Woot! second chapter is up!
Please enjoy the chapter every one!:D
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Chapter 2: Monster
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Ryan awoke with a loud gasp as he sprang to his feet, only to wobble with dizziness and stumble back down on his rear. Reluctantly accepting that he was unable to stand at the moment, he just sat there, his breath ragged from fear as the events that occurred in his camper flooded back into his mind all at once.
While he waited for his motor skills to work again, Ryan looked around left and right to make out his surroundings...confused and greatly alarmed to see that he was no longer in the camper, but out in the open right in the middle of the vast, African Savannah wilderness.
It was still rather dark as morning seemed to just barely be breaking along the flat and grassy horizon, but it still managed to be enough for Ryan to see. Though it brought little comfort to him when his camper was nowhere to be seen and that there were no familiar landmarks, he could spot that told him he was anywhere near where the campsite was.
So, on top of somehow ending up completely alone in strange territory, he was also hopelessly lost.
He didn't despair for too long when he finally realized that something was clutched in his hand, and looking down, he let out a relived sigh and placed it up on his lap, clutching it securely in both hands; his green camelbak hydration pack, the one his mother had gotten him as a gift when he first arrived here to Africa. She always expected him to keep it full of snacks and water if he ever decided to leave their camp for walks.
It must have gotten swept up out here with him, and boy, was he was sure glad that it did!
He quickly unzipped it to inspect its contents, he felt another wave of relief wash over him to see that the water pouch was a little over half full and two extra water bottles along with sandwich size zip-lock bag of trail mix, six power bars and three bags of beef jerky he would have to ration until he either found the camper or found help. He then patted himself down, discovering that he still had his zippo and folding buck knife on him too.
It wasn't much, but it was better than having nothing at all.
After a few more moments, Ryan finally felt well enough to stand to his feet, slinging his pack over his shoulders before he looked all around the area again and tried to figure out where to go. Unfortunately, He didn't have a compass with him, so he'd have to determine a general direction to start down with the position of the sun. He remembered that it would always rise behind the camper, as it would always shine through the window and wake him up every morning, so going eastward would have to be his best bet.
Though as he clicked his pack securely around him and quickly started down the way, he tried to wrap his mind around what happened last night. He couldn't, for the life of him, figure out how he got here in the first place...and he all but decided that what he remembered before passing out was way too crazy to have actually happened.
Glowing monkeys, tornadoes inside the camper, talking lions, it must have just been some kind of insane dream.
That, or he probably just caught something that made him go loopy; or, he quite possibly got bite by some sort of bug when he fell asleep outside and the toxins it carried made him delirious. And in his poor state of mind, he just grabbed whatever was closest to him and walked and walked until he eventually collapsed from exhaustion.
Yeah, that had to be what happened, because he knew for a fact that he wouldn't have left without his compass if he could have helped it!
He also remembered that right before blacked out, he never got to answer the phone call from his mother, so there was no doubt in his mind that she already realized something was up if she hadn't found out he was missing already...
He really needed to get back!
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A While Later...
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Ryan didn't know exactly how long he had been walking for, but judging from his aching feet and how much hotter it had gotten after the sun had risen higher in the air without so much as a glimpse of something man made...he just decided that he had been out here walking for too long!
Every step he took felt like he was walking on pins and needles, so with a frustrated sigh, he finally decided to just stop and take a five minuet break.
After he plopping down on a big, smoothed out rock that sat in the shade of a tall, thin tree, he let out a breath of air as he unclipped the straps of his pack and unzipped the front of his hoodie before he used it to fan himself in order to cool down and grimacing as the collar of his white, Calvin Klein tank was already soaked with sweat.
He was hot, he was tired, and he longed to be back at the camper with its wonderful air conditioning and coolers that were plentiful of ice cold water and coke-a-colas. And a shower to wash himself clean of all this perspiration and dust was sounding heavenly to him as well.
