A Day of Games and Fun [Event]

Big dragon sneezes were not quite what Kopa had expected, but when he looked up at Dragon he found himself just kind of amazed with her. He didn't know her that well. Nevertheless, he wanted to be friendly. Especially when he saw her tail flicking at him. That had to be an invitation to stick around, right? An invitation to come with her certainly was what Kopa was reading it as. He gave a joyful laugh and hopped up to his paws again. Then he scampered over to her. Once he was near, he just kind of took in her appearance. Big and imposing, but friendly at the same time. Amazing how that sort of worked out, wasn't it?

"Hi! You wanna explore the festival, too?" Kopa asked. He wasn't sure if she could speak the same language. From what he'd heard, dragons were tricky creatures. That didn't deter him in the slightest. Instead, it made Kopa want to try and understand them all the more. A moment more passed before he started to hop back and forth in front of Dragon. Maybe he'd be able to make it up to her. He had a sneaking suspicion that her sneezes had to do the with the confetti he'd been spreading.

"We could go together! That's what you want, right miss dragon?" Kopa asked. "I even won't jump in any more confetti piles when we're together." He beamed. That had to be a good thing, right?

Through the streets of Arendelle paced a lion-sized brand of fiery gold and red. Simba May have come here often enough since his father’s rescue and the founding of the Enchanted Suns, but he never felt any sense of belonging in their base of operations. He stuck out like a giraffe in a zebra herd.

But just because he didn’t belong didn’t mean the future king was uncomfortable.

Simba’s catlike eyes danced merrily down at the confetti his paws swept through. It had the same effect as piles of dust in the Elephant Graveyard...except instead of puffs of dead dirt, his mitts made little explosions of color. He had a cublike desire to pounce through it and watch the colors come raining down the same way crickets fled through tall grass.

And that wasn’t even the most interesting thing to see! Everyone looked genuinely happy today. Simba often saw the effects of the war and the responsibility for the tense, worried faces of the creatures in it laying on his father’s shoulders, heaviest of crowning manes. Especially after the most recent attack on the caravan—Zira and her bloodthirsty, mangy thugs. A lioness leading the charge against a supply mission, something so disinclined to battle, was so close to home... No wonder Mufasa’s ears sometimes slanted with worry. He felt it himself every time he noticed his cubs learning to hunt around tree trunks and roots instead of the wide open savanna.

Kopa’s scent fluttered up with a few pieces of bright paper. Simba’s smile leaped back onto his mouth. His son would have fun here. No wonder this festival was still being held; a stroke of genius on the leaders’ parts. Who could stay gloomy with this music playing, these suneshiny faces shaking off the war for a few days?

Encouraged, Sarabi’s son lolloped forward, following Kopa’s scent and indulging in a carefree, open-mouthed wonder as the confetti swirled up and around his huge bulk. 

As quickly as it appeared, the grin flashed back off of Simba’s face when he rounded a corner and found the end of his youngest’s scent trail. Kopa was there all right—chaperoned by something huge. Big as three elephants, skinned like a crocodile, colored like a buzzard throat. A dragon. Mufasa’s heir had seen her around. She was supposed to be on their side...but then, Zara had been once, too.

Simba romped forward, head lowered below his shoulders aggressively without realizing it. The lion prince was standing with a foreleg protectively over his son and kind of glaring sternly before he stopped to think. He cleared his throat without even glancing down at his pale offspring. ”Hello.” With confetti still settling around him, Simba tried for a more polite tone. ”Sorry, I don’t think I’ve met you. I’m Simba—future King. This is my son, Kopa...who knows he’s not supposed to get under the bigger soldier’s feet.” Now Simba ducked his head to add in a scolding mutter to his son, ”Especially if I haven’t met them yet.”

Okay, so maybe his own Father would’ve been a little more diplomatic with one of their own rank. But even the festival couldn’t totally banish the recent attack and all of the worries for his cubs’ safety that came with it completely out of Simba’s mind.