Author's Note: REVIEEEW! Please? X3

~Natty.

Of Bite Marks and Birthmarks.

~M~

"Alex…c'mon man snap out of it! I KNOW you can! Fight it! Fight it, Al!" Marty begged as he was backed into the wall of a giant rock. No way out. His heart hammered in his striped chest and he could feel the sweat running down the back of his mohawk. He looked behind him as his rear collided with the wall, realizing he was truly trapped with a monster. The monster that just happened to be his best friend. "Look I know you're in there Alex! Y-you just gotta come out! Come on out now!" It wasn't working. Nothing was working. The beast simply got closer…

This was ridiculous! This WASN'T Alex! Yet it was. It was some sick and twisted version that had always been deep down inside of his best buddy. It tore out of his metaphorical shackles and just raged all hell in Alex's brain. This wasn't Alex…This was a beast, a predator, a MONSTER.

…And it'd kill him if it could get the chance. He guessed it got it now huh?

"A-Alex…" The zebra pleaded as the ferocious cat neared him.

Alex unsheathed his claws as he stepped forward on all fours. He growled in anticipation at his luscious prey. He could taste it now… The skin and thick meat soaked with red blood juices as he chewed it with his sharp teeth. It all sounded so tempting and irresistible to him. He was so hungry… This animal would surely quench his thirst for kill.

Yet…how come the further the lion neared the zebra the more he wanted to get as far away from it as possible. He didn't recognize this monochromatic creature. It didn't pose as any threat to him. Still he didn't want to…hurt it? But that was ridiculous…

"Alex…" Marty tried again, eyes begging.

There it was again for Alex, that twang in the back of his head somewhere. The small annoying need to STOP what he was doing. It nagged and begged at him. He didn't want to listen to it for one reason. "Alex hungry…" He snarled, trying to convince himself to keep on. He was hungry. Why SHOULDN'T he eat this food?

The zebra responded to him. "I-I get that Alex. I understand! And I'm sorry that Melman, Gloria, and I didn't understand before. You need steak to survive! But honestly Alex, truly now, do I LOOK like a steak to you?"

"Yeah…"

Marty gulped. He was afraid the cat was going to say that. What to do? What to do…? More sweat ran down his striped back. He had to buy some time or something! So he asked in a stammer, "W-Why?"

Apparently Alex hadn't been expecting that because the wild eyed lion tilted his head in confusion. "Why?"

The zebra blinked. Maybe this could work. He was happy to go with it if it did. "Y-yeah! Why! Why do I look like a steak to you Alex?"

With a raised eyebrow, Alex just shrugged. "Alex doesn't know."

"Well if Alex don't know…why is Alex pursuing me?"

"Alex…" The lion regained his growl as he got back on track. Kill. He was supposed to kill and feed his hunger. "Alex…hungry…Alex eat….you…"

Marty's heart did a flop in his chest. Whoops. Okay maybe that was the wrong direction to go in. "W-wait Al!"

The lion just glared.

"Alex I KNOW you're in there! You wouldn't hurt anybody! You're a FIGHTER! Now come on you gotta fight this! You're strong! You're-"

"ALEX…HUNGRY!" Alex roared, scaring the trembling zebra almost to death then and there. The feline pounced soon after right onto Marty in blind carnivorous rage. Seconds later after it was all ended there was a weak murmur. "Alex…sorry…"

~M~

"HAH!" Alex the lion woke with a start, sitting up rapidly in fear. He clutched his frantically beating heart, panting hard, looking around the plains of Africa. The three of his friends lay fast asleep in the grass soundly. Gloria…Melman…and the last one in the row… The lion whispered with a sniff, the regret from all that long ago coming back to him in that moment. "I'm so sorry Marty…" Then he turned away from all of them on his side in the grass, crying himself back to sleep.

On the other end the zebra lay away on his side from everyone too, eyes open blinking, hooves tucked under the side of his head. Marty lay awake under the African stars and he whispered too even quieter. "It's okay Alex…"