Honey Badger King met up with his childhood friend, Panther King, by the Great Cliff that looked out over the beach, where they could see the Sea Otter Queen's subjects running around, gathering seaweed for their daily meals, and the islands in the distance, so small and far away, that they looked like little dots in the distance.
It was that day when the animals and the humans of the Secret Island first heard about High Roller.
Panther King was looking down at the Sea Otters with a perplexed look on his face, clearly seeing things that were not quite right among the Sea Otters.
"What are they doing?" Honey Badger King asked, squinting his golden eyes at the tiny creatures by the beach. "Did they catch a something other than seaweed for once?"
"The Sea Otters are attacking the humans," Panther King answered, confused. "Shui and her people have always been at peace with them. Why would she suddenly turn on her friends?"
"Maybe one of the humans committed a crime against her?" Honey Badger King suggested. "She could just be looking for the one who did the crime."
"She's attacking all of them."
Honey Badger King blinked. "Wow. Okay, now that's unusual. We should go see what her problem is."
While Panther King, with his softer skin and fur, had to climb down as fast as he could, Honey Badger King was tough, thick, and strong-boned, so he let himself fall down the cliff, startling several Sea Otters away from where he landed.
Panther King was with him shortly, thanks to his ability to climb very fast.
"We wish to speak with your queen," Panther King hissed to a nearby Sea Otter soldier, who was out of their sight as fast as lightning.
The two animal kings helped the humans who had been attacked by the Sea Otters get up and Panther King made sure that they weren't injured too badly.
Thankfully, none of them were.
Sea Otter Queen, also known as Shui, came over very quickly, led by the soldier Panther King asked to call for her. "Panther King, Honey Badger King, how wonderful of the two of you to join us, my friends. Quick, if we hurry, we might get these humans off of the Secret Island for good!"
Panther King made a sour face at the suggestion. "Why? What did the humans do?"
"They're stealing our pearls!" Shui cried. "All of our magical pearls that we worked so hard for, getting stolen by those hairless creatures!"
Panther King looked around. "Your pearls are in that hollow rock over there. My friends, I suggest that we all hide and wait for the thieves to come back before you punish any more innocent humans. We must punish the thieves, not everyone."
The two other animal lords nodded and hid themselves.
Shui pretended to be a wet rock, Honey Badger King hid in a nearby bush and Panther King hid himself in the shadows of the hollow rock.
It took a long time for something to happen, but finally, it did.
A pair of strange-looking animals with hooves and stripes came running over to the hollow rock, laughing.
"Wow, so easy!" one of the strange animals laughed.
"Right?!" the other agreed. "We tell the Sea Otter Queen that the humans have been stealing her magical pearls, and she starts hunting down every human on this island!"
The two strange animals laughed together.
"Master High Roller's going to be so pleased! We have the Sea Otters on our side now, and magical pearls!"
"Not really," Panther King growled from the shadows. "You don't even know how to use them."
The strange animals looked around, trying to find the source of the voice, but Panther King was invisible when he was in the shadows. "Come out! We know you're out there!"
"I think not." Panther King was expressing his amusement by humming. "You two are troublemakers, and I do not come out for troublemakers. What kind of animals are you anyway?"
"We're Zebras!" the animals cried out together.
"And why were the two of you stealing Sea Otter Queen's pearls?"
"Our master, Master High Roller, needs them to control the wicked humans," one of the Zebras explained. "That way, they'll always do as they're supposed to, and we animals can rule them."
Honey Badger King and Sea Otter Queen gasped.
The Zebras looked around, but they didn't leave the spot they were in, so the hidden Animal Lords weren't discovered.
"We animals do not rule over humans, we live with them side-by-side," Panther King hissed. "Whatever creature your master is, tell him to stay away from our home, or else."
"We're not afraid of you!" one of the Zebras shouted. "You're the one who's hiding from us!"
"Really?" Panther King came out of the shadows, revealing himself to the Zebras, who let out a shout in surprise. "How brave of you, not fearing me."
Honey Badger King and Shui the Sea Otter Queen took Panther King's revelation of himself as an invitation to come out of hiding themselves. Shui bared her needle-sharp teeth at the Zebras and Honey Badger King snarled like he was ready to devour them.
