost blankly. His eyes narrowed faintly at her next words, but the look wasn't exactly hostile, more thoughtful than anything. He felt her tense to surge upwards, and leaped off before she had the chance to throw him off, landing easily on all fours and shaking his fur out, watching as she quickly leapt to her paws and backed away. He didn't move, just stared at her, thinking over his next moves carefully.

"Alright, Outlander," Bunga grumbled, dusting himself off. He was kind of upset - Okay, really upset - That she'd tried to eat him. Him. But, better him than someone else. Then again, this lioness was starving. The honey badger shook the thought off and headed forward. "You can't j--"

"Bunga." Kion's tail flicked out in front of his best friend, stopping him and pushing him back a little bit. "Hang on a sec." His amber gaze flickered back toward Atazi, wary, thinking, assessing. He had few choices here - One would be sending her back to the Outlands. She was quite obviously an Outlander, but she wasn't causing trouble or doing anything worthy of being sent back. Option two - Let her continue on to hunt, because he honestly felt bad for her. She was obviously hungry. But Kion didn't know if she would disrupt the Circle of Life or not, though he highly doubted she'd want to take more than her share. Option three was take her back to Pride Rock. They had food there and Atazi looked exhausted so she could rest there, too. Again, she hadn't been causing any trouble, so Kion didn't see anything wrong with that option. Besides the fact that Atazi already seemed to hate him, and they didn't even know eachother. Kion was silent as he considered his options, tail flicking back and forth, his tail tuft brushing gently across the ground as he thought it over.

His job was to defend the Circle of Life. Outlander or not, Atazi was part of the Circle of Life. And she wasn't like Janja and his hyenas, she wasn't causing trouble aside from the fact that she'd just attacked his best friend but Kion could easily overlook that. She honestly didn't seem very harmful. The cub's shoulders twitched slightly, shifting his paws, thinking, before his amber gaze finally focused on Atazi once more. Option two or option three. Option one was pretty much out of the question, because he saw absolutely no reason to have to send her back. He was a little iffy on option three, though, mainly because he wasn't sure if she would take kindly to accepting help. Then again, he didn't know. She was probably just scared, and obviously hungry. "Alright, well..." He trailed off, eyes narrowing faintly, thinking, and his gaze flickered toward Pride Rock briefly before he looked at Atazi again. "I get that, then. Look," He took a step forward, and dipped his head respectfully. "I'm Kion - But you already know that." His head lifted again. "This here's Bunga," He added, tilting his head briefly toward Bunga, who gave a small wave, still looking a little upset. Kion continued carefully, his gaze not leaving Atazi's, "Atazi, right?" He checked, pausing for a second before continuing. "Look, you seem kind of tired, and..." He trailed off, his gaze flickering over her pelt, thinking his next words over carefully. "Well, obviously starving. If you want, I can take you back to Pride Rock. We have food there, so you can eat, then rest, then be on your way, if you'd like."