But until he found his campsite, he would have to endure this unforgiving heat and make do without a good wash as he had to conserve what water he had. At which, he realized it had been a good while since he last had a drink and he reached around to grab the blue hose and take a few gulps to wet his dry mouth and throat.
The most important thing for him was to keep hydrated, but it was going to be a little difficult to stay that way in this heat. If it was this hot so early in the morning, he shuddered to think how much worse it would become the afternoon when the sun was at its highest peak.
Maybe there was a cave nearby that he could camp out at until it cooled down from then...
"HEEEELP! "
Ryan choked and coughed when he accidentally inhaled his drink at the unexpected scream that ripped through the air. And at first, he was thrilled at the thought of finally happening upon another person out here who could potentially help him. But the excitement was fleeting, and it soon turned into concern when whoever was out there let out another terrified scream, it was as if they were about to be killed.
"What's the matter?!" The young man called out, hoping that they could hear him as he clicked the straps of his packs back on and stood to his feet while he looked around for the owner of the voice. "Where are you?!"
"Help me!" they yelled again in a desperate tone.
That sounded much closer, and this time Ryan could also make out a few other voices as well, only they sounded way more sinister as they cackled with glee over the cries of other. Not long after the laughter, they got close enough that he could hear rustling coming from the tall grasses to his right as bodies ran around in them.
"Follow my voice!" Ryan called out, hopping up and down, trying to see if he could spot them anywhere, reaching behind him and putting his hand around his buck knife in case whoever was chasing the poor guy came looking to start trouble with him as well. And while he never actually saw them, he did see that the tops of the tall grass were thrashing and moving towards his direction as they ran through as fast as they could.
Whoever it was must have been pretty short.
"You're getting closer!" Ryan urged the stranger. "Keep going forward, you're almost there!"
Finally, a figure came bursting out of the grass...but instead of a person running out, Ryan just stared down in total confusion at a small male meerkat. Which was hunched over and panting hard as one would after running pretty hard.
"...Uh." Ryan started, not really knowing how to react to the situation as he wondered where the person he heard screaming before went. Was there someone out here playing a big joke on him?
The meerkat, gasping as a loud 'snap!' accompanied by a series of giggles was heard from the grasses behind him, quickly glanced over to the young man and a relieved expression appeared on his otherwise terrified furry face before he ran over to Ryan as fast as his feet would carry him.
"Help me!" he cried, making Ryan's eyes nearly pop out of his head from shock as the little creature leapt on his leg. "They're gonna eat me!"
Ryan's first action, once he finally registered that this talking meerkat was on his leg, was to cry out and start kicking his leg trying to get it off him. It must have been quiet a hilarious sight to see him hopping around on one foot like that, because a chorus of laughter coming from the grasses behind them made him stop and turn around just in time to see three other, much larger, spotted gray figures stroll out into the open.
Causing him to break out in a cold sweat as he saw that they were all big, hungry looking hyenas.
"Well, well, well, it's our lucky day, boys," The lone female of the group announced. "Our little snack led us straight to breakfast!"
As shocked as he was to hear more animals talking, Ryan new that he was in big trouble as he didn't have to be a genius in order to figure out who 'breakfast' was. But when he looked behind him and see if he could try and make run for it, one of the males, the bug-eyed one with his tongue hanging out of his mouth, had already jumped into his path with a maniacal cackle that made the hairs on the back of Ryan's neck stand on end.
"Kinda big though, ain't it?" the other, saner looking male asked in a gravelly voice as he sized Ryan up warily while he and his pack mates circled around this strange looking creature.
"That only means there's more to eat." The female assured him. "Look at it, Banzai; no claws, no fangs, it doesn't even have hooves to kick us with."
"Yeah, you're right..." The male agreed, grinning with ominous delight. "What can it do besides fill our bellies?"
Ryans' mind was screaming at him to do something, anything! But all he was able do was watch their every move as his heart pounded in his chest so hard that it hurt, especially upon remembering what his mother told him about hyenas. That they were opportunistic scavengers who, even though they didn't look like they would be much of a problem, often proved to be a formidable force even to animals as fearsome as lions.