"You lied to me!" Shui screeched. "You told me that it was humans who stole my pearls! And I, the FOOL, believed you!"
Shui grabbed one of her magical pearls, stuck it to her soldier's spear, and aimed said spear at the two Zebra thieves. "Leave before I curse you so hard, you wish Honey Badger King got to you!"
Honey Badger King bit a rock in half and sliced through a fallen tree as if it were no problem, which it wasn't.
The Zebras looked at the glowing pearl, then at the three battle-ready Animal Lords.
Then, as fast as their little hooves could carry them, the two Zebras ran towards the ocean, swimming away into little dots of black and white.
It was only when they were truly gone that the pearls were counted.
"One of the pearls is missing," Shui the Sea Otter Queen whispered.
Panther King sniffed an eerie black pearl suspiciously. "They don't know how to use it. Besides, it's just one pearl, what damage could they possibly do with it?"
Honey Badger King ate a piece of seaweed that was offered to him by a Sea Otter server. "Remember that time I ate one of your pearls by accident and pooped rainbows for six weeks before it came out?"
"Magical rainbow poops aren't the only things one can do with one my magical pearls. Let's just hope that those Zebras don't figure that out." Shui gagged and shuddered. "And I told you not to eat my pearls!"
The summer after Shui the Sea Otter Queen's run-in with the Zebras, everything was back to normal.
The humans forgot all about the Sea Otters and their misaimed revenge, Honey Badger King found a grove of peach trees and took some of them back to his people and Panther King found himself getting more and more curious about the world away from the Secret Island.
Sure, the name of the island was deceptive with it actually being a continent, but it was a small continent, and Panther King already knew most of it, having travelled through the continent before his parents had died when he was in his mid-teens.
"It must be boring, having to deal with the exact same things each day," Honey Badger King mumbled beside the Panther King as they helped the Sea Otters prepare for the Summer Festival. "No wonder the Sea Otters are so excited about the Summer Festival."
Panther King sighed. "I know. Every day, the same monotonous things. Sometimes I wonder why we even do this. The Secret Island is getting a little cramped, and if you don't watch your step, you'll step on a Sea Otter with a magic pearl."
Panther King gently pushed a Sea Otter out of the way with his foot.
Honey Badger King put down the giant bowl of honey he coaxed from the bees for the Sea Otters. "We belong here. Sure, it gets boring a lot and the most exciting thing that happened in the past hundred years were those two Zebras coming from over the sea, but it's home, and we'll miss it if we're not here. Besides,the outside world doesn't sound very friendly. Here, we have peace instead of war. I don't think humans and animals sit at the same table when they eat over there."
Honey Badger King made a good point, but Panther King was still restless. He wanted to see the world, and just knowing that it was out there was making him restless.
Shui hung up strings of her magical pearls around Sea Otter Castle with the help of the other Sea Otters, the humans and the other animals that came to help them get ready. Honey Badger King was right. Their place was on the Secret Island.
"Hey, Animals!" a strange voice called out from the other side of the open door. Thousands of faces turned to the doors, including some humans.
That quickly told Panther King that something weird was going on.
After all, humans and animals couldn't understand each other, or speak each other's languages.
A human walked into the castle, accompanied by a strange creature that looked big enough to crush many things. Panther King flattened his ears against his skull as he recognised the scent of the Zebras on the two strangers.
"I am Master High Roller," the human spoke, startling everyone with his ability to be understood by both animals and humans, "and I've come to free you from your slavery!"
Fossa King laughed from where he was busy hanging silk banners. "Slavery? We're a free race, you funny little human, you. If we didn't want to do this, we wouldn't."
The other Animal Lords laughed in agreement.
"That's because they trained you to want to do this!" the odd creature with the man roared at them. "They trained you to do what they want!"
"And what does that make you?" Puma King asked snidely. "Isn't your High Roller a human too? Did he train you? Don't even pretend it isn't true, he trained you like a pet."
The strange animal's hat pointed at Puma King.
Having a bad feeling about what might happen to the other feline, Panther King tackled Puma King, causing the cannonball to miss them by millimetres.
After his servant attacked one of the Animal Lords of the Secret Island, High Roller and the odd creature with him fled.
It was not the last they'd seen of him.
