Chapter 1-The Outsider

In the heart of Africa was a land of peace and paradise. Lush green lands and flowing rivers and streams decorated the region. Save for a volcanic geyser crevice, the area was surreal. The name of the region was the Pride Lands. Animals were scattered all over the lands, numerous in variety. From the antelope to the wildebeest to the cheetah, there were many species living in the land. In the center of the land was a tall rock with a long, sloping rock jutting out on an incline supported by a rock standing straight up. The name of this rock was Pride Rock, the home of the lions and the king.

It was a time of peace among the animals and other distant lion prides. What they didn't realize was that the coming of something completely new to them would be the start of a brand new adventure, and a downward spiral of fortune…

A ship flew through the upper atmosphere of earth and into space. It was a custom air freighter capable of space flight. It was a disc-shaped ship with two tips jutting out in the front like two spearheads. In between those tips was the cockpit, with the pilot manning the controls. His name was Danny Manning, an eighteen-year old boy. He was not very tall, but his shoulders were unusually broad, making him stocky in build. He kept his hair cut in a fade, almost a military high-and-tight. Still showing some baby fat, his face was not a sharply cut one, but his golden brown eyes more than made up for that facial disadvantage.

The ship was given to him as a gift from his father. His father, Dennis Manning was the executive director and chairman of Research and Development for air- and spacecraft. Because of the last two years of work, he was not able to see Danny very much. To make up for that, he sent his people to work to develop a ship capable of spaceflight. The Axalon-class ship, dubbed the Paratus Preliator, was a prototype, the only one of its kind. Dennis presented it to his son for his seventeenth birthday. Danny was overjoyed and began training for the ship at a private flight school.

Unfortunately, tragedy struck Danny a week before his eighteenth birthday. His father, mother and two sisters went on a safari trip in Africa and were found dead from a boating accident. Danny, heartbroken from the loss, began to withdraw from the world. His few friends that he had he remained in contact, albeit an inconsistent contact. Somehow, something told him his family was still alive, and he set out for a course. However, he couldn't avoid detection of traveling across the Atlantic and alerting military factions. So he traveled into space, using the Iron Curtain shield to prevent detection from space.

He flew toward an eastward area of space. The computer system gave him a warning. "This sector has been declared forbidden by the order of NATO Command."

"Slag the NATO Command," Danny replied. He was not bothered by any possibility of reprimand or punishment by them. He smirked. Besides, they couldn't detect me…not with the Iron Curtain online. He narrowed his eyes. "Give me a quantum trajectory scan."

"That would contradict program directive nine-three…"

"Just do it," Danny interrupted, with an aggravated tone.

"Acknowledged." There was a moments delay before the computer came back with a response. "Scan positive. Trajectory checkpoint for undetected entry in Continental Africa located."

The boy smiled. "Yes," he said with a pleasing manner. "Lock on and follow."

Instead of acknowledgement, the cockpit's internal alarms went off. "Attention, anomaly detected. Reverse course."

Danny looked up to see a white plasma warp forming in front of him. He tried to cut forward thrusters and tried to pull up. "Come on, come on." The controls were too sluggish; whatever this anomaly was, it contained a gravity well field that prevented him from going anywhere but forward. Suddenly shockwaves and vibrations shook the ship violently. Danny could hear items dropping onto the floor behind him. "Tell me what's going on."

The Preliator computer analyzed the situation immediately. "Temporal anomaly vortex…effecting all systems…analyzing now."

Danny new that process was pointless. But that was the least of his worries as his ship entered the anomaly. He looked at his hand and screamed. It was glowing white; soon his whole body began glowing. All systems went berserk as the anomaly closed up, with Danny in it.

In another part of space, the warp anomaly opened up and spat out the Paratus Preliator, trashed and on a trajectory course with a planet that bore similar resemblance to Earth. It penetrated the atmosphere of the planet and was on a crash course near the edge of a beautiful region.

Danny strapped himself in and closed the collision barrier over the canopy to prevent smashing the glass from the impact and hitting him. He also lowered the landing gear. The timer was about to hit the five second mark when Danny remembered about the hover-thrust system. He flipped the lever and the ship shook from the thrusters firing up. The move barely saved him from a severely rough landing. The ship's hull slammed into the ground and skidded to an abrupt halt.

