~Chapter One~
~The Friendly Encounter~
It was a cool sunny day in the savannah. The wind was gently tugging at the branches of the trees. The tall grass swayed back and forth. Loose leaves and small debris twirled in the wind. Everything was at piece.
"Mommy! Daddy! Where are you?"
Flash images of a young meerkat calling for her parents through a tall patch of grass flashed through a meerkat's memory as she laid upon a brach high in a tree.
The sky began to darken and the winds blew furiously. Lighting began to strike causing the ground underneath to rumble.
"If it weren't for you they'd still be alive!" A group of enraged meerkats surrounded the little one as the wind blew more wildly than ever before.
"You've been causing trouble since day one!"
"Why don't we just kill the kid? Get it done and over with!" All cheered at the sound of it. The meerkats snatched the girl before she could take any sort of action. Each meerkat grabbed each of her limbs. They all trudged against they piercing wind to a tall cliff.
"At the count of three!"
All meerkats chimed in at each number. With every number they swung her closer and closer to the edge.
"One!"
She knew the time had come.
"Two!"
This was the end.
"Three!"
With that they swung her one last time and let her plummet down to her demise. A high pitched scream could be heard from a mile away. But it slowly drifted off as she went further down and down.
Gasira bolted awake from her dastardly nightmare. Her breaths became heavy trying to regain her sanity. With a simple misplacing of her paw she lost all balance and descended down the tree. Slamming into other lower branches that appeared below. One last blow to her arm and her fall had ended. Upon landing she groaned in pain grasping her injured arm. She sat herself up against the woody plant. The meerkat gave out a sigh in relief.
"It was only a dream, only a dream"
She told herself. As the female comforted herself she rubbed her opposite hand on the injured arm. She knew that it was badly bruised and if she left it alone, it would get worse. Unwilling she used her last boost of energy to lift herself up on her two hind legs. The meerkat commenced to finding a certain plant known as an aloe plant. She had used this plant before, and it always stunned her what the plant's capabilities were as far as healing.
Gasira trudged through the thick grass searching for a stream. The aloe plants were usually found in these types of wet locations. As she limped her way through the slight gusts of wind would pierce her scar on her right eye. Her bangs were the only things that covered her past. The sounds of chirping bugs temped the meerkat to take action. When she was about to pounce on prey her arm would pound and crush her spirit.
With regret she left the potential food alone and proceeded to find the plant.
"This plant better be worth-"
Suddenly the ground beneath her began to shake. Bits of loose stone and debris leaped across the dirt. The sound of trampling hooves came closer. The surrounding grass shook with every tramp of hooves. Gasira stood her ground. Not fearing what could possible happen I her. At last a warthog pounced out from the pasture. Gasira crouched down and hid in her arms. The warthog missed pounding its hooves against the meerkat's body by only inches. A quick breeze blew across her back as the animal jumped above her. A hideous smell came over her making her want to puke.
"Get back here you pig!" A voice called from afar. Three dark figures charged at the warthog. The meerkat rolled out of the way of the hyena's path. Barley missing their sharp claws. Followed by the hyenas was a thin cloud of dirt. The sound of their laughing echoed through the plains.
"Poor animal" Gasira thought to herself feeling pity for the pig. As she walked away a thought entered her mind.
"If that was you, wouldn't you like some help?"
She thought it over a bit. Suddenly a cry extended over the plains.
"Help! Somebody help!" The voice pleaded
"That's it, enough is enough"
And with that Gasira sprinted in the direction the warthog was being chased. She jumped over the rocks that stood in the ground and swiped away at the grass. In minutes she appeared at a clearing. She took notice of the three hyenas that surrounded the warthog. Gasira searched for a way to save the animal before it was too late. Out of the corner of her eye she spotted a tree, with its bark peeling off. A idea came to mind. It might not even work, heck it might even give her away. But it was worth giving a try. Not wasting a single second she rushed over to the tree.
"You're going to make the nicest pork we've ever had in a long time." A hyena sneered
"Yeah we're gonna be pigging out" another exclaimed.
"Good one Banzai, gonna have to use that another time" the leader remarked.
"If I were you, I would leave this pig alone!" The warthog advised.
"And why would we let such a precious piece of meat just run away?" Banzai asked
"Cause I've got a lion on my side!"
"He's got a point Shenzi"
Banzai pointed out to the leader. The third hyena, Ed, shook his head in agreement.
"True, but he's also at Priderock which is a long ways away. Besides, the poor king's probably deaf, wouldn't be able to hear his friend anyways"
The hyenas snickered at the comment.
"I wouldn't doubt Simba, just wait and see!" The warthog boasted.
"Well go ahead, call your friend, lets see what happens"
Shenzi responded.
Pumbaa, surprised at the opportunity the hyena was giving, cleared his voice and began to yell out to his friend.