Each day, the news would come.
High Roller had convinced another Animal Lord to join him with either false promises, or with dirty lies or tricks.
"Why would someone turn against his own kind?" Puma King asked Panther King one day, shortly after the news came of Okapi Queen joining sides with the weird human. "Why would he want to enslave his own people?"
Panther King turned his head toward the sea, his eyes full of unspoken wishes to see what was on the other side. "Maybe the humans back where he comes from are wicked and he wants them to face justice for their crimes."
"I'm sure not everybody over there is as wicked as High Roller says they are." Puma King scratched an itch in his ear. "Do you really think High Roller's right about the wickedness of his own kind?"
Panther King shook his head. "No. The humans around here, they never hurt us before, and I doubt they'll start now."
"What about Orion?" Puma King asked, eying Panther King carefully. "He was a human."
"So?"
"Aren't you mad about that?" Puma King pulled a thorn from his fur. "He killed your parents, leaving you to take care of your sisters and your kingdom at a very young age, before you even had the chance to properly be young. Don't you want revenge for that?"
Panther King shrugged. "I was mad, but being angry isn't going to bring them back."
Puma King blinked at the younger feline, then he laughed.
"What's so funny? I'm not a vengeful animal, everyone knows…"
"You have more reason than Okapi Queen to join High Roller, but you still refuse!" Puma King stood up and turned back to Puma Castle. "Maybe you stand a better chance against his tricks and lies than some of the other animals did."
"Did you join?" Panther King asked, the traces of hope slowly fading from his voice. "Rumi, did you join High Roller like the others?"
Rumi the Puma King gave the Panther King a saddened look before he started walking back to his home.
"Rumi, the bear…" Panther King sounded as if he was about to cry, the poor child. "Rumi, his bear shot at you. He tried to… to kill you. Why?"
Puma King just continued walking away, ignoring the pleas of the younger feline.
It was the last time they talked before Panther King went missing.
When Rumi heard the news, he wondered to himself if the young king may have found himself across the sea, making new friends, friends who wouldn't join High Roller for selfish reasons like greed or vanity.
Panther King hummed as he hunched down by the rear end that was stuck in the hole.
"Stuck again?" he teased Honey Badger King's franticly kicking legs.
"No!" Honey Badger King snarled, kicking harder. Then his legs went limp and he sighed. "Yes, I'm stuck. Very, very stuck and I can't get out…"
"Need help, my friend?" Panther King asked, grabbing on to Honey Badger King's short and stubby back legs to pull him out in case he said yes.
"No!" Honey Badger King snarled, kicking yet again.
Panther King let go of the stubby little legs and started pulling the thorns off his pelt, combing his fur with his claws in the process. It was the last time he would take the shortcut through the thorn bushes to get anywhere.
"Panther?" Honey Badger King asked with a hint of fear in his voice. "Are you still there?"
"I'm here," Panther King answered, pulling another thorn out of his fur. "I took the shortcut again, so I have thorns all over my fur. Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere."
Honey Badger King let out a long, hollow moan. "Pull me out, please.
Panther King grabbed Honey Badger King's back legs again and started pulling, but he was a little bit too stuck. "You should wait here. I'm going to see if I can get someone to help. I think there's some olive oil back at Panther Castle."
"Wait here?!" Honey Badger King yelled as Panther King started running to get said olive oil. "IF I COULD LEAVE I WOULD BE BACK HOME RIGHT NOW, PANTHER!"
Moving as fast as he could, Panther King ran back to Panther Castle, grabbed a vat of slippery olive oil, ignored anyone who tried to ask him where he was going with the olive oil and poured half the bottle out over Honey Badger King, who was still loudly grumbling before he tried pulling him out again.
"I asked Gudine to marry me," Honey Badger King said as Panther King continued pulling on his legs. "She said yes."
"Oh." Panther King considered pulling Honey Badger King's tail, but he knew the other animal wouldn't like, so he continued pulling him by the legs. "It's nice that you finally found yourself someone who doesn't care about appearances."
Honey Badger King laughed. "Okay, just for that, Panther, I'm not inviting you to the wedding!"
Panther King hummed. "I'll try not to mourn."
"I'm kidding, by the way. You're coming and you're going to be my best beast."