Some glass did crack and shot out of its holding. One piece sliced deeply into the human's left shoulder. The pain was agonizing, and he couldn't hold back the scream. He also wasn't strapped in tight enough, as his head slammed against the control console and rebounded.

The ship finally skidded to a halt, but the ship was tilted on it's left side. Danny slowly felt the world spinning around him. He wasn't sure where he was, but he did know one thing: he was in pain. While he reached up with his right hand and loosened up the right trap, his left arm couldn't even move without severe pain. He reached over with his right hand and loosened up the left strap. After pulling the straps off, he leaned back in his chair. "Computer, damage report." Before any response, he shook his head. "On second thought, I don't wanna know."

He got up out of his chair and walked out of the cockpit and towards the exit ramp. Danny's world was spinning all around him and his head felt like a train wreck. His vision was unfocused and every time he tried to focus, his head would begin hurting even more. The boy walked over to the ramp and pulled down the lever with his left hand. He forgot that he hurt his shoulder and fell down as soon as he pulled the lever.

The ramp opened up while he was on it, lying on his stomach. Danny rolled down and smacked his injured shoulder a few times. "OWW!" He screamed. The pain was next to unbearable and he was fighting to get up. Through gritted teeth, Danny said, "Gotta fight it. I gotta stay ahead of this."

As he stood, those motivational thoughts died when he looked up in front of him. Standing before him was an incredibly large and powerful lion flanked by two lionesses. His russet mane covered all around his head and some of his stomach. His figure frightened Danny, but more frightening were the lion's eyes. A mix of piercing gold and red, it caused Danny to shake. So much for staying alive.

As darkness started to nibble at the corners of his eyes, Danny dropped to his knees. "Help." He didn't know why he said that to a lion, but his mind was not thinking straight. He dropped to the ground, his thought was realizing he was alone and now a meal for animals. Then darkness claimed him.

Danny woke up. He didn't open his eyes, but he felt no pain on his shoulder. What happened? Am I dead? He opened his eyes. The kid noticed his shoulder was covered with some strong-smelling goo. What is this stuff? Danny also noticed he was in a cave of some sort. It was dark but the sunlight on the other end provided some illumination to the cave.

He tried to get up but a huge hand held him down. "Lie still. You're still hurt. You need to rest and recover." He was surprised the voice was female.

Pain returned to his head and he obeyed. He saw a silhouette sitting next to him but his head hurt so bad he couldn't make out the shape. "What a dream," he said, exhausted.

The female chuckled. "Was it a good one?"

"No, I had a horrible nightmare. I crashed my ship and came stumbling out to come face-to-face with three lions. That's all I can remember."

"Oh, that was very real. My mate came in with you on his back."

Danny nodded. "Yeah, I…what?" His eyes snapped open as he realized what the female said. When he also realized that the giant hand was a paw, his eyesight focused. The silhouette was clear for him to see that it was a lioness. The fact that the lioness was talking made Danny think he was losing his mind. He panicked and knocked the paw off of him. "Get away from me!"

He ran to an area in the cave where there was light coming from a crevice that opened up into a circle of light and backed up into a wall. He had nowhere to go. The sudden movements caused the pain in his shoulder to return. The pain in his head bent him double. The lioness stepped toward him. "Calm down. If you keep moving you can cause further damage to your shoulder." There was definitely concern in her voice.

"Calm down!? You're a talking lion. I have every reason to not be calm." Danny was beside himself. He reached down for his pistol, but realized he wasn't carrying any weapons. He couldn't do anything.

The lioness stepped into the light. Her tan fur shimmered in the light and her ruby eyes were piercing but had a familiarity that Danny couldn't figure out. He noticed she was larger than a typical lioness, indicating that she was pregnant. Her face held a gentleness that seemed to calm Danny down a little bit. "I know you're shocked; I am surprised too. I've always heard about humans but have never seen one up close."