"Simba! Simba, buddy, I'm in a really big pickle here! It'd be really helpful if you came right about now!"
A few minutes later and there was no response. The hyenas laughed while the warthog curled into a small ball, hiding himself in his arms. As he was cowering, in the corner of his eye, he noticed a small figure climbing up a old dead tree.
"See pig no lip is gonna-"
Abruptly, a loud lion roar came over the horizon. The warthog peaked from his arms, a big smile spread across his face.
"It's Simba!" he cheered
"Oh great that pain in the butt again"
Banzai stated blankly.
"Come on guys lets go before we're beaten by a lion, again" Shenzi growled. The hyenas took off running, hoping to get away fast enough before their enemy appeared.
"Oh Simba, I knew you'd save me! I just knew you would!"
There was a pause. No response.
"Uh Simba?"
The warthog looked around, but there was no sign of any lion named Simba around.
"Well if that wasn't Simba who scared them off, then who or what was it?" The pig wondered out loud.
As if on que, the grass shook near the dead tree. The pig wasn't sure whether to coward away or try to befriend the animal. For all he knew it could be another carnivore.
He slowly backed away, ready to scurry as soon as the animal appeared.
Then came out the 'lion'. An 11 inch meerkat, with a tan colored fur. On its head it was a dark brown, which happened to cover its right eye.
"Hey you're not a lion! You're just a meerkat" the warthog gasped.
"I guess I'm not your particular type of lion." She stated, wiping the dust off her fur.
"But, how did you?"
"It was quite simple really" she interrupted," I'll show you"
Gasira pulled out a wooden object from the tall grass. It was a cylinder shape with a hole going through it. It was smaller on one end and it extended at the end. Bits of the dead bark was pealing off. The warthog looked at it with a puzzled expression.
"You mean, you made that noise with a piece of wood?" The pig asked, stunned.
"You better believe it- um what is your name" she asked.
"Oh where are my manners? The names Pumbaa" he greeted sticking out his hoof.
In a polite gesture Gasira did the same replying,
"Nice to meet you Pumbaa, my name's Gasira"
They shook each other's paw or hoof.
"The pleasures all mine Gasira" Pumbaa said smiling.
"I suppose you should get back to your group of warthog friends huh?" She reckoned.
"Oh well I don't exactly have warthog friends" he stated.
"You can't possible just live here all alone, can you?" She questioned Pumbaa.
"Oh no, I have friends, just not any of my kind" he replied.
"Hm never heard that before" Gasira thought to herself.
"Speaking of which, where is your colony?" He inquired.
"Great now's he's turning the table on me" she thought to herself.
Gasira rubbed the back of her neck ,coming up with a reasonable answer for the warthog.
"Um well you see Pumbaa, I don't exactly belong to a colony. I'm more of a outcast ,if you will"
"Aw Gasira" Pumbaa picked up Gasira, giving her the biggest hug she'd ever have in her life," I never realized how much in need you were" he baby talked her.
What he didn't realize was the fact that Gasira wasn't able to breath. She bagan to choke on her words.
"Look Pumbaa I appreciate the concern but I'm ok with being alone"
"Oh no you're not! You are coming home with me!" He proclaimed.
Gasira was able to break free from his hug. Thank goodness too, she was about to suffocate in all that stinky fur. Not only that, but that wasn't helping the bruise she got early either.
"Pumbaa, don't worry I'll be ok, trust me I've been doing this for awhile. I can take care of myself." She reassured him.
Pumbaa was hesitant about leaving her alone. He knows what it's like to be in her shoes, and he didn't like it one bit. But maybe she really was ok with being a loner.
"Are you sure you wanna stay out here all by yourself?" He asked.
Gasira smiled at his concern for her. She came close and patted him on his leg.
"Pumbaa if I wasn't sure, wouldn't I want to come along? I do appreciate your offer though, I just don't think it would really work out for me" she answered.
"Well ok Gasira if you say so, I'll see you later" he turned and was about to leave when a thought entered his mind.
"But if you do end up changing your mind, I live up there on that big pointy rock." Pumbaa reminded her pointing to a large stone structure.
"Ok Pumbaa I'll keep that in mind" she stated," I'll see ya around"
"Bye Gasira! It was nice meeting you!" Pumbaa cheered leaving the small clearing. The meerkat just stood their and smiled. Realizing that that was the kindest thing anyone had ever offered her, since-
"Oh no, I'm not getting myself upset over this" she told herself.
She turned to leave but turned back one last time. She gave a sly smirk and walked away. Her eyes began to water up at the thought of someone actually caring for her. But she blocked the thought out, figuring he was just doing it out of pity.
(I hope you guys liked the chapter! In going to continue writing the next chapter as soon as possible. Anyways please leave comments/reviews about what you thought about this chapter. Thanks again for giving my story a chance!)