Chapter 13: The Attack

Three light brown blurs sped towards Mart, Melman, Gloria, and Julien. "ALEX!" Marty yelled.

"I'm coming, Marty!" Alex stood and broke into a run. The figures grew closer as he did. These things were as fast as he was. Alex reached the group to see one of the blurs jump at Marty. Instinctively, Alex jumped up to protect his friend, batting at whatever came at Marty. The figure flew back from the force of Alex's blow. It came into focus. It was a lioness.

"Alex, look out!" Gloria yelled. Another lioness pounced on Alex's back. He brushed it off his back. Melman yelped as a third lioness pounced on his back. Her head approached his neck, going for the final bite. Alex jumped and pushed the lioness off.

"Leave them alone!" Alex yelled.

"Mr. Alex!" Julien yelled. The first lioness grabbed the struggling lemur and held him by the back of his neck. The lioness smiled evilly at him.

"Put him down!" Alex commanded.

The lioness laughed, "Or what?"

Alex started to answer, "I'll-" he punched her square in the jaw. In the confusion, she let go of Julien. Alex caught him before he touched the ground.

The lioness stood back up, "Why, you betraying-"

"That's enough," another lioness ordered. She had stunning blue eyes, like Alex's, that seemed to enforce power. "Clearly, this lion has already claimed the kill." The other lioness rubbed her sore jaw.

Alex was taken aback, "Claimed the kill?"

The third lioness came towards Alex from under Melman's legs, her brown eyes sparkling in the sun "Please, sir, let us eat them."

"No one's eating them!" Alex made it clear. He moved the Melman, Marty and Gloria behind him.

The other lionesses looked confused by this behavior. The one with blue eyes approached Alex, "What do you mean no one's eating them? That's what they're there for."

Julien hopped onto Alex's shoulder, "I am certainly not for eating. Look at me, I'm all stringy," he pointed to his arm, "Too much lean muscle, you see. That's why you work out from the core." Alex rolled his eyes.

One of the lionesses pointed to the lemur, her eyes on Alex, "Look it's right there! Get it!"

Alex sighed, "This," he pointed to the lemur, "is my friend. Not my lunch. Say it with me now-"

The other lioness interrupted him, "Hold up, hold up. You're saying that that thing is your friend?"

Alex stepped to the side, "Well yeah. So are all those guys," he pointed to Gloria, Melman, and Marty. "In fact, that zebra is my best friend."

"How can you be best friends with a zebra?" the one with blue eyes pondered.

The brown eyed lion walked slowly towards Marty, "He sure looks tasty."

Alex slid back in front of him, "Well, that's a shame, because you can't have him."

"Wait a second," the green eyed lioness held up her hands, "You're saying, that these plant-stuffers are your pride?"

Alex cocked his head to the side, "What's a pride?"

The lionesses looked ateach other andlaughed violently. The blue eyed one suddenly noticed Alex's expression, "Holy crap. He's serious..." She looked around and stood on her back legs. "Ok...well," she attempted to explain, "A pride is what your supposed to be in, or even head of."

"So..." Alex tried to understand, "A pride is a group of friends?"

The green eyed lioness shrugged, "Something like that."

"So, where do you ladies come from?" Marty asked.

"Elsa, it's talking to us..." the brown eyed lioness tapped the blue eyed one on the shoulder.

Elsa nudged her towards the zebra, "Well... answer it!"

"Um...we," she made a gesture for every word, "We- come- from- over- that- hill-over there"

Marty gestured back, "Please- stop- doing- that."

Elsa walked towards Alex, "Excuse us for a moment, we're just going to have a little, er, girl talk."

Alex raised an eyebrow, "Be my guest..."

Elsa whistled, "Kindra! Tana!" she made a 'come here' motion with her head. The three gathered and moved to the side away from the zoosters. Making sure they weren't listening, Elsa started the conversation, "There's something about this guy-"

Kindra sighed, "He's gorgeous,"

Elsa nodded, "Granted, but I mean: I don't think he's from around here."