"What's going on in here?" Danny looked to where the deep, male voice was coming from, and gasped. It was the same male lion he saw right before he passed out outside of his ship. The lion was indeed powerful, as his build was incredibly huge for a lion, but nowhere near inclined to fat. He stepped up into the light near Danny. He was only two feet away from the boy. Danny closed his eyes shut, afraid that this lion was going to begin chomping away at his face. Needless to say, Danny was surprised to feel a huge tongue lick his shoulder.

Danny opened his eyes to look into the face of the lion, trying to read his intentions. His expression only showed compassion and kindness. Still a little scared, Danny said, "W-Who are you?"

The lion smiled. "I am Mufasa, king of Pride Rock, this rock here and ruler of the Pride Lands, the lands outside of this cave." The lioness walked up to Mufasa. "And this is my queen and mate, Sarabi."

Sarabi came up to him, but her eyes were locked with Danny's. He responded first. "Nice to meet you both."

"The pleasure's ours," Sarabi replied with a smile.

Mufasa kept his smile, but his tone took on a more authoritative one. "Who are you and why were you at the edge of the Pride Lands?"

Danny let out a sigh of relief, knowing that he was now safe. "My name is Danny Manning, but just call me Danny. As for the second question, it's kind of a long story."

Mufasa sat on his hind quarters. "We don't need to be anywhere anytime soon. Go ahead."

This time Danny's sigh became more exasperated. "Alright. Just before I turned eighteen years old…"

Sarabi sat up, surprised. "Eighteen? Impossible. I'm only five."

Danny continued. "…in human years. I'm probably 2½ in lion years. Anyway, just before I turned eighteen my family went on a journey while I was being trained on how to fly my ship. They came here to Africa." Tears threatened to well up in his face, but he kept it in check. It wouldn't be proper to cry in front of a king. "They never came out."

Sarabi's jaw dropped. "I'm so sorry, Danny."

Mufasa considered all of this. "But that still doesn't explain why you're here?"

Danny held up a hand. "I'm getting to that. The people told me that they were dead. Since then, I spent all of my time training and learning to fly. When I felt I was ready, I took off in search of my family. I couldn't fly across the seas without being noticed. While I was in space, some kind of anomaly trashed my ship. That's where I ended up here. I'm searching to find my family."

Mufasa was amazed. "I'm sorry to hear about your family. I find it incredible that you can fly in that metal beast of prey."

"Compliments of human advancements." Danny looked down. "But right now, I have no family. I haven't really kept in touch with any friends, no one who would notice that I'm gone."

Both lions had sadness and sympathy in their eyes and on their faces. Sarabi came up and nuzzled Danny's face. "I know how it feels to lose parents. I lost mine nearly a year ago."

Danny smiled glumly. "I appreciate it. I haven't had any form of comfort except my confidence that my family might still be alive." He looked over Mufasa's shoulder. "Do you mind if I walk around for a little while? I need to stretch my legs and would like to see what the lands look like."

Sarabi seemed hesitant. "Don't you think you should rest? You need time to recover."

Danny looked at his injured shoulder. "I think I'll be fine, as long as don't get attacked. If my leg was injured, I would stay here. Plus, I'm thirsty and a little hungry."

"Very well." Mufasa replied and began to turn. "Sarabi and I need to discuss some issues outside. If you would like to walk out and take a view of the lands, you may feel free. I'll have Sarafina escort you."

The man smiled. "Thanks, I appreciate the escort." He slowly got up as to avoid pain and followed them outside. Mufasa walked over to a lioness, who was also pregnant, and talked with her. Danny was pretty sure that was his escort, Sarafina. Mufasa was asking her to accompany him. She smiled and headed over to Danny. Unlike most of the lionesses, she had blue eyes, a rare gene for a lioness. Danny returned the smile. "Hi. I'm Danny Manning, but just call me Danny. I take it you're Sarafina?"

Her smile was bright as the sun. "Yes, it's nice to meet you." She frowned as she recalled what he said. "Why do you have two names?"

He chuckled. "That's how my kind identify each other, because a lot of us have the same first name, so the last name helps us figure out who is who."

"Oh, ok." Sarafina turned to the slope. "Would you like a tour of the Pride Lands?"

Danny nodded. "Sure, that would be nice."