There was a loud pop, and Honey Badger King was sitting on Panther King's chest, covered in dirt. "It's next fall. Don't be late, Panther! I'll be coming for you if you are!"
Panther King hummed again and watched as his friend ran back to Honey Badger territory, laughing.
Little did either one of them know that the wedding would be postponed.
Honey Badger King first met Panther King when their parents came together to talk about the peace treaties between the Honey Badgers and the Panthers.
Back when they were still just princes.
Honey Badger Prince (as he was called back then) was a whole two winters older than Panther Prince and thought that going out to play with the younger animal would be a tremendous waste of his time, as younger children didn't understand the games of the older kids, and they were very dumb.
But despite his protests, Honey Badger Prince was forced to go out to the Royal Panther Garden to find the other prince.
The garden was huge, and there were trees, flowers and even several fountains as decorations, giving a whole new meaning to the word "garden". Even Honey Badger Queen's garden wasn't as pretty.
Honey Badger Prince found the Panther Prince sitting by one of the fountains, making himself a crown of daisies as he watched the koi in the water, peacefully swimming around in circles.
"Hey!" Honey Badger Prince called out, startling the other prince and causing him to flee up a nearby cherry tree with a frightened squeak. "No, wait, come down!"
Honey Badger Prince tried climbing up after the young Panther, but he couldn't climb that well and kept slipping down.
"My parents brought me here for the peace treaty," Honey Badger Prince told Panther Prince, "and they want me to get to know you or something. If you don't want to, I'll go back inside."
Panther Prince mumbled something Honey Badger Prince couldn't hear and crawled back down. "You look weird."
"That's because I'm a Honey Badger," Honey Badger Prince said. "You've seen Honey Badgers before, right?"
"No." Panther Prince put his daisy crown on his head. "I'm not allowed out of Panther Castle because I'm too small."
Honey Badger Prince shrugged. "You'll get bigger. You're just a little young, that's all."
"Father said that the Panthers and the Honey Badgers are at war." Panther Prince took a drink of water from the fountain. "But he and Mother are tired of fighting, which is why our parents are talking about peace treaties inside."
Honey Badger Prince took a drink of water as well, but he had a feeling that he didn't look quite as graceful as Panther Prince did while drinking. The water was very sweet, but the fish were a distraction and one of them splashed him in the face. "My dad says that the only reason your parents want to make peace is because the Panthers are losing."
Panther Prince didn't seem outraged at the idea, like Honey Badger Prince would have been if Panther Prince had said something like that about his father. In fact, instead of losing his temper, the young Panther picked a daisy off his crown and stuffed it in his mouth. "Father says that everybody's losing. If we keep on fighting each other, we won't be able to defend ourselves when a real enemy shows up because we'd be too tired to do anything."
"Why did you eat that flower?" Honey Badger Prince asked, tilting his head curiously.
"I'm hungry and Mother says that we're not getting fed until the peace treaties have been negotiated." Panther Prince offered Honey Badger Prince a daisy. "In a way that will leave both sides happy."
"But you're eating?" Honey Badger Prince ate the flower. "Isn't that unfair?"
"I'm six winters old and sickly. And Mother didn't say that we're not allowed to eat her flowers, we're just not allowed to eat food until the treaties are over." Panther Prince looked up at the tree. "It will encourage us to make peace more quickly."
"I'm sorry you're eating flowers. My parents brought over some honey as a treat, if you'd like some?"
Panther Prince seemed confused. "You're willing to share with me?"
"It's the least I could do." Honey Badger Prince wondered if his parents were starving themselves too. "After all, you gave me something to eat, why shouldn't I do the same for you?"
And so, the two children snuck to the Royal Honey Badgers' chest of Royal Honey, waited until all the backs were turned, and were discovered in the chest of Royal Honey by two pairs of disapproving royal parents with sticky fur and tummy aches, both of them regretting eating all that honey so very fast.
But now that their children were friends, the Royal Honey Badgers and the Royal Panthers were forced to make peace with each other and give herbs to their children to soothe their stomach pains.
I just recently remembered that this show existed and I loved it so much I wrote a fanfic. Please tell me if you loved it too (you did if you're reading fanfics for it) and wish there were more fanfictions for it!