Especially if they were in a pack.
The one that was called Banzai suddenly lunged at him with a snap of his jaws. He wasn't trying to attack him, yet, but it was enough for Ryan to gasp and take several steps back before he tripped over something that was on the ground, making the three of them laugh and giggle like it was the funniest thing they had ever seen. But as Ryan sat up and saw what had tripped him, he felt a strong surge of hope that compelled him to spring forward, grab it and leap to his feet.
Brandishing a thick, good sized stick in both hands as though it were a bat.
"You flea bitten mutts better watch it!" the boy warned them as he tried to make his voice loud and aggressive, and it helped his confidence a little more now that he had something to defend himself with. "I was the best batter on my baseball team back home!"
"What's a...batter?" The female asked, looking to Banzi in confusion.
"What's baseball?" he followed, equally lost.
"Long story short? It means I'll knock your heads from here to China if you don't back off!" Ryan stated before he swung the stick as hard as he could at the crazy looking hyena when he tried to get closer to him, nearly making it whistle through the air from the force and speed. But he missed him as the hyena ducked and jumped back with a series of giggles.
Ryan was hoping that that if he appeared threatening, they'd just deem him not worth the effort and go away to find something else to hunt. but that hope dwindled away as they all began to chuckle and laugh with amusement.
"Haha! Well would you listen to that, Shenzi?" Banzai said to the female with a guttural chortle as they began to circle him again. "Sounds like this one has a bit of fire!"
"Oh, that's alright, I love my meals with a little spice!" Shenzi stated, seeming unconcerned that Ryan had a weapon on him as a wide, toothy grin spread across her gray muzzle. "Don't you, Ed?"
Ed, the crazy male, only answered her with an cackle that sounded as though it belong to someone who was clinically insane, and Ryan swallowed at the hard lump that formed in his throat as he watched him lick his chops as they began to water profusely with excited hunger.
"We're dead meat!" came a voice at his leg.
Ryan blinked as he looked down, he had completely forgotten all about the little meerkat that was clinging to his ankle. He could feel his little paws clutching the fabric of his tan cargo pants so tightly that they trembled along with the rest of him while he stared at the prowling predators with fear. Ryan was scared too, maybe even more than the meerkat was, but if there was even the slightest chance that he could get out of this, then he was going to fight with everything he had!
So, taking in a deep breath, he tightened his grip on the stick and watched...waited...he would be sure show these slobbering mongrels how much "spice" he had!
Time seemed to pass by slowly as Ryan and the hyenas silently faced each other off, one side trying to decide when the best moment to strike would be and the other just patiently waiting for one of them to make a move. It felt like it would go on like that forever until Ed was the first to spring to life, charging Ryan's left before he jumped high into the air with a loud snarl, his jaws open wide as though he seriously intended to swallow the boy whole.
Too bad for him though, that was the side where Ryan delivered his best and most powerful swings.
Ryan hit Ed full on across his shoulder and neck so hard, he was sure that he heard bones cracking as the hyena let out a shrill yelp of pain as he fell to the ground and limped away to a safer distance.
Banzai bared his teeth as an enraged growl escaped him for what the boy did to his pack mate, but it was hard to go in for an attack when Ryan suddenly started swinging the stick with every move he made as the young man felt more confident in himself from landing a successful hit. And even though Ryan still felt scared, he couldn't help but give a small smirk when he noticed that they weren't taking him so lightly anymore.
Maybe he would be able to get out of this after all!
Smack!
"Ow!" Ryan cried, clutching his arm as he watched a rock fall to the ground at his feet. Where had that come from?
Looking up he soon found that out when he saw that Shenzi, after she had discovered that he wouldn't be so easy to take down like she originally thought, had come up with a new plan of attack as she began launching a barrage of stones at him with her hind feet. One after another, Ryan was pelted by rocks and began staggering back while trying to shield himself, unknowingly getting closer and closer to Ed as he recovered from his injury.