Sarafina and Danny headed out towards the lands. She showed him many places. They walked by grazing herds from time to time. Danny stopped at a tree with bananas and ate a few to get some energy back. The two of them reached a waterfall near the edge of Pride Rock. Danny cupped his hands to get some water while Sarafina lapped the water into her mouth.

Danny wiped his mouth. "That was refreshing."

Sarafina smiled. "So, what do you think of the Pride Lands?"

"I think it is absolutely beautiful. It seems so perfect here, and yet it seems like something is missing or hidden."

"No place is without its quirks," the lioness said.

"Yeah," Danny replied. He remained silent for a moment. "One of those quirks, to me at least, is a talking animal."

Sarafina frowned. "Is something wrong with that?" Her tone suggested that she seemed offended.

"To a human, that is completely bizarre. There has never been any recordings of a human and an animal of any kind speaking verbally. So, don't be offended by what I'm saying. It's just all so much for me to take in at once. I'm still finding it odd that I can speak to you."

Sarafina nodded. "I understand. We have found it unusual to meet a man before. Mufasa had always told us stories from his father Ahadi about humans. But you certainly don't seem as dangerous as he tells us about men."

"Things are not always what they seem from the words of another."

"Well spoken. How did you get here?"

Danny washed some water over his shoulder. "My ship, which is a huge, flying metal bird to you, crashed here. Some bright light of some sort damaged my ship and sent me out of control."

"I meant why were you flying?"

Danny's expression was downcast. He sat down and wrapped his arms around his knees. "I was searching for my family."

Sarafina knew she had struck a nerve and walked to his side. She sat down. "If it's a sensitive subject, you don't have to tell me."

Danny brought a hand up. "No, it's okay." He sighed. "My family went on a vacation trip to Africa. I didn't go because I was training on how to fly my ship. One day, a man came to me. He said my family was dead."

The lioness rubbed her head up against him. "I'm sorry, Danny. It's never something you want to hear."

"But there was no confirmation and no bodies. That's why I'm out here. As far as I'm concerned, they're not dead until it is confirmed."

"Is there anything we can do for you?"

Danny didn't really know how the lions could help him. "I'm not sure, but I appreciate the support." In the distance, they heard a roar coming from Pride Rock. "What's going on?"

Sarafina turned around. "Hop on my back. We need to get back. Mufasa is going to make an announcement.

Danny hopped on her back and they took off. Sarafina, being pregnant, couldn't run as fast as a normal lioness could, but still was going fast. They ran past herds and went through tree brushes until they reached Pride Rock.

Danny got off of Sarafina to take some weight off. He followed her up the slope and noticed many lionesses were sitting out there. As he came into view, all their heads turned to face him. Most had smiles, but some had skeptical looks. The only one who looked hostile was one lioness who separated herself from the others. Her figure was sleek and pointy, with eyes that could rip through anybody's composure, and claws that could rip through some heavy meat.

He walked up to the base of the rock arch. A lot of questions ran through his head. What do they want to discuss? Can I live here? Will I ever find my family? Or are they confirmed dead like the chaplain that came to my home that day? And what happened to my ship? That last question hit him immediately. He was in a strange land and that ship might help him get out of here. Or at least have enough power to fly back to Pride Rock and set up a base of operations and home. Maybe he could, if allowed to stay, defend the lands at least until he could go out and find his family. Danny shook his head. Let's not get ahead here.

He got to the top of the arch and took in the view. His jaw dropped. From the ground, the lands looked amazing enough, but a higher view was another story altogether. The grassy plains with acacia trees were beautiful, and the rivers lacing through the land only added to the blissful scene. It gave him some moments to relax. Danny smiled. Well, I wouldn't mind living here if I can manage things. I wouldn't have to pay taxes, and I wouldn't have to worry about crime, but the lack of video games and regular food will take a toll. But time will tell on that. He turned around and noticed that all of the lionesses began to form up around Mufasa and Sarabi. Mufasa looked Danny's way. "Danny, come down here," he said with a raised tone.

Danny trotted down to where they sat in a semi-circle. Mufasa looked around. "Has anyone seen Scar?" Getting no response, he shrugged. "Very well, I'll fill him in later."

