The record player blared a classical suite as Dr. Eisner monitored the screen. Several blips sounded out, just like a heart monitor in a hospital. He sat back and watched them, all while letting the music soothe him. The door slid open and soon his assistant stepped through.
"Yes?" Dr. Eisner numbly greeted.
"Ah doctor, I was just reporting as you asked.
"Good, I just wanted to show you the incubation was a success," He said pointing to the screens, "By now it should have progressed into adulthood."
The assistant eyed the screens in confusion, "Yes, but how are we monitoring it? Do we have cameras in the area?"
Dr. Eisner wanted to sigh at the sheer innocence of the question, but merely found himself answering, "No, we're simply monitoring its vitals, heart rate, emotional rate, stress, all that."
The assistant looked on in confusion, "But Doctor, I don't understand-" He found himself trailing off as Dr. Eisner continued.
"Judging from the rates, it's resting now," Dr. Eisner noted.
"Resting?" The assistant repeated.
"I assume its progression to adulthood was what one could consider a trauma, that and being born on the same day. I imagine it's still stretching its legs so to speak. Once morning comes I'm certain it will follow its instincts," Dr. Eisner grinned to himself, "After all, animals are ruled by their baser instincts.
The assistant said nothing but joined his superior in watching the screens. All they could hear was the faint beeping as its heart rate had lowered.
XXX
The morning passed into the Pride Lands in its usual silent fashion. The sun rose high as all the animals awoke. Herds went about grazing, filling their bellies with the sustenance the grass provided. One such herd was the local zebra herd. One of two. The zebras of the Pride Lands lived by a particular motto of sorts, one they uttered whenever danger arose.
This particular herd said it most of all. But for now, they simply grazed. Since the war with Scar and the following war with Zira's Outsiders were over, there hadn't been much danger within the Pride Lands. So much the zebras themselves felt letting their guard down wouldn't have affected anything. After all, the Outland animals were kept under a tight leash, and though the stray geological accident or work of nature disrupted events, overall things were relatively peaceful.
They felt so at peace they failed to notice what was stalking in the grass. It remained low, keeping silent as the grass slightly parted as it passed through. It watched ahead, spying the strange black and white creatures before it. Stopping for a moment, a single word passed through its head.
Zebras.
Though it had never seen these creatures before, it knew them. And suddenly, images flashed appeared in its head.
"I'm a friendly jackal! I just want to play tag!"
That voice? Was it it's own? It remembered it, and when the image of a savanna flashed in its head, it found itself staring at one of those "zebras", one smaller than the others.
It locked on the head, noticing what it assumed was an adult and inside it felt something bubbling up. In mere moments, it leaped ahead, soaring through the air, claws outstretched. The zebra barely had any time to react before it felt something sharp tear into its neck. The zebra itself let out a cry alerting the rest of the herd to what had just appeared.
The minute their eyes locked onto what was now standing over their fallen brother, one voice spoke up, one that a human would recognize as a stereotypical "Harvard Lockjaw" accent.
"Panic and Run, Panic and Run!" The zebra cried, soon joined in by the rest of the herd.
As they uttered their catchphrase, the creature sprang from upon the fallen zebra and darted across the herd itself. It maneuvered its way past their long legs, then when it saw a chance, it leaped upon the back of another zebra, and opening its maw, something emerged, breaking through the zebra's skin before retracting inside. Then, taking its long tail, it slashed the throat of another passing zebra. Immediately it went to work eviscerating the bodies of the now-dead zebras. It ripped apart anything it could get its claws on, taking no care to leave anything intact. The herd continued to panic and run, not caring where they went, so long as they were away from the monstrosity that had just entered their lives.
The creature itself paid them no mind, only focusing on its prey. It continued to tear and rip and by the time it felt satisfied, the herd had passed.
Just then, it heard a strangled gasp. Turning its blood-soaked head towards the source of the noise, it realized the first zebra it had attacked was still alive. Creeping closer, it realized that indeed was the case. Blood was pouring out from the open wound it had left, while the zebra itself feebly moved its legs, unable to escape its slowly approaching fate.
Its eyes looked up at the strange creature before it, and in a mixture of fear and pleading, it uttered, "Please…"
The creature took its claw and ran it across the zebra's face softly.
"Don't….worry….I'm….a….friendly….jackal," The creature said in a voice that sounded like a deep roar and a hushed whisper mixing in at once.
The zebra's confusion at the statement didn't last long as the creature silenced it by ripping out a chunk of its throat. Choking on its blood, all life vanished from the zebra's eyes.
Holding out the chunk of meat, the creature asked, "We're….going….to….leave….some….for….Dad? Right….Mom?"
It kept its arm outstretched and asked again, "Mom?"
No reply, "Mom?"
The longer it didn't receive an answer, the more confusion etched into the creature's mind. It didn't know why it did this, it simply just did. Something inside it had willed it.
XXX
The Lion Guard had awoken without incident. Of course with the morning, their duties came. They would go out on patrol, making certain the Pride Lands were safe. The same old usual routine. But the routine was disrupted the minute Thurston arrived. The zebra leader seemed very panicked and being the ever-vigilant protectors they were, the Lion Guard asked him what was wrong? The story Thurston told was certainly unique, and by the end, the Guard was full of questions.