And when he saw that the boy had gotten too close to the spotted carnivore, the meerkat frantically tugged on his pant leg.
"Hey! Watch it!" he cried.
"Huh?" Ryan asked, and in his distraction, Shenzi finally launched a particularly large stone that smacked him right in the temple, the force from the hit enough to make him let out a pain filled yell and leave him seeing stars as he clutched at his throbbing head and fought to stay standing upright.
Ryan was disoriented for a moment, but a loud growl made him gasp and throw up the stick just as Eds teeth appeared, crunching around the middle of it before he started pulling. And while the young man was busy with his pack mate, Banzai finally found his opportunity...
"AAAH! "
Ryan couldn't stop the scream that clawed itself out of his throat when a searing pain erupted in his leg; Looking down, he saw that Banzai had clamped down on his left thigh, just a little above his knee with his powerful jaws. His sharp teeth easily ripped right through his pants and sunk deeply into his flesh as though it were made of paper.
Ed was still tugging away trying to get the stick out of Ryan's grip, and the poor boy cried out in agony as Banzai suddenly bit down even harder; But Ryan wasn't about to let go of his only means of defense, and as he raised a fist in the air with the intention to sock the mangy mutt that was biting him right in the nose.
But to his surprise, he didn't get the chance to throw it as both hyenas suddenly released their hold on him and jumped away. He only stood there, totally confused by their action, but he soon found out why they had let go when Shenzi came barreling into him at full speed.
They young man let out a loud "Oof! " as the wind was knocked out of him before he went sailing through the air, choking on his own breath when he felt the back of his skull crack against the trunk of the tree he had taken shade from only a short while ago. And now, as Ryan slumped heavily against the tree with his head pounding and his vision going in and out of focus, he was seriously wishing he had just kept moving.
He suddenly felt something clambering up his right leg and over his stomach and chest, opening his eyes, he saw that it was the meerkat as he stood inches over Ryan's nose with a fearful expression on his furry face.
"This ain't the time ta be layin' around, get up!" the small creature cried, slapping his little paws against his cheeks to try and get him to snap out of it. "They'll kill ya if you don't!"
Ryan raised his eyes up and saw that the hyenas were regrouping while laughing hysterically as though they were having themselves a good old time. And while he did try to get up, he sure didn't want to die here, it was just no good as his body felt so heavy and his head was spinning too much to even think of a possible escape plan.
In fact, there was a good chance that he was on his way to passing out...again.
"Woo!" came Shenzis' ecstatic whoop as their laughing finally quieted down. "That was the most fun I've had in ages!"
"Yeah, really makes ya feel a few seasons younger!" Banzai agreed before he playfully nudged into Eds shoulder, earning a series of crazy giggles from his pack mate before he let out a growl, his huge tongue licking over his jaws as he stared over at Ryan and the meerkat intently.
"Yeah, you right Ed, playtime's over." Shenzi said, sharing a ruthless smile with Banzai before they gave Ryan their undivided attention. "Let's chow down!"
Ryan shakily sat himself up straighter when they suddenly started stalking towards them, at least as much as he was able before he cupped a hand around the meerkats body and pressed him to his chest as he looked up at the branches of the tree.
"What'll we do?!" the terrified meerkat asked, his voice holding a slight tremble.
Ryan didn't answer, he had one idea, but it was so stupid, he couldn't believe he was actually considering it! Though as he felt the meerkat trembling under his hand, he just let out a long sigh before he grasped the meerkat tightly around the middle; The action rightfully earned a startled 'meep!' from the little creature before he ended up screaming when Ryan suddenly threw him up in the air.
But even through his shock, the meerkat still managed to grab hold of a tree branch and pulled himself up on the limb before he looked back down at Ryan in both confusion and worry.
"What're you doin'?!" he cried, hardly believing that he sent him up to safety while he was left down there with the hyenas.
Truth be told, Ryan didn't know...here he was, too weak to move and about to become kibble while he goes and he went and used what little strength he had left to save one meerkat. The logical part of his brain couldn't make any sense of it, and the terror he felt knowing that this was the end was almost enough to make him black out right on the spot.
But through it all, he also managed to feel a small sense of satisfaction that at least one of them would make it out alive...
Ryan sluggishly pressed himself against the trunk, blinking repeatedly as his vision began to grow spotty, just barely able to make out the figures of the three carnivores as they came closer and closer. They seemed a little disappointed that their tasty little tidbit was now out of reach, but it was a fair trade for something that was bigger; something that had more meat for them all to enjoy.
As soon as they crouched low, preparing to charge their meal together, Ryan squeezed his eyes shut and turned his face away; even though he knew that he was about to die, that didn't mean he wanted to see it coming. But he still wasn't able to block out their growls and anticipating giggles, and the young man braced himself when he suddenly heard one of them snarl before it was followed up by rapidly approaching footfalls.
But instead of feeling their teeth rip into him like he expected, he suddenly heard them stop and let out horrified gasps before spine chilling roars of a new animal burst through the air. Pretty soon, his ears were bombarded with such a racket that consisted of vicious snarls and yelps of pain that he had to open his eyes and see what was going on.
And even through his blurring vision, the young man was shocked to see the hyenas in an all-out scramble with several large tawny, tan and cream furred lionesses.
The hyenas tried to fight back at first, but when lioness after lioness began to appear, they quickly realized that they were severely overpowered and desperately began trying to escape. Though they soon found that extremely difficult to do as they were completely surrounded, and once the lions finally decided that they had enough, the three scavengers ran off with their tails between their legs.
Whatever relief Ryan felt at being spared from becoming food for the hyenas instantly flitted away when the band of big cats turned their attention on him. They no longer had those terrifying snarls on their faces, but it didn't stop him from feeling less afraid at the thought that they only save him so they could eat him themselves.
Ryan tried once more to get up, to try and run, but he only succeeded in falling over on his side with a pained moan.
The lionesses didn't attack him like he thought they would, instead, they began to clear a path for a figure that was making its way through the middle until Ryan saw paws step down right before him. Squinting against the sun beams that peeked out from behind the figure, he soon realized that it huge male lion with golden yellow fur and a big red mane staring down at him with this intense gaze that seemed very familiar...
"M...Mufasa?" he asked wearily.
A look of surprise fell upon the lions' face before those piercing amber eyes of his narrowed in suspicion.
"Who are you?!" he demanded, and although his voice was indeed strong and commanding, it wasn't nearly as deep as Ryan remembered. "How do you know my father's name?"
Father...then what happened last night wasn't some dream brought on by a bug bite like Ryan had hoped it was. It was all real!
He had so many questions, but he no longer possessed the strength to speak and his will to fight to stay awake withered away until he slumped over with a weak sigh. totally out cold and at the mercy of the lions that surrounded him.
The pride only watched as their king dared to get closer to the strange creature at his feet, looking at it up and down before he bowed his head down to sniff around its face and then the strange, single patch of raven fur on its head. The only thing he knew for certain was that it was a young male, but his scent was unlike anything he could recognize.
All around, this creature was entirely new to the Pridelands.
"What do you think, Simba?"
He looked up as his mate and queen, Nala, came to stand beside him, curiosity shining in her teal blue eye as she stared down at this unknown visitor.
"We should help him, that's what I think!" a voice stated before Simba could answer himself
They lifted their heads up to the tree, the two of them breaking out into smiles as they saw their friend, Timon the meerkat, scaling down the trunk to get back on the ground now that the hyenas were long gone.
"Timon, you're okay!" Simba exclaimed with happy relief.
"Yeah, thanks to this guy!" the meerkat stated before hopping down, first on the leg of the passed-out figure that had helped him and then to the ground. "I would've been hyena chow if I hadn't run into him!"
Simba glanced back over to strange creature with a surprised expression, he saved Timon?
"Then we should take him to Pride Rock with us." Nala stated.