"Gee, whatever gave you that idea?" Tana said sarcastically, "What kind of lion doesn't know what a pride is?"

Elsa smiled, "One that is close to the people."

"People! That's what King Kuju's been looking for!" Tana exclaimed.

Kindra scratched her head, "But, how are we going to get him to go with us? King Kuju doesn't really do things for himself."

"A little persuasion can go a long way, girls," Elsa grinned slyly. The lionesses turned around to face the others, then proceeded to the middle of the circle. Melman and Gloria backed up. "Tell us, sir, what's your name?"

Alex was still a bit shaken from the attack, "Uh, my name is Alex. This is Melman, Gloria, Julien, and Marty"

"They have names?" Tana clearly didn't understand.

Alex sighed, "Yes, they have names."

Elsa nudged Tana, "Don't be rude!"

Alex stepped in front of Marty, making sure he was safe, "You can't eat my friends. So, why are you still here."

Elsa laughed, "The other girls can compensate for us in the hunt."

Kindra sighed, "King Kuju does like to eat, though."

"Hold up," Alex was confused, "Who's this King Kuju?"

"How many Kings are around here?" Julien put his hands on his hips.

Elsa explained, "King Kuju is the king of our pride. There's Kuju, two other males, and six more lionesses. And that makes up the Pala Pride."

Alex narrowed his eyes, "If it's the Pala Pride, then why is Kuju the king?"

Kindra looked at him, "Well, King Pala left under mysterious circumstances. Kuju says that the humans killed him. Anyway, Kuju was the second oldest male, so he became king."

"The people killed him?" Melman was confused.

Gloria looked around, "I'm not liking this."

Alex shook his head, "Will you just tell us what you want?"

"Well, Alex, we were wondering if you'd like to come to visit our pride," Kindra asked.

"Well..." Alex mulled it over.

Elsa took a step forward, "We have food."

Alex scratched his chin, "Will you excuse me for a moment." He turned around to face the others. He held out his arms and pushed them back out of ear shot of the lionesses.

Marty was annoyed, "Alex, you can't seriously be considering this!"

"They tried to eat us!" Gloria pointed out.

Melman whined, "They scratched my neck. Ithink there'sblood, am I bleeding?... No?... I swear I feel it. Look closer, I bet you can see it. Just look real deep and-"

"But, they have food," Alex contested. "And I don't know how much longer my wits can hold out."

Marty had an idea, "They're lions. Maybe they know a way to get rid of it."

"I guess we have to go then," Alex analyzed.

"You still haven't told us what it is," Melman looked anxious.

Alex reassured the giraffe, "Don't worry. It's nothing you need to know."

The giraffe grew impatient, "I do need to know, and I will worry until you tell me what all this it crap is about!"

Alex rolled his eyes, "It rubs the lotion on the skin, or else it gets the hose again."

"What?" Melman was befuddled.

"Nothing," Alex sighed, "just forget it. The point is that these three can help me!"

Gloria crossed her hands, "Your telling me that your going to risk our lives for you sake?"

Julien smacked Alex in the back of the head, "What about my personal safety?"

Alex patted Julien on the head, "I'll keep you safe," he faced the others, "Trust me, this will benefit everyone," he gazed at them with his stunning blue eyes, "It's just- I need to do this."

Marty nodded his head, "Trust him, guys. Alex needs this. And we need to support him."

"Fine, but if something goes wrong," Gloria pointed at Alex, "You're to blame."

Alex nodded, "Deal." The lion led the others back to the lionesses. He looked at them all, his eyes stopping a bit longer on Elsa. "Alright, I'll go andmeet your pride. Just lead the way."

Author: Well, sorry it took me so long. I went back and re-did chapters 1 and 2. The content is the same, just better word choice, now. Review, if you may.