Vitani blinked in slight confusion, and could only ask in bewilderment, "Excuse me? What?"
"I told you, my herd was attacked by a monster!" Thurston declared.
Vitani looked to her sisters in arms who were just as bewildered as she was.
"Wait? Do you mean like a monster? Or just some kind of animal?" Tazama asked.
"Well, it was certainly no animal I've ever seen before!" Thurston exclaimed.
"Everyone just calm down," Vitani said hoping to soothe the rising tension, "Thurston, could you describe it for us?"
"Oh certainly! Firstly it was all black and its skin was almost like an insect," Thurston described.
"An inset?" Imara repeated.
"Yes, and it had a long tail with this sharp tip at the end," Thurston continued.
"You mean like a scorpion?" Kasi asked.
"Something like that, but it had no eyes!"
Thurston's bold explanation garnered a shared look among the entire group.
"No eyes? Then how did it see?" Vitani asked.
"That's exactly what I thought, but somehow it did," Thurston remarked in an astonished tone, "Oh! And it had two mouths!"
Shabaha looked on with skepticism, "Two mouths?"
"Well it had one mouth, and a smaller mouth inside its mouth," Thurston replied in an innocent tone.
The bravest of the Lion Guard leaned in close to Vitani and muttered, "Looks like someone is hitting the old fruit.
"Excuse me!" Thurston suddenly but in, "I am not intoxicated! I learned my lesson from last time."
Thurston was not known for his intelligence, so it was no surprise he once partook in some fermented fruit, and needless to say, a drunken Thurston graced the Pride Lands that day.
"Look Thurston, we mean no offense, but are you sure you didn't just dream this?" Vitani did her best not to sound patronizing, but Thurston's story certainly seemed far-fetched.
Instead of getting offended, Thurston looked at the Guard with wonder, "You know? Maybe I was dreaming? Maybe I'm dreaming right now!" The zebra then took a quick bite out of his leg, causing him to cry out in pain. Once it had subsided, he realized exactly where he was, "Nope, I'm awake."
Vitani didn't quite know what to make of it. Thurston wasn't the most reliable of sources, but still, as leader of the Lion Guard…
"Just take us to where the attack happened," She asked.
"Very well, but don't expect me to get close!" Thurston declared as he trotted out of the lair.
"Come on Vitani, you can't be buying this!" Shabaha exclaimed.
"I know it sounds far out, but if a dangerous animal is running around, it's our duty as the Lion Guard to do something about it.
Everyone couldn't deny that, so therefore they followed. Thurston led them dutifully to where the attack had happened but neglected to go further than what was necessary. Once his job was done, he returned to his frightened herd, leaving the Lion Guard to survey the carnage. And what carnage they found.
"Oh gross!" Shabaha cried out.
It appeared Thurston's words were true. Two zebra corpses lay, but they had been torn beyond all recognition. Bits of muscle and skin lay about, thrown as if a spoiled child was displeased with their toy. All that lay was a mess of meat and bone.
"Well, it looks like Thurston was telling the truth," Was all Vitani could say.
Tazama looked over, and at the moment she was regretting having such good vision, "I think I'm going to be sick," She muttered.
This was different from hunting. Whatever had done this wasn't hunting, it was playing.
"What could have done this?" Imara asked.
"Maybe a leopard from the Backlands?" Kasi suggested.
"Oh! Maybe it's that one leopard Kion told us about...what was his name again? It Makiyo, Maka-"
"Makucha," Kasi finished.
"Right! That's it!"
"I doubt it's Makucha. Remember how Kion said he sent him and his friends away with the Roar?" Tazama reminded, "Besides, Kion told us Makucha was interested in eating animals, not...whatever this is."
Shabaha considered things for a moment, then agreed, "Yeah, and the more that I think about it, I don't Makucha would cause trouble here."
"Yeah if I was blown away by a magical tornado, I'd rethink my life choices," Noted Imara.
Vitani surveyed the attack well, keeping silent for the most part. She had been trained to fight and hunt by her abusive late mother Zira, so she had a keen eye for examining a kill. From what she could gather, whoever, or whatever did this didn't seem to have any restraint or limit. This attack was a test of sorts she assumed. She studied the claw marks upon the corpses well, and they didn't seem to be done by anything in the Pride Lands, or even anywhere else. Though she was still skeptical upon Thurston's description of the monster (hence the leopard assumption), obviously something did this. And then as she inched closer, she noticed a trail of blood leading away from the attack. Furthermore, the grass had been flattened, as if something had been dragged away.
"Lion Guard! Lion Guard!"
Everyone looked down to see a tiny voice and sure enough, it was a galago, one they recognized from Laini's Troop.
"What is it?" Vitani asked.
"Please! You have to help us! A monster has my troop trapped up a tree!" The galago explained.
Eyes looking on in alarm, Vitani said, "Lead the way!"
The galago took off to run, and the rest of the Guard followed. It would appear this morning had brought in a large surprise. An unpleasant one at that.