"Forgive my rudeness, Your Highness, but that is a terrible idea!" another voice said rather angrily before Zazu, the majordomo, landed upon Simba's shoulder. "Believe me when I say you don't want to have this monster anywhere near our home!"
Simba and Nala looked at each other in confusion, sure, Zazu could be a little...pessimistic at times, but they had never seen him so adamant and resentful like this with any other creature before.
Besides hyenas, for obvious reasons, of course.
"Do you know what he is, Zazu?" Simba asked.
"That I do, sire!" Zazu said with a furious nod. "That devil at your feet is called man!"
"Man?" Nala repeated as a flurry of whispers bounced around between her pride sisters.
"I've heard enough tales to recognize what they are," the blue hornbill began, shooting a venomous glare at the unconscious boy. "They walk tall on their hind legs and cover themselves in strange things to make up for their pathetic lack of fur; They hunt us animals, not for food, but for fun! Striping us of our fur, our feathers, teeth and claws all as pointless trophies for their blood sport!"
Simba was at a loss for words as a chorus of gasps rang out from his pride from these sinister allegations, and he looked back down at the young man in disbelief. This spindly and rather feeble looking thing was capable of doing all that to animals?
"Sire, the wisest thing for you to do would be to dispose of this insidious creature before it wakes and does the same to us!" Zazu vehemently urged.
"What? No way, you can't do that!" Timon cried as he rushed over and place a paw protectively over the young man's brow. "Let me tell you something banana beak, I may not know much about humans like you seem ta think you do, but I know for a fact this kid ain't like what you said!"
The meerkat sent a thoughtful glance down to the boy's face as he seemed to be in a peaceful rest.
"I mean, if he was like that, then why bother throwing me up in the tree?" he asked. "Why didn't he just let the hyenas eat me?"
Simba silently thought about it, what Zazu told him about man was very unsettling, but Timon seemed to truly believe that he was good...just what would be the best plan of action? Noticing that he was hesitating, Nala gently nudged against his shoulder to get his attention.
"He's hurt, Simba; he wouldn't last the day by himself out here." She told him in a soft voice. "besides, we owe it to him for saving a friend."
Simba nodded at her statement, taking a few moments of silence to consider everything he had heard before he finally reached a decision and turned to his pride.
"We take him to Pride Rock." he announced, much to Timon's delight and Zazu's utter horror.
"But sire!" the majordomo tried to object, but Simba quickly spoke over him.
"Your concerns are duly noted, Zazu," Simba began in a gentle, but authoritative tone. "Make no mistake, should he do anything to threaten us or our subjects within the Pridelands, I shall deal with him personally. But until that comes to pass, in return for saving Timon, we shall return his act of heroism with care until his injuries are healed."
Zazu's blue feathers began to ruffle with agitation. It was obvious that he didn't agree with the verdict, but all he could do was let out an exasperated sigh and let it go.
He may not have liked it one bit, but he would never go against the wishes of his king...
"Help me get him on." Simba instructed to his lionesses, laying his torso down low next to the boy as Nala and two other lionesses came forward, each of them taking a mouthful of whatever was draped around the young man's arms and shoulders before they slowly dragged him up and forward until he was hanging over Simba's back. Timon climbed up to sit on Simba's back as well so he could keep an eye on the boy during the trip, and when he gave the okay that all was ready, the pride of lions started back home.
"Hey thanks, pal." Timon told Simba gratefully. "I really owe ya one for coming."
"You should Thank Pumbaa." Simba said, sending the meerkat a sideways smile. "He got worried when you never met up with him to dig up early morning grubs."
"Good ol' Pumbaa." Timon stated with a happy sigh. "I'm gonna havta rustle him up lots of tasty grubs for always lookin' out for my tail!"
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Aw, poor Ryan, he's not having a very good start to the day, is he? I'm so mean to him XP. Hopefully things will start getting better for him later on...maybe.
I hope you guys liked this chapter, so let me know what you thought of it :) And please, please let me know if you happen to spot any spelling or grammar issues that I missed, I want to be sure that I make this as fluid and easy for you to read as possible! ;)