"Actually, you don't need to." Everyone turned toward the direction of the clipped, accented male voice. Danny saw a male lion but unlike Mufasa, his fur was a chocolate brown and his mane black. Unusually scrawny for a male, there were two features that gave him a menacing appearance. First were his eyes, being a bright, eerie green. The other being a scar that came down over his left eye. Danny did his best not to shiver. That must be Scar. He watched Scar take a spot next to the lioness that gave Danny a hostile look and smiled at her.

Mufasa gave him a smile but Danny could sense the dark mood behind the smile. "Nice of you to join us, Scar." He raised his voice so everyone could hear him. "For those of you who don't know, this is Danny Manning, a human." The king began to walk around the inside of the group of lions. "He crashed at the edge of the Pride Lands and was in pretty bad shape. Sarabi and I have discussed what to do and have come to a conclusion." He stopped in front of the kid. "Danny, would you like to be a member of our pride?"

Scar was the first to react. "What!? Mufasa, you cannot be serious."

"I can and I am serious. Danny needs a home, and we've never seen any humans before."

"Exactly!" That was the hostile lioness next to Scar. "We can't trust him. You've always advised us about avoiding HIS kind. Don't tell me you're going back on what you said?"

"Silence, Zira!" Mufasa shot back. "I've already observed that he has a good heart. Even if he was dangerous, I doubt he would squander an opportunity for a home. He is without family and without a home, so I would like to welcome him to the pride. If nothing else, he can remain here until he chooses to leave." He turned to face his pride of lions. "However, since this is a first, we will settle this by vote. Who would like to accept him as a member of the pride?" All of the lionesses bowed to the ground, except for Zira. Scar also remained standing. Mufasa turned to Danny. "What do you say, Danny? Would you like to be a member of the pride?"

Danny from Mufasa's announcement up till that point, was speechless. He wasn't expecting this. Finally, he regained himself. "Are you sure about this? I mean I don't wanna be a burden to you."

"Nonsense, you wouldn't be a burden to us. Maybe this symbiotic relationship could benefit both of us."

"I don't…" He stopped as he saw the expression of the king. It was clear that they wanted to accept him as a member and get to know him. Danny smiled. "You know…it's always good to have a family."

Sarabi came up to him with a curious look on her face. "Is that a yes?"

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

Scar just growled and walked away with Zira by his side. Only Mufasa, Sarabi, a hornbill that just appeared, and Sarafina, remained. Mufasa shook his head. "Don't mind Scar and Zira. They usually keep to themselves, but they have their upsides."

Danny looked at them darkly as they walked out of side. "I don't know. There's something I don't like about them, and it's not just their hostile looks. But I'm not going on record of saying that I don't trust them."

Mufasa glanced at Scar before he was out of sight. "He's my brother. He may look suspicious, but he is one of ours."

That did little to quell Danny's doubts of Scar. But his attention was brought to a pregnant lioness who just came up to him. "Hi, I'm Ebere. It's nice to meet you." Her smile was heart-warming.

Danny returned the smile. "A pleasure to meet you too, Ebere. I see you're expecting a cub."

Her blue eyes sparkled. "Yes, I should be giving birth anytime now. In fact, Sarabi, Sarafina and I should go lay down."

"I hear that," Sarabi said with agreement.

That left Mufasa, Danny, and the hornbill. Mufasa pointed toward the hornbill. "This is my majordomo, Zazu. He assists me in giving early reports and announcements. One of my most reliable messengers."

Zazu bowed out of respect to Danny. "A pleasure to meet you, sir."

Danny just nodded. "Likewise, pal."

Zazu turned to Mufasa. "Well, I apologize for being late to the induction ceremony. I only just got wind of it recently. But I need to be getting back to what I was doing. Leopards can be a bit of a nuisance."

"Duly noted, Zazu," Mufasa replied with an obvious smirk on his face.

As Zazu took off, Danny's smile faded and his expression became serious. "Mufasa, I am grateful that you are letting me become a member of the Pride, but I have to do something right now. Mufasa looked at him intently as Danny spoke. "I need to head back to my ship, and see if I can repair it and bring it back to Pride